Physical and psychological discomfort, anxiety, distress and pain (distress/pain) have a large number of overlaps in our brain and throughout our body, but especially in the area of our distress/pain-relieving "bio-chemistry". "Bio-chemistry" refers to the chemicals that we make inside our own bodies. Most addiction is associated with relief-seeking behaviors. People have used alcohol and marijuana for centuries to self-medicate, risking addiction. But one can become “addicted” or “dependent” on our own bio-chemicals as well as those drugs/medications that mimic them. The first hour of this session examines how our distress/pain relieving bio-chemicals work in our body; the second focuses on ways to trigger the release of our distress/pain-relieving bio-chemicals, thereby mitigating (reducing the impact of) our discomfort, anxiety, distress, and pain. This content is pertinent to prevention, intervention, and treatment.
Participants will be able to:
- Name the 6 major bio-chemicals that are designed to help us manage physical and psychological discomfort, anxiety, distress, and pain (distress/pain)
- Name two of examples of distress/pain relieving "drugs" and our matching bio-chemicals that they mimic
- Name at least one example of a disease/disorder attributable to misuse of our distress/pain-relieving bio-chemicals
- Name at least two examples of healthy distress/pain-management techniques that stimulate our distress/pain-relieving bio-chemistry
- Name at least one distress/pain-management technique they will employ and teach
