Red Flags - Addiction

No Parties Please

Mon, 04 Nov 2002 16:14:33 -0500

A Subdued "Happy Birthday" To Methadone

What would happen if we won the war on drugs?

What if we could deal successfully with the problems of addiction with treatment and see the tangible evidence of success in lower crime rates?

Harm Reduction Therapy

Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:32:49 -0400

HOME-BREWED BOOZE AND DOCTORING

John had lived in the back of a downtown Toronto community center for as long as anyone could remember. "He was there for the past 14 years as far as we've been able to tell," says Art Manuel, the director of the harm reduction program at Toronto’s Seaton House homeless shelter. "He

Life Insurance

Mon, 15 Jul 2002 17:38:58 -0400

PENALIZING PEOPLE WHO ARE RECOVERING FROM ADDICTION

Have you ever answered a questionnaire for a life insurance policy?

Have you ever been less than truthful in answering any of the questions?

New Civil Rights Movement For Addicts And Alcoholics

Mon, 01 Jul 2002 17:43:02 -0400

A FORMER CNN STAR SPEAKS OUT

If you look at someone who has no self-respect, I’d bet that they will not look back at you - directly. From experience, I’ve detected that defeated people stare at the floor and become shoe inspectors.

"I was one of those people inspecting shoes," said Susan Rook, the former host of CNN’s "Talkback Live," who now works as an advocate for recovering people in North Carolina.

A Cost/Benefit Analysis Of Cocaine Addiction

Mon, 24 Jun 2002 17:45:10 -0400

…or why I’d be better off working at McDonalds than being an addicted media star

Sometimes the best way to attack an addiction is where an addict hurts the most: in the pocketbook.

Addiction counselling trainer, Arthur Trundy, uses the example of a high powered advertising executive to make the point about the high cost of addiction.
"When she came to me" he says, "she was 6 months clean from cocaine and thinking of returning to her $110,000 a year job at the advertising agency. But my advice was to consider another career."

The woman was naturally hesitant about considering any alternatives in light of her former success in advertising. "But it was not a success," according to Trundy.

He used one of the most recognized business tools, The Cost/Benefit Analysis, to make his point that she would be better off with any other job than her old one.

"Any other job?" She asked.

So he suggested she pick the worst job she could think of as an example. To which she sneered: "Flipping burgers at McDonalds for minimum wage."

Destroying Emotions

Mon, 10 Jun 2002 17:47:46 -0400

A PILL FOR EVERYTHING

Bobby was nervously twitching in his chair when I first met him in the detox. "It’s bad to be a crack addict getting off crack," he said with a scowl. But he was at a loss for words to describe the tears that had overpowered him - so much so that he’d gone to the desk of the detox and begged for something to relieve him of his horrible anxiety.

Voodoo Drug Addiction Recovery

Mon, 03 Jun 2002 17:50:08 -0400

Imagine being addicted to a drug like heroin and trying to find an effective remedy that works fast and keeps you from going back again.

How about Spit- therapy? That’s one where other addicts in treatment spit on you as a punishment for wrong-thinking. Never heard of it?

Well, how about Desert Therapy? As one organization explains it: "providers who are committed to the utilization of outdoor modalities to assist young people and their families to make positive change."

Stupid Pills

Mon, 20 May 2002 17:52:00 -0400

SO-CALLED NON-ADDICTIVE ANTIDEPRESSANTS, INCLUDING PAXIL

Did you ever take a psychiatric medication? If yes, then, like me, you were probably perplexed by the feeling of indifference and apathy that comes with taking an effective antidepressant drug.

In 1968, when I was 14, I was far from a normal teenager. I suffered from severe depression and was given the miracle antidepressant drug of the day - Valium. The doctors told me and my parents there was nothing to fear because it was non-addictive and had no severe side effects. I was told it was so safe to use that I could take as much as I wanted without fear of overdose. And if the doctor told you something, it had to be true, didn’t it?

Oh Lord Won't You Buy Me A Mercedes-Benz

Thu, 09 May 2002 17:54:22 -0400

ADDICTION, FEAR AND PRAYER

I always had a fear of being caught on my knees praying. I’ll let you in on a not so shameful secret too: I do it. And I’m now admitting it publicly. So, what’s this fear about?

Fear is the essence of addiction; that’s why I used drugs. In the beginning, it was a way to overcome the fear and keep functioning

Some Thoughts On My Having Been A Pothead

Mon, 22 Apr 2002 17:56:34 -0400

I’D RATHER TRUST MY EXPERIENCES AND NOT THE RESEARCH

One of my favorite lines comes from an aging pothead who growls, "I’ve been smoking pot everyday for 25 years and it hasn’t hurt me a bit! (cough) I can quit anytime I want to."

