It may be of interest that there is an article in today's N.Y. Times (Nov. 1, 2011) Science Section (p. 1) about brain research with a focus on left brain-right brain studies of persons who have had the connection between the two severed in order to diminish epilepsy seizures. As the article indicates, the left brain is the "wordsmith", seeking to "explain" the material which comes to it from other parts of the brain. The right brain is adept at spatial relations and related areas. The article does not discuss the "lizard" part of the brain, or what AVRT refers to as the site of the "Beast". Nonetheless, my reading of these research results suggests that the stuff which the "Beast" sends up is processed or "explained" by scripts concocted in the left brain. Thus, as the addiction progresses the Beast messages rather incoherently yelling "I gotta have a drink!" are fed into the left brain where they become more sedate and "convincing" as in "I really deserve just one!" or "Wow! It's been a tough day! I need just one in order to settle down!" "Just one wouldn't hurt! I can stop before it gets out of control."
That phrase "out of control" raises a keynote issue in the article. This research poses the question of "who is really in control?" (the unconscious or subconscious part of the mind or the conscious part?) Is the conscious part merely "explaining" what is really being directed by the subconscious or, in AVRT terms, the "beast"? This in turn leads to questions of individual responsibility and legal and societal policies.
I sense that as an addiction progresses, the beast messages become more and more powerful and determinative and that the left side of the brain becomes more and more challenged in developing scripts to "explain" what's happening. The real wonder is that this process can ever be turned around and how a beast which has been running wild can ever be put back in its crate and hushed up. With the progress of time the conscious mind becomes less and less able to get the necessary leverage to turn the situation around and get into recovery. Yet it happens. In some circles they like to say, "It works if you work it!" Can I rephrase that to make it broader and more adaptable to differing points of view: "If it works (for you) then go ahead and work it!" AVRT seems to work for some. Others take a different road and achieve success.
W.