Heroin and Cornflakes

Suicide and Alcohol; Should we be Drinking Tea? (Hoasca that is)

An article, which appeared in Sunday’s online Guardian, featured an adoptive mother writing anonymously stating:

‘We didn’t know our babies had been damaged by alcohol.’ (1)

She went on to tell the story concerning two of her three adopted children who had developmental problems.

Their adopted son, Ryan, has just passed his 21st birthday in prison. He is on remand, awaiting trial for various violent offenses. Tracey, his 19-year-old half-sister, is not capable of living safely on her own.

When Ryan was first adopted, social workers told her that his birth mother ‘had learning difficulties’ and had been abusing alcohol and illegal drugs.

Ryan’s difficulties first surfaced when he was three. He was terribly clumsy and he kept tripping himself up each time he tried to run. Other problems included delayed speech and lack of concentration. An occupational therapist told her that he was severely dyspraxic, a problem of damage to nerve cells in the brain.

Tracey was born to Ryan’s birth mother 16 months later. Social workers took her from her mother straight away. Ryan’s adoptive mother adopted Tracy too. Like Ryan, she also had co-ordination problems, and was strangely passive.

At 11, she was diagnosed as having an autistic spectrum disorder and severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As a result, she was admitted to a school for children with special needs.

Ryan stayed in mainstream schools. At secondary school he couldn’t cope, often ridiculed by other kids. He would go missing and roamed the streets. At home he cried, threatened to kill himself, talked of how much he hated school, how the other boys and teachers laughed at him.

Then Ryan hit the bottle. Immediately he became violent. When he got drunk or ‘high on something’, he hit, punched and swore and smashed windows and mirrors. Then he began slashing himself with razors, knives and any sharp object he could find.

When his sister Tracy left school, she began drinking alcohol with friends, always away from home. Her parents would find her so drunk that she could not stand up, lying in the middle of the road. Tracey increasingly seemed drawn to putting herself into sexually threatening or exploitative situations with men.

As these constant problems became apparent, the family always asked themselves ‘why’?

Whilst looking for answers, they came across a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). It affects children whose mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy.(ZZ)

Research over the years leave little room for doubt that prenatal alcohol exposure has adverse effects on intellectual and neurobehavioral development.(2)

Although these deficits are most severe and have been documented most extensively in children with FAS, children prenatally exposed to lower levels of alcohol frequently exhibit similar problems.(3)

Full FAS comprises only about 10% of the spectrum. The other 90% may have fewer physical symptoms but are at greater risk for developing serious secondary conditions later on.(4)

People with prenatal alcohol exposure have a high risk of mental disabilities, learning disabilities, early school drop-out, juvenile delinquency, trouble with the law, alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, homelessness, poverty, incarceration, and mental illness.(5)

Is this a problem?

On any given day more than 126,000 youths are incarcerated in US jails and prisons. Approximately 500,000 youths are brought to detention centers in a given year.⁽⁶⁾

In the UK, 23 children per 100,000 of the population are locked up. (7)

Do these children receive help whilst in jails regarding their re-integration into mainstream society on release?

Hardly. Statistics reveal 82% of boys sentenced to custody are re-convicted within two years of release. (8)

Is there any other cause and effect which can be attributed to FAS sufferers?

It has been reported that nearly half of all adults with some form of FAS have depression and a significant percentage of those have attempted suicide. (9)

Should we be concerned?

In the last 45 years, suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years (both sexes); and these figures do not include suicide attempts up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide. (10)

A woman, for example, commits suicide every 90 minutes in the United States, but it is estimated that a woman attempts suicide every 78 seconds.(11)

Director of Blount Memorial Emotional Health & Recovery Center, Anna Shugart says: “there are several factors that can make a woman an increased risk for suicide. Hopelessness is a particularly strong predictor. Depression, talk of suicide, previous attempts, and increased alcohol or drug use also are strong indicators that a woman is contemplating suicide. ”

Does this hold for all female groups?

“It is well-established that suicide rates among black women are lower than those of white women. The lower rates are thought to be related to the protective factors of extended family networks and religion”, Shugart says.

What other groups are at high risk and what are their risk factors?

Although in the past suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries.(12)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) adheres to previous research that suggests mental disorders (particularly depression and substance abuse) are associated with more than 90% of all cases of suicide.(13)

They say alcoholism (both alcohol abuse and dependence on alcohol) is a frequent diagnosis in those who have committed suicide, particularly in young people.(14)

Worldwide suicide statistics lend weight to the suggestion of a relationship regarding alcohol and suicide.(see table 1 below).

