There’s a great interview with Gene Heyman, the author of Addiction: A Disorder of Choice available on NPR follow this link to listen to it, and learn about Heyman’s extremely important work: http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/08/is-addiction-a-matter-of-choice Another guest on the show, Hazelden’s Marvin Seppala, went on and on about research done on rats, a practice which I found… Continue reading Addiction: A Disorder of Choice
Tag: choice
PARENTS – You’re Not Training Animals!
How should you feel about yourself if your child develops an “addiction?” Should you be ashamed that you did a poor job as a parent? Someone recently asked philosopher Leonard Peikoff a similar question, to which he brilliantly replied “you’re not training an animal.” What he meant by this statement is very simple and straightforward… Continue reading PARENTS – You’re Not Training Animals!
Yes, Your Dad Chose To Be A Jerk.
Who would choose addiction? No one would. People don’t make bad choices. They always act completely rationally. If you believe this, then you probably believe the disease theory – which rests on the premise that if a behavior is self-destructive, then it must be involuntary. Gene Heyman astutely identifies this premise in his groundbreaking book… Continue reading Yes, Your Dad Chose To Be A Jerk.
Pharmaceutical Treatments For Addiction Contradict The Disease Theory
We’re told that addiction is a compulsion, that the addicted person essentially has no choice over their behavior, that they’re continuing to abuse substances involuntarily. This is how the experts characterize the “disease”, then they tell you that since it is a compulsion, the only hope for stopping is treatment – but then we find… Continue reading Pharmaceutical Treatments For Addiction Contradict The Disease Theory
Ebert At The Meetings
The important thing is that you don’t consider yourself to be your own Higher Power, because your own best thinking found your bottom for you. -Roger Ebert The above quote from Roger Ebert is troublesome and it reflects a common view among AA members. Ebert says that “your own best thinking found your bottom for… Continue reading Ebert At The Meetings
Satel Reviews – ADDICTION: A DISORDER OF CHOICE
Sally Satel reviews Addiction: A Disorder of Choice by Gene M. Heyman I’ll be reading this and offering up my own review soon, but for now, here’s a few snippets of Sally’s review: In so-called contingency management experiments, subjects addicted to cocaine or heroin are rewarded with vouchers redeemable for cash, household goods, or clothes. Those… Continue reading Satel Reviews – ADDICTION: A DISORDER OF CHOICE
Opium Addiction Fuels Afghan Chaos (or is it the other way around?)
The title of this post links to a BBC article about opium use in Afghanistan. I think the article has a very telling and honest tone which I hear constantly when people talk about addiction. When people talk about addiction and why substance abuse happens they often list the dismal life circumstances of the abuser, the… Continue reading Opium Addiction Fuels Afghan Chaos (or is it the other way around?)