I faced that one down for the last time in 1994 after years of struggle with "It’s not addictive…I can quit anytime I want to. I just don’t want to…I’m more creative when I’m stoned." (Yeah right…more about that later)…It makes lovemaking so much better (Yes, I can be more indifferent, apathetic and self-absorbed when I’m stoned)."

An Outrageous Police Invasion Of An Addiction Recovery Program

Mon, 15 Apr 2002 17:58:20 -0400

WHAT NEXT?

Should the police be allowed to wire a church to gather evidence in a criminal case? A good Christian thinks of the confessional as being sacrosanct, a place where you can openly discuss your crimes and receive absolution - privileged information that can’t be used in court. But, think about this: we could save so much money on investigations by putting microphones in and taping the secrets of these losers. After all, they are criminals and we don't need to care what happens to them. So what if a few innocent people get caught and have to suffer?

Get Serious! There Is No Easy Way To Get Rid Of Cocaine Addiction!

Mon, 08 Apr 2002 18:27:32 -0400

THE NEW COCAINE VACCINE IS FOOL’S GOLD

April 8, 2002 - Is there a magic bullet to wipe out cocaine addiction? The new cocaine vaccine trial might have you think so.

My own experience says we should not hold our breath. The vaccine manufacturers want to raise hopes and remember that their job is to sell more vaccines. Working in alcoholism and drug recovery gives me a front-line view. It’s unlikely we will see an end to the scourge of cocaine addiction anymore than we will see the end of alcoholism or any other form of addiction and abuse.

The vaccine in question is called TA-CD and is currently undergoing testing in the United States. It works by causing the body to make antibodies which attack the cocaine molecules in the blood. Normally, cocaine molecules are small enough to get through the blood-brain barrier which protects the brain from foreign substances. Antibodies attach themselves to the cocaine molecules and make them too big to get through and thereby cannot trigger dopamine production in the brain, which is associated with the high people get.

Why Politicians Lie About Their Alcoholism And Addictions

Mon, 01 Apr 2002 17:29:33 -0500

FEW STORIES ABOUT "RECOVERY" FROM CONGRESS

April 1, 2002 - Last fall I was contacted by a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation asking for help with a story he was working on about alcoholism, addiction and politicians. He asked whether I could help him find elected politicians who would be willing to talk about the problems of dealing with their own alcoholism and addictions.

Talk about a loaded question. The subject is usually one that’s covered by the tabloids more than the mainstream press. The few public admissions made by politicians are usually couched in bafflegab. Remember " I didn’t inhale" President Clinton. And President Bush’s "Faith cured my drinking problem?" In fact Bush told the Washington Post: "I don't think I was clinically an alcoholic." He even took great pride in saying that he "never went to Alcoholics Anonymous or any other program of treatment." Stirring stuff for a nation whose proclaimed number one social problem is addiction to drugs!

A simple Google search of the words "alcoholism + politician" turned up about 4,000 entries, but almost nothing about politicians who admit to alcoholism or addiction. An article at Salon.com by Cary Tennis titled, "My Name is George and I’m An Alcoholic" is the top entry (from which I took the above quotes), but is not an article about what George has said: rather it’s about what he hasn't said, namely, "My Name is George and I'm An Alcoholic."

Sadly, the first thirty entries in the Google search turn up only two stories about alcoholic politicians: The Salon.com story about Bush, and another about Alberta Premier Ralph Klein who publicly renounced drinking after an embarrassing midnight incident at a homeless shelter in Edmonton last Christmas.

Seems Klein got it into his head to visit the shelter on his way home after a party, as Ann McIlroy reported for The Guardian, "The man who stumbled into the homeless shelter late at night was well dressed, and had obviously indulged in too much Christmas cheer. Slurring his words, he got into an argument with the residents, demanding to know why they were unemployed."

The CBC reporter tried to get Klein to comment for his story but was rebuffed - Klein doesn't consider himself to be an alcoholic. The association is prickly for any public figure caught abusing alcohol or drugs. It seems we've come a long way in hearing from public figures openly discussing their recovery — except politicians.

Dr. Abraham Twerski, director of the Gateway Treatment Center in Pittsburgh, is well acquainted with this issue. He says there is fear amongst "high achievers" that acknowledgement and treatment might jeopardize their status. "There are recovery meetings held on Capitol Hill in Washington, in state capitols, city halls and municipal buildings all across the country. You just don’t know about them."

When politicians do open up on their alcoholism, they usually suffer attacks from opponents. Take the case of former Texas Governor Ann Richards. Her opponents weren’t kind to her even when she was already in recovery. But she still won re-election.

