This week Sean and his new co-host Joey Avalos discuss “Healthy Addiction.” Can an addiction really be healthy? Plus music from Deep Elm recording artists The Sky Life and The Dandelion War.

 

*Don’t miss an episode, subscribe in iTunes!

Show Notes:

Intro

Sponsors: Deep Elm Records and Charming Beard Coffee

Co-host: Joey Avalos

News:

* Bible Belt Christian pretends to be gay

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/17/bible-belt-christian-pretends-to-be-gay/

* Documentary about ‘Jesus’ wife’ papyrus delayed

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/16/documentary-about-jesus-wife-papyrus-delayed/

* After Romney Meeting, Billy Graham Website Scrubs Mormon ‘Cult’ Reference

http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/brucewilson/billy-grahams-romney-endorsement-backfires-mormonism-cult-meme-could-reach

* Living longer comes easier

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/345778/title/Living_longer_comes_easier

 

Music Break 1:

THE SKY LIFE, “Granville” from the album “Canvas”

 

Topic

“Healthy Addiction?”

Articles: 

Relapse or Recovery? Neuroimaging Predicts Course of Substance Addiction Treatment 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121014130529.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

 

A Radical New Definition of Addiction Creates a Big Storm 

http://www.alternet.org/story/152102/a_radical_new_definition_of_addiction_creates_a_big_storm

Indeed, the new neurologically focused definition debunks, in whole or in part, a host of common conceptions about addiction. Addiction, the statement declares, is a “bio-psycho-socio-spiritual” illness characterized by (a) damaged decision-making (affecting learning, perception, and judgment) and by (b) persistent risk and/or recurrence of relapse; the unambiguous implications are that (a) addicts have no control over their addictive behaviors and (b) total abstinence is, for some addicts, an unrealistic goal of effective treatment.

The bad behaviors themselves are all symptoms of addiction, not the disease itself. “The state of addiction is not the same as the state of intoxication,” the ASAM takes pains to point out. Far from being evidence of a failure of will or morality, the behaviors are the addict’s attempt to resolve the general “dysfunctional emotional state” that develops in tandem with the disease. In other words, conscious choice plays little or no role in the actual state of addiction; as a result, a person cannot choose not to be addicted. The most an addict can do is choose not to use the substance or eng...