Tag Archives: Triggers

Sorry, But Nothing “Happens” to An Addict or An Alcoholic – Your Entire Life Has Been Created By You and No One Else

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Hey guys, first a quick reminder to join The Privileged Addict Telegram channel. It’s the replacement for the old TPA Facebook Page. I will never again use or support a platform that censors people and opposing opinions, actively demonizes the truth, and promotes dangerous propaganda as “facts.” It is free,  just like this blog, and where I can post the TPA memes and day to day thoughts, as well as links to new posts.

I have made a commitment to tell the truth about addiction, alcoholism, recovery and God as it has been revealed to me through my experience and what I have learned over the years. Therefore, I will never sugar-coat this subject nor will I censor myself. This is not only a life and death concern, but the truth is especially important when you consider the damage and abuse addicts and alcoholics inflict on their families, spouses, parents, children, friends, communities, the entire world, and of course, themselves.

Speaking to my wife today who expressed a shared aversion to the soon to follow phrase and general attitude, I managed to find some inspiration to write… so here are some thoughts.

The worst thing anyone can tell an addict is, “I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Um, nothing is “happening” to us. We have literally created our current lives in entirety and we alone are responsible for everything that “happens” to us. Needless to say, we are also responsible for how we respond to these events. We must take ownership of the people we have become. Addiction does not “happen” to you. You turn yourself willingly and quite deliberately into an addict. You have made your life about nothing but yourself, your comfort and your physical pleasure. You have refused to grow up and accept adult human life the way it is. And like a child, you do not care about anyone else but yourself. You do not think about others, because if you did, you would understand that anything you do to hurt yourself breaks the hearts of those who love you. There is no getting around this. Using drugs and drinking is selfish NO MATTER WHAT.

So just like we can choose God and what it is right, we can (and we do) also choose evil and what is objectively wrong. Yes, we choose to be addicts or we choose to be recovered. If the progressive bullshit you hear today were true and addicts actually could not stop, nobody would ever recover. This is of course, asinine, and runs contrary to logic, reason, experience and truth. I have been recovered for 17 years and I have no obsession to use or drink whatsoever. For the 15 years prior to returning to sanity, all I did was use. At some point, I become genuinely terrified about the condition and the fate of my soul, and it is at that moment that God began to conspire to facilitate a spiritual experience whereby I was touched by the Lord.

By the way, His power is not only real but it is so mind-blowing and limitless and intense, that once a person is touched by Him, the drug problem vanishes. If you come to want God and spiritual growth more than drugs (and trust me, it is much better), you have solved your problem. There is also a sudden and keen awareness that everything we have generally believed in life is a lie. For one, fear is a lie. Fear is the greatest human illusion and it is sin. It is the opposite of faith. It is also the single reason why nothing in your life works out, if that is the case with you. The secret to success is merely the absence of fear… and some hard work, of course. But when we let go and give our lives to God and trust in Him, not only will have everything we need, but the rest of our worldly lives will succeed to the greatest degree possible.

So regarding the notion the addiction “happens” to the addict (this is difficult to even write as it is so absurd), there is no such thing as a trigger. Nothing outside of you makes you drink or use, nor does it make you WANT to drink or use. YOU are the one and the only thing that makes you use and that makes you want to use. Breathing is the only trigger. And if you are sober and you still want to use or drink, you are guaranteed to relapse because you are still completely insane. Only when the obsession is removed and you have been restored to sanity by your Creator (thus establishing a relationship with Him and with your conscience), will you then never return to using drugs or drinking alcohol, which are all spiritual poisons. Alcohol in particular opens the individual up to demonic energy and is particularly destructive. How ironic that it is the most widely used, legally sold substance.

The utter nonsense that liberal progressives, faux scientists, doctors and experts say about addiction and recovery is unbelievable and dangerous. Relapse is part of recovery? What a stupid thing to say to an addict. “Hey, listen, give it a try but if you relapse over and over and over and over again, no biggie.” Sorry, but no. The truth? Relapse has nothing to do with recovery. That’s the point of recovery – you don’t relapse.

