Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 Source: USA Today (US) Copyright: 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc Contact: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466 Author: Karen S. Peterson, USA TODAY Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?170 (Downey, Robert Jr.) DON'T WRITE OFF THE ADDICT, EXPERTS ADVISE The fact that actor Robert Downey Jr. can't stay out of trouble should not surprise his fans. Substance-abuse experts are far too familiar with the continuing self-destructive spiral of celebrities, such as Downey and baseball star Darryl Strawberry, who struggle against addictions. "Nobody in the field is surprised" when the famous fail yet again, says Rosalind Brannigan, vice president of Drug Strategies, a non-profit research institute. An addiction to drugs is "a recurring, relapsing disease." Stopping is "not unlike trying to diet or quit smoking. You have many, many attempts before you are successful." Downey voluntarily went into rehab again after another arrest Tuesday, capping a five-year saga of legal troubles from drug abuse. Strawberry, who has battled colon cancer, has attended thousands of hours of treatment for substance abuse since 1990. His addiction torpedoed a superstar career. Relapses are "disheartening, but not so surprising," says Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "What is critical is that the abuser get back into treatment," which increases the time between relapses. Deciding that the addict is hopeless and writing him off is a "moral judgment that will not work," he says. Drug use actually changes the brain itself, he says, and "makes you compulsive about the drug. It is a myth that millions quit addictions on their own every year." Addicts tell themselves they can control their craving, says Craig Nakken, author of The Addictive Personality. "Then they betray themselves, their family and their friends. Then there is more pain. And the more pain there is, the more the need for the chemical." Leshner says relapses can be triggered by stress; exposure once again to the "cues" associated with drug use, such as hanging out with drug-abusing friends; and using any amount of the substance again. Most experts are not enamored of the term "addictive personality" to describe the person who stumbles. "There is no such thing in the traditional sense as an addictive personality" that in turn causes addiction, Nakken says. "There is no such thing," agrees Sheila Blume, who heads a committee on addiction treatment for the American Psychiatric Association. "There are addictive people. But when you look at them carefully before they got addicted, they don't share a common personality." Many different types of people succumb, she says. Genetics may actually be the biggest cause of addiction, Leshner says. It may account for 50% to 70% of a person's vulnerability to becoming addicted after trying a given drug. LOAD-DATE: April 26, 2001 - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D