Non Treatment Alcohol and Drug Program Model Continues to Challenge the Treatment Based Models
Either Nothing is Addicting or everything is Addicting.
Addiction as defined by Webster's Dictionary states: "Compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.
" "Compulsive need, persistent compulsive use...
" This shortened version of the definition describes the process of (1) thought, and then (2) physical action.
This is a simplified neuroplastic process description of mind and body adaptation.
If you repeatedly think about something and you are highly motivated, the structure within the brain will positively adapt to make those thoughts more efficient and easier for you to have the next time.
The mind and body thus become physically and mentally tolerant of substance use.
Changes in the body and brain accommodate both the substance and the thoughts of using substances.
These thoughts and consequences can be reversed as easily as originally conceived.
This happens for millions of people every day.
They stop ingesting a substance, detox if needed, and then make choices that are devoid of substance use.
Seemingly miraculously their minds go back to a neutral state or perhaps catapult to an improved state.
Consider that Webster's definition of addiction says addiction is a "compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol)...
" It is significant that the examples (i.
e.
heroin, nicotine and alcohol) used by Webster's definition all have a negative social reputation.
And, according to Webster's definition, these three substances are "habit-forming substance[s].
" Insomuch as "habit" plays an important role in defining addiction, what is habit? According to the Merriam-Webster's American English Dictionary, habit is defined as: "...
a usual manner of behavior...
a behavior pattern acquired and fixed by frequent repetition...
an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.
" Not surprising, these definitions of "habit" also describe neuroplastic change.
"...
a behavior pattern acquired and fixed by frequent repetition," wears a neuronal path in the brain which by definition puts in place a neuroplastic change resulting in a habitual action.
Still, does this mean that everything you think about has the potential to be "addicting?" If you were to look at how the brain and body are positively and negatively affected by your dominant thoughts, the answer is yes.
If addiction does exist, it could be defined as a normal process of brain adaptation that occurs constantly within our bodies and brains.
Thus, addiction, in the classic negative western culture definition, falls far short of its mark because it only deals with negative thought processes.
Consider this statement: everything is addicting or nothing is addicting.
Doesn't each part of this statement say the exact same thing? Positive thoughts create positive "addiction.
" In other words, the classically defined addiction is nothing more than a normal neuroplastic response to what you decide to think about, repetitively, good and bad.
A person who dwells on the negative worries of life builds a neuronal pathway that makes those thoughts easier to repeat.
Whether thoughts are positive or negative has no bearing on neuroplastic change.
If your thoughts are negative and highly dedicated, the effect upon your physical body and welfare will be negative.
Your world will reflect your negativity.
You essentially create a negative state in the mind, which then has a snowball effect in the body and finally manifests in your external life.
On the other hand, if your thoughts are positive and highly dedicated, the effect upon your physical body and welfare will be positive.
Your external behavior will thus be affected, positively.
The brain literally does not know the difference; it simply reacts to thought and then processes those thoughts as instructed by the information given to it by the mind.
This is all good news.
Whatever damage you feel has been done by your choice to use substances, your body and brain have an incredible capacity for overcoming and repairing this damage.
And, your brain is simply a tool of the mind, which can be changed at will, reversing any and all poor habits you might have.
Based on the new sciences, the "addiction movement" became, and continues to be, an amalgamation of religion, neuroplasticity and localizationism.
Originally, "addiction" grew out of the 1930's fundamentalist Christian group known as the Oxford Group.
The Oxford Group was the predecessor of all 12-step groups and a myriad of other new age alternative programs.
Subsequently, localizationism was added to support the erroneous claim that the brain cannot be changed back to a normal state once substance use has changed the brain to the addicted state.
Neuroplasticity was incorporated into the addiction treatment industry late in the 20th century.
Neuroplasticity offered a plausible explanation as to why people become "addicted.
" In order to make the addiction theory fit into the idea of a neuroplastic change, this credible science was distorted; misrepresenting that substance use irreversibly changes the brain.
Hence, the substance abuse industry built a fail-proof (but flawed and pattetly false) paradigm using a hand-picked mixture of religion and science that resulted in the notion that everyone who abuses substances will need treatment, forever.
