EXPERT ADVICE ON GHB

Published: Nov 10, 2006

Recognizing A Problem

“The coaches are often the first people to see a problem,” says Alex Stalcup, of New Leaf Treatment Center in Lafayette, Calif. “If they see something and don’t act on it, that’s malpractice in my world.”

Oftentimes coaches at the prep level don’t know whom to talk to, don’t want to get the player in trouble, or don’t want to lose him from the squad. That concern is especially pervasive in professional sports, where players are hindered by the lengthy detox period.

Look For Red Flags

“GHB can present as your garden-variety psychotic episode, which you can also see in schizophrenia or mania. I think sometimes we suspect [GHB], but we never have any bona fide evidence of what’s going on,” says David Kershaw, manager of Mental Health Care Inc. in Tampa.

Red flags: people who talk about getting nervous or jittery if they miss a dose of a supplement they are taking; frequent use that leads to anxiety, restlessness and inability to sleep if they go for a short period without taking it.

Treatment Problems

Very little is known about how GHB works or whether its effects can be irreversible. People are ingesting a solvent, and solvents can cause brain damage. More research into what happens once GHB crosses the blood-brain barrier is needed if treatment is to become more effective.

“This withdrawal state often gets missed,” says Karen Miotto, addiction researcher at UCLA. “A lot of hospitals chalk it up to ‘just another druggie.’ And there’s still the horrific problem where people try to get treatment and they get sent away or don’t have the money.”

‘Be There For Them’

“This is not a tough-love drug,” says Trinka Porrata, founder of Project GHB. “Relapse is almost guaranteed. It may be a binge of one night or another year of insanity. But you just have to be there for them when they do fall. You have to just keep struggling with them.”

One thing that sets GHB apart from other drugs is its amnesiac qualities. People have no memory of the horrors of their withdrawal.

Give It Time

“The chemistry you have in your brain to deal with GHB stress is disturbed. The nervous system is easily excitable. You have to have a period of time that is true recovery,” says David Myers, of the Health Care Connection of Tampa.

There is a tendency to resume a normal lifestyle as quickly as possible — to return to school, work and other daily activities. But Myers recommends taking six months to a year before returning to the pressures of life before treatment. The patient may have successfully completed detox, but he or she remains highly susceptible to everyday stress that can lead to relapse.