Originally Posted by CAS116
I suspect, but have no proof, that "DIY" is a commonplace. And, such folks who do "DIY" have very little contact with groups whose focus is substance abuse.
That's very good; you hit upon a truism. Researchers such as Peele and Vaillant (the latter of whom I'll return to in a moment) observe in their published works that a
vast majority of addicts of every stripe, whether they be smokers, alcoholics, crackheads or pillheads like me
are somehow able to stop on their own.
AND -as you said- have very little contact with the established mainstream help-groups.
As to what DIY is, well I can tell you the concept you all are struggling to express, underpinning the whole psychology of Do It Yourself. It's a piece of medical terminology which I absolutely love. It's called self-efficacy.
As defined
on this page, self-efficacy is an individual’s estimate of his or her own ability to cope with a given situation. It's a measure of confidence in
self--which quite literally runs counter to the concept of powerlessness which winds throughout all Twelve-Step programs.
And LadyJane you've been "reading my mail."
Hehe. Either that or we read the same books.
Explanation forthcoming in a sec, i have to fetch it.
Ten