One must wonder where this train wreck started.
If we back track, it all begins with the foundation of the belief in powerlessness.
Are people truly powerless? Certain facts tell a very different story.
People get over substance use and abuse all the time.
It is quite common.
Consider, the fellow who drank for twenty years and then finally said, "Enough is enough.
" He was tired of losing everything and just stopped.
Or the woman who concluded, "I lost my kids, and I said to myself, I am done with cocaine! It's over! I am going to move on and build a better life for my children.
" And, she did.
The list of people who stop on their own without treatment is endless; there are hundreds of thousands in the United States every year that stop destructive behaviors on their own.
If the brain were unfixable, then all neuroplasticity would be in question.
It is not.
Neuroplasticity is the natural state of the brain - it is built to adapt - both ways - all ways! For everyone, the process of living exists in this way: first, thought; second, brain processing; third, changes in the brain tissue; and fourth, action.
In much of day-to-day living, thought is the engine and the brain and body are the cars and the caboose.
This does not mean that all brain functions are thought derived.
But, current science abolishes the once widely accepted idea that the brain is the source of all human function and that all emotion and thought are caused by the brain.
For centuries research has had the caboose powering the train, telling the engineer where and how fast to go.
The belief was that a person was simply an organism guided by electrical and chemical impulses emanating from gray matter caused by external stimuli.
People were thought to be reactive beings, constantly shoved here and there by life's ever changing circumstances.
People were victims of their environments.
But this narrow theory could not explain the complexity of living life, the mystery of the contents and depth of emotions, the excitement of desire and joy, the remarkable ability to overcome great physical damage and adversities in life, or the ability to build goals in the mind's eye for the future.
It could not explain a person's creative nature and abilities.
Neuroscience and, specifically, neuroplasticity, the science of an ever-malleable brain, has changed all that.
Your thoughts and emotions do guide you and they can change everything about you, including changing and remapping the once believed unchangeable organ, the brain.
This is fantastic news for those who desire a better life.
Not only can you change your present circumstances, but science proves that your choice to change can force your brain to adapt and further support the decision to change.
Addiction as defined by Webster's Dictionary states: "Compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.
" "Compulsive need, persistent compulsive use...
" This shortened version of the definition describes the process of (1) thought, and then (2) physical action.
This is a simplified neuroplastic process description of mind and body adaptation.
If you repeatedly think about something and you are highly motivated, the structure within the brain will positively adapt to make those thoughts more efficient and easier for you to have the next time.
The mind and body thus become physically and mentally tolerant of substance use.
Changes in the body and brain accommodate both the substance and the thoughts of using substances.
These thoughts and consequences can be reversed as easily as originally conceived.
This happens for millions of people every day.
They stop ingesting a substance, detox if needed, and then make choices that are devoid of substance use.
Seemingly miraculously their minds go back to a neutral state or perhaps catapult to an improved state.
Consider that Webster's definition of addiction says addiction is a "compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol)...
" It is significant that the examples (i.
e.
heroin, nicotine and alcohol) used by Webster's definition all have a negative social reputation.
And, according to Webster's definition, these three substances are "habit-forming substance[s].
" Insomuch as "habit" plays an important role in defining addiction, what is habit? According to the Merriam-Webster's American English Dictionary, habit is defined as: "...
a usual manner of behavior...
a behavior pattern acquired and fixed by frequent repetition...
an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.
" Not surprising, these definitions of "habit" also describe neuroplastic change.
"...
a behavior pattern acquired and fixed by frequent repetition," wears a neuronal path in the brain which by definition puts in place a neuroplastic change resulting in a habitual action.
Still, does this mean that everything you think about has the potential to be "addicting?" If you were to look at how the brain and body are positively and negatively affected by your dominant thoughts, the answer is yes.
If addiction does exist, it could be defined as a normal process of brain adaptation that occurs constantly within our bodies and brains.
Thus, addiction, in the classic negative western culture definition, falls far short of its mark because it only deals with negative thought processes.
Consider this statement: everything is addicting or nothing is addicting.
