I'm pissed (can I say that here?)
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I'm pissed (can I say that here?)
Just a vent here...
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
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Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: milwaukee wi
Posts: 3,574
all of the above for ever and ever.. yep
Originally Posted by ArtFriend 
Just a vent here...
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
Just an observation if I may...
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
This may or may not be the case. But if I may put it in simpler terms try this one.
If it's raining outside and I don't want to get wet from it, I open up my umbrella or stay out of the rain. I don't need to spend hours studying climatology or weather forecasting to figure out why it's raining. It's raining - what are my options. I don't care if it rained last week or if it's going to rain next week. My concern is right now.
There is one answer. If you want to stay sober, don't drink.
edit: in response to your last post Art, not drinking may not be a 'cure' for addiction, but it is certainly the best remedy.
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
This may or may not be the case. But if I may put it in simpler terms try this one.
If it's raining outside and I don't want to get wet from it, I open up my umbrella or stay out of the rain. I don't need to spend hours studying climatology or weather forecasting to figure out why it's raining. It's raining - what are my options. I don't care if it rained last week or if it's going to rain next week. My concern is right now.
There is one answer. If you want to stay sober, don't drink.
edit: in response to your last post Art, not drinking may not be a 'cure' for addiction, but it is certainly the best remedy.
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Join Date: Jul 2010
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I feel this is mostly your frustration and turmoil speaking, Art... but you said that. Of course there is no magic cure, but it's also true for a great number of other chronic illnesses, and not only psych ones. Just look how many of these require drastic lifestyle changes. Most often than not, it's the combination of treatment / tools and the individual's own efforts that help and lead to change.
I sometimes get frustrated with all this from a different view point now: that my job is to study psychiatric conditions... even just biology itself... so complex and diverse, with so much individual variation, it sometimes looks like a futile exercise to understand anything. But the fact that we may never get the full picture in one piece as some sort of universal truth does not mean that the details are not useful. Same goes with treatment efforts.
Here is an article that gives it a reasonable judgment in my opinion, it focuses on cravings and how, while there can be often quite efficient strategies to reduce them, it's far from the whole thing in recovery.
Is It Possible To Erase Memories That Trigger Addictive Behaviors?
Try not to get bogged down in negative thinking, Art, it never helps our efforts.
I sometimes get frustrated with all this from a different view point now: that my job is to study psychiatric conditions... even just biology itself... so complex and diverse, with so much individual variation, it sometimes looks like a futile exercise to understand anything. But the fact that we may never get the full picture in one piece as some sort of universal truth does not mean that the details are not useful. Same goes with treatment efforts.
Here is an article that gives it a reasonable judgment in my opinion, it focuses on cravings and how, while there can be often quite efficient strategies to reduce them, it's far from the whole thing in recovery.
Is It Possible To Erase Memories That Trigger Addictive Behaviors?
Try not to get bogged down in negative thinking, Art, it never helps our efforts.
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Originally Posted by ArtFriend
Just a vent here...
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
I have been digging into the scientific literature about addiction. Many views, theories etc. But not ONE answer! It just angers me. They (the doctors, scientists, etc. ) know how to treat so many other illnesses. Yet, addiction remains a mystery. Is it biological? Is is psychological? Is it social? Is it all the above?
I am angry because it causes so much pain in people's lives, including my own.
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5,785
I guess I don't understand the anger. The same goes for many other diseases in terms of there being theories as to what causes them in some individuals, but not others.
There are lots of treatment options for alcoholism and there are ways it can be managed. Sure, there is no cure, but the same goes for many other illnesses as well.
Many other diseases have treatments that don't work that great and only temporarily treat symptoms (Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease), but don't stop them from getting worse. Their cause isn't well understood either. Like alcoholism, other diseases require incorporating massive lifestyle changes in addition to treatment (type 2 diabetes).
There are lots of treatment options for alcoholism and there are ways it can be managed. Sure, there is no cure, but the same goes for many other illnesses as well.
Many other diseases have treatments that don't work that great and only temporarily treat symptoms (Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease), but don't stop them from getting worse. Their cause isn't well understood either. Like alcoholism, other diseases require incorporating massive lifestyle changes in addition to treatment (type 2 diabetes).
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we can spend a lifetime trying to figure out what causes addiction and rationalizing why we struggle with it and seeking to find the answer....
or we can spend a lifetime supporting our sobriety and living a joyful life without addiction.
or we can spend a lifetime supporting our sobriety and living a joyful life without addiction.
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Originally Posted by LBrain
Just an observation if I may...
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
Recognizes the Beast
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Originally Posted by LBrain
Just an observation if I may...
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
I think many spend time researching addiction and the disease or whatever they wish to call it as a means to justify their actions, be it past, present or future.
