The big core principle in The Freedom Model for Addictions is the idea that you can base your choice to quit/moderate your substance use around the conscious belief that quitting or moderating is the happier option than your current style of heavy use. I bolded the ier at the end of happier in the previous… Continue reading In The Freedom Model, happiness is the central motivator of change, but you don’t need to be happy to solve your substance use problem.
Author: Steven Slate
Steven Slate has personally taught hundreds of people how to change their substance use habits through choice - while avoiding the harmful recovery culture and disease model of addiction.
Bassist Flea “recovered” from heroin “addiction” without treatment or 12 steps
Flea, the legendary bassist for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, wrote an interesting essay on addiction for Time Magazine. It tells both his own experience of getting over his drug problems without professional help, and his own ideas about addiction. He has a lot of great things to say, but like so much of what… Continue reading Bassist Flea “recovered” from heroin “addiction” without treatment or 12 steps
Addiction science exposed: recreational cocaine users’ brains are hijacked too!
A dramatic piece of addiction research used to prop up the brain disease model of addiction was blown to pieces this year: cue induced craving. You’ve probably seen this “science” portrayed on television over the years. Some very serious looking scientists in a quiet lab full of fancy equipment put a cocaine addict into a… Continue reading Addiction science exposed: recreational cocaine users’ brains are hijacked too!
Essential Reading List for the Truth about Addiction, Alcohol, and other Drugs
The hysteria and myths about alcohol, other drugs, and addiction runs deep in American culture – and I believe it is causing us to have more problems with alcohol and other drugs. The more people learn the truth, the more we can create a cultural shift that decreases these problems. The following is my study… Continue reading Essential Reading List for the Truth about Addiction, Alcohol, and other Drugs
Harvard Addiction Science Professor Admits Treatment is a Form of Coercion
Julie Eldred is a heroin user who violated probation by testing positive for an opioid. She’s contesting the probation violation ruling all the way up to Massachusetts’ State Supreme Court on the grounds that relapse is a symptom of the disease of addiction, and it’s therefore a cruel and unusual punishment to put her in… Continue reading Harvard Addiction Science Professor Admits Treatment is a Form of Coercion
Review of Thomas S Szasz: The Man and His Ideas
A few years back I read Thomas Szasz’s Ceremonial Chemistry and The Myth of Mental Illness, and found them both to be brilliant and enlightening books. Yet he’s dealing in nuanced issues, and sometimes it’s easy to miss the point. When there’s an army of people threatened by his discussions of these nuances, they want you… Continue reading Review of Thomas S Szasz: The Man and His Ideas
“Real alcoholics” more likely to recover than “heavy drinkers”
Real Alcoholics are more likely to recover than Heavy Drinkers according to data in the government’s latest large scale epidemiological study, NESARC-III.
The myth that alcohol relieves stress
Wanna deal with your “self-medication” based addiction? Try this: recognize the fact that your substance use isn’t medicating anything, that is, that you are taking the wrong medicine. Once you know this, you can stop it. Let’s tackle the issue of stress, a ubiquitous experience that is widely believed to be relieved by alcohol. This… Continue reading The myth that alcohol relieves stress
Some people don’t quit drugs. It doesn’t mean they can’t quit.
There’s an odd little bit of logic or assumption that comes up when discussing addiction that I need to discuss. Those who favor the disease model of addiction, or any model of addiction that includes an inability to choose differently, tend to assume that those who don’t quit can’t quit. I, however, see addiction as… Continue reading Some people don’t quit drugs. It doesn’t mean they can’t quit.
Intervention Promises More Addiction Misinformation in 2017
90% of people with addiction are not getting treatment, and that needs to change – according to a new promo for A&Es long running show Intervention. It’s ironic that they’re coming out with this messaging now, because it’s exactly the message I’ve been fighting this year. See their promo below: I was tapped to give… Continue reading Intervention Promises More Addiction Misinformation in 2017