njirem
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
- 260
Since its so helpfull to me, i want this to reach all you folks on the battlefield, maybe its helpfull to you.
The Dutch approach.
Ive been asked to explain more about The Circles Van Dijk.
Fist: as being Dutch i am not English, though i can understand and talk the language pretty well, writing is a different story, ill try my best, when you need clarification, just let me know (ill use an online dictionary
)
Some treatment faiscilities in The Netherlands use a programma that is based on The Circles van Dijk, as did mine.
It is the cornerstone of a 7-step programme, and it helped me tremendously.
The start of the programma is writing your life-story, further along the road comes practical tools like a crisis-handling plan (what to do, what to think, what not to do and not to think when you notice yourself slipping and heading for a crisis, crisis could mean a relapse and/or suicidal ideation/psychosis, to get yourself back to 'green' and do not go to 'red'.) social orientation, meaning and day/week structure.
The programme includes: running therapy, psycho motoric therapy, psycho-education, music therapy, cooking our own meals and doing our own croceries, cleaning the fascility and own bedroom, systemtherapy (involving family/friend/evironment), walking, social skill training, watching the news and the rest that i forget.
From breakfast till dinner, staff is present and part of the group, the eat the food we cook and drink the coffee we make.
It really is a group process and it mirrors a healthy home situation and working evironment (no shorts/sandals untill after 20.00, then its time to relax, when you join breakfast in your pyama you arent welcome)
The circles van Dijk, the 5 (or 6) vicious circles of addiction.
Professor dr. Kuno van Dijk, professor psychiatry in the city of Groningen, The Netherlands, made a model of the vicious circels of addiction in the late '70s.
This model offers the possibilty to understand more about the term addiction.
The model isn't really about 'the cause' of addiction, but it revolves around the factors that maintain addiction.
Early in time it was thought that addiction could stop by taking away one problem, nowadays the realisation is that there is almost never one specific cause, addiction and the related behaviour is the outcome of several factors (the five circles, see diagram)
All the factors play together, as cogwheels that keep eachother in movement..
Your addiction (substance) has an interaction with your physical condition, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms (pharmacologigy), social contacts and psychiatric wellbeing.
Ive added invironment, since where and how you live has a major impact as well.
By assuming this, threatment doesnt only involve quiting substance abuse, but also (re)building a social network, stabalising your pshychiatric wellbeing and improving physical condition.
If you do not adress all the cogwheels, there is a great danger you cannot maintain controle over your addiction and relapse.
See it like this, when there is one cogwheel still turning, all the wheels you had shut down, will start turning again.
The center focus is addiction/substance, but when you for example do not work on a social safety net, and let it keep turning, the others will start to turn again, including the substance wheel.
A real vicious circle.
In this light, no threatment programme is the same, as we are all different with different needs and curcomstances, resposibilities and abilities.
My threatment had a main focus on quitting substance abuse, physical excersise, social network, daytime activities and trauma counceling.
As being quite mature and had allready been working for a long time, i could go home in the weekends and walk in and out the building freely.
Other clients have different needs and problems.
Like this one girl, ill call her Anna, suffering from a clinical depression and suicidal ideation combined with addiction to medication, was not to be trusted alone outside, as she had a history of 'snapping' and either trying to kill herself or run away, apart from that she had to withdrawl for a year, as she was on a dozen of meds.
She would go outside with somebody else and had to build up going alone slowly over the course of months, her focus was stabilisation, detox and getting out of the misery depression is.
This concept makes no threatment the same, its individualised, it has no definitive timeframe, shape or outcome, and therefor i believe it is such a succes.
Ive seen people come in and out a lot of times, as i did too, but just as i am, a year later many of them are now clean and walk around smiling, just like me
Annex.
An important part of the 7-steps is a crisis-handling plan.
Its a personal file on wich you go deeper into your symptoms and how to act and or react to maintain safe an sober.
Most likely, but again thats personal, a 'traffic light construction' with three fases should do the the trick.
The phases are green, orange and red.
Green means you are well, sober, things work out for you and life is good in general.
Orange means you are in danger of a relapse.
Red means crisis, either psychiatric or as in a relapse.
REcocnising early warning signs from yourself is a huge first step to sobriety.
An example:
Green
signals---------------------helping thoughts--------------------------helping actions to stay in green
i sleep well---------------------i can do this, im living proof------------------make sure to keep my structure
i am happy---------------------im glad i feel good and im proud------------i excersise daily
i amongst people-------------of it-----------------------------------------------i avoid bars/coffeeshops
no stress-----------------------etc------------------------------------------------clean my house daily
etc.------------------------------------------------------------------------------etc.
