Every morning, about the time I turn onto May Valley Road, the local radio station broadcasts a spot for Schick Shadel Hospital, which claims that in just ten days they can, well, cure alcoholism.
But they’re a tad reticent about what method they use, exactly. Since I understand that alcoholism has a genetic component, whatever they do must be pretty strong juju.
Anybody here have experience with Schick Shadel? What did they do? How well did it work?
It may well be a series of treatments with something that induces a strong aversion to alcohol.
I wonder if it has anything to do with citrus products and watch makers
Yep, it’s aversion therapy; according to their website, the package includes:
[monitored withdrawal, with medication if necessary]
* Aversion Therapy (Emetine or Faradic)
* Rehabilitation Interview (light sedation)
* Relaxation Therapy
* All pharmacy and laboratory services
[counseling and follow-up for lifestyle changes]
My grandfather and an uncle went to Shadel hospital around 1950. They was given whiskey, then Anabuse, a drug that causes acute vomiting in association with ETOH. It’s no longer used because it can cause esophogeal rupture.
My grandfather never touched alcohol again, but uncle died a few years later after daily alcohol use.
I’m sure they use other drugs for aversion now.
Thank you all for responding. picunurse’s story is interesting.
Antabuse (disulfiram) is still commonly used in the US, and it’s even more popular in Europe.
It’s not a simple cure-all, though.
I just noticed what that hospital is using for aversive therapy: “Emetine or Faradic”. Emetine is best known to most people as “ipecac”, a general emetic. “Faradic” is best known as “electric shock” – this is probably an external shock applied through an inductive coil as an aversive stimulus, not the “electroshock” (ECT) used for e.g. depression.
I’m no particular expert in the treatment of alcoholism, but I’d have doubts about the effectiveness of those particular elements of the treatment plan. I don’t recall having read about those therapies in many years, but what I read didn’t exactly seem promising. Maybe there have been advances in that field, I don’t know.
Ten days does seem brief, especially since the first 2-3 days are often spent under sedation to reduce the risk of withdrawal seizures in the first 48 hours or so (uncommon, but still one of the leading causes of seizures in the US) and DTs on Days 2-4. However, I doubt many programs do the 30-day hospitalizations that were common (or at least not uncommon) when I was in training (I feel old, thinking about the days before HMO-forced discharges!)
i recently went though the program and im glad i did. I dont know how much i can tell leagally, just call them please [removed phone number]. Take a tour, talk to a counseling member there all good people that want to help you. The whole staff does it beacuse they want to not that they half to.I had very positive time in treatment im glad i did it. I drank every day so i had to go in to detox for three days before i started the program, please be honest with them it will only help you.Then i started the ten day program and rest was all down hill. I even found myself haveing fun with other members of the group, never laught so much in my life.Go figure in rehab, but it was the truth. I hope you find your way and happyness in your life i did. Call them, it will be the best ten days you ever had trust me. Sincerely rehabbroger good luck…
Why wouldn’t you be able to talk about it legally? What’s prohibiting you?
His first post - glowing endorsement:dubious: - “As seen on Google Search” - drive-by shotgun blast, thanks for stopping by!
As long as relapses don’t count, alcoholism can be cured in one day.
Sounds like Quitters Inc.
They only need a few days!
Courtesy of Stephen King
My Father, a doctor, went through a battle with alcoholism. He was willing to try anything to make the battle easier. Believe me, he researched all sorts of pharmaceutical ‘solutions’, and tried at least one. His own physician took him off that in short time. There is no ten day solution to addiction.
The road to recovery is long and full of detours for most people. A combination of AA, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and treatment for depression during a stay at a facility for Seniors with psychological problems is what finally enabled my father to stay sober. This was after one sixty day stay at a treatment center in B.C., a ninety day stay at Betty Ford Center, a couple years of AA, a lot of pain and suffering and many, many empty bottles.
