Traditional Healing in the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Abstract

This article reviews traditional non-Western approaches to the treatment and prevention of substance abuse and dependence. Therapeutic practices reported here are based on Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Islamic and shaman ic traditions as well as on syncretistic Christianized folk beliefs. Traditional practitioners operate outside the official health care system but in some areas in collab oration with it. Analysis of these practices reveals general principles of traditional healing and permits hypotheses on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional approaches.

Alternative and traditional medicine approaches for substance abuse programs: a shamanic perspective

“…The utility of an ASCT approach is also validated by cross-cultural reviews of the traditional ethnomedical approaches to addictions. Heggenhougen (1997) and Jilek (1994) (c.f. Singer and Borrego, 1984) review a range of nonwestern traditional indigenous ap-proaches to substance abuse treatment in order to determine general patterns of these healing processes and their advantages and disadvantages.…”

“…The Peyote ritual combines a variety of effective psychotherapeutic modalities along with psychotropic drugs (see Aberle, 1966;Wiedman, 1990). Other cultural traditions and addict groups have utilized similar chemical substances (see Heggenhougen, 1997;Jilek, 1994;Andritzky, 1989;Sanchez-Ramos and Mash, 1996;Mabit et al, 1996). Although the psychotherapeutic effectiveness of these substance have undergone limited assessment (e.g.…”

“…This includes: the relevance of acupuncture for treatment of opiate based addictions (e.g. Brumbrough, 1993;Riet et al, 1990;Avants et al, 2000) and the use of Transcendental Meditation practices as successful means of treating addictions (see O'Connell and Alexander, 1994;; and cross-cultural reviews of ethnomedical approaches to addiction treatment (Jilek, 1994;Heggenhougen, 1997;Singer and Borrego, 1984).…”

“…It reviews the rationale for addressing addiction in the context of ASC (McPeake et al, 1991;Metzner, 1994;Miller, 1998a); presents principal aspects of the application of ethnomedical healing practices to substance abuse rehabilitation derived from cross-cultural reviews (Jilek, 1994;Heggenhougen, 1997); assesses some studies and meta-analyses that provided evidence of the effectiveness of an ASC (transcendental meditation) in substance abuse rehabilitation (Gelderloos et al, 1991;Alexander et al, 1994;O'Connell and Alexander, 1994;Walton and Levitsky, 1994); and summarizes material that illustrates the potential of shamanic therapies for addressing substance abuse (Lex and Schor, 1977;Miller, 1998a;Rioux, 1996;Smith, 1994Smith, , 2000Winkelman, 2000).…”

Dissatisfied Seekers: Efficacy in Traditional Healing of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Bali

“…If one views these as neuroses or, in the case of the DSM, as anxiety disorders, then (according to Jilek (1993)) traditional healing should be as effective as or more efficacious than Western medicine. However, if one views these as neurological disorders, Jilek (1994) notes that traditional healing is in most cases ineffective in organic brain syndromes. While OCD and TS are not 'organic brain syndromes' per se, this biological emphasis should be noted.…”