Watch Now! Russell Brand: From Addiction to Recovery

Russell Brand is one celebrity who is pretty cool. This isn't the first time I've written about him. I can respect him because he uses his fame to bring attention to the problem of addiction and benefits of meditation and yoga.

So I was happy to discover that after Amy Winehouse’s death from alcohol withdrawal, Brand made a short documentary with BBC about addiction and recovery. And The Guardian published a moving eulogy he wrote for her.

Discovering this short doc (about an hour long) several years late does not diminish its significance. Brand discusses with experts about opiate replacement therapy. At times, he can be overbearing and appears fixated on his recovery process. However, Brand’s narcissism is tolerable, because he argues that for addicts like himself it's abstinence or death.

He argues against methadone saying it’s an opiate replacing heroin, which means that the addict is not drug free, and an addict wiI am certain he would criticize Suboxone since it too is a synthetic opiate prescribed to curb cravings and withdrawal symptoms, just like methadone. The difference is that Suboxone is prescribed by a psychiatrist, as opposed to daily pick ups at a methadone clinic, so it no longer carries the stigma of having to drop in every morning at your local MMTP (Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program).

An addict, Brand stresses, must be free of all drugs, although whether he includes psychotropic medications, it’s unclear. Both AA and NA agree with Brand; and they consider prescription medications as drugs. Therefore, an AA member who is prescribed medication, for say depression and anxiety, is not drug free or abstinent. I find problem with this, because so many people struggling with substance abuse suffer from underlying mental illness. 

What are your thoughts?

Blogging for Sobriety

I am a big proponent of journaling as a way to keep things honest between you and yourself. It's an invaluable tool that deepens self-awareness, whether or not you are in therapy.

And, there is blogging, not blogging as marketing, but personal blogging. It is a form of journaling, but it's not the lock-and-key, Dear Diary variety. Personal blogging is like keeping a journal that's meant to be read by whomever. It's personal and public at the same time.


It's therapeutic because making a declaration, which isn't exactly shouting, blogger reminds herself of who she is and what she aspires to become. It's writing for self-reflection and inviting others to witness the process, which CAN be an act of courage and commitment, or just a form of narcissism. It's much like "Hi, I am so and so, and I am an alcoholic" part of AA. 

Which brings me back to sober blogging. I like this blog very much for the reasons cited above and more. I hope it can inspire others to rethink their relationship to alcohol.

http://drunkydrunkgirl.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/inspiration-to-others/

Why AA Isn't Hip

Some of my clients are young problem drinkers whose alcohol abuse is severe enough to warrant their own concern. They come to me and other psychotherapists with the hope that they can gain control over their drinking habit which seems to be winning. Addicts they are not, they say, it’s just a matter of learning why they drink so much and to reassess their priorities and values. The objective is to no longer feel as if they are controlled by alcohol. Most are above average in intelligence with a promising future in one of the creative professions. Before seeking therapy, they have tried to stop drinking on their own and/or have gone to Alcoholics Anonymous for support, some repeatedly. Most of these clients stop going to AA for several reasons.Many complain that the atmosphere is depressing and off-putting. They feel they have little or no common with the majority of other AA members, besides alcohol. To them the typical AA goer is a wizened old timer who appears to have no other options other than to stop drinking entirely and attend AA meetings round the clock. Unlike them, my clients feel they still have options, and they feel they can re-learn to drink moderately, after a period of abstinence. 

I would like to address that sentiment with the following:

It's true that many people in AA are older and even just plain old. AA was originally intended for serious alcoholics who had bottomed out over and over again, meaning nothing else helped them to stop drinking. AA worked because it was a refuge, a place of last resort. It accepted them for who they are, and they found community. 

AA is still around because it does help serious alcoholics recover from active alcoholism and maintain sobriety through community. One reason why you see more older people is that older addicts are more likely to abstain for reasons that are connected to poor health resulting from years of sustained abuse. They may die if they continue to drink, and so they NEED the AA community to not drink again. Also, dealing with or avoiding consequences of addiction is exhausting, and older addicts are emotionally and mentally TIRED from running.

Having said that, it does not mean there is no place for younger people in AA. Which reminds me, there is a great independent feature that deals with this: it's called Smashed.

The role of AA for problem drinkers will be continued...

Re-Learning to Drink

Hello.

Here is a blogger from the UK on why he decided to begin drinking again after eight and a half years of abstinence.

https://thinkingaboutdrinking.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/re-learning-to-drink-one-month-in/

Rethinking How and Why You Drink

I’ve tried to define risky or heavy drinking in a prior post. Naturally, a post on why one may want to consider cutting back or drink moderately follows.

First, I’d like to distinguish alcoholism from alcohol abuse,
i.e. risky/heavy drinking, by making the distinction between physical dependence on alcohol from psychological dependence.

I am primarily concerned with psychological dependence and its relationship to emotional health. 

The following are the most common reasons/beliefs why people say they drink:

1. Alcohol makes me feel less shy and more social
2. Drinking alcohol makes socializing more fun
3. I am more interesting and fun to be with when I am drinking
4. I am more myself when I am drinking
5. Alcohol relaxes me
6. Alcohol unwinds me from stresses of life
7. Drinking makes me forget my troubles
8. I am more creative when I am drinking

These reasons, for the most part, are valid and supported by the fact that alcohol has been around just as long as we have. There is no denying that ethyl alcohol, the active chemical compound in alcohol, does relax the brain and body, initially.

One possible explanation for how drinking becomes problematic maybe because of habits. Once we hold an idea of ourselves to be true – I am more social and friendly after a couple of beers or alcohol helps me to relax – the repetition of the behavior, or the habit, reinforces the belief which first initiated the behavior. We begin to believe that drinking alcohol is the ONLY way we can be relaxed, be more social and have fun in a social setting. In a sense, we become trapped by the beliefs we have about ourselves. We become the person who we believe we are.

But we can’t be sure this is true, even though it may have been true in high school or college when we first started drinking. But, we can discover new parts of ourselves by doing the same things differently or trying new things.

By questioning established beliefs or behaviors and trying new ideas, we learn new aspects of our personalities, expanding our idea of who we are. As our self-image or self-concept expands, so does our self-esteem, which makes incorporating new ways of thinking and behaving easier.

Practical application of this theory to problem drinking would be to see how it feels to go out and not drink or limit how much you drink so that you don’t go beyond the threshold where alcohol influences your ability to make decisions. 

I recommend to my clients who have identified heavy drinking as a problem to abstain from alcohol for 30 days. During these 30 days, they are encouraged to think deeply about their relationship to alcohol and decide how they might go about changing it. They may decide to stop drinking all together or try to moderate their drinking.

This period of self reflection is not an easy one. Many people will give up, because it would mean dealing with their anxiety and depression. It is demanding work, and change does not take place over night.

To be continued...