Leslie Glass's Blog, page 320
November 14, 2018
Addiction Is Similar To Other Chronic Diseases
Addiction research has clarified the definition of addiction which is now called substance use disorder SUD and considered a chronic brain disease. Over the last 30 years research has brought new understanding about how substances hijack and negatively impact brain function. This new information about the way the brain is affected, can now replace outdated beliefs and improve treatment and outcomes.
Addiction Research Challenges Outdated Myths
One common outdated belief is that addiction is a weakness that must be managed by abstinence and will power alone. Another common belief is that a stint in rehab (a 30, 60, 90 day program) will arrest substance use and restore normal life. The truth is there are many paths to recovery, and recovery is not a short term undertaking, but rather a life-long pursuit. It can be effectively treated just like any chronic disease. But first SUDs and their impact on the brain must be understood as a chronic illness that requires long-term maintenance and attention.
5 Ways Addiction (SUD) Is Similar To Other Chronic Diseases
Addiction is similar to other chronic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, in the following ways:
It is preventable
It is treatable
It changes biology
It is progressive and gets worse over time
If untreated, it can last a lifetime, and can even cause death
Simply put, addiction (SUDS) changes the brain and impairs the way it works. Just as cardiovascular disease damages the heart and changes its functioning.
Below is an image of the brain (left) and the heart (right).
These images show how scientists can use imaging technology to measure functioning of the brain and heart. Greater activity is shown in reds and yellows, and reduced activity is shown in blues and purples. Both the healthy brain and the healthy heart show greater activity than the diseased brain and heart, because both addiction and heart disease cause changes in function. In drug addiction, the frontal cortex in particular shows less activity. This is the part of the brain associated with judgment and decision-making (NIDA).
The post Addiction Is Similar To Other Chronic Diseases appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
Excuses That Keep You Caged
We’re often beating ourselves up over something that has happened in the past, believing that there is something wrong with our ‘gut’ or our intuition. If only we could use a magic wand to break free from our excuse for anything and everything that makes us unhappy. But, would we choose relationships in which we are loved and valued for who we are, not who we would be thirty pounds lighter or thirty pounds heavier? We would choose freedom … free of the addiction that is driving our life, freedom from an often all-consuming grief, freedom to choose the path that fulfills us?
Do You See Yourself As A Victim
Instead, we see ourselves as magnets for whatever ails us. The slope gets slippery over time when our thoughts become our beliefs. When we see ourselves not as ourselves, but as how others have defined us – we compromise our desires and shield ourselves.
Some Excuses We Use
Some use money as an excuse – “I can’t afford” and “It’s too expensive” become the go-to lines whenever a conversation leans toward action.
Others excuse themselves with food. Their lives seem out of their control, so they grasp at something they can control. If weight gain is their issue, they subconsciously sabotage themselves with emotional eating which can easily spiral out of control and become lifestyle diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes are diagnosed.
Still others self-medicate. Alcohol, prescription, OTC and recreational drugs are their panacea for what ails. They are coping with life, but there is always something that comes up that drives them deeper into the haze. Combined with the physical and psychological aspects of an addiction, their bodies crave the antidote that will cure the demons in the present moment. The draw is all-consuming.
We Look To Others For A Call To Action
Regardless the excuse we use, we’re all looking for someone to give us a reason to change. We want to trust, to lose weight, to quit an addiction. Instead, we yield to societal definitions that keep us in our place – we are poor, broke, obese, and addicts. We readily adopt these labels and wait patiently for someone to to notice our pain and inspire our recovery. This is being outer directed. What if we reversed that pattern?
What if we showed up for ourselves, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for us? If we recognized our own intuition and let that guide us. If we trusted ourselves to know what was in our best interest, and if we let other people do the same for themselves without any judgement. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate freedom.
Visit Recovery Guidance for a free and safe resource to find recovery professionals near you.
The post Excuses That Keep You Caged appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
November 13, 2018
Robert Downey Jr.’s Moving Tribute To Stan Lee
From Megan Peters @ Comicbook.com: To Marvel fans, Stan Lee is an icon whose legacy will live on forever. In the wake of the legendary writer’s death, millions are taking to social media to honor Lee and his work. Now, several of Marvel Studios’ biggest stars are joining in, and Robert Downey Jr. is the latest to share his tribute.