If these guys could really do what they say they would never have to advertise. They would get referrals from every alcoholic’s Doctor. Snake oil.
My comments below are based on my own experience, and observations from watching people that succeed and others who fail at staying sober through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous…a group which I realize is not held in high regard my many. It does have an advantage over expensive treatment programs in that you need not be wealthy to keep trying it until it works, and it is not uncommon for a drunk to need several swings at the ball before connecting.
This. When you get to define “cure” then your success rate can be very high. If an alcoholic has not done major damage to internal organs, then they will start feeling pretty healthy around 2-3 months dry, and memories of hangovers and blackouts start to mellow with age, and sleep patterns start to normalize. It is not uncommon for them to decide that they are now cured, and can therefore safely drink in moderation. This seldom, if ever, works out well, because by the time treatment is sought, an alcoholic will usually have lost all ability to limit his consumption, and no, there doesn’t seem to be a way to restore that ability.
Even if they don’t decide they are “cured,” many will end up drinking again if they maintain their old habits and ways of thinking and dealing with others. Many, probably most, alcoholics drink to escape unpleasant emotions. Without tools other than alcohol to deal with shame, resentment, fear, anger, etc. it is only a matter of time before the dry alcoholic picks up a bottle again. Long term sobriety depends on acquiring sufficient skills to deal with life’s ups and downs without needing to escape into drunken oblivion. These skills will not typically be learned well enough to stay sober in less than a many months at least, and often well over a year, and then honed through maintenance and practice throughout life.
Without such skills, the dry alcoholic is frequently, as they say in AA, restless, irritable, and discontent. Some of strong will can maintain such a state for months or even more than a year, but they will not be pleasant company most of that time. The trick is for the alcoholic to learn to enjoy his life without alcohol. That done, staying sober is no feat at all.
If the program in question allows people to live a pleasant life, and still be dry after a couple of years, then I’d say it is successful. If success is measured as days or even a few months without drink, then I can recommend a number of cheap and even free ways to do that. Here’s one: “Just don’t drink.” I know at least a dozen alcoholics (one is me) who made that one work for a month or three.
Are there clinics now where you have to sign an NDA to get treated?
I had no idea these guys were still around. I have only one story about them, they successfully cured a relative of a friend of mine. Sure enough, he could no longer abuse the substance he had been addicted to.
He suicided some time later, within a year as I recall.
Behaviorism has its limits.
[quote=“Rocketeer, post:1, topic:429153”]
Every morning, about the time I turn onto May Valley Road, the local radio station broadcasts a spot for Schick Shadel Hospital, which claims that in just ten days they can, well, cure alcoholism.
But they’re a tad reticent about what method they use, exactly. Since I understand that alcoholism has a genetic component, whatever they do must be pretty strong juju.
Anybody here have experience with Schick Shadel? What did they do? How well did it work?[/QUOT
Schick Shadel uses Aversion Therapy and it is the most effective treatment plan in the U.S. 10 days stay there includes 5 days of sedation therapy and 5 days of aversion therapy. There are qualified doctors and nurses on staff, along with SA counselors (who are also available to you for AFTERCARE following the 10 days). There is a Detox unit if necessary, or just the straight 10 days of therapy. The aversion part has the patient starting at a low level of drinking alcohol following an aversion drug. By the 10th day, the patient feels a very strong aversion to alcohol. Patients are given a similar drug for the treatment of other substances (heroin, benzos, etc.) Schick Shadel is the BEST treatment plan, and as a graduate of their program, I can testify to that. 19 months of sobriety, and the urge/craving for ANY alcohol is gone COMPLETELY. They do not subscribe to the AA’s philosophies, which in my opinion was one of the reasons I went there. They also have a facility in Texas. If anyone would like to know Exactly how the 10 days is spent at Schick Shadel, I recommend reading “Drink Up”, a former patient’s account of her stay at Schick.
Thanks for the insight!
Or the Hellgrammite Method.