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Beating Addiction

From Bondage to Freedom Holder maintains that any addicted person will have one or more vertebrae out of alignment. Dr. Jay M. Holder shows why combining chiropractic, auriculotherapy, amino acids, counseling and 12-step programs may be the groundbreaking answer to all addictions including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, nicotine, eating disorders, sex and gambling.

In the first days of its second century, chiropractic may be a bold, effective, and inexpensive solution to the alarming problem of addictions. An estimated 20 % of the U.S. population suffers from some form of addiction and over 80% of all crime is traceable to addictions or substance abuse. Even more shocking, according to the National Center for Substance Abuse and Treatment, addiction is implicated in 69% of drownings, 68% of manslaughters, 49% of murders, 50% of all traffic fatalities, and 35% of all suicides. Add to this deaths from drug overdose and related substance abuse complications, and you have a health problem of staggering proportions. Chemical dependency can be fatal.

Several years ago, at the age of 26, a salesman named John came to see Dr. Holder. Depressed, displaying psychotic behavior and strung out on alcohol and cocaine. He’d seen four psychiatrists who had given him different mood-altering drugs, which only worsened his condition. He had started addiction programs twice, but finished neither and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings but quit when he found them “boring.” He’d go off drugs for a few weeks, sometimes several months, then relapse.

John’s future was not promising. His parents refused to pay for further treatment programs, which were costing $16,000 a month. His insurance company had written him off as hopeless, and any other addictionologist might have recommended more AA meetings and wished him well.

After taking John’s case history, Dr. Holder examined him on the treatment table with a system he developed called Torque Release Technique. Holder was able to tell which vertebrae in John’s spinal column were out of alignment, a condition called “subluxation.” “For chiropractors, a subluxation means a separation from wholeness,” says Dr. Holder. “It interferes with your body’s ability to function in a whole way, which is a form of neurological insult.”

Holder maintains that any addicted person will have a spine with at least one or more vertebrae out of alignment. Using an FDA approved hand-held spinal adjustment instrument he calls the “Integrator”, Holder makes a few chiropractic adjustments during each visit, painlessly administering a minimum of force and pressure.

In addition to correcting John’s misalignments, Dr. Holder started him on a series of four amino acids (precursors or building blocks for the proteins normally found in foods) taken daily as oral supplements. They included DL-phenylalinine (750 mg. 3 times daily), 5- hydroxytryptophan (75 mg. 3 times daily), L-glutamine (750 mg.), and L-tyrosine (500 mg. 3 times daily). Dr. Holder will keep John on this amino acid combination for at least a year into recovery.

Although according to Dr. Holder’s theory, chiropractic adjustment will remove the interference to the natural flow of brain chemicals, it is still necessary to shore up the body’s supplies of these substances, vital to addiction recovery.

Specifically, the amino acids, especially DL-phenylalanine, the “addiction-treatment king,” will help the brain restore the “brain reward cascade” and the body-wide sense of well-being it induces. By reducing stress and lifting depression, they will help John make important changes in his behavior and attitude, which are crucial to the success of his treatment program.

In addition, John is attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings every day and receiving expert addiction counseling at least once a week, both of which are provided in Dr. Holder’s Exodus program. He may also receive the auriculotherapy Dr. Holder has developed as an adjunct to treatment.

“We integrate all five modalities for the best results,” Holder explains, “but I emphasize that of all the modalities, the one that offers the greatest benefit for the dollar invested is chiropractic.”

Left: Dr. Holder performing auriculotherapy; treating ear points with his hand-held microcurrent stimulator, the “Stim Plus Pro.” Right: Dr. Holder adjusts a patient with the “Integrator,” an FDA approved device he invented that reproduces the hands of a chiropractor to remove misalignment. After just one week of treatment with chiropractic and amino acids, John had already begun to improve. His family couldn’t believe the changes in his condition and wanted to know what kind of miracle Dr. Holder had performed. “He doesn’t yell or mope anymore,” said John’s mother. “He is more attentive, smiles frequently, even goes to work on time,” said his father. And John said, “I don’t cry at night any more and I no longer dream about my drug.”

Holder wasn’t surprised. He’s seen results like this often with many other addicted people. “Under chiropractic care, they show a remarkable difference compared to any other addiction treatment program. They become open, relaxed and compliant as their anxiety and depression lift. Their heads clear, their thinking improves, they get in touch with their feelings, and they open up to group therapy and the treatment program with a surprising intensity.” A couple of years later when John paid Dr. Holder a visit, he was still off drugs, had gotten married and had never relapsed.

Dr. Holder believes that, technically, there is no cure for addictions. “Once a pickle, never a cucumber,” he says. Addiction treatment experts speak in terms of recovery and the ability to stay off drugs more or less permanently.

The key factor in successful treatment addiction studies shows how long an addicted person will stay in the treatment program. Those who finish a comprehensive program of three months or more, stand an 85% chance of staying drug-free five years later. If you can get people to finish the program, you come as close as possible to “curing” them. Dr. Holder calls it “securing an on-going recovery.”