Topic: addiction and the brain

The personal story that recovering folks tell at 12 Step meetings is a reconstruction of episodic memories.

One characteristic of Delta FosB is its unusual stability. It’s capable of persisting in the brain for a very long time.

This might help to explain why even addicts who have been ‘clean’ for extended periods are unable to return to drug use without further problems.

Psychological theories that may be of great interest to professionals can seem like messages from Pluto to a rehab patient.

One aspect of Lawford’s book that makes it unique and a must read is its careful and powerful weaving of the author’s personal recovery experience with the most up-to-date scientific evidence

A model generally supersedes other models not because it is perfect in every respect, but because it seems to explain certain aspects better than its predecessors.

Would have been easy enough to avoid, had I seen it coming. Unfortunately the brain I was using to make decisions was the addicted one. It was not a friend to recovery.

Much of the anxiety the addicted person feels is anticipatory, based not on actual withdrawal symptoms but on the fear of not being able to find an adequate supply of the drug when they arrive.

Calling these diseases “behavioral illnesses” and calling our systems of care “behavioral health programs” promotes two destructive, harmful beliefs.