The mindset that something external is “happening” to us is a dangerous and warped belief to adopt. First of all, it is the antithesis of self-honesty and therefore the antithesis of true growth and recovery. No addict will get better when they have been brainwashed with a false victim mentality. We are not victims of drugs and alcohol. The idea that we are victims of anything is the typical lie of the degenerate. When an addict loses a job, family, friends, housing, money or custody of a child, that is nobody’s fault but their own. What may I ask is one doing having children as an active drug addict? Nothing on Earth could be more selfish. It is also immature and displays a severe lack of judgment, let alone intelligence. Worse, it signals that there is no conscience inside the addict, for if there were, he and/or she would never choose to abuse a child in this way. Addicts and alcoholics are pathological.

So if you have been brainwashed by waiting room wisdom, pamphlets from your doctor, or anything you see or hear on TV, turn towards God and become honest. Take Steps as they are laid out in the Big Book. Then run towards Christ and seek to do His will with every breath that you take.

 

Triggers & Relapse Prevention

Posted on by under Desire, Miracles, Psychic Change, Relapse Prevention, Triggers

     I know I’ve said this before, but it’s important…

     If an addict is honest with himself, he will admit that triggers don’t exist. Breathing, waking up, the fact that we’re alive – these are the only triggers. Everything is a trigger, or rather, nothing is. We don’t need a reason to use. Triggers are flimsy excuses that allow us to avoid taking responsibility for relapsing. The truth is that so long as we suffer from the mental obsession, anything could be a trigger. The overwhelming thought to use will come for any reason or for no reason at all. So avoiding triggers is a useless endeavor. You cannot escape the mental obsession. The only way to free ourselves from triggers is to undergo a psychic change that fundamentally restores our minds, hearts and spirits.

     That’s why relapse prevention is a joke. It assumes that triggers actually exist and as such, treatment amounts to avoiding people, places and things that make us want to use. Sorry, but that’s not a solution, which is a shame given this is the only thing MSM (Mainstream Treatment Methods) has to offer – to remain an insane drug addict and pray that you don’t bump into one of your triggers. That would make it pretty tough just to get to work…

     Hmmm, can’t go that way because I pass by the liquor store… but I can’t go the other way because I pass by the park I used to get high at and that’s a trigger of mine also… Gee, I guess I’ll have to just lock myself up and throw away the key…

     Is that a solution? Nope. How about becoming free to go anywhere on earth that we so desire? Is that possible for even the most beat up, hopeless drug addicts? Yup, sure is. As soon as you get out of detox, find a recovered individual to take you through a Step process (as its laid out in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous). Be completely honest, thorough and fearless (99% = ZERO). Go to any lengths. Don’t give up. If you really want to change, if you really want to grow spiritually, if you really want to be free, then God will free you.

God, please give me the power and willingness to go to any length to get better…  

Reasons Don’t Exist

Posted on by under Action, Reasons, Spiritual Problem, Spiritual Solution, Therapy, Triggers

     Just like triggers, reasons don’t exist either. The choice to use is a selfish one. Nothing makes us want to use. Regardless of what’s happened to us or how miserable we are, WE choose to use and therefore WE are the reason. Nothing else and nobody else is the reason. This is why therapy is useless for a drug addict. Finding reasons why we use just gives us excuses to keep using.


