Narcotics research, rehabilitation, and treatment. Hearings, Ninety ...

319down to 20 uioiiths, and we hope, as still newer processes are introduced, to beable to turn out a healthy human being within 15 months or less.Our chief tools are (1) the provocative behavioral encounters, which are grouptherapy sessions, but of a different degree of intensity from the usual polite andinconsequential type generally practiced in clinics or in prisons, (2) an introspectiveemotional encounter, and (3) the daily seminar, which might be describedas a sort of mental Swedish drill, an exercise in the use of words, thoughts, areasof knowledge which will help the member overcome his discomfort at expressinghimself, and broaden the scope of his ideas.Then (4) the work itself, the job assignment, is also a tool of rehabilitation.The prevailing values are in conformity with the norms of the so-called Protestantethic : hard work, family responsibility, regard for others, thrift andcornern for the future. Lower status chores are assigned to newcomers, or asa form of sanctions for older residents who have infringed some house rule. Thenegative values of the addict are replaced largely through the socialiing pressureof the group therapy meetings, the seminars, and the day-in day-out livingtogether with others working through, or who have worked through, the sameor similar problems.I shall not go into full details of the Daytop procedures, which I coveredin my previous article. The important point to remember is that there is a rehabilitationmethod which is proven. It works. There is a solution, and thereis hope for the addict and hope for society. Not only in Daytop itself, but bythe role model it has formed, other Institutions may see ways to change sothat society as a whole, as well as the individual addict, will benefit.I understand the problems of family physicians who practice in areas wheretherapeutic communities such as Daytop do not exist. This problem can be solvedin two ways. Out-of-State residents can be taken into Daytop on payment of about$350 a month, or, if you have large numbers of addicts. Daytop personnel candevelop, with your help, a Daytop in your area.TYPES OF ADDICTSThere are basically four types, or degrees, of addicts. One is the preaddict,the person who has a potential to be addictive and who, if set in an environmentwhere there are drugs around, will become addicted. Then, there is the fringe, orperipheral, addict. He is already "chipping," is already on sonie narcotic drug.He has a predisposition and, if allowed to continue, will develop an addiction.The third type is what I call the soft-core addict, who is taking heroin, but hasbeen taking it for perhaps less than a year. He might have been arrested. Hemight have been put in jail. But his whole life doesn't yet center around addiction.Finally there is the hard-core addict, whose life has been totally centeredaround drug addiction for at least a year, and in most cases for several years.Daytop only takes in the hard-core addicts. The preaddict, the peripheraladdict, and the soft-core addict have been successfully treated at the Daytopclinics called SPAN (Select Panel Attacking Narcotics). These are storefrontfacilities which serve several purposes. They enable the local community tobecome aware of Daytop therapy ; they exist as a counterepidemic force in areaswhere the use of drugs is high ; they offer a helping hand to the local communitywherever the need arises ; they serve as a vehicle for reentry, where the graduateof Daytop can confront neighborhood pressures and attitudes that helped givei"'"se to his own use of chemicals. Most importantly, these facilities confrontearly and peripheral drug users with an alternative, and try to rehabilitate themright nt the storefront through group encounters, seminars, and interaction withrehabilitated Daytop personnel.,,PRIVATE TREATMENTPre- and peripheral addicts can, of course, be treated privately, too. I havesuccessfully treated, and am currently treating, very many such cases in my ownprivate practice. Any physician who is so inclined can receive training in thisnew process. Shortly, a book about Daytop called "The Concept" will be publishedb.v Hill & "Wang. Another book, "A Scream Away From Happiness." on the theoreticaland treatment aspects of the process, will be published a few months later.In the meantime, for more details, I would refer you to the article "New Success