The Face Of Therapy

     Sorry, but most psychotherapists aren’t going to tell addicts to just enlarge their spiritual life, take some right action, and then send them on their way. And, uh, have you ever met an active alcoholic or a drug addict? It sounds like this: blah blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah-blah-blah…

     Probably the very last thing an addict needs is to be talking incessantly about their addiction and depression, whether sober and miserable or active and manic. By digging into our past and finding even more problems, more reasons and more stuff to blame, it distracts us and ultimately delays our recovery. We don’t become empowered by blaming our problems on some trauma in our lives, thereby recusing ourselves of ownership and responsibility. We become empowered by moving on from the past, blaming nothing and no one, and getting our asses off the therapy couch and taking action – rigorous action.

     Therapists (especially psychiatrists) have little understanding about the nature of the illness of addiction, and thus have no ability or tools to help us, but at the same time think we need therapy. We can liken their industry to corporate advertising or marketing, where we’re told that we need some product to be okay and live a good life. They have us believe that there is some profound, deep-seated, complicated and devious reason for all of our problems.

     Why go there?

     Putting a spotlight on ourselves and our feelings and delicately placing our lives up on a pedestal is the last thing we need to get better. On the contrary, we need to STOP talking so much and get over ourselves. We need to get outside of ourselves. In fact, the solution is the opposite of self-focus, which defines psychotherapy. So much inward focus is selfish, and selfishness is our #1 problem. Selfishness is the one and only thing preventing us from getting better. And there is without a doubt way too much me, me, me involved in therapy.

     I’m curious, where are they getting their information, from the textbooks (i.e. status quo, secular propaganda) of prestigious colleges and universities? I learned more from a couple of junkies and the Big Book than I did in 10 years of psychotherapy, blabbing on and on about a bunch of nonsense. Just like the actions we take, the thoughts and feelings we have are 100% caused by us and therefore 100% our fault. We give birth to them and we own them. We choose how we respond to life events, even when someone else has wronged us.

     Growing up isn’t about looking backwards. It’s about shutting up, taking action, and looking forwards. Therapists should do one thing and one thing only: Tell us to stop coming. In the time it takes for an addict or alcoholic to figure out his entire psychological condition, he may very well overdose and die. Talking every week for an hour (sorry, I mean 55 minutes) isn’t going to do much good if you wind up dead on the floor. Needless to say, it’s our prerogative if we want to pay somebody to be our friend and listen to us. We all need to be heard. But hey, why not save the money and go get a couple of good friends?  

God, teach me that it’s not all about me. Teach me that action, not talking, is the solution…

The Bipolar & ADD Hoax

     Many alcoholics and addicts do not recover. Watered down AA is just one problem. Perhaps an even bigger problem is the entire Western medical community, an arrogant community that pushes theories, disorders and pharmaceutical treatments as if they were ordained by God.

     Many of us who wind up in any mainstream clinical setting will almost immediately be diagnosed with ADD and/or Bipolar Disorder (formerly Manic Depressive Disorder). Sorry, but both of these disorders are fabricated. To note, I know people who truly suffer from severe biochemical imbalance, and let me tell you that the slew of essentially normal people now getting slapped with the bipolar tag is complete nonsense.

     Many years ago, it was thought and medically accepted that bipolar did not manifest itself until the age of 18. Now small children and toddlers are being diagnosed with bipolar and medicated with powerful psychotropic drugs, some to their death. Guess why?

     Secondly, every child who doesn’t want to sit through a bunch of mindless public school classes is getting pinned with ADD or ADHD, neither of which is a permanent neurochemical condition. These are clear-cut social diseases, but again, millions are diagnosed.

     Now, take a look at the symptoms of Bipolar and ADD. Bipolar Disorder is a cycle between periods of mania and depression. Mania is characterized by over-active mental activity, grandiosity, delusions, etc. Depression is characterized by apathy, numbness, lack of pleasure or interest in just about anything.

     Hmm, that sounds strangely similar to ANY drug addict.

     Alcoholics and addicts mimic all of these behaviors. When we are drunk, jammed, or high as shit on cocaine, we are manic. When we run out and sink into the torture of withdrawal, we are depressed as all hell. Why is it that when I removed the drugs and took Steps, the “bipolar” suddenly disappeared? Why is it that after growing up a bit, writing some inventory, making some amends, helping others, meditating and praying consistently did my neurochemistry return to normal and remain that way ever since?

     It’s because our problem isn’t ADD or Bipolar. Our problem isn’t even really drugs and alcohol. Our problem is simply that we are empty. We are spiritually ill and we lack purpose and meaning.

     What’s so sad is that what we need is the exact opposite of more pills, more institutions, more doctors, and more therapy. And believe me, it is no coincidence that each of these mainstream solutions are peddled by multi-billion dollar industries and the sociopaths who run them. We don’t need to be someone’s guinea pig. Many of these basket case medications that they toss out like Skittles will mess us up big time in the long term. They will rewire our brain, rob us of our personality, annihilate our creativity, and forever categorize us as damaged goods.

     We need to instead find ourselves, find purpose, and perhaps cultivate a spiritual life. We need to grow up and stop being so unbelievably selfish. We need to motivate regardless of how shitty we feel in the morning, just like everybody else in the world. Having horrible feelings isn’t a novelty. Nor is having a bad day.

     Doctors, psychologists, and clueless social workers will tell you that your depression is caused by something other than you, something outside of yourself, that it is someone else’s fault, or that you perhaps caught it in the air. But for some reason they don’t tell you the truth. The truth is that it is our own fault. And no, I don’t mean that harshly. I simply mean that we are responsible for it. It is WE who give ourselves depression and WE are the only ones who can pull ourselves out of it. We make certain choices and we choose to respond to events a certain way. We are responsible for how we end up.

     Don’t count on some cocktail of psychotropic drugs to actually help or change you. And I also wouldn’t count on some hero with a PhD who thinks some insane science project will save you. In the end, all of this intervention might just kill us or facilitate some sort of psychotic break. Ever notice how there is now a medication for everything? Addicts and alcoholics, and perhaps all of us, must take back control of our lives if we want to be free inside…  and perhaps outside as well. Peace does not come from without, but rather from within.

Illusions of Psychiatry (Article)