On the whole, countries with a high consumption of alcohol by proof (e.g. vodka), tend to have high suicide rates whilst those countries whose religious beliefs forbid alcohol, tend to have lower suicide rates (although it must be recognized that alcohol is not necessary the overriding component in all countries, Poverty in Sri Lanka for example).

Suicide Rates (per 100,000) — Various Countries
Source: World Health Organization
Suicide rates per 100,000 by country, year and sex (Table 1); Most recent year available; as of 2008
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/

Rank	Country	Year	Males	Females	Both
1	LITHUANIA	5	68.1	12.9	81.0
2	BELARUS	3	63.3	10.3	73.6
3	RUSSIAN FEDERATION	5	58.1	9.8	67.9
4	SRI LANKA	91	44.6	16.8	61.4
5	HUNGARY	5	42.3	11.2	53.5
6	SLOVENIA	6	42.1	11.1	53.2
7	KAZAKHSTAN	5	45.0	8.1	53.1
8	LATVIA	5	42.0	9.6	51.6
9	JAPAN	6	34.8	13.2	48.0
10	UKRAINE	5	40.9	7.0	47.9
11	GUYANA	5	33.8	11.6	45.4
12	REPUBLIC OF KOREA	6	29.6	14.1	43.7
13	ESTONIA	5	35.5	7.3	42.8
14	BELGIUM	97	31.2	11.4	42.6
15	FINLAND	6	31.1	9.6	40.7
16	CROATIA	5	30.5	9.7	40.2
17	SERBIA	6	28.4	11.1	39.5
18	REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA	6	31.5	5.1	36.6
19	FRANCE	5	26.4	9.2	35.6
20	SWITZERLAND	5	24.7	10.5	35.2
21	CHINA (Hong Kong SAR)	5	22.0	13.1	35.1
22	POLAND	5	27.8	4.6	32.4
23	AUSTRIA	6	24.7	7.0	31.7
24	CZECH REPUBLIC	5	25.5	5.6	31.1
25	URUGUAY	1	24.5	6.4	30.9
26	CHINA (Selected rural & urban areas)	99	13.0	14.8	27.8
27	DENMARK	1	19.2	8.1	27.3
28	SWEDEN	2	19.5	7.1	26.6
29	BULGARIA	4	19.7	6.7	26.4
30	GERMANY	4	19.7	6.6	26.3
31	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO	0	20.9	4.9	25.8
32	SLOVAKIA	5	22.3	3.4	25.7
33	ROMANIA	4	21.5	4.0	25.5
34	CUBA	5	18.6	6.2	24.8
35	SURINAME	0	17.8	6.4	24.2
36	NEW ZEALAND	0	19.8	4.2	24.0
37	BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA	91	20.3	3.3	23.6
38	NORWAY	5	15.7	7.4	23.1
39	CANADA	4	17.3	5.4	22.7
40	PORTUGAL	3	17.5	4.9	22.4
41	ICELAND	5	16.2	6.1	22.3
42	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	5	17.7	4.5	22.2
43	LUXEMBOURG	5	17.7	4.3	22.0
44	AUSTRALIA	3	17.1	4.7	21.8
45	INDIA	98	12.2	9.1	21.3
46	CHILE	3	17.8	3.1	20.9
47	SINGAPORE	6	12.9	7.7	20.6
48	IRELAND	5	16.3	3.2	19.5
49	NETHERLANDS	4	12.7	6.0	18.7
50	KYRGYZSTAN	5	15.3	3.2	18.5
51	ARGENTINA	3	14.1	3.5	17.6
52	TURKMENISTAN	98	13.8	3.5	17.3
53	MAURITIUS	5	13.2	3.8	17.0
54	SPAIN	5	12.0	3.8	15.8
55	THAILAND	2	12.0	3.8	15.8
56	ZIMBABWE	90	10.6	5.2	15.8
57	SAINT LUCIA	2	10.4	5.0	15.4
58	BELIZE	1	13.4	1.6	15.0
59	ECUADOR	5	10.4	4.0	14.4
60	ITALY	3	11.0	3.4	14.4
61	NICARAGUA	5	11.1	3.3	14.4
62	EL SALVADOR	5	10.3	3.5	13.8
63	UNITED KINGDOM	5	10.4	3.2	13.6
64	TFYR MACEDONIA	3	9.5	4.0	13.5
65	PUERTO RICO	2	10.9	1.8	12.7
66	COSTA RICA	5	10.6	1.9	12.5
67	ISRAEL	3	10.4	2.1	12.5
68	PANAMA	3	11.1	1.4	12.5
69	MALTA	4	7.0	4.9	11.9
70	COLOMBIA	0	8.9	2.6	11.5
71	UZBEKISTAN	3	8.1	3.0	11.1
72	VENEZUELA	2	8.4	1.8	10.2
73	SEYCHELLES	87	9.1	0.0	9.1
74	BRAZIL	2	6.8	1.9	8.7
75	MEXICO	5	7.0	1.4	8.4
76	ALBANIA	3	4.7	3.3	8.0
77	BAHAMAS	0	6.0	1.3	7.3
78	GREECE	6	5.9	1.2	7.1
79	SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES	3	6.8	0.0	6.8
80	PARAGUAY	3	4.5	1.6	6.1
81	BAHRAIN	88	4.9	0.5	5.4
82	TAJIKISTAN	1	2.9	2.3	5.2
83	GEORGIA	1	3.4	1.1	4.5
84	GUATEMALA	3	3.4	0.9	4.3
85	PHILIPPINES	93	2.5	1.7	4.2
86	KUWAIT	2	2.5	1.4	3.9
87	ARMENIA	3	3.2	0.5	3.7
88	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	1	2.9	0.6	3.5
89	AZERBAIJAN	2	1.8	0.5	2.3
90	SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE	87	0.0	1.8	1.8
91	PERU	0	1.1	0.6	1.7
92	BARBADOS	1	1.4	0.0	1.4
93	IRAN	91	0.3	0.1	0.4
94	JAMAICA	90	0.3	0.0	0.3
95	SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC	85	0.2	0.0	0.2
96	EGYPT	87	0.1	0.0	0.1
97	ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA	95	0.0	0.0	0.0
98	HAITI	3	0.0	0.0	0.0
99	HONDURAS	78	0.0	0.0	0.0
100	JORDAN	79	0.0	0.0	0.0
101	SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS	95	0.0	0.0	0.0

