Journalist Johann Hari is peddling a new book on addiction, promising a fresh new take – and yet it may not be all that fresh – and it may not follow from the evidence he cites. Hari is smacking down the disease model of addiction, specifically the one that depends on pharmacology. And for making this… Continue reading Vietnam Heroin Researcher May Have Disagreed With Johann Hari’s Take On The Causes of Addiction
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Permanent and Reversible? More double-talk from addiction researchers.
How can something be both permanent and reversible? It can’t. These are contradictory terms describing mutually exclusive concepts. For something to be permanent, it cannot be reversible – and vice versa. Yet this doesn’t seem to phase the jerks pushing the disease model of addiction in the slightest. They’re happy to unload their BS on the public with direct out in the open contradictory claims that make no sense whatsoever. They say in one breath that addiction changes the brain permanently, then they do research to understand how these “permanent” brain-changes eventually reverse.
Choice isn’t shame, but shame is a choice.
I’ve had it with the argument that suggests seeing “addictive” behavior as freely chosen automatically bestows shame upon those who engage in it. It’s usually presented with the request that we “treat addiction as a disease so that people won’t feel ashamed.” This argument is so wrong, but it’s rarely questioned and analyzed with any… Continue reading Choice isn’t shame, but shame is a choice.
Philosophical Problem with the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: Epiphenomenalism
the brain disease model of addiction comes from a deterministic philosophy, in which free will doesn’t exist. This is logically impossible.
There is only one way to “recover” from “addiction”
There is only one way to “recover.” Hint: it’s not a program, treatment, medication, support system, alternative coping method, therapy, etc. The only way to recover is…
The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)
Two fairly recent stories discussing Suboxone / Buprenorphine have me shaking my head. In one, a pregnant woman who had already quit using opiates was punished for refusing to take Suboxone. In another, it is claimed that Glee actor Cory Monteith wouldn’t have died from overdose, if only he had been prescribed some sort of… Continue reading The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)
Is Addiction a reflex?
“So, what exactly is addiction?” And in response, he calls it a reflex, and he describes what I think we’re supposed to believe is the neural activity involved in the reflex. But he never quite describes how that translates into the actual behavior that’s usually described as addiction – nor does he assert, in his response, that it even does translate into the action of substance use. Instead, he offers a sort of half-answer, that encourages the listener to fill in the gaps, and become smokescreened into believing that substance use, for addicts, is an involuntary behavior akin to a sneeze or blink. What else could his use of the term “reflex” imply?
What Marc Maron Taught Me about Medical Malpractice
Slate.com recently featured an article by Yale Psychiatry resident physician Arjune Rama in which he interviewed comedian Marc Maron (host of the populare WTF podcast) about addiction, titled What Marc Maron Taught Me About Addiction. However, it seemed more like Maron was interviewing the doctor: Slate: A big problem for psychiatrists when it comes to understanding… Continue reading What Marc Maron Taught Me about Medical Malpractice
An Open Letter to the Anti-AA Movement: What are you fighting for?
Let’s stop contradicting the anti-12-step/anti-disease-model message by recommending other avenues to perceived weakness, powerlessness, and dependency. It’s time for this movement to get self-critical, and find some consistency.
Why would someone choose to be “addicted” when they know it will cause so much pain?
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” -Blaise Pascal