Dr Neil Beck has been a suburban Family Doctor in Perth, Western Australia since 1963. In 1997 he set out to find better solutions for Western Australia's epidemic of Drug Addiction and Alcoholism. He soon discovered that Drug Addiction and Alcoholism were almost always the result of people with Mental Health Problems Self Medicating with Street Drugs and/or Alcohol, all of which are Addictive. Addictive Substances which Addicts and Alcoholics crave for at any price are much more profitable for the Street Drug Industry, which doesn't bother with non addictive substances. Even the prescribed medications that you can buy on the streets are addictive or they wouldn't be profitable enough to support a Black Market.
Dr Beck then found that Drug Addiction and Alcoholism were not permanently fixed until the Underlying Mental Health Disorders were also fixed. If an Alcoholic was driven to drink by Severe Sleeping Disorders, Severe General Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Social Phobia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, ADD, Depression, Hypomania, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Paranoia, Loneliness, Sexual Frustration, Guilt or Self Loathing, or by 2, 4, 6 or 8 of those things all together, then if that person manages to get sober but still has the problems that drove them to drink in the first place, why won't those problems drive them to drink again?
So Dr Beck began to ask himself, "How could I quickly and accurately record all the Signs of Mental Health Disorders of all of the people who are beating a path to my door?" and "How could I quickly and accurately record the Treatments I give those people, and then over the weeks and months Repeatedly Reassess their signs and record their Responses to those Treatments? If I could do that I could accurately keep track of which of their treatments were working and which, if any, weren't working and needed to be changed."
The solution for all of those needs turned out to be a Checklist; a Comprehensive but Compact Computerized Internet Enabled Checklist that is clear enough for troubled people to do for themselves.
Over a 12 year period Dr Beck developed and repeatedly revised and fine-tuned The Beck Mini DISTRESSES/MALFUNCTIONS Checklist. That Checklist now provides Internet Enabled Computer Processed Assessments and prints out Reports with any Signs of mental Health Disorders grouped, scored and set out in order of importance. Progress Assessments indicate Responses to Treatment by showing changes to the scores for each Significant Answer, and the scores for each Significant Group of Answers, and by producing a progressive graph of all of the Checklist Total Scores. This Checklist system has boosted Dr Beck's effectiveness and the number of troubled people he can properly care for far beyond anything he hoped for when he first started this work in 1997.
Dr Beck put this Checklist Program online to allow people to do Diagnostic and Progress Assessments for themselves, at any time of the day or night, without delay and whenever they feel the need, anywhere in the World where there is an Internet connection. There is now no need to wait for an appointment to get started if you think Mental Health issues are troubling you, or if you have a Drug or Alcohol problem. At any time of the day or the night, 365 days of the year, you can do the Checklist at home, at work, at a library, at an Internet Cafe or anywhere on a laptop connected to the Internet.
If you can make a start whenever you are really motivated, focussed, want to find answers and to get Mentally Healthier and Stronger, your progress will be much faster and more permanent. Being able to take the initiative, and being able to take more responsibility for your own Mental Health and Strength, are some other major advantages of the online Checklist System. You get faster relief from suffering, from the costs of Alcoholism and/or Street Drug Addiction, and your improved Mental Health and Strength make the whole of the rest of your life much better.
Of course you still need your Doctor and a Counselor or a Psychologist. You need both. A Doctor without a Counselor or a Counselor without a Doctor means you are only getting half of the treatment you need and will take much longer to get better, or may not get better.
In 2001 Dr Beck started his own Drug and Alcohol Clinic, The Chemical Health Centre, in Victoria Park, Western Australia. The Chemical Health Centre quickly became so busy and the suffering and needs of the Alcoholics and Addicts were so great that he put his Nedlands Family Medical Practice on the back burner. He worked on Drug Addiction, Alcoholism and Underlying Mental Health Disorders as hard, fast and effectively as he could for 5 years. In Calender Year 2002 Dr Beck treated 736 new patients with Drug Addiction and/or Alcoholism and so they wouldn't relapse, also diagnosed their Underlying Mental Health Disorders using The DISTRESSES/MALFUNCTIONS Checklists.
In 2006 Dr Beck got out of the fast lane and closed the Chemical Health Centre so that he could work more on improving his Tools, Systems, Knowledge and Understanding, and gain more experience with Mental Health Patients and Prevention. However he still treats many Alcoholics and Addicts, who are often referred by friends or relatives who have previously been successfully treated by him.
Dr Beck has now been able to develop fast, safe, comparatively pain-free, low cost methods for treating Alcoholism and Opiate Addictions without the need for Addictive, Restricted, Expensive and Troublesome Medications such as Methadone, Suboxone and High Dose Naltrexone. He uses mixtures that give Micro and Mini Doses of Naltrexone plus other readily available, low cost Blockers, Tranquillizers, Mood Stabilizers and Antidepressants.
Dr Beck has continued to improve and fine-tune his Information Handouts, and has also written books and eBooks about beating Heroin addiction (Beating Heroin), beating Alcohol addiction (Beating Alcohol eBook), beating Benzodiazepine addiction (Beating Benzos), and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD Self Help eBook). He considers that providing information for patients and their families is one of the 4 main factors in long term success with Mental Health, Alcoholism and Street Drug Problems.
