April 23, 2005
Beating Alcoholism
Russia has contributed more than its share to the advancement of scientific knowledge, and it's good to hear that they keep on making breakthroughs:
Alexei says he was an irredeemable alcoholic until he met Marina. He gave up drinking after the Novosibirsk psychiatrist beat him on the buttocks with a flexible rod. ... Patients are required to undergo at least one session of 300 blows to the buttocks per week during the first three weeks of treatment. After that, they receive beatings at their own request but no less than once per month.
To be fair, maybe they're on to something:
Alcoholics and drug addicts, especially those addicted to opiate-based substances such as heroin, suffer from a lack of endorphins, otherwise known as happiness hormones. As a result, the sensitivity of the top layer of skin is reduced, making addicts "uncomfortable in their own skins." The beatings - which Chukhrova sometimes administers but are usually carried out by male staff - make patients "feel their own bodies" again and reduce cravings for drugs and alcohol.Skeptics aside, the important thing for Alexei, the patient in Novosibirsk, is that he is no longer drinking after a year in treatment. "You feel like an idiot during it. Imagine being beaten on the ass," he said. "You cry, scream, curse."
Though let's not forget that this development comes from a country whose national pastime is sitting with friends and strangers, naked, in a small wooden room, where the temperature gets close to 90 degrees Celsius, all while hitting each other with birch branches and imbibing copious amounts of a certain clear liquid.
(Just to clarify, that's not me in the pics...)
Posted by Owen at April 23, 2005 05:47 PM