free will Archives - The Clean Slate Addiction Site

Stanton Peele pens new paper on free will and addiction

The key issue in addiction is free will. There’s no way around this. The entire notion of addiction rests on the assertion that the “addict” lacks free will in some way (either solely in regard to substance use – losing free will over substances after freely choosing a single dose, or else when faced with some… Continue reading Stanton Peele pens new paper on free will and addiction

Nora Volkow (NIDA) uses Scare Quotes when referring to Free Will

Nora Volkow undermines her own disease theory of addiction by demonstrating her lack of belief in free will. She does this by scare-quoting several free will terms in her writing.

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.

World Series Baseball, Pain Medication, Addiction Falsehoods, And Existential Questions…

Addiction myths permeate our entire culture, even news coverage of the World Series. Which falsehoods are being spread, and how can we debunk them? Does pain medication cause “addiction” or “relapse”?

Choice and Will Power

Will-Power is often confused as being the key element in a choice based model of addiction. One needn’t deny their will in order to solve a substance use problem. Just because addiction is not a disease, that doesn’t mean that one must live with constant “cravings” or desires to use drugs and alcohol. Learn more about a choice based model of addiction here.

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!

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Addiction Is Not A Brain Disease. Logic, neuroscience, epidemiology, and social psychology all demonstrate this.

This site is dedicated to presenting a different view of addiction: That it is all about choice, and that you can permanently change your substance use habits without fear of relapse or a lifetime spent in meetings and treatment.

Some of you might be wondering whether I know about all the scientific proof that addiction is a brain disease. I'm well aware of the scientific facts and their misinterpretation. Here's my critical analysis of the brain disease model of addiction.

This site is not presenting a model of "recovery" because addiction is not a disease from which one can recover. It is freely chosen behavior, which anyone can freely choose to abandon at any point. This is not recovery from a disease, it is a change like any other change in day to day living that people make in their lives.

I am dedicated to presenting information about addiction from a non-disease perspective, so that people can learn how to feel free and in control of their substance use, and be empowered to change it to whatever degree will make them happiest in their lives. "Addiction is a choice" - that is, you can choose whether to hold or dismiss every thought and belief that motivates you to use substances heavily - and thus you can choose whether to continue any pattern of substance use or not - at will.

Reading any particular article on this website will not force you to change. Hopefully though, you will find some information that helps you to believe that change is possible for you - that it is within reach. This is one key ingredient in changing the mindset that fuels "addiction."