     Wanh… I’m sad, angry, depressed, hurt, abused, victimized, blah, blah, blah… so I HAVE to use. See, now you know why I do what I do. You would do the same exact thing! Wanh, wanh, wanh…  
     Drug addicts use because they are selfish and want to use. Go ahead, send them to a therapist to work out their emotional issues. Trust me, once they’ve got it all figured out, they are going to go get high. Addicts don’t need a reason, nor the resolution of a reason, to use. I’m telling you that even the happiest kid from a loving family will turn into an addict for no reason at all. He becomes an addict simply because he chooses to pick up and use over and over again until he or she is broken. It’s that simple.
     And it’s the same even if we have been hurt. Plenty of people have been hurt and don’t mutate into hopeless drug addicts. And once we become addicts, you are spinning your wheels trying to talk it out of us. We need to go from being insane (missing chip) to sane again (chip re-inserted), and the truth is that no amount of talking and no amount of medication can accomplish this. Addicts need nothing short of a psychic change via a spiritual experience. We need to replace our addiction with something as powerful as the addiction itself.
     Reasons allow us to sidestep responsibility, and believe me, if you give an addict a chance to avoid it, they will. Regardless of whether the reasons we discover and give to ourselves are true or not, drinking and using drugs is wrong if we have lost control. Instead, we should be told that we no longer have the right to use, no matter what happened to us, no matter how we feel or how we (with dramatic emphasis) ache so.
     I’m not saying therapists can’t help people, I’m just saying they can’t help drug addicts – the most manipulative, deceptive, dishonest, selfish and pathologically infantile group out there (besides borderlines and narcissists, or sociopaths). And we need to especially watch out for psychiatrists. Believe it or not, they actually have the balls to prescribe drug addicts more drugs. Great solution. What an absolute joke. See you in the next life after you overdose.
God, help me remember that if my problem is spiritual in nature, than so must be my solution… 

Triggers Don’t Exist

Posted on by under Addiction 101, Conventional Treatment Strategies, Therapy, Triggers

     Why does the mainstream treatment community tell us that relapse is part of recovery when it has nothing to do with recovery? Newsflash: It’s not okay to relapse. Doctors, therapists, social workers, and so-called addiction specialists blindly recite the false text book mantra that “relapse is part of recovery.”

     Why?

     Because they simply don’t know anything else. The sad truth is that millions of professionals out there don’t actually know what addiction is (spiritual ailment) or how to treat it. Why is it okay to relapse when relapsing means another long and destructive cycle of lies, theft, sadness, pain, heartache and damage to countless others?

     Treatment ‘experts’ say that triggers exist for addicts and alcoholics, and as such, treatment revolves around avoiding people or places or things that trigger us. Ah, you gotta be kidding me. First of all, triggers don’t exist. Flimsy excuses. Being alive is our only trigger. Nothing makes us want to use. We want to use ALL THE TIME.

     Secondly, what sort of solution is that for a drug addict? So my solution involves desperately trying not to bump into this person, or walk by that place, or keep all drugs and alcohol out of my sight? If that is my only hope then I should just lock myself up and throw away the key, because I am doomed.

     This sort of information is actually dangerous. To tell an addict that it is their triggers that make them use is to basically eliminate any personal and moral responsibility they might assume, which might then trigger them to go get better (pun intended). Furthermore, to teach an addict that it is someone or something outside of themselves that makes them go drink or pick up is unbelievably irresponsible and stems from pure ignorance. WE are the only reason. We drink because we like drinking and because we are selfish beyond belief. Nothing makes us want to drink. Our only trigger is breathing.

     If I buy this notion and take this advice about triggers, then I basically have prevented myself from recovering. The world will forever be a dangerous place for an addict. I will be walking around subject to relapse at any point in time. I am cursed to struggle and fight through each day to stay sober. I will forever crave drugs and alcohol and fend off urges day and night. Mainstream treatment tells us that there is really no hope, that the addict or alcoholic never really gets better, and thus we never can truly recover.

     That is complete and total bullshit.

     We can recover fully and forever. We can live utterly free from any urges or desires to drink or use. We can become free and happy men and women. And this freedom means we can walk by any store, down any block, or sit there and stare at a medicine cabinet full of juicy meds. This means we can hang out with anybody, regardless of how fucked up they still are. This means we can have wine in the house for guests. This means we can even buy our friend a bag of dope just to get his ass to detox or treatment.

     But Charlie, how can you say such things?!?!