Speaking More Openly About Sexual Abuse

Mon, 25 Mar 2002 17:31:21 -0500

HIDDEN CASES, INCLUDING MINE

Being a victim of sexual abuse makes for good conversation these days, but I can't say I enjoy the topic. Sexual abuse is a very familiar topic for those of us involved in alcohol and drug recovery. I've heard estimates that 60 percent to 80 per cent of us have been sexually abused. When I first began discussing it publicly in 1991 I was asked by a secretary if such talk was "some new fad for young men." I think the look she got from me told her what she needed to know.

It’s no fad. I would prefer to have my nails pulled out with a pair of pliers - slowly and with agony if it would mean never having to discuss my sexual abuse again. It’s a subject that’s caused me no end of pain, confusion, alcoholism and addiction since I was six-years-old.

Other victims are suing the church, the parochial schools, the government and others for their suffering. I have no one to sue and no desire to do it even if I could.

I have to laugh out loud at much of the ludicrous posturing by columnists this past week who should know better than to comment on a subject they know next to nothing about. One columnist compared the Catholic Church to the Boy Scouts and claimed the group’s policy of expelling Gay people has prevented any such scandal from occurring in its ranks.

Obviously, she wasn't a member of my troop. Sexual experimentation might not have been sanctioned by the Boy Scouts, but it happened. I know because I was there.

Problem was that adults didn’t cause the abuse in my case. Other kids did - kids who had likely been abused by other kids, who had been abused by an adult somewhere along the way.

I still remember in the midst of my period of addiction telling my mother about what had happened when I was six, a hurtful thing to do in retrospect. How she cried over it! I was 30 when I told her and like most sexual abuse victims, I thought I knew how to handle it: when in fact I couldn't have handled it worse! The guy who abused me said he’d kill me and hurt my family if I told anyone what happened. Six year olds scare easily and I held it in for 24 years. So here was mom telling me she’d always watched out for older men who might have an eye on me but she never thought of the twelve-year-old down the road from our home. Would you? Likely not.

Nor would you likely know that the overwhelming majority of sexual abuse is caused by persons well known to the child. The myth of the stranger offering candy to a kid in the park is just that: largely a myth.

A surprising fact about survivors of sexual abuse is that a lot of us feel we are better people for what we went through. Not that we would wish it on anyone else, but somehow we became better people as a result.

How can that be? Someone who’s never been there has difficulty understanding how sexual abuse affects the victim. Textbooks have been written on the psychological damage that goes above and beyond the physical assault. To have survived when so many others linger in depression or die from suicide means you have developed an incredible resiliency.

Confusion about sexual orientation is a common side-effect which lingers into adolescence and adulthood for the victim. A feeling of unworthiness and ugliness is also common, although undeserved. It took years for me to find out the abusers look for the pretty ones - a fact that came from conversations with sexual offenders in a drug rehab. Most offenders also consider themselves to be "straight" or heterosexual, despite their involvement with young boys. Most also feel protected by the stigma a boy feels about revealing abuse by another man. At least they felt comfortable about it until recently.

My abuse took place in 1960, a time when sexual assaults on young boys were virtually unheard of. The sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies first made it easier for women to talk about sexual assault and abuse. Yet when telephone hotlines for abuse victims first began, workers were surprised when they received calls from abused men. At that time, outside of the Gay community there were no resources for counseling male abuse victims. Male sexual abuse was never discussed, except as it concerned the abuse of females by males.

Not so long ago I was working as a counselor dealing with the case of a boy who was conned into making a porn video when he was drunk and stoned. When I called the police, the detective I spoke to almost yawned aloud. I was told: "One day he'll look at it as something he did for sport."

This was blatant "kiddie porn," involving this boy and a couple of men. When I told the detective that part of it, his response was "Oh…" That kind of indifference sends a message to an abused boy that his problems are insignificant and only serves to reinforce the low self-esteem he already feels from having been sexually violated.

My local newspaper today reported a similar abuse incident. Apparently, the police took it very seriously.

"Anytime anyone feels someone has touched them in an unwanted sexual manner, we take it seriously," according to the officer involved. "There is no double standard under the law."

Really? Then perhaps all this painful talk is actually paying off.

The Gambling Bug: Not What You Think It Is

Mon, 18 Mar 2002 17:33:30 -0500

WHAT CASINOS DON’T TELL YOU

With its gold ceilings and marble floors, the casino makes a garish statement. But there are features in its interior design that are not as visible. And these are the subtleties that will help you surrender whatever money you have in your pocket.

For one thing, the typical modern casinos do not have clocks. No need to distract you with a time-piece. The absence of windows or natural light also cuts down on outside distractions. The psychological goal of casino design is to keep you focused instead on gambling distractions. Hence the overly loud coin trays on slot machines and associated noisemakers built into casino equipment.