Some distorted thinking You see where this is going. My behavior was an example of cross addiction, where an addict stops one substance but continues to use another, only to find that the previously safe substance becomes the drug of choice. My use of alcohol increased, and soon I was drinking as soon as I … [Read more…]
Introduction Bias of the book You will notice the several times throughout the book I take issue with people over what they say about buprenorphine treatment of opiate dependence. On my web sites I have been told by those who favor ‘total sobriety’ that I am biased in favor of Suboxone. I don’t know how … [Read more…]
For those of you who prefer watching to reading, here is a video with a few thoughts about why will power is NOT any kind of strategy for staying clean. As I describe, believing in will power is not only unhelpful; it even INCREASES one’s chance for relapse, and serves as a frequent justification for … [Read more…]
Below is one chapter of my long, long book– the one that I will probably never finish. I wrote this chapter about two years ago, and have not published it anywhere else, at least not that I can remember. It is LONG, but if you are addicted to opiates and considering your options, I hope … [Read more…]
Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of buprenorphine treatment of opiate dependence. I used to spend hours arguing with people over whether or not buprenorphine represents “a drug for a drug”, before eventually deciding that those who must be talked into buprenorphine treatment are poor candidates for buprenorphine treatment. … [Read more…]
I frequently point out the lack of outrage over the epidemic of opiate dependence and the consequence of that epidemic. I live in ‘middle America,’ and sometimes it seems that everyone I know has some connection to opiate dependence– a relative who is an addict, a friend who died, a parent who is in prison. … [Read more…]
A note of follow up: According to TMZ, a variety of medications were found in Brittany Murphy’s apartment under her name and under the name of her husband and mother. Of course it is possible that the medications actually belonged to her husband and to her mother– but as you read in my last post, I … [Read more…]
One of the primary insights that I want addicts to gain from reading this blog is the similarity between their own thoughts, feelings, and pattern of use and the thoughts and patterns of use of other opiate addicts. We are all dealing with the same beast, we have all felt the same desperation, and we … [Read more…]