There is a point we will hit where by following the logic of the brain disease model of addiction, it will begin to appear that literally everything we do is a brain disease – and thus it will become painfully obvious to most people that none of it should be considered a disease. The reason… Continue reading Dopamine Madness Approaches Critical Mass: The Addiction Myth May Crumble!
Tag: Volkow
Clean Slate Answers: Can An “Addict” Ever Become A Moderate User?
A reader asked “Do you think an addict can ever drink normally? Because if it is truly a choice, not a disease, someone who was addicted to any substance should be able to drink “normally” again. The choice-proponents never touch this subject.” Read on for the answer.
What Impulse? Dissenting Opinions On The Latest “Smoking Gun” In The Disease Debate
The latest addiction research is focused on the wrong thing – impulse control – the art of changing an addiction is not a process resisting impulses, it’s a process of doing away with such impulses.
Backwards-Land: The Revelation of “Rewards”
The addiction experts have finally begun to admit the real meaning of their theories – that addiction is about competing rewards – immediate versus delayed long-term gratification. If this is what it’s all about, then it’s clearly quite idiotic to insist that addiction and alcoholism are diseases. Indeed, if we accept this logic, then we’re all born diseased and nearly every bad decision is the result of a disease. Addiction is a choice.
Music, Addiction, And Imaginary Diseases
If we are to believe the argument that addiction is a disease, then we should also believe that the ability to play improvised jazz, conduct an orchestra, or freestyle rap is a disease. Indeed, if mere measurements of brain activity are sufficient proof of disease, then anything and everything we do is caused by disease – the term loses all relevance, and our society gets further and further away from real solutions to behavioral problems. Being an expert musician is not a diseased state – nor is being an expert drug user.
Addiction: A Disorder of Choice
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
Critique of Drugs, Brains, and Behavior or, How The NIDA Is Wasting Our Time And Money to Spread Harmful Lies
A reader who disagrees with my views recently posted a link and told me it was “required reading”. The link goes to a page titled “Drugs and the Brain” from the NIDA pamphlet (National Institute on Drug Abuse & Addiction) titled “Drugs, Brains, and Behavior – The Science of Addiction”. What follows is my critique… Continue reading Critique of Drugs, Brains, and Behavior or, How The NIDA Is Wasting Our Time And Money to Spread Harmful Lies