Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong | Johann Hari
If one watches the speech in the middle of long post..in the middle that long article you will see the above title and a You tube connection with a 15 minutes speech....with the above title, the speaker is Johann Hari
At the very end, the speaker says..."The opposite of addiction is not sobriety
then he says that the opposite of addiction is....connection.
..............Simply put..this is not true for me, and for many of us...............................
..... In thinking about this, one needs to get sober in order to have connections with people....In listening to his talk, he proposes a view that simply says that connections themselves will overcome drug addictions and other types of addiction..
......This simply is not true, a true drug addict must go through painful withdrawal and that is most difficult. Yes, being connected during that time of withdrawal might be helpful..but as one cleans their body of the poison, then connections can be made to people, and also reconnections can be recovered... Time in sobriety helps the person continue to clean their mind and their body.
.......The speaker on the tape implies that only connections are necessary, staying off the stuff is almost a side event..Again , that is not true. The connections are part of the process of getting well, but only part. Connections alone are not enough in my opinion..
.... The speaker's knowledge seems to be second hand, as an observer not a participant. My experience as well as others that I have talked to and watched is a growth process. Gradually overtime, the body eliminates the drugs that we have been on, and then creates new connections and growth. The speaker seems to imply that this will take place simply with improved connections with people and no intervention in a recovery atmosphere. I believe that again is wrong. A recovery atmosphere is absolutely necessary for continued growth and improvement. I believe that there is a feeling promoted by this speaker that sobriety, as is experienced in the 12 step programs is almost unimportant, that the speaker feels that simply connections with people will be enough. I believe a structured program will work and has worked far better than the speakers outside view of the problem.. While he makes some good points about jailing and isolating drug addicts, he offers no real solution to our current system. There must be some kind of conversion from our current jail them for the drug crimes......(providing that there has been no physical harm to others).....to cure them with love and attention that he proposes..Who is going to pay for it???How is the system going to be changed??? How do we create situations where the addicts get the help they need before there is crime. What if the addict has no health insurance to pay for extended care...who pays?...when does the care run out and how are people readmitted to society after severe drug addiction?....
.........Well it is pretty easy to get up in front of some people and give a 15 minute talk..with some references to a few studies....But solving the problem for tens of thousands of people in this country, in a sane and sensitive way over the long haul...has not been presented in this talk...Yes, he does discuss Portugal ...but ..Portugal is kind of a small country...with a homogeneous population.................................................
.......and the U.S.A..is the 3rd largest country with so many different kinds of people that most people in the U.S.A don't have the faintest idea of how many different kinds of people and where they come from...exist here right now...No..there are not 13 states in one small area any more............................................
............ We are from the Artic Circle to Key West Florida across 8000 miles to Hawaii...and up to Spokane Washington..with all kinds of geography in between. Don't forget across to Bangor Maine.. I might add that the diversity of the population is unmatched in the world..People come here and have come here from every part of the world. And are still coming here. The solution offered in the 15 minute speech here may sound good, and there is lots of clapping at the end...........but it is useless and incomplete..and a danger to think it could work at all. Comprehensive programs include medical care and supervision as well as rehabilitation and helping to get recovered addicts housing and jobs.....Yes, caring and love are important...but there is much more. So much more, that I believe the oversimplification of the solution (as discussed in the short lecture)...is as dangerous if not more dangerous then the problem itself..
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