Fighting addiction at a Thai monastery

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Fighting addiction at a Thai monastery

By Jorge Silva

REUTERS

 

Turkish-German patient Cengiz (C) attends his ordination ceremony at Wat Thamkrabok monastery in Saraburi province, Thailand, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

SARABURI, Thailand (Reuters) - Cengiz seemed to have it all.

 

A high-paying job in Germany's tech sector gave him money and prestige, but his life was spiralling out of control. A cocaine addiction had pushed him to the brink of suicide.

 

Desperate for escape after waking up one morning in a pool of his own blood, he found salvation half a world away at a Buddhist monastery in Thailand known for its drug rehabilitation programme.

 

"Wat Thamkrabok absolutely changed my life," said the 38-year-old Turkish German - now known as Monk Atalo - who came to the monastery 14 years ago and has returned several times to pray and meditate.

 

"My job was really stressful and I was a slave of Western high-performance society," said Atalo, who hopes to write a book about his experiences. Like others interviewed for this story, he declined to provide his surname.

 

Wat Thamkrabok, 140 km (87 miles) north of Bangkok, has treated more than 110,000 people since it started its programme in 1959, the monastery says.

 

"Here we have a particular way to practice Buddhism, and it fits very well into the treatment of drug addiction," said Monk Jeremy, a 37-year-old Australian who underwent treatment at the monastery three years ago for heroin addiction.

 

Treatment begins with a "Sajja" ceremony in which patients take a sacred vow never to use drugs again.

 

Patients then drink, for at least five days in a row, a strong herbal medicine that induces vomiting.

 

Vomiting is followed by a daily herbal steam bath to aid the detoxification process.

 

No contact with the outside world is permitted during the first five days of treatment. Patients pass the time by meditating, playing table tennis and weightlifting, and manual work such as painting and making Buddha statues.

 

Some experts have questioned the effectiveness of Wat Thamkrabok's methods.

 

"I cannot advocate for that type of treatment because there is absolutely no sound evidence nor research behind it," said Brian Russman, clinical director of The Cabin, a drug rehabilitation centre in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

 

Patients were vulnerable to relapse without follow-up therapy or peer support, he added.

 

Nat, in her fourth week of treatment, said she was afraid to leave the temple for fear of a relapse. The 24-year-old from northeast Thailand started using methamphetamines two years ago to stay awake during her night job as a go-go dancer in Bangkok.

 

"I can't leave until I recover my self-confidence. The only job I have is at the bar and I need to go back to it," said Nat, whose 7-year-old daughter lives in the countryside with her grandmother.

 

Henry, a 37-year-old heroin addict from Britain, came to Wat Thamkrabok after trying several traditional rehab clinics.

 

"For many of us here, this is our last chance," he said.

 

(Additional reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-11

[kannot]

"A slave of the Western society"  which earnt you the money to waste your  time at the monastery

[soalbundy]

I would have thought that you were more likely to get an addiction at a Thai Temple, not cure one.

[taharkin]

I spent a month at a Thai forest monastery--Wat Pah Nanachat--thirty years ago researching a book.  An unexpected positive outcome for me personally was a loss of craving for alcohol.  I'd had at least a drink a day, usually more, every day of my life since I went off to college.  Living in an environment where everyone--monks and laypeople alike--refrains from intoxicants made it easy to abstain the month I was there.  But, thankfully, I never had the old craving again.  Unlike working a 12-step program, I have been able to enjoy a social glass of wine once a week or so, but with no desire for more.  I won't claim this will work for everyone.  Good antidepressants have come along in the past 30 years as well, which also helps reduce the craving (and makes taking a second drink rather unpleasant--too much of a quick buzz!)  But a close family member, ten years younger, stayed with booze, started mixing in street drugs, lost a good job and was pretty well washed up in his fifties...

Edited May 11, 2017 by taharkin

[Canada]

Who cares what the clinical director for the Cabin thinks? Of course I'm sure he'd advocate for their very expensive treatment program with unproven outcomes. 

Fact of the matter of recovery from addiction is that no - one particular methodology works consistently for all addicts. End of that story. 

Cheers to the monks at Wat Thamkrabok. Working with addicts is difficult. 

[jeab1980]

If it works for him good. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Good luck.

[Ulysses G.]

This cure was featured in a really good autobiographical book about an expat who turned into an opium addict. He wrote a number of guide books about South East Asia and knew a lots old timers that I knew too.  He was addicted with Roxana Brown - a famous old time Thailand expat who he felt died from going cold Turkey against her will. He was severely addicted and felt the Wat Thamkrabok cure saved him.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212353/Opium-addict-smoked-20-pipes-day-details-love-affair-drug-vomit-therapy-cured-him.html

Edited May 12, 2017 by Ulysses G.