A study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (cited below and linked here) has confirmed that chronic and excessive use of alcohol leads to molecular changes in the brain. The study pinpointed some specific targets for therapeutic intervention in an alcohol rehab setting.

In particular the senior author, Dr Qiang Gu, believes that they have found a protein that is related to the cause of alcohol dependence and tolerance. This means that further research may be able to develop a drug that will inhibit this molecule and treat the disease. In other words an alcohol rehab center in South Africa will be able to effectively medicate the dependence and tolerance and then use psychotherapeutic techniques to apply behavioural changes directed towards long term abstinence.

People entering drug rehab centers in South Africa often show signs of being depressed. It is sometimes difficult in the early stages to tell the difference between depression as a result of the losses of addiction and depression that is caused by a seperate mental disorder.

The area of the brain that is associated with the emotional content of memories is the amygdala which is part of the limbic system. It constantly receives information as the person experiences the world, translates and stores them into emotional memories. For people who abuse substances the "high" (intense euphoria) of using becomes strongly associated with the action of using. In a sense the brain takes a photograph of the moment and remembers this as the acme of happiness. Any future pleasure is compared to the chemically induced euphoria. Many people arrive in drug rehab or alcohol rehab centers in South Africa not knowing how to experience pleasure in normal ways. They feel lost without chemicals and don't know how to have fun without being drunk or high.

In Western culture we see ourselves as autonomous individuals living fairly independent lives. This worldview is transferred into the clinical approach known as the psychomedical model. This treatment paradigm is very focused on the individual as the entity of study.

As humans we live in societies and organize ourselves into networks of relationships. We all have individual needs and wants and somehow need to make these known. There is an old saying that goes "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar", the question is how can we get another person to agree to our requests?