Taking to Instagram, Downey Jr. posted a brief tribute memorializing Lee.
“I owe it all to you,” the actor wrote. “Rest In Peace Stan.”
As you can see above, the touching tribute was posted alongside a photo of Downey Jr. and Lee. The photo, which was taken by Jimmy Rich, shows the men on the set of a previous MCU venture. Downey Jr. is seen in casual clothes as he channels his inner Tony Stark, and Lee stands next to the actor with an arm thrown over his shoulder.
Of course, fans will know why Downey Jr.s’s remarks are so poignant. The actor enjoyed a successful career in his early adulthood, but things began slowing down after Downey Jr. has several run-ins with the law. He came back to the public eye in 2008 when Marvel Studios went out on a limb and made a solo film about Iron Man. The venture had very little backing going in, but Downey Jr. helped turn Iron Man into a massive hit, and it gave Marvel Studios the platform to build a multi-billion dollar cinematic universe upon.
As a founder of the MCU, Downey Jr.’s tribute weighs heavily on fans, and his memorial is being joined by other actors. Not long ago, Chris Evans stepped up and share his own statement about Lee’s passing on Twitter.
“There will never be another Stan Lee,” the Captain America star wrote.
“For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy. He exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. Excelsior!!”
0comments
As news about Lee settles, fans expect Downey Jr. and Evans to be joined by hundreds more. The comic icon’s lengthy career inspired countless creators in every field from entertainment to even medicine. Lee’s infectious charm reeled in millions worldwide into the comic fandom, and all of them are siding with Downey Jr. in honoring the writer for all he did.
The post Robert Downey Jr.’s Moving Tribute To Stan Lee appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
November 12, 2018
Creative Tools Improve Recovery
Were you told to color inside the lines or to lip synch when you sang? When childhood creativity is squelched, the struggle continues into adulthood. It’s time to unleash your inner creative child and here’s why.
The Benefits Of Play And Creative Tools Are Many
Coloring books, crayons, paints, clay, paint brushes, colored pencils, notepads, stickers and building blocks are staples in the playrooms of children. How many adults have them for their own use? Drums, other percussion instruments and your voice are also creative tools. When was the last time you engaged in what might be considered child’s play, unless you are joining children or grandchildren or those you babysit?
Stress relief
Becoming a more effective problem solver
Being in the here and now
A sense of accomplishment
Hands on meditation
Operating without rules
Having fun
If in the company of others, a sense of community
Enhancing resilience and physical vitality
Improving the powers of observation
Creative Tools Improve Recovery
Cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman’s newest book on creativity and the human mind, Wired to Create (co-authored with Carolyn Gregoire) expresses that creative people share these qualities in common:
Imaginative Play
Passion
Daydreaming
Solitude
Intuition
Openness to Experience
Mindfulness
Sensitivity
Turning Adversity into Advantage
Thinking Differently
Kaufman, who is the Scientific Director of the Imagination Institute, has done extensive research on the topic and discovered that creative people are able to “go beyond what is to seeing what things could be, and adds, “Imagination is undervalued in our society.”
Imagination People Makes Successful
When Susan was a child, she was surrounded by creative catalysts that included her parents who would make up silly songs with her, dolls with whom she would act out plays, blankets that when draped over dining room chairs and twin beds would morph into tents, empty boxes became child size cars, her bicycle into a horse, hair brushes transformed into microphones into which she would belt out songs in the mirror as she imagined herself a rock star on stage. As an adult, she became a writer and graphic artist, loves her work and is well compensated for her talents.
Stifling Creativity Can Be Damaging
John grew up in a home in which only hard work and academic achievement was valued. John was passionate about music. His father wanted him to get an education so he didn’t end up “a working stiff like your old man.” John’s father told him that “musicians are bums and druggies.” John graduated at the top of his class and got a job that paid well but left him too tired at the end of the day to pursue his musical career. To cope with his own despair at feeling his talents going to waste, he would go to bars to hear other musicians perform and simultaneously drown his sorrows.