     Because we can deliver ourselves from our insanity. Or rather, God can deliver us. We can grow new minds and remain permanently free from the mental obsession to drink or use drugs. We can travel, work, and enjoy life without having to drag ourselves to five meetings a day until the day that we die. We don’t have to merely live “in recovery”.

     We can become RECOVERED.

     Personally, I took Steps to recover. I am now a free man. And the same can be true for any drug addict or alcoholic out there. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Don’t feed yourself a bunch of excuses. Don’t let yourself off the hook. And always remember:

     Triggers don’t exist.

God, help me to remember that nothing outside of myself is responsible for my drinking or drug use…

Excuses of an Addict

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     “Sorry I relapsed, guys, but it was the liquor store’s fault. If the liquor store wasn’t on my block, I never would’ve relapsed.”

     “Sorry I relapsed, Mom, but it’s because I walked by my friend’s house and his door triggered me. My social worker said that his door was one of my triggers, so I can blame my relapse on his door.”
     “Sorry I relapsed, Dad, but I walked down a certain street somewhere and that was one of my triggers. It was the street’s fault. So I guess it was the city engineer’s fault.”
     “Sorry I relapsed, everybody, but the world is really chaotic now politically, economically and environmentally, and that triggers me. If everyone would just cool out, I could stay sober. It’s all y’all’s fault.”
     “Sorry I drink wine every night like a selfish pig but it’s my right because nobody knows what I go through and nobody knows how I feel. I’m the only one in the world who suffers, and if you were me, you’d drink too. I’m a victim.”
     “Sorry I used OxyContin like a freak show until I got addicted and destroyed everything, but it’s definitely not my fault. If those stupid companies didn’t put that stuff out there and those stupid doctors didn’t prescribe that shit, I’d never have a problem. The fact that it exists means it’s not my fault.”
     “Sorry I relapsed on meth, bro, but you wore a pink shirt today and it really freaked me out. Pink shirts are totally a trigger for me, yo.”
     “Sorry I have to shoot dope before anything, but since nobody suffers from depression the way I do, I have the right to make myself more comfortable at all costs, even if it comes at the expense of others.”
     “Sorry I destroyed the apartment looking for specs of cocaine, but my roommates totally suck and always piss me off, so I have to. If I had new roommates, I wouldn’t bend over like a slave to sniff coke all day.”

     “Sorry I stole your jewelry Mom and Dad, but it really wasn’t my fault. If you guys understood what it’s like to be me, I never would’ve become an addict and had to steal your shit.”
     “Sorry I just blew all of our savings on heroin, baby, but it’s not my fault, it’s my addiction’s fault, and my addiction isn’t my fault, it’s my Dad’s fault because he gave me his genes.”
     “Sorry I just drank and used like a pig all semester, Mom and Dad, but it’s not my fault, it’s the school. I don’t connect with anyone here. You shouldn’t have wasted your money on this stupid place.”
     “Sorry I have to lie to you every time I go out, honey, but if you didn’t pry and nag so much then I wouldn’t have to.”
     “Sorry I get drunk every time we go to your family’s house for dinner, but anybody would drink before going to your family’s place because they’re so freaking dull and uninteresting.”
     “Sorry I got hammered right before my job presentation, but I have alcoholism and that’s one of the symptoms.”
     “Sorry I totalled the car, Dad, and then called Mom a controlling, crazy bitch for no reason, but it was my depression’s fault, not my fault. Plus, my therapist said that I have a few other disorders and that they might actually be your fault, not mine. Cool?”