Orange
signals---------------------helping thoughts-------------------------helping actions to go to green
i feel nervous------------------two steps forward, one step back--------i force myself to excersise
sleep disturbance------------i came a long way-----------------------------i do mindfullness
thinking about drugs--------if i stay sober life is easier-------------------i listen to positive music
etc-----------------------------etc------------------------------------------------i go see a close friend
Red
signals----------------------helping thoughts---------------------helping actions to go to orange
suicidal thoughts-----------i hate the hangovers!-----------------------i call my psychiatrist/doc
depressed--------------------i dont want to live like this----------------i call a crisis hotline
i relapsed---------------------there is a way out--------------------------i take a nap
dont go outside------------etc-----------------------------------------------take a cold shower
anxiety--------------------------------------------------------------------------etc------------------
In my current recovery (7 weeks sober tomorrow!) this plays a HUGE part.
The fact alone i really analised my problems and troubles cleared up alot.
Every morning i wake up i take my plan and check out whether i might be in orange an if so ill know what to do, and what not.
Sometimes it means changing plans for the day.
It really eases my mind knowing i made this plan, as a confirmation that there are other options besides drinking or whatever.
Sometimes 'nothing works', some days are just a mess, but then i find relief in knowing tomorrow things will be different at least, and most of the time better, out of that i find strength not to use.
Annex 2
Pro and cons balance for substance (ab)use
It can be helpfull to map your personal pro's and cons when it comes to substance (ab)use.
When you make this list, while still using, probably there are many short term pro's to using drugs/acohol. It will also give you some insight that there are actually short and long term pro's to not using.
A short look at this map can be a quick reminder for yourself to why you actually want to quit, and prefend a relapse.
Puts things in perspective.
an example.
Short term pro--------------------------------------------Long term Pro
calm my nervs---------------------------------------------
enjoy the rush--------------------------------------------
etc.-----------------------------------------------------------
Short term con--------------------------------------------Long term con
toxic--------------------------------------------------------- loose job
its dangerous (overdose)------------------------------- loose friends/family
disturbs sleep --------------------------------------------- may get homeless
hangover -------------------------------------------------- worsens pschiatric problems
costs money ---------------------------------------------- sick all the time
hate myself ---------------------------------------------- always nervous/restless
etc --------------------------------------------------------- cant take full potential of myself
-------------------------------------------------------------- no goals in life besided drugs
-------------------------------------------------------------- trouble with the law
-------------------------------------------------------------- look like shit---------------------------------------------------------
this would be a good one, because, yes there are some pro's from using in the short term, but they are totally outnumbered by the negatives.
As you can see, long term pro's to substance abuse is empty, when you want to quit, it should be like that.
Looking at this can be a quick reminder why you want to quit!
The Dutch approach.
Ive been asked to explain more about The Circles Van Dijk.
Fist: as being Dutch i am not English, though i can understand and talk the language pretty well, writing is a different story, ill try my best, when you need clarification, just let me know (ill use an online dictionary
)Some treatment faiscilities in The Netherlands use a programma that is based on The Circles van Dijk, as did mine.
It is the cornerstone of a 7-step programme, and it helped me tremendously.
The start of the programma is writing your life-story, further along the road comes practical tools like a crisis-handling plan (what to do, what to think, what not to do and not to think when you notice yourself slipping and heading for a crisis, crisis could mean a relapse and/or suicidal ideation/psychosis, to get yourself back to 'green' and do not go to 'red'.) social orientation, meaning and day/week structure.
The programme includes: running therapy, psycho motoric therapy, psycho-education, music therapy, cooking our own meals and doing our own croceries, cleaning the fascility and own bedroom, systemtherapy (involving family/friend/evironment), walking, social skill training, watching the news and the rest that i forget.
From breakfast till dinner, staff is present and part of the group, the eat the food we cook and drink the coffee we make.
It really is a group process and it mirrors a healthy home situation and working evironment (no shorts/sandals untill after 20.00, then its time to relax, when you join breakfast in your pyama you arent welcome)
The circles van Dijk, the 5 (or 6) vicious circles of addiction.
Professor dr. Kuno van Dijk, professor psychiatry in the city of Groningen, The Netherlands, made a model of the vicious circels of addiction in the late '70s.
This model offers the possibilty to understand more about the term addiction.
The model isn't really about 'the cause' of addiction, but it revolves around the factors that maintain addiction.
Early in time it was thought that addiction could stop by taking away one problem, nowadays the realisation is that there is almost never one specific cause, addiction and the related behaviour is the outcome of several factors (the five circles, see diagram)
All the factors play together, as cogwheels that keep eachother in movement..
Your addiction (substance) has an interaction with your physical condition, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms (pharmacologigy), social contacts and psychiatric wellbeing.
Ive added invironment, since where and how you live has a major impact as well.
By assuming this, threatment doesnt only involve quiting substance abuse, but also (re)building a social network, stabalising your pshychiatric wellbeing and improving physical condition.
If you do not adress all the cogwheels, there is a great danger you cannot maintain controle over your addiction and relapse.
