Withdrawal and wet brain are medical issues related to alcoholism but do not prove addiction or alcoholism itself is a brain disease. This can be confusing.
The Facts: buprenorphine treatment for Opioid Use Disorder is widespread.
The number of Americans who fit the diagnosis for a heroin/opioid addiction (Opioid Use Disorder or OUD) is currently 2 million (most recent data available is from 2018). It has hovered around this number for a long time, with a low of 1.7 million in 2002, and a high of almost 2.4 million in 2015.… Continue reading The Facts: buprenorphine treatment for Opioid Use Disorder is widespread.
How the New York Times (and everyone else) keeps getting one major fact about opioid addiction and treatment wrong.
I just saw yet another bogus statistic about the opioid crisis, and specifically the underutilization of treatment, and I about lost my mind. It was in a New York Times (NYT) editorial, by their Editorial Board, titled: Want to Reduce Opioid Deaths? Get People the Medications They Need. The tagline says “Drugs like buprenorphine could… Continue reading How the New York Times (and everyone else) keeps getting one major fact about opioid addiction and treatment wrong.
The most mind-numbing phrase in addiction rhetoric: “out of control”
The addiction treatment and recovery world has created a web of myths and misinformation that leaves troubled people utterly confused. Unfortunately, this confusion also seems to make our substance use problems more extreme and longer lasting. My ongoing goal is to break through this confusion with the facts and logic (my main work in this… Continue reading The most mind-numbing phrase in addiction rhetoric: “out of control”
You don’t need to live in constant fear of drugs or discomfort to get over a drug problem.
As I look at treatment and recovery methods I see two major themes/goals in most of what we’re led to do in the recovery world: stay afraid of substances, and make sure we never experience any discomfort in life (or at least stay vigilant against discomfort and quickly put an end to it). I don’t… Continue reading You don’t need to live in constant fear of drugs or discomfort to get over a drug problem.
What Stephen Colbert got wrong about the opioid crisis.
It’s funny how the same old hysterical drug myths refuse to die. Back in 1992 former editor of the Journal Addiction Research & Theory John Booth Davies described the persistent tale of pushers and helpless addicts: “At the present moment, the standard line taken by a majority of people in the media, in treatment agencies,… Continue reading What Stephen Colbert got wrong about the opioid crisis.
The 2 most important advances made by the founders of The Freedom Model Retreats for Addictions
If you’ve heard any of my personal history, you’ll know that I finally get over my substance use problem back in 2002 at The Freedom Model Retreat (which was called The Saint Jude Retreat at the time). I have great reverence for that place and the people who started it, Jerry Brown and Mark Scheeren.… Continue reading The 2 most important advances made by the founders of The Freedom Model Retreats for Addictions
How many people recover from heroin / opioid addiction?
They say recovery from opioid addiction is impossible, but it’s not. 96% of people have gotten over their opioid addictions historically. Most people would have you believe that nobody ever gets over an opioid addiction. In fact, some of the nation’s most influential authorities on addiction are now saying that anyone who’s ever had an… Continue reading How many people recover from heroin / opioid addiction?
Your heroin / prescription opioid addict origin story is holding you back. Let it go.
I was at my hometown bus station a few nights ago, in Springfield Massachusetts – the town where I spent the bulk of my time as a heroin “addict.” A young girl – let’s call her Jennifer – started chatting me up, and although she was well put together, I could tell from the look… Continue reading Your heroin / prescription opioid addict origin story is holding you back. Let it go.
19 ugly truths about addiction and recovery that nobody wants to look at.
Some people really fall for the whole thing, hook, line, and sinker, and that leads to a lot of unnecessary pain. But here’s what’s really going on with addiction, treatment, and recovery – they are social constructs that are killing us: The entire concept of addiction – a state in which people are involuntarily using… Continue reading 19 ugly truths about addiction and recovery that nobody wants to look at.