Doesn't each part of this statement say the exact same thing? Positive thoughts create positive "addiction.
" In other words, the classically defined addiction is nothing more than a normal neuroplastic response to what you decide to think about, repetitively, good and bad.
A person who dwells on the negative worries of life builds a neuronal pathway that makes those thoughts easier to repeat.
Whether thoughts are positive or negative has no bearing on neuroplastic change.
If your thoughts are negative and highly dedicated, the effect upon your physical body and welfare will be negative.
Your world will reflect your negativity.
You essentially create a negative state in the mind, which then has a snowball effect in the body and finally manifests in your external life.
On the other hand, if your thoughts are positive and highly dedicated, the effect upon your physical body and welfare will be positive.
Your external behavior will thus be affected, positively.
The brain literally does not know the difference; it simply reacts to thought and then processes those thoughts as instructed by the information given to it by the mind.
This is all good news.
Whatever damage you feel has been done by your choice to use substances, your body and brain have an incredible capacity for overcoming and repairing this damage.
And, your brain is simply a tool of the mind, which can be changed at will, reversing any and all poor habits you might have.
Based on the new sciences, the "addiction movement" became, and continues to be, an amalgamation of religion, neuroplasticity and localizationism.
Originally, "addiction" grew out of the 1930's fundamentalist Christian group known as the Oxford Group.
The Oxford Group was the predecessor of all 12-step groups and a myriad of other new age alternative programs.
Subsequently, localizationism was added to support the erroneous claim that the brain cannot be changed back to a normal state once substance use has changed the brain to the addicted state.
Neuroplasticity was incorporated into the addiction treatment industry late in the 20th century.
Neuroplasticity offered a plausible explanation as to why people become "addicted.
" In order to make the addiction theory fit into the idea of a neuroplastic change, this credible science was distorted; misrepresenting that substance use irreversibly changes the brain.
Hence, the substance abuse industry built a fail-proof (but flawed and pattetly false) paradigm using a hand-picked mixture of religion and science that resulted in the notion that everyone who abuses substances will need treatment, forever.
One must wonder where this train wreck started.
If we back track, it all begins with the foundation of the belief in powerlessness.
Are people truly powerless? Certain facts tell a very different story.
People get over substance use and abuse all the time.
It is quite common.
Consider, the fellow who drank for twenty years and then finally said, "Enough is enough.
" He was tired of losing everything and just stopped.
Or the woman who concluded, "I lost my kids, and I said to myself, I am done with cocaine! It's over! I am going to move on and build a better life for my children.
" And, she did.
The list of people who stop on their own without treatment is endless; there are hundreds of thousands in the United States every year that stop destructive behaviors on their own.
If the brain were unfixable, then all neuroplasticity would be in question.
It is not.
Neuroplasticity is the natural state of the brain - it is built to adapt - both ways - all ways! For everyone, the process of living exists in this way: first, thought; second, brain processing; third, changes in the brain tissue; and fourth, action.
In much of day-to-day living, thought is the engine and the brain and body are the cars and the caboose.
This does not mean that all brain functions are thought derived.
But, current science abolishes the once widely accepted idea that the brain is the source of all human function and that all emotion and thought are caused by the brain.
For centuries research has had the caboose powering the train, telling the engineer where and how fast to go.
The belief was that a person was simply an organism guided by electrical and chemical impulses emanating from gray matter caused by external stimuli.
People were thought to be reactive beings, constantly shoved here and there by life's ever changing circumstances.
People were victims of their environments.
But this narrow theory could not explain the complexity of living life, the mystery of the contents and depth of emotions, the excitement of desire and joy, the remarkable ability to overcome great physical damage and adversities in life, or the ability to build goals in the mind's eye for the future.
It could not explain a person's creative nature and abilities.
Neuroscience and, specifically, neuroplasticity, the science of an ever-malleable brain, has changed all that.
Your thoughts and emotions do guide you and they can change everything about you, including changing and remapping the once believed unchangeable organ, the brain.
This is fantastic news for those who desire a better life.
Not only can you change your present circumstances, but science proves that your choice to change can force your brain to adapt and further support the decision to change.