Addiction as insufficient connection: thoughts?
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 23
Addiction as insufficient connection: thoughts?
Sorry to duplicate -- just saw the earlier post below.
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What are everyone's thoughts on this premise? Take a few minutes to read the article.
"Professor Peter Cohen argues that human beings have a deep need to bond and form connections. It's how we get our satisfaction. If we can't connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find -- the whirr of a roulette wheel or the ***** of a syringe. He says we should stop talking about 'addiction' altogether, and instead call it 'bonding.' A heroin addict has bonded with heroin because she couldn't bond as fully with anything else...So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You ThinkÂ*|Â*Johann Hari
I sent the link to my RAH for him to read...emailed it, because he doesn't talk to me about anything deeper than nagging about the kid's grades or asking if I need to add anything to his grocery-shopping list, because he cannot express his feelings in words. No response yet, of course, even allowing for him just starting a demanding new job that he enjoys.
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What are everyone's thoughts on this premise? Take a few minutes to read the article.
"Professor Peter Cohen argues that human beings have a deep need to bond and form connections. It's how we get our satisfaction. If we can't connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find -- the whirr of a roulette wheel or the ***** of a syringe. He says we should stop talking about 'addiction' altogether, and instead call it 'bonding.' A heroin addict has bonded with heroin because she couldn't bond as fully with anything else...So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You ThinkÂ*|Â*Johann Hari
I sent the link to my RAH for him to read...emailed it, because he doesn't talk to me about anything deeper than nagging about the kid's grades or asking if I need to add anything to his grocery-shopping list, because he cannot express his feelings in words. No response yet, of course, even allowing for him just starting a demanding new job that he enjoys.
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 430
Hi cathair,
I'm glad you continued the discussion because the earlier discussion board was ended yet the topic seems thought provoking. I had two real- life examples that came to mind after reading the article. One is college fraternities, which are expressly designed to encourage male bonding yet also promote potentially addictive behavior, like drinking. From my AHs experience, I would guess many frat boys end up being alcoholic men, which seems to contradict the premise of that article.
On the other hand, it would seem that the structure and success of AA, ironically, supports the author's premise, right? Doesn't AA create various means by which people bond to help each other overcome addictions? I think that article implicitly endorses the very program and understanding of addiction that it claims to challenge.
Other thoughts?
I'm glad you continued the discussion because the earlier discussion board was ended yet the topic seems thought provoking. I had two real- life examples that came to mind after reading the article. One is college fraternities, which are expressly designed to encourage male bonding yet also promote potentially addictive behavior, like drinking. From my AHs experience, I would guess many frat boys end up being alcoholic men, which seems to contradict the premise of that article.
On the other hand, it would seem that the structure and success of AA, ironically, supports the author's premise, right? Doesn't AA create various means by which people bond to help each other overcome addictions? I think that article implicitly endorses the very program and understanding of addiction that it claims to challenge.
Other thoughts?
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 1,476
It's a damn good theory actually, especially where alcohol is concerned.
Alcohol only takes 72 hours to get out of the body And it takes years and years of heavy drinking for genuine physical addiction to alcohol as well.
After only 3 days there is no physical addiction.
So if someone is picking up a drink again, post 3 days without any..... Why do they do it?
A sense of connection is very strong with alcohol.
People, alcoholics or not, let their gaurd down, hug, kiss, open up and talk.
They connect.
Lots of people dance who otherwise wouldn't, sing, throw there arms around each other
Connection.
Yeah.... It's actually a very good theory.
Does it explain alcoholism though?
Not sure.
I'm less certain it explains drug addiction, because drugs physically addict you much much quicker and take a lot longer to withdraw from and break physical addiction.
Alcohol only takes 72 hours to get out of the body And it takes years and years of heavy drinking for genuine physical addiction to alcohol as well.
After only 3 days there is no physical addiction.
So if someone is picking up a drink again, post 3 days without any..... Why do they do it?
A sense of connection is very strong with alcohol.
People, alcoholics or not, let their gaurd down, hug, kiss, open up and talk.
They connect.
Lots of people dance who otherwise wouldn't, sing, throw there arms around each other
Connection.
Yeah.... It's actually a very good theory.
Does it explain alcoholism though?
Not sure.
I'm less certain it explains drug addiction, because drugs physically addict you much much quicker and take a lot longer to withdraw from and break physical addiction.
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