So the artticle sez:
__________
"the public has been deceived by addiction experts. Individuals can be genetically predisposed to addiction, and that changes occur in the brains of addicts, but contends that the decision to use or quit remains voluntary.
Heyman disputes the notion that addiction is a lifelong illness, saying that the research underpinning this theory is skewed by the fact that studies tend to look at people who have sought treatment, not those who quit on their own and never use again.
People do not choose to become addicts, Heyman agrees, but while most addiction experts point to changes in the brain as the underlying reason for relapse, Heyman sees the issue as primarily one of self-control."
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Well, duh.
I dont drink.
There was I a time when I did. In time it was apparent I need not to drink, really...had to stop...my life was at stake. A real good friend turned on me. I didnt heed my own internal warning system for much longer than I should have...mea culpa. I made a descion not to drink. Ok, was a good start, wasnt prepaired for the following days to come, non the less a good start.
I made a second descion; AA
Made a thrid descion; no AA
4th descion; I drank.
5th descion; not to drink
6th descion; AA
7th descion; no AA
8th descion; Select few aloud in inner circle
9th descion; Live my life, heal.
My experiance, my 'choice', can't change it, rearrainge it so there it was (sorry KR)
However...I dont deny the need for treatment, beyond hospitalisation for physical stablization (if needed) every thing gets real fuzzy. One thing stuck out one day when some one gave me my statistical chances of no longer drinking alcohol. I forget what the #'s were but I knew instantly it was 50/50...I do or don't...this or that.
Descion #8 is/was one of the top descion's I have ever made...Not to drink #1 no matter what. Set it and forget it. I dont believe I "suffer from alcoholisim" , I dont drink... And I havent drank in well over a decade. With clarity I can look back and see that ultimately...bottom line, I dont drink no matter what was one of the best descions I have ever made.
I think without the skewed perception I had/have of any orgainization, directly tracable to Straight Inc. I might have made that crucial descion much much earlier. And I often wonder if others needing help ever hesitate and suffer further because of their distrust of "the program". Seems to me to be counter productive in a "therapeutic" sence.
So lemme see.. 3-6 years of my adolescence destroyed. 20's and early 30's spent on very shakey ground. Seek, truely seek help (of any kind) and not trust the hand that reached out to me add's another 10-12 years of self destruction. Not that I am absolving myself of any responcibility of my own descions. Yet the memories of Straight Inc. effected every descion along the way. Am I the only one to see something wrong...inheriantly wrong with the equation?
Another disturbing thought, as I type there is a child in a "warehoused environment" enduring very similar circumstances as we all did...what if that child really needs help, perhaps on a deep level and the child is subjected to the abusive environment of a Straight like miliue? That child 20-25 years from now may see for themselves the "need for help" and hesitate because of Straight like memories...and so there is further unnessasary suffering.
I forget the person who said it, but in effect he said, "The snare of all great thought is the uncritical acceptance of irrational assumptions". What this link leads to is a commentary on a book with a huge list of responces and the step-cultist make this quote scream between my ears. Overwhelmingly the consensus is step craft. Interestingly enuff, most of the responces were from thereapists themselves were AA/NA/CA/OA members....Hmmmm
I digress...His point is valid. One simply makes a descion. The article didnt mention the thousands of descions after that and I am not about to buy the book to see if the author lists them. So I made mistakes and fell for false hope...so what. I am and am doing the best at it, it's my experiance. I made a descion.
And now my next descion, get baked and go bake in the sun.
Much Healing
Namaste
woof
