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Leprosy and addiction: a common source of pain (NEW: July 8'04) Ralph Crawshaw is a psychiatrist in Orgeon (USA) who for decades has written for The Pharos, a publicaiton of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society. In 2002 he published (Medi-Ed Press) a book of essays entitled Compassion's Way, and in it he describes his contact with leprosy patients in India. He observes (page 70): "Diabolically, leprosy preserves the illusion of health by destroying the pain fibers that lead to the brain. Only those fibers that run to the heart remain intact. The pain of leprosy originates in the eye of the beholder and becomes pain for the patient as he is shunned and ostracized, as he loses the humanness he once possessed. The pain of leprosy is not inflicted by the bacillus but by his fellow man." We believe precisely this statement can be made with respect to the individual dependent on illicit substances. A review of Compasison's Way by Robert Perlman MD PhD appears in the current issue of Pharos, Spring 2004, pp 59-60.
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