However, table 1 shows that the Russian Federation and former Soviet states figure high. In these countries, alcohol related problems have often been reported.(15)

There, men participate in more dangerous drinking patterns than women characterized by frequent drinking and binge or heavy drinking in each session, although young women are increasingly drinking in dangerous ways.(16)

Vodka represents about 75 percent of the alcohol consumed in the country and survey data showed that about one-third of Russian males admitted to binge drinking vodka at least once per month . (17)

Both the frequency and volume of alcohol consumption decline with age, with men 18–54 years old and women aged 18–35 years old drinking greater quantities more frequently.(18)

A research report by M Bobak et al confirm high levels of alcoholrelated problems in Russia yet they found in general a low volume of drinking occurred.

They say thebinge drinking pattern partly explains this self-contradictory finding.

They concluded that overall alcohol consumption does not suffice as an estimateof alcohol related problems at the population level – it is the type of beverage.

However, heavy episodic drinking and consumption of distilled spirits have been shown to be significantly related to suicide. (19)

This was substantiated in a report by W. Pridemore which not only confirmed an association between heavy drinking and suicide in Russia, but when compared to findings from previous studies of other countries they led to the hypothesis that a nation’s beverage preference may be as important as ‘its wet/dry drinking culture in its sensitivity of suicide rates to alcohol consumption.(20)

Southern and central Europe are considered beer and wine countries, whereas distilled spirits are more prevalent in East Europe, Scandinavia and Russia. This beverage-specific hypothesis is consistent with studies that have shown an association between spirits and suicide but not between overall or beer/wine consumption and suicide. (21)

What about the Americas?

One country that features below average suicide rates is Brazil.

One beverage preference of some in that country is a drink of foul-tasting tea known as ‘avahuasca’ (hoasca) brewed from two plants from the amazon rain forest, which contain psycho-active substances.

The tea is used in services held every other Saturday at the Santa Fe chapter of the religious group known as O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) – Portuguese for Central Beneficial Spirit United in the Plants.(22)

The UDV was founded in 1961 by Mestre Gabriel and now claims 14,000 members who are organized into small groups located in cities throughout the country.

Members come from a variety of backgrounds but are mainly people on low and middle incomes, sometimes with whole families taking part. (23) The religious philosophy is a hybrid of Christianity, spiritualism, eastern mysticism and moral values related to the family, peace and love.

Members are forbidden to use alcohol and cautioned against committing adultery, but otherwise prohibitions are few. Children below the age of 12 cannot partake in the ceremonies.