See it like this, when there is one cogwheel still turning, all the wheels you had shut down, will start turning again.
The center focus is addiction/substance, but when you for example do not work on a social safety net, and let it keep turning, the others will start to turn again, including the substance wheel.
A real vicious circle.
In this light, no threatment programme is the same, as we are all different with different needs and curcomstances, resposibilities and abilities.
My threatment had a main focus on quitting substance abuse, physical excersise, social network, daytime activities and trauma counceling.
As being quite mature and had allready been working for a long time, i could go home in the weekends and walk in and out the building freely.
Other clients have different needs and problems.
Like this one girl, ill call her Anna, suffering from a clinical depression and suicidal ideation combined with addiction to medication, was not to be trusted alone outside, as she had a history of 'snapping' and either trying to kill herself or run away, apart from that she had to withdrawl for a year, as she was on a dozen of meds.
She would go outside with somebody else and had to build up going alone slowly over the course of months, her focus was stabilisation, detox and getting out of the misery depression is.
This concept makes no threatment the same, its individualised, it has no definitive timeframe, shape or outcome, and therefor i believe it is such a succes.
Ive seen people come in and out a lot of times, as i did too, but just as i am, a year later many of them are now clean and walk around smiling, just like me
Annex.
An important part of the 7-steps is a crisis-handling plan.
Its a personal file on wich you go deeper into your symptoms and how to act and or react to maintain safe an sober.
Most likely, but again thats personal, a 'traffic light construction' with three fases should do the the trick.
The phases are green, orange and red.
Green means you are well, sober, things work out for you and life is good in general.
Orange means you are in danger of a relapse.
Red means crisis, either psychiatric or as in a relapse.
REcocnising early warning signs from yourself is a huge first step to sobriety.
An example:
Green
signals---------------------helping thoughts--------------------------helping actions to stay in green
i sleep well---------------------i can do this, im living proof------------------make sure to keep my structure
i am happy---------------------im glad i feel good and im proud------------i excersise daily
i amongst people-------------of it-----------------------------------------------i avoid bars/coffeeshops
no stress-----------------------etc------------------------------------------------clean my house daily
etc.------------------------------------------------------------------------------etc.
Orange
signals---------------------helping thoughts-------------------------helping actions to go to green
i feel nervous------------------two steps forward, one step back--------i force myself to excersise
sleep disturbance------------i came a long way-----------------------------i do mindfullness
thinking about drugs--------if i stay sober life is easier-------------------i listen to positive music
etc-----------------------------etc------------------------------------------------i go see a close friend
Red
signals----------------------helping thoughts---------------------helping actions to go to orange
suicidal thoughts-----------i hate the hangovers!-----------------------i call my psychiatrist/doc
depressed--------------------i dont want to live like this----------------i call a crisis hotline
i relapsed---------------------there is a way out--------------------------i take a nap
dont go outside------------etc-----------------------------------------------take a cold shower
anxiety--------------------------------------------------------------------------etc------------------
In my current recovery (7 weeks sober tomorrow!) this plays a HUGE part.
The fact alone i really analised my problems and troubles cleared up alot.
Every morning i wake up i take my plan and check out whether i might be in orange an if so ill know what to do, and what not.
Sometimes it means changing plans for the day.
It really eases my mind knowing i made this plan, as a confirmation that there are other options besides drinking or whatever.
Sometimes 'nothing works', some days are just a mess, but then i find relief in knowing tomorrow things will be different at least, and most of the time better, out of that i find strength not to use.
Annex 2
Pro and cons balance for substance (ab)use
It can be helpfull to map your personal pro's and cons when it comes to substance (ab)use.
When you make this list, while still using, probably there are many short term pro's to using drugs/acohol. It will also give you some insight that there are actually short and long term pro's to not using.
A short look at this map can be a quick reminder for yourself to why you actually want to quit, and prefend a relapse.
Puts things in perspective.
an example.
Short term pro--------------------------------------------Long term Pro
calm my nervs---------------------------------------------
enjoy the rush--------------------------------------------
etc.-----------------------------------------------------------
Short term con--------------------------------------------Long term con
toxic--------------------------------------------------------- loose job
its dangerous (overdose)------------------------------- loose friends/family
disturbs sleep --------------------------------------------- may get homeless
hangover -------------------------------------------------- worsens pschiatric problems
costs money ---------------------------------------------- sick all the time
hate myself ---------------------------------------------- always nervous/restless
etc --------------------------------------------------------- cant take full potential of myself
-------------------------------------------------------------- no goals in life besided drugs
-------------------------------------------------------------- trouble with the law
-------------------------------------------------------------- look like shit---------------------------------------------------------
this would be a good one, because, yes there are some pro's from using in the short term, but they are totally outnumbered by the negatives.
As you can see, long term pro's to substance abuse is empty, when you want to quit, it should be like that.
Looking at this can be a quick reminder why you want to quit!
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