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

Choice isn’t shame, but shame is a choice.

I’ve had it with the argument that suggests seeing “addictive” behavior as freely chosen automatically bestows shame upon those who engage in it. It’s usually presented with the request that we “treat addiction as a disease so that people won’t feel ashamed.” This argument is so wrong, but it’s rarely questioned and analyzed with any… Continue reading Choice isn’t shame, but shame is a choice.

Backwards-Land: The Revelation of “Rewards”

The addiction experts have finally begun to admit the real meaning of their theories – that addiction is about competing rewards – immediate versus delayed long-term gratification. If this is what it’s all about, then it’s clearly quite idiotic to insist that addiction and alcoholism are diseases. Indeed, if we accept this logic, then we’re all born diseased and nearly every bad decision is the result of a disease. Addiction is a choice.

Choice and Will Power

Will-Power is often confused as being the key element in a choice based model of addiction. One needn’t deny their will in order to solve a substance use problem. Just because addiction is not a disease, that doesn’t mean that one must live with constant “cravings” or desires to use drugs and alcohol. Learn more about a choice based model of addiction here.