I want to be clear, I got sober on my own. My health is my responsibility, and I had to make the decision to live. No one else could do that for me, I couldn't put that on anyone else. But since I have gotten sober, I've learned about how things in my life contributed to my addiction, particularly the trauma I experienced as a young child. And I've learned a lot of that by reading the work of researchers and scientists, people's whose job it is to study these things.
And that has been therauptic. It's allowed me to forgive myself to a certain extent. I haven't gone and started drinking again since learning these things. Just the opposite. I know I have an illness, that I've been developing since a very young age, and that if I want to have a healthy and productive life, need to be hyper-vigilant about maintaining my soberiety.
I live and work in a First Nations community, that has been hugely affected by addiction. I can't say to the people I work with, you know, the past is the past, stuff like inter-generational trauma and broken attachments, really has nothing to do with your lives today. You're just a bunch of complainers who are using that stuff as an excuse to justify your lifestyle. I can't do it. Because the role in understanding where addiction comes from is such an important part of healing and getting healthy.
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Another thought, I've been back and forth about sharing it or not, and you may or may not find it useful. I've been following and responding on your posts for a good while now... and if I see an outstanding pattern, it is that periodically you get frustrated, and then you transfer that frustration onto other things, or people. Your relatives, friends, now the inability of science and medicine to cure us... See, this is a potent escape route from active participation on our part in a consistent and lasting solution to our own problems. You have a psych background so may understand what I'm getting at.
So, if "simply" taking action does not help you much, or provides lasting solution. It sounds like you have an interest in turning to analytic type of knowledge and concepts... so how about instrospecting on these things in your own psyche? This tendency to transfer frustration such that you need to find an external target for it when it comes up? I don't know you, but for me, this type of understanding has proven probably more constructive and helpful than any other type of approach to dissect my motives, how I work, and what's best for me for problem solving when the problem involves blocks or repetitive patterns in my own mind. Simply taking action to counter this tends to be very inefficient for me, I'm the kind of person who does benefit from knowledge and understanding of how things fit together and how they work. Sometimes the best solutions come to me in an instant, in a sort of intuitive way (which has no mystic in it at all, just another kind of processing of information), and other times it takes the long and tedious analytical routes. And getting some help with the latter can be really transformative to me whenever it comes to personal problems.
Yeah there seems to be a consensus here on SR and probably in the recovery field in general, that "all" we need are choices and actions. Sure. But for some of us, thorough understanding of how the problem works and how to change our patterns based on our default setting can be very helpful. I'm definitely one of these. It's not magic, just an aid in recovery and in problem solving in general. I think we all need to take what's helpful for us personally from all the advice given to us, and run with it. But then really do it and keep moving
So, if "simply" taking action does not help you much, or provides lasting solution. It sounds like you have an interest in turning to analytic type of knowledge and concepts... so how about instrospecting on these things in your own psyche? This tendency to transfer frustration such that you need to find an external target for it when it comes up? I don't know you, but for me, this type of understanding has proven probably more constructive and helpful than any other type of approach to dissect my motives, how I work, and what's best for me for problem solving when the problem involves blocks or repetitive patterns in my own mind. Simply taking action to counter this tends to be very inefficient for me, I'm the kind of person who does benefit from knowledge and understanding of how things fit together and how they work. Sometimes the best solutions come to me in an instant, in a sort of intuitive way (which has no mystic in it at all, just another kind of processing of information), and other times it takes the long and tedious analytical routes. And getting some help with the latter can be really transformative to me whenever it comes to personal problems.
Yeah there seems to be a consensus here on SR and probably in the recovery field in general, that "all" we need are choices and actions. Sure. But for some of us, thorough understanding of how the problem works and how to change our patterns based on our default setting can be very helpful. I'm definitely one of these. It's not magic, just an aid in recovery and in problem solving in general. I think we all need to take what's helpful for us personally from all the advice given to us, and run with it. But then really do it and keep moving
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Originally Posted by haennie
yeah there seems to be a consensus here on sr and probably in the recovery field in general, that "all" we need are choices and actions. Sure. But for some of us, thorough understanding of how the problem works and how to change our patterns based on our default setting can be very helpful. I'm definitely one of these. It's not magic, just an aid in recovery and in problem solving in general. I think we all need to take what's helpful for us personally from all the advice given to us, and run with it.
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Free Owl you hit it on the head.. That's why Owl's ask Who all the time and most of the time will find the right answer
Originally Posted by FreeOwl
we can spend a lifetime trying to figure out what causes addiction and rationalizing why we struggle with it and seeking to find the answer....
or we can spend a lifetime supporting our sobriety and living a joyful life without addiction.
or we can spend a lifetime supporting our sobriety and living a joyful life without addiction.
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