So last night I was minorly upset that my post seemingly was being ignored and this morning I was much more upset that it became a breeding ground for yet again a "AA is the best path" argument.
First of all, this post had NOTHING to do with AA. In fact, it had nothing to do with recovery methods of any sort. It was pure and simple biology/neuroscience. I have always found it important to understand things, especially if they are happening to me. I mean if I had cancer I am sure I would want to know the basic science of what was happening to my body. I have just been learning it now and these are the things that have made it important to me on a more emotional level:
1. Because of drug-induced dopamine deficiency from which it takes the brain some time to recover (2 mos.-2 years+) It would not be normal for me to feel "amazing" right away. I certainly have felt crappy over the last year. A lot of recovery was learning to tolerate those feelings. Over time, they have become less and less. The science can give me a reason to tolerate it and it also gives me hope as I know my brain is healing but it takes time.
2. I have never had much guilt about being an alcoholic, but learning this stuff makes me pretty much guilt free. Now I am just angry about the stigma. If you have an immediate family history of alcoholism and a naturally high alcohol tolerance your chances of getting alcoholism are 60%. Check and check. Oh, and I was sexually abused right before I started drinking. Basically, I stood no chance.
3. Addicts' brains are different than substance abusers (you AAers will like this— it can give you science to back up alcoholics vs. hard drinkers). Even after years of similar patterns of chronic abuse of a substance, an addicts' brain looks different than a substance abusers— there are fundamental differences. So it is not only the ingestion of substance that changes the brain chemistry, although that of course has a major effect, there is also a difference in an actual addict. However, for treatment purposes they should receive the same treatment because it is hard to tell apart— a substance abuser usually gets better more easily.
4. Sleep is an issue. You get no REM (basically the important part of sleep that actually makes you rested) when you drink yourself to sleep. A recovering alcoholic gets less REM than a non-alcoholic even a year out. Things heal but they take time. I have been really tired. I am sure the emotional work of recovery takes a toll but this makes a difference as well.
5. To me science is the great antagonist to "terminal uniqueness." For me most importantly is science ignores social divides. My brain functions in the same way as the addict in jail. Science is the thing that I see as actually being able to change addiction from an issue of moral will to an actual disease that needs and deserves to be treated. Currently, it is often treated like a social or criminal justice issue. It is unclear whether we treat it like a disease or a crime. Relative to other chronic diseases, it has abysmal treatment rates. People suffer unnecessarily.
As to science and AA, there is nothing in the science that says AA is moot. In fact studies show that AA is helpful. But that is talking about studies about recovery. This was not about recovery. Science and spirituality can co-exist. Science and AA can co-exist. In fact, they should. Science is progressive; you need to stay up to date. You don't read stuff from 80 years ago to trump what is found today. Spirituality is another story. What was written 4000 years ago can be just as valid or more so as what was written yesterday. They are two different realms. In my opinion, to not allow the two to coexist is dangerous and in terms of treatment really hinders people from getting the help they need.