Busting Addiction and Its Myths

Here we go again with yet another special episode that we have relaunched as requested by many of our followers.

It’s a disease, stupid!
Paraphrasing a famous political slogan from the US, this episode offers slam-dunk proof that addiction and alcoholism are disease states and that the addict has lost his power of choice when the disease compels him to inflict harm on himself and others.

We cover these topics:

• Addiction and alcoholism are recognised by the leading scientists in the US as chronic, relapsing diseases of the brain, causing compulsive using behaviour and loss of control over intake, despite harmful long-term consequences.
• The main take-away is that addiction is compulsive so that when an addiction is activated, addicts lose the power of choice, that he will perform a harmful act over and over.
• There go all the theories of it being a moral failing or the power of will. Just say no is false promise.
• Saying that treatment or 12 –step programs don’t work is like blaming the gym if you’re out of shape. “You have to make the commitment and do the work for you to have any chance of long-term success.”
• Long term success in recovery is more about what the addict does AFTER he leaves treatment than the fact that he went into treatment. Recovery is a lifetime commitment.

This week we have another special episode that we have again relaunched as requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we reveal that addiction must be treated as the primary disorder, that families need to retain a trained professional, and that the addict’s crazy decisions are made by a damaged brain. Does that get your attention?

We cover these topics:

• Addiction must be treated as the primary disorder, as the cause of mental and behavioural problems, and not as the result.
• Addicts/alcoholics, when they aren’t ready to quit, are very slick and will do anything to protect their ability to use or drink, including lying to professionals.
• If you decide to seek professional help, find a professional who is trained in addictive disorder…someone who is an AODA (Alcohol or Drug Addiction) psychiatrist or counsellor.
• You’ll no longer be puzzled by the irrational, unpredictable and irresponsible behaviour of your addict when you realised that he or she is operating with a damaged brain which is simply incapable of making good decisions.
• It will lighten the emotional burden of family and loved ones of an addict to know that they didn’t cause the addiction, they can’t control it, and they can’t cure it. That leaves them with more realistic options, such as seeking professional help and educating themselves on the disease.

Here is another special episode that we have relaunched as it is a subject matter that has been requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we reveal more truths about addiction, in that it makes the whole family unit dysfunctional. We also discuss the deadly opioid epidemic and the truth behind the deadliest street drug: Fentanyl.

We cover these topics:

• Addiction doesn’t just affect the family, it makes the whole family unit very sick
• Cross, or poly-addiction is common among addicts these days, as there is so much available cheaply and easily.
• The deadliest Opioid is no longer heroin, it’s Fentanyl, 100 times more powerful available straight up, and killing up to 100 people a day in the US.
• A plug for our treatment centre: SafeHouse Rehab Thailand, where we offer a life-changing experience in the perfect environment for recovery, helping families and clients address the modern challenges of addiction.

We have relaunched this special episode as it is a subject matter that has been requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we bust the myth that an addict who doesn’t get it the first time is a loser, when in fact he is on his way to success. He will, however, duck the issue every chance he gets.

 We cover these topics:

• The facts about relapse.
• What commitment looks like.
• How love is not the issue.
• The games addicts play.
• You are the problem, crazy, right?
• What will it take: heat.

Q: Why does addiction have such a powerful ripple effect on the family?

A: It turns out that the whole family becomes sick as a consequence of alcoholism or drug addiction striking any one individual in the family. Family members carry shame and guilt over their loved one’s disorder. At first, they deny the problem exists. Then they try to control the uncontrollable. They lie to the neighbours, cast blame on each other and the addict and forge an unhealthy co-dependency if it isn’t already a main feature within the family.

Typically, it’s the mum or wife who bears the greatest burden. She is only OK if her addict son or husband is OK, and more important, OK with her. That’s the essence of co-dependency: tied to each other emotionally, with one party (mum, usually) trying her best to control a disorder which is out of control within her son.

The disease is progressive, cunning, baffling and powerful. Sometimes fatal. As it says in recovery literature: “Without help, it is too much for us”. It is way too much for any one family member to tackle on their own.

Q: Do interventions work?

A: Yes and no. Interventions come in two categories: professional and family led. Even interventions conducted by professional interventionists may fail if the subject of the intervention refuses to “get on the plane”. Often this happens because the family has somehow failed in organising its own part, or the intervention somehow provokes anger or blaming over past events. Nonetheless, professional interventions succeed far more often (defined as the subject agreeing to get help) than do family-organised interventions.

Unless the family reads the same guidelines (such as Debra and Jeff Jay’s book Love First), abides by the “rules” and rehearses the intervention, their chances are less than average. A failed intervention may lead to a serious rupture in family relations, including blaming family members for their part in the “failure”, when it was quite noble to try in the first place.

Q: Will an addict get the help he needs from a psychiatrist?

A: It depends. There are two main factors involved. One is the fact that addicts will often lie to the psychiatrist if the addict is there for reasons other than having an honest desire to get clean. The active addict is an expert liar and has (he thinks) fooled everyone so far, and now he just wants some Xanax. The second factor is that the psychiatrist may not be an addictionologist, i.e., trained in addictive disorder, and therefore is not able to discern the truth or otherwise help the addict, even when the addict tells it all.

Many other symptoms disguise addiction: depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are the main symptoms and are therefore treated accordingly, without an understanding of the true causes.

Q: How knowledgeable are physicians about alcoholism and drug addiction?

A: On average, not very. The fact is that fewer than 25% of physicians are given any course work in medical school on alcoholism and addiction. Recognition of this failure in light of the overdose crisis in the US which has now claimed over 108,000 lives in 2023 led to the Medication Access and Training act of 2022 (MATE). It requires physicians and other health care professionals who prescribe controlled substances to complete a one-time-only eight hours of training on the treatment and management of patients with substance use disorders.

Had more doctors been aware of the dangers of potential overdose sooner, many thousands of lives might have been saved.

Q: Why do some people hate AA?

A: It mostly comes down to the idea of a “higher power”, frequently expressed as “God, as we understand him”. The co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, was closely related to a Christian evangelical group during the 1930’s known as the “Oxford Group”. From their teachings stemmed the idea of a “higher power” which became a central thesis in the 12 Steps of AA. While there is no obligation to believe in a higher power, many who reject AA do so because they claim to be atheists, or believe that AA is a religious program, when AA explicitly states that it is a spiritual program instead. The confusion between the two continues to work against membership in AA for some who would otherwise greatly benefit, by belonging.

Q: How important is AA?

A: Alcoholics Anonymous is the world’s largest support group with 115,000 chapters worldwide and an estimated membership of over two million. Moreover, it is endorsed by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) as an accepted evidence-based behavioural therapy. It carries much weight among many practitioners and treatment centres and is often recommended by therapists to help alcoholics take the next step in their recovery following front-line treatment.

AA is the pioneer of 12-step programs all over the world. From it stem over 30 other 12-step programs, including Al-Anon, a support group for families, Narcotics Anonymous, Debtors Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and 26 other programs dedicated to helping people overcome addictive disorders of one kind or another.