EndGameNYC

I don't know that it's about right or wrong, and I wouldn't concern myself with it either way. You received several responses to your comments, so what you've contributed is, at the very least provocative, and your intent is noble.

I'd rather you didn't feel bad because you commented on a particular position that you hold. Our discussion is, in part, a microcosm of what's going on within the scientific community. And the scientific community is anything but a community.

You may not have noticed, but I'm among those who are infinitely skeptical about scientific research, which makes me either one of the better or one of the worse candidates for doing research. Too many things are taken for granted, and statistical wizardry often overrides the reality of what we know to be true. Only Nixon could go to China.

Besides all that, you have no reason to apologize for stating your beliefs and then sticking with them. You probably helped some people think about their own choices in sobriety, and offered a serviceable treatment for changing unwanted behaviors. And you pretty much managed to stay on the high road while doing it.

Your story is only still beginning to unfold. We need you, and people like you, to continue contributing. Like governments, if a support system is unable to tolerate diversity in thinking, then it loses both its purpose and its effectiveness, and will ultimately collapse under its own weight.

OBTW...All my accumulated knowledge and experience to do with addictions and recovery, both in research and in my clinical work, didn't prevent me from picking up a drink after twenty five years without. Nor did it stop me from destroying virtually everything good in my life for the next three years.

See that? Knowledge actually is overrated.

Dee74

I think this thread has now reached a natural end.
Thanks everyone

Dee
Moderator
SR