Read The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes

The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes

Micheal Brock

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Description:This piece was written after the death by overdose of Actor Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and concluded before the suicide by comedian Robin Williams. Both of these talented men relapsed after two decades of sobriety in a 12-step group. While substance abuse was the direct cause of death in Hoffman’s case, it would be difficult to say without more information if Williams’ relapse in 2006 in some way exacerbated the problems with depression that eventually led to him take his own life. Regardless, both of these deaths reinforced for me the danger of encouraging substance abusers to moderate their use of alcohol or other addictive substances. It is a very slippery slope, and dangerous to the point of recklessness on the part of any mental health professional to say that an addict can be taught to use a drug in moderation. If there are some who succeed in doing so, they are merely the exception that proves the rule. Most addicts have tried dozens, if not hundreds of times to moderate their use of substances on their own or with the help of health care professionals, but to no avail.Subsequent to Hoffman’s death, there was a short article in Time Magazine from a fellow 12-step member regarding a conversation they had while working on a film together. He quoted Hoffman as saying that if one of them did overdose it would probably save other lives who would be cautioned by their example. That this represents dangerously convoluted thinking requires no clarification for the sane and sober. To paraphrase a famous quote by Gen. George Patton, “No poor, dumb SOB ever got anyone else sober by dying of an overdose; he did it by staying sober himself.”Strangely, William’s case is for me more disturbing; not just because he took his own life, but because he may have been getting treatment for the wrong condition. Shortly before his suicide he was treated at Hazelden, a 12-step treatment facility. If he was using, the treatment was appropriate, but if he wasn’t, he probably should have been hospitalized for depression. The 12 steps are not a cure-all for anything that ails one. Major Depression has its own symptoms and its own treatments, including therapy and effective medications. What it does not have is the kind of mutual help support group that recovering alcoholics have; the kind that Abraham Low tried to build and almost succeeded. Sadly, there is no mental health equivalent for 12-Step programs today, though the need is as great as ever. Actually, it is greater than ever, since the insurance industry has been completely taken over by accounts who were quick to recognize that there was no profit in treating mental health or substance abuse issues, and few people really care whether these populations get any help at all.That a book such as Dr. Dodes could even get published today is a testament to the lack of alternatives that leave the courts with few options: do we put everyone who commits a minor crime related to substance abuse in jail, or do we try to address the root of the problem? The existence of drug courts and the prevalence of referrals to either publically funded (probably AA based) therapy or AA, shows that the courts get it—they are looking for realistic solutions.In seeking these solutions, they have made therapists and 12-Step groups there unwitting (and in some cases, unwilling) allies in the disposition phase of the criminal justice system. But this is unlikely to change any time soon. The idea that judges are going to take Dodes up on his proposal that they instead refer cases to $300 dollar an hour insight-oriented therapists with a track record of failure for treating addiction, vs something that is free and has a chance of success is so stupid it is laughable.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes. To get started finding The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Description: This piece was written after the death by overdose of Actor Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and concluded before the suicide by comedian Robin Williams. Both of these talented men relapsed after two decades of sobriety in a 12-step group. While substance abuse was the direct cause of death in Hoffman’s case, it would be difficult to say without more information if Williams’ relapse in 2006 in some way exacerbated the problems with depression that eventually led to him take his own life. Regardless, both of these deaths reinforced for me the danger of encouraging substance abusers to moderate their use of alcohol or other addictive substances. It is a very slippery slope, and dangerous to the point of recklessness on the part of any mental health professional to say that an addict can be taught to use a drug in moderation. If there are some who succeed in doing so, they are merely the exception that proves the rule. Most addicts have tried dozens, if not hundreds of times to moderate their use of substances on their own or with the help of health care professionals, but to no avail.Subsequent to Hoffman’s death, there was a short article in Time Magazine from a fellow 12-step member regarding a conversation they had while working on a film together. He quoted Hoffman as saying that if one of them did overdose it would probably save other lives who would be cautioned by their example. That this represents dangerously convoluted thinking requires no clarification for the sane and sober. To paraphrase a famous quote by Gen. George Patton, “No poor, dumb SOB ever got anyone else sober by dying of an overdose; he did it by staying sober himself.”Strangely, William’s case is for me more disturbing; not just because he took his own life, but because he may have been getting treatment for the wrong condition. Shortly before his suicide he was treated at Hazelden, a 12-step treatment facility. If he was using, the treatment was appropriate, but if he wasn’t, he probably should have been hospitalized for depression. The 12 steps are not a cure-all for anything that ails one. Major Depression has its own symptoms and its own treatments, including therapy and effective medications. What it does not have is the kind of mutual help support group that recovering alcoholics have; the kind that Abraham Low tried to build and almost succeeded. Sadly, there is no mental health equivalent for 12-Step programs today, though the need is as great as ever. Actually, it is greater than ever, since the insurance industry has been completely taken over by accounts who were quick to recognize that there was no profit in treating mental health or substance abuse issues, and few people really care whether these populations get any help at all.That a book such as Dr. Dodes could even get published today is a testament to the lack of alternatives that leave the courts with few options: do we put everyone who commits a minor crime related to substance abuse in jail, or do we try to address the root of the problem? The existence of drug courts and the prevalence of referrals to either publically funded (probably AA based) therapy or AA, shows that the courts get it—they are looking for realistic solutions.In seeking these solutions, they have made therapists and 12-Step groups there unwitting (and in some cases, unwilling) allies in the disposition phase of the criminal justice system. But this is unlikely to change any time soon. The idea that judges are going to take Dodes up on his proposal that they instead refer cases to $300 dollar an hour insight-oriented therapists with a track record of failure for treating addiction, vs something that is free and has a chance of success is so stupid it is laughable.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes. To get started finding The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes

The Truth Is Indeed Sobering: A Response to Dr. Lance Dodes

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