     “Sorry I am chronically late for work, boss, but I have bipolar and ADD and some other disorder, so it’s not my fault. Also, no one here understands how tough my life is, so that’s another reason why I’m late.”
     “Sorry I don’t get out of bed these days, but it’s not my fault, it’s the Depression Not Otherwise Specified disorder thing that I just happened to catch in the air. Or no, wait… actually, I’m depressed because it’s my dumbass family’s fault. Yeah, that’s it! It’s their fault, those assholes!”
     “Sorry I relapsed guys, but nothing works. The Steps failed me bro. I def need to go back on methadone yo. Can I get a ride to the clinic? Oh really, no? Can you just be a little late for work and let your kid wait at his school for a bit? Also, that lid I stole from the mall was messed up anyway, so F that place. That owner’s a POS for stocking that shit. I ain’t never goin’ back to make amends… yo.”
     “If everyone around me wasn’t so annoying, I’d be able to, like, grow more spiritually, but as it is, I just can’t do this work under these conditions.”
     “If I lived in a different town, I’d be okay, but you really can’t expect me to be okay where I am, dude.”
     “If people would just do as I say, I could maybe get off the Suboxone and the Seroquel, finish the Steps and recover for good, but because they won’t, it’s def not my fault that I keep relapsing. Also, have you ever tried bath salts?”
     “If my boss wasn’t such a dick, I could keep working and pay off my debts and also maybe pay you guys back, but there’s no way I can work like this, so all of that ‘amends to my creditors’ bullshit is just gonna have to wait.”
      “There’s just no way I can make amends to that guy because what he did to me was way worse, so if I relapse because I failed to make all of my amends, it’s totes not my fault, it’s that guy’s fault.”
     “Hey guys, listen, the doctors and everyone else now say that addiction is not my fault. It’s 100% a blameless disease that I was born with, so nothing that I do – including lying, stealing, abusing, assaulting, manipulating, deceiving, using, trampling over, taking advantage of, seeking comfort at all costs, being a loud, obnoxious, belligerent, pathologically self-absorbed ingrate jerk, and of course drinking like a fish and using like a pig – is my fault. It’s just a symptom of my disease, yo.”

     So what you’re saying is that NOTHING is your fault, right?

     Right.

God, please rid me of my bullshit excuses and my fake, phony self…

Triggers

Posted on by under 1st Step, Relapse Prevention, Triggers

     Triggers? Ah, no.

     Conventional treatment programs and addiction “specialists” tell you to write down your triggers, as if there is some reason – some person, place or thing that makes us want to use. So, what makes us want to use? Um, let’s see, NOTHING. How about everything? The truth is that nothing makes us want to use. Once you turn yourself into an addict, that’s just what you do. You use. It’s a reflex. 

     Oh, there’s painkillers in your cabinet? Huh. I think I’ll swallow all of those, thank you very little… not like you really needed them or anything… definitely not more than I do.

     So the experts tell me that all I have to do to stay sober and, by implication, to then go and have a great life, is to avoid my triggers. Just avoid all of the people, places and things that make me want to use. Okay, by the way, if I have to avoid this street, that park, this store, that friend, this TV show, that asshole… then I basically can’t go anywhere. Sorry, but I’d rather be free. To be clear, I don’t recommend that you go hang out in a bar the second you leave detox. What I’m saying is that if triggers do exist for you, than you’re not okay. Avoiding everything that makes me feel like using in NOT a solution.

     Remove the obsession and there is no such thing as a trigger. It’s not easy, and it will require the power of God, most likely. 

     Addict’s will try to blame anything and everyone for the reason they have to drink like pigs or get jammed out of their fucking minds. Let me help out a little bit: Nothing makes us want or need to use. We use because we love using. We use because we love drinking and we love drugs. I use because I’m too much of a child and a coward to walk through my feelings of pain, boredom, discomfort or depression. I’m too much of a wimp and a shithead to grow up and maybe do some real work on myself. I’m too much of a fear-driven loser to change. Truly, we addicts are simply babies who don’t want to grow up.

     I’ll take a line from my book – Addicts should suck their thumbs so people can identify them.