The religion has spread to the US where Jeffrey Bronfman founded the New Mexico chapter in a yurt in Arroyo Hondo, a kilometer from Santa Fe in 1992.

The Brofman family once headed the Seagram Company Ltd.

The Seagram Company Ltd was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world.(24)

On May 21, 1999, federal agents raided Bronfman’s office in Santa Fe and confiscated 30 gallons of the tea shipped from Brazil, but made no arrests.

A year later, Bronfman and other members of Uniao do Vegetal or UDV, filed a complaint in an Albuquerque court charging the seizure violated their constitutional rights.

District judge James Parker upheld the group’s right to use hoasca, but the previous administration of the then president George Bush, appealed to the Supreme Court.

In 2006, the high court unanimously upheld judge Parker.

So, is it safe and what effect does it have?

Hoasca rarely causes health problems to UDV members. A seven-year study in Brazil showed that of approximately 325,000 users of hoasca, there were only nine minor health problems reported.(25)

Another study by Hoffmann et al reported that an overall assessment revealed a ‘ high functional status of hoasca users with no safety issues’.(26)

The researches used an electroencephalogram (EEG), a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain, on hoasca consumers during a religious ceremony in Brazil.

They found the subjects displayed: “In contrast to the waking or deep sleep states, there is a very special state of light sleep. Identified by an EEG pattern of theta frequencies (4-7Hz), this transitory condition has been referred to as the reverie state, the fringe of consciousness, the pre-conscious, and the twilight state”.

A number of illustrious individuals from the fields of science, music, literature and art have credited the imagery produced during the twilight state for creative solutions or inspiring thoughts.

They went on to say;

“In an altered state of increased EEG theta and alpha activity, the individual exhibits greater susceptibility and better conscious access to his unconscious realms of experience without interference from his critical, analytical mind which is silenced. This is exactly what happens in hypnosis and, we believe, during the altered state of consciousness induced by hoasca.

However, in this latter state the individual is his own hypnotist and therapist. He may have new profound insights into his own behavior patterns and may learn to integrate previously unconscious material at a higher level of consciousness.

In neurological terms the individual learns to raise, for example, emotional conflicts from a limbic to a neocortical level where the problems can be processed, understood and integrated.”

It was also found that users displayed considerable alleviation from certain mental disorders and substance abuse among the long-term users with no evidence of personality or cognitive disturbances. (27)

There you have it.

With all the alcohol related problems being increasingly encountered by certain members of our society, is there a case for hoasca to be introduced mainstream?

While not having first hand experience of the tea or the religious practices involved, it does seem apparent that there are positive experiences to be achieved with no detrimental effect on ones well being – unlike alcohol.

Prohibition has been tried, but to no avail.

Whilst not advocating a new prohibitive era, surely something has to be done. As you read this article, someone is attempting suicide or a youth is being convicted of a felony.

There must be recognition of the problem. Governments cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand.

With so many suffering from alcohol enhanced problems that result in either death or incarceration, it would appear present help programs are failing.

New policies need to be undertaken.

Could these policies include religious tea drinking practices that provide motivation for troubled individuals to refrain from alcohol consumption? Motivation that is stimulated from within and helps the individual visualize their environment in a better light – not through an alcohol induced haze with depressive consequences.

It’s plain to see that hard spirits are the main culprit and binge drinking of these beverages ultimately lead to neurological problems especially amongst children where it serves to enhance these problems.

However, the problem is not only with children but adults as well – especially pregnant woman who consume alcohol. It would appear these events are circular -passed from one generation to the next.

It is evident that alternative lifestyles are required for these people to aid distraction from alcohol consumption.

Would drinking hoasca tea help pregnant women and would it have an effect on the unborn child?

Well, it can’t be worse than consuming alcohol. Alternative measures need to be introduced.

If these alternative measures help a person feel good without being detrimental to health, then it may help break the viscous circle.

Only if the government doesn’t have an alternative agenda that is. Conflict of interest springs to mind. Certain groups would lose out if folk like Ryan started getting better. Groups that are making huge profits out of him and countless others like him.

Related Article;

Death, Undertakers and the Environment

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Science now has the basic corpus of data needed to ask further questions regarding the pharmacological actions, the toxicities and possible dangers, and the considerable potential ayahuasca has to heal the human mind, body and spirit.

For further info www.maps.org/ayahuasca

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Suicide help

If you are feeling suicidal now, please stop long enough to read this. ..www.metanoia.org

other sites

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://suicidal.com/

http://www.suicide.org/

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