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Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:41 pm
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:41 pm
TED Talk - Johann Hari
So, basically, everything we are doing to stem the tide of drug addiction is from the wrong angle. So what do we do here in the USA? We continue doing the same thing, beating our head against a wall, fighting the druggies and addicts as if they are the great enemy.
When he talks about addicts who are missing that connection turning to drugs, that clicked. He hit it head on. For too long we have fought some invisible boogie man, locking up all the users and thus, forever ruining their prospects for a re-connection to society and a normal life.
TED talks are the bees knees.
quote:
But let's start with what we think we know, what I thought I knew. Let's think about this middle row here. Imagine all of you, for 20 days now, went off and used heroin three times a day. Some of you look a little more enthusiastic than others at this prospect. (Laughter) Don't worry, it's just a thought experiment. Imagine you did that, right? What would happen? Now, we have a story about what would happen that we've been told for a century. We think, because there are chemical hooks in heroin, as you took it for a while, your body would become dependent on those hooks, you'd start to physically need them, and at the end of those 20 days, you'd all be heroin addicts. Right? That's what I thought.
quote:
First thing that alerted me to the fact that something's not right with this story is when it was explained to me. If I step out of this TED Talk today and I get hit by a car and I break my hip, I'll be taken to hospital and I'll be given loads of diamorphine. Diamorphine is heroin. It's actually much better heroin than you're going to buy on the streets, because the stuff you buy from a drug dealer is contaminated. Actually, very little of it is heroin, whereas the stuff you get from the doctor is medically pure. And you'll be given it for quite a long period of time. There are loads of people in this room, you may not realize it, you've taken quite a lot of heroin. And anyone who is watching this anywhere in the world, this is happening. And if what we believe about addiction is right -- those people are exposed to all those chemical hooks -- What should happen? They should become addicts. This has been studied really carefully. It doesn't happen; you will have noticed if your grandmother had a hip replacement, she didn't come out as a junkie.
quote:
You get a rat and you put it in a cage, and you give it two water bottles: One is just water, and the other is water laced with either heroin or cocaine. If you do that, the rat will almost always prefer the drug water and almost always kill itself quite quickly. So there you go, right? That's how we think it works. In the '70s, Professor Alexander comes along and he looks at this experiment and he noticed something. He said ah, we're putting the rat in an empty cage. It's got nothing to do except use these drugs. Let's try something different. So Professor Alexander built a cage that he called "Rat Park," which is basically heaven for rats. They've got loads of cheese, they've got loads of colored balls, they've got loads of tunnels. Crucially, they've got loads of friends. They can have loads of sex. And they've got both the water bottles, the normal water and the drugged water. But here's the fascinating thing: In Rat Park, they don't like the drug water. They almost never use it. None of them ever use it compulsively. None of them ever overdose. You go from almost 100 percent overdose when they're isolated to zero percent overdose when they have happy and connected lives.
So, basically, everything we are doing to stem the tide of drug addiction is from the wrong angle. So what do we do here in the USA? We continue doing the same thing, beating our head against a wall, fighting the druggies and addicts as if they are the great enemy.
When he talks about addicts who are missing that connection turning to drugs, that clicked. He hit it head on. For too long we have fought some invisible boogie man, locking up all the users and thus, forever ruining their prospects for a re-connection to society and a normal life.
quote:
Human beings have a natural and innate need to bond, and when we're happy and healthy, we'll bond and connect with each other, but if you can't do that, because you're traumatized or isolated or beaten down by life, you will bond with something that will give you some sense of relief. Now, that might be gambling, that might be pornography, that might be cocaine, that might be cannabis, but you will bond and connect with something because that's our nature. That's what we want as human beings.
TED talks are the bees knees.
This post was edited on 6/12/19 at 12:42 pm
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:42 pm to AU_251
Not reading all of that
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:42 pm to AU_251
I'm addicted to not reading any of that fricking shite.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:42 pm to AU_251
This post was edited on 6/12/19 at 12:44 pm
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:44 pm to AU_251
Are there cliff notes?
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:45 pm to AU_251
Yes. But that's replacing one addiction with the other.
This post was edited on 6/12/19 at 12:46 pm
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:46 pm to AU_251
Can someone read all of this to me plz?
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:47 pm to AU_251
Joe Rogan had a podcast with someone and they talked about the Swiss method of drug rehab. You go into a clinic, get a fix but over time they gradually ween you off and the addiction is replaced with something productive. They've had a lot of success with this model.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:48 pm to AU_251
lonely, unhappy people are more likely to do drugs? who knew?
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:48 pm to AU_251
For the tl;dr crowd.
Get high on people, not drugs!!!
I'll pass. People are tiresome and full of drama. Give me the drugs.
Get high on people, not drugs!!!
I'll pass. People are tiresome and full of drama. Give me the drugs.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:48 pm to AU_251
quote:
It's actually much better heroin than you're going to buy on the streets, because the stuff you buy from a drug dealer is contaminated. Actually, very little of it is heroin
That’s a faulty premise.
You could be getting something completely pure, something completely bunk, or anywhere in between.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:50 pm to AU_251
I wish I didn't already know this, I wish this was the first time hearing this and that what I knew about addiction is wrong.
But my life went to such a dark place I already knew this about addiction, because I lived it.
But my life went to such a dark place I already knew this about addiction, because I lived it.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:51 pm to AU_251
Nah. Nothing mentioned is particularly new and Earth shattering.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:53 pm to AU_251
I had to stop and shoot up twice while trying to read all that but I finally made it.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:53 pm to AU_251
That is really facinating, and I agree mostly.
I still believe there is a chemical or physical imbalance in the brain for people that are addicts, however. As an alcoholic, I know my body craves EtOH, and I cant have just one.
But, my life is pretty happy now and so I drink the clean water, not the laced water.
I still believe there is a chemical or physical imbalance in the brain for people that are addicts, however. As an alcoholic, I know my body craves EtOH, and I cant have just one.
But, my life is pretty happy now and so I drink the clean water, not the laced water.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:54 pm to AU_251
Interesting perspective. On the surface it makes sense. I’m sure there’s more to it (like DNA), but it’s interesting
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:55 pm to AU_251
He’s wrong. If he walks outside and breaks his hip, he’ll get Morphine unless he’s been on opioids long term in which case they’ll give fentanyl
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:58 pm to AU_251
From now on, when I score heroin, I'm asking for the stuff with no hooks. Good read, OP.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 12:59 pm to AU_251
quote:
but if you can't do that, because you're traumatized or isolated or beaten down by life, you will bond with something that will give you some sense of relief. Now, that might be gambling, that might be pornography, that might be cocaine, that might be cannabis, but you will bond and connect with something because that's our nature. That's what we want as human beings.
Seems like common sense to me.
Posted on 6/12/19 at 1:01 pm to AU_251
quote:
When he talks about addicts who are missing that connection turning to drugs, that clicked. He hit it head on. For too long we have fought some invisible boogie man, locking up all the users and thus, forever ruining their prospects for a re-connection to society and a normal life.
What more do you expect from conservatives?
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