     At some point we cross over that invisible line, break our bodies, acquire this allergy, and once that occurs, every time we start using, we can’t stop. It’s that simple. Trust me, I don’t drink and get high because of my family, my friends, my anger, my depression, the nutjob babysitter who bathed me in an inch of cold water and sang Puff the Magic Dragon with her b.o.-ridden boyfriend, my alcoholic and withdrawn father, the guys who jumped me in college, the borderline girlfriend who made me want to stab my eyeball with a sharp object… and the list goes on forever. No one makes us want to use. And the dope doesn’t fly through the air and force itself up my nose. That’s a good one – It was right there in front of me! Anybody woulda’ done it!

God, help me to always remember that nothing makes me use other than myself…

Triggers Don’t Exist

Posted on by under Uncategorized

     Triggers? Ah, no.

     Conventional treatment programs and addiction “specialists” tell you to write down your triggers, as if there is some reason – some person, place or thing that makes us want to use. Nope. So, what makes us want to use? Um, let’s see… NOTHING. Or everything, if you prefer. The truth is that nothing makes us want to use. Once you turn yourself into an addict, that’s just what you do. You use. It’s a reflex. And even before we cross that line, nothing actually “triggers” us to use. The only trigger is called breathing.

     Oh, there’s painkillers in your cabinet? Huh, cool. I think I’ll swallow all of those, thank you very little… not like you really needed them or anything… definitely not more than I do.

     So the experts tell me that all I have to do to stay sober and, by implication, to then go and have a great life, is to avoid my triggers? Just avoid all of the people, places and things that make me want to use? Okay, by the way, if I have to avoid this street, that park, this store, that friend, this TV show, that asshole… then I basically can’t go anywhere. Locking ourselves up in a cage is not a solution. Sorry, but I’d rather be free. To be clear, I don’t recommend that you go hang out in a bar the second you leave detox. What I’m saying is that if triggers do exist for you (in you’re head), then you’re not okay. Avoiding everything that supposedly makes me feel like using is most certainly NOT a solution.

     Remove the obsession and there is no such thing as a trigger. It’s simple, though not easy, and it may require the power of God depending on how fucked you are.

     Addict’s will try to blame anything and anyone for the reason they have to go drink like a pig or get jammed out of their minds. Let me help out a little bit: Nothing makes us want or need to use. We use because we love using. We use because we love drinking and we love drugs. I use because I’m too much of a child and a coward to walk through normal human feelings of pain, boredom, discomfort or depression. I’m too much of a wimp to grow up and too much of a shithead to do some real work on myself. I am 100% driven by fear. Basically, I am a loser. I am dependent. I feel entitled. I falsely believe no one suffers like I do. I feel as though I have the right to drink and use even if doing so comes at the expense of others. Truly, we addicts are simply children who don’t want to grow up.

     I wrote in my book that in an effort to spare our families the deception, as well as any future friends, spouses or employers, “addicts should suck their thumbs so people can identify them.”

     And though the process of losing choice is indeed a choice, at some point we do cross over that invisible line, break our bodies, acquire this allergy, and once that occurs, every time we start using, we can’t stop. It’s that simple. Trust me, I didn’t drink and get high because of my family, my friends, the bully in school, my withdrawn, eccentric father, my anger, my depression, the nutjob babysitter who sang Puff the Magic Dragon like a broken record as her body odor permeated the entire house, the guys who jumped me in college, the clinically insane, borderline girlfriend who made me want to jam a sharp object into my skull… and the list goes on forever. No one makes us want to use.

     And the booze doesn’t crawl it’s way down our throats, nor does the dope fly through the air and force itself up our noses or inject itself into our veins.

     And yes, pot is a drug. If you’ve been told by some doctor that your kid is fine to just smoke pot and that it’s not addictive, call me when he needs a ride to detox. Not only does your doctor have no clue about drugs or understand addiction, but he doesn’t even understand science, which is supposedly his expertise.

     “It was right there in front of me! Anybody woulda’ done it! Mom, I just drove by my dealer’s house! It wasn’t my fault, my therapist said his house was one of my triggers! Mom, you don’t understand, if you only knew what it was like to be me, you’d be smoking crack too!” 

     Right. Good stuff.

God, help me to always remember that nothing makes me use other than myself…