Today is the fifth anniversary of this website, so here’s an entirely self-indulgent post about my journey here. First, I had problems with substance use. The problems were that: My girlfriend, relatives, and parents didn’t like that I used drugs. I spent so much money on drugs that I didn’t have any left to spend on… Continue reading 5 Year Anniversary of The Clean Slate Blog
Category: Uncategorized
The Missing Question about Addiction: Are The Highs of Drugs Really That Good?
There’s one aspect of drug use that goes mostly unquestioned: the pleasure provided by drugs. The reputation of heroin is probably the best example of this. It has this mystique about it that both users and non-users find fascinating. Heroin is believed to be a sort of pandora’s box that you had better not open,… Continue reading The Missing Question about Addiction: Are The Highs of Drugs Really That Good?
Truth About Prohibition
Check this statement from Tazewell County Virginia’s Commonwealth Attorney: “If you take away drug addiction, it would put us out of a job,” Lee said. “About 80 percent of crimes committed are related to drugs.” Source
Still Genius – Fingarette on the Disease Myth and Learning
23 years later, Herbert Fingarette’s critique of the disease concept still rings true. In this excerpt, he points out that the ruling explanations of addiction are simply describing learning, and for all the fancy medical language, treatment is simply about teaching.
Stop Recovering. Start Living.
I don’t spend a single day worrying about how to get through it without a drink or drug. I don’t spend a single moment thinking about it. I did, back when I was in the recovery culture. But then I started living – I started focusing on building the life I wanted. I haven’t achieved all of my goals, but I’ve stayed free of drug/alcohol use problems for 9 years now, and I’m a heck of a lot happier focusing on all my new interests rather than worrying about struggling with an imaginary disease. I am not “in recovery.” I refuse to struggle like that. I stopped recovering and started living my life.
StressBytes
Clinical Psychologist Steve Orma launches a new website focused on dealing with stress.
AA is Treatment? The Facts, and some tips for dealing with this harsh reality.
It’s impossible for a rational person to recommend that anyone get treatment for an addiction – because nearly every treatment program involves the faith-healing and dogmatic indoctrination into the self-defeating methods of 12-step groups. See the proof here, and learn some tips for dealing with it.
Beyond One Day At A Time
There are a few fundamental problems with the thought process of a person who abuses substances, but today, we’ll just be tackling the pattern of short term thinking which is so often at the base of these problems – and how the most common piece of advice doled out in 12-step groups reinforces this negative… Continue reading Beyond One Day At A Time