Tag Archives: Remedy vs Solution

Ah, Just Take Right Action

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     People don’t get addiction. I’ll never understand why there are so many different remedies and treatment methods out there, especially stuff that cost so much. Makes no sense. The only explanation is that we are succumbing to the addict’s desire for easier, softer ways and half-ass measures. Bad idea.

     Why?

     Because the only thing any addict needs to do to get better is just to take a shitload of right action. I guarantee you that if you take action all day, everyday, week after week,  month after month, year after year, you will be completely okay.

     Fine, but what actions do I take, you may ask. Well, that’s what the Steps are for. If you spend every free moment you have praying, meditating, writing inventory, making amends, nourishing your relationships, or helping other addicts, there is no way you will relapse. Guaranteed.

     Exercise helps too, and it’s a nice little upgrade from chain-smoking butts, slurping iced coffees and clenching a sobriety chip all day long.

     Fact: The only people who don’t make it are those who don’t really want to change. They simply aren’t willing to take this kind and this amount of action.

     So again I ask, why are there countless medications, remedies, treatment models and other expensive nonsense out there when there is one very simple solution and its free? It’s called: take right action and don’t stop. Oh, and trust in God. Problem solved.

God, teach me that my spiritual health and my relationship with You come before everything…

Psychotherapy

Posted on by under Psychotherapy, Remedy vs Solution, Talking vs Action

     Not to bash psychotherapy, but it’s pretty useless for a drug addict.

     Most addicts, being pathological liars and manipulators, will simply get the therapist to tell them what they want to hear. Hearing that we had a rough childhood, that we were abused, that we have anger, depression and sadness is like music to our ears. All of that victim bullshit just allows us to justify our drinking and using. Then we can go home and scream at everyone that,

     No wonder we’re on drugs you assholes! It’s not our fault, it’s our crazy families, or our abusive dads, or our alcoholic genes, or some disorder, or some life event!

     Bullshit. It’s like,

     Hey, sorry I totalled the car Dad, but it wasn’t me, it was the bipolar I have! OR Sorry I just called you a crazy bitch, Mom, but I can’t help it because I have depression! OR Sorry I verbally abused you just to get out of the door to go buy more heroin from Pablo, sweetheart, but I just can’t help it because I’m an addict…  and oh yeah, I have a crazy family so it’s not my fault and there’s nothing I can do about it!

     Therapists give us excuses. The more screwed up we are, the better.

     Talking is not a solution for addicts. We are the biggest bullshit artists in the world. All we do is talk. We talk about this, we talk about that, we talk our way into and out of anything. And even if we are honest in therapy, it’s still useless. Sure talking may educate us about ourselves a bit, but then we leave our 55-minute sessions totally unequipped. What happens for the 6 days and 23 hours left in the week? What tools have we been given for after we leave the office? An insane, hopeless addict is going to need more than a once-a-week bullshit session.

     We need a slew of tools that we can use in our daily lives. We need to learn how to live, work, relate, give back. We need to learn how to meditate, pray, write inventory and help others.

     Finally, unless a therapist has felt and used the way we did, he or she is once again, useless. We have no interest in listening to you if you aren’t an addict who has found a solution that really works. We will only listen to you if you are a junkbox but somehow you are standing before us calm, centered, strong, content and without any air about you. We will only listen to you if you have something that we want.

     Therapists don’t have anything I want. I don’t need something out of an academic textbook. I need nothing short of a spiritual experience. Can my 55-minute sessions produce a profound spiritual experience? Never happened to me, but definitely let me know if did to you.

     P.S. Writing a thorough 4th Step inventory is like the equivalent of 20 odd years of psychotherapy… but it’s free and it doesn’t take 20 years.

God, teach me to embrace action, work, service and looking forward as opposed to talking, excuses, reasons and looking backwards…

Removing Substances

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     Fallacy: Once I remove the alcohol, I’m no longer an alcoholic.

     When we remove the drugs and alcohol, what is left? Well, let me tell you what is left: A living, walking, breathing nightmare.  We alcoholics are worse when you take away our alcohol, not better. If you think we were selfish when drinking, just wait until we try white-knuckling it. Our self-absorption reaches new heights, sometimes becoming pathological. Our preoccupation with self reaches new heights. Our minds become saturated with nothing but our feelings, our thoughts, our discomforts, our frustrations, our boredom, our anger and our depression. Our attitudes deteriorate rapidly. Our capacity for intimacy and friendship deteriorate rapidly. Our willingness to serve others becomes non-existent. To even think about others becomes a form of torture. So I hope there is no one else in a sober and untreated addict’s life because they’re definitely not getting any attention. In fact, they’re most likely getting less than nothing, i.e. an annoying, pissed off, useless jerk. Sure, we’ll gladly listen to you blab on about your day when we’re completely jammed. But if not, it’s when are you gonna shut up so we can go use the way we want to?

     So what is the solution for this sort of hopeless predicament? Should we go to therapy, outpatient addiction treatment, inpatient treatment, psychiatric treatment? Should we switch jobs or towns or schools? Should we take our drug addicted teenagers out of school and send them to a recovery high school? Ummmm, let’s see… NO! Unless you want to fail. Unless you want to relapse. Unless you want to talk about triggers and feelings and your family. Unless you want to be coddled and given opportunities that you don’t need. Unless you want to continue the bullshit of not addressing your real problem, which is spiritual. Unless you want to forgo a real solution that produces real results. And trust me, you better be able to get better in a normal environment. No cushy program or recovery school or physical location will keep you sober.

     What is the solution for an alcoholic or drug addict? Personally, I took Steps to get better. A group of recovered addicts pulled the 12 Step instructions out of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. They told me exactly what to do to get better. They told me what actions to take. So I took these actions and I recovered. I addressed the real problem with alcoholism and drug addiction, which is NOT alcohol and drugs. It is spiritual. If you can recover spiritually and replace your addiction with a greater purpose, then you should be alright. Otherwise, true alcoholics and drug addicts really don’t stand a chance.

     By the way, taking Steps doesn’t cost anything. Guess how much you (i.e. your parents who you you are stabbing in the heart) can blow on therapy and addiction programs???

God, please give me the willingness to do anything it takes to get better…