How To Unlock Your Inner Creativity
Take time daily to observe your environment and jot down what you see, hear, taste, smell and touch as you make it a full sensory experience
Journal about your varying emotional states
Write a poem (it doesn’t have to rhyme)
Sing along to the radio and make up for in enthusiasm what you may lack in formal training or talent
Take an object and list all of the things you can make from it
Cook without a recipe
Make up a song and sing it in the car or shower
Dance in the living room to your favorite rock anthem
Gather together magazines, scissors, glue stick and poster board and create a treasure map or vision board that contains images and words that represent what you are calling into your life
The post Creative Tools Improve Recovery appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
Meet The New And Improved “Find Your True Colors!”
When we set about creating Find Your True Colors In 12 Steps we really didn’t know how people would respond. But, the verdict is in because the first printing sold out! Now, the 2nd edition has arrived in the ROR office and we can’t wait for you to see its new and improved graphics!
Everyone in early recovery has to learn that it’s not a punishment to be in recovery. About 10 percent or more of our population is in some form of recovery. Recognizing that currently 23 million Americans are not drinking and drugging when they used to, makes it so much more important to bring cultural change to our communities to understand, promote, and yes, experience the fun of recovery. How do we further that message? We provide new messages and tools using techniques that work.
“According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy is a mental health profession in which the process of making and creating artwork is used to “explore feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety and increase self-esteem.” So basically, it’s similar to good old therapy. Yet art therapy is not only about learning and improving yourself — it’s a means of personal expression, too.”
Hence, creating a coloring book was the perfect combination for us and Find Your True Colors was born!
Find Your True Colors Recovery Activity Book Has Many Benefits In One
70 pages of soothing coloring and reflection are perfect for people who desperately need safe, enjoyable, and convenient activities to keep their minds occupied and thinking about recovery, not relapse
Following the steps with coloring helps process recovery lessons using principles that promote growth and healing
Journaling thoughts and feelings promotes self expression
Find Your True Colors easily becomes a marketing tool for any individual, business, or group that wants to sponsor recovery in their community. Recovery is the best thing since sliced bread. The back cover is customizable to tell your business or personal story.
Ask your local donor to sponsor the Find Your True Colors recovery activity book in your community.
Give us a call for more information 941 366 0870.
.
The post Meet The New And Improved “Find Your True Colors!” appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
Eat The Doughnut: Why Social Media Threatens Democracy
From Psychology Today:
Earlier this week, US Democratic Senator Blumenthal warned that “our democracy is under attack” following the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions—a move widely thought to be an attack on the Mueller investigation. Later that week, a video doctored by the right-wing site Infowars was circulated by the White House Administration alongside a false accusation of assault by CNN journalist Jim Acosta. The allegation was used as a basis to recall Acosta’s press pass.
Blumenthal’s sentiment is not sensationalistic. In truth, it lags far behind the warnings of many major Silicon Valley players, who have been warning of this danger to democracy for some time.
Not as Free as We Think
Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook and Google, warned that social media constitutes “a menace to public health and democracy”, partly as it promotes addiction and because it has played a major role in facilitating destabilizing political propaganda. He stated that the platforms now terrify him. Tristan Harris, a former Google employee and social media critic, similarly explained how Facebook algorithms push users toward outrage-based political content that pushes our primal buttons, commenting that ‘All of our minds can be hijacked. Our choices are not as free as we think they are’. In other words, “Outrage just spreads faster than something that’s not outrage.”
These concerns hold up; in a nod to the current American political era, researchers of a recent social media political study concluded that ‘Twitter breeds dark, degrading, and dehumanizing discourse; it breeds vitriol and violence; in short, it breeds Donald Trump’.
Lizard Brains and Political Campaigns
Facebook investor Roger MacNamee explained well how tech addiction, social media use, and right-wing populist content emboldened each other: “Facebook appeals to your lizard brain — primarily fear and anger. And with smartphones, they’ve got you for every waking moment.” Former Vice President of Facebook Chamath Palihapitiya voiced his guilt in helping to develop a system that explicitly sought to make users addicts and in then indulging this lizard brain response, pushing users toward fear and anger-based sensationalized content: ‘The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works’.
A Degraded Democracy
Populism has been referred to as ‘a degraded form of democracy that promises to make good on democracy’s highest ideals’ offering little more than a fantasy or seductive metapolitical illusion. But it is a hugely profitable fantasy, and one that came at a time when new Internet revenue streams had been difficult to find; there are now, for example, 3.6 billion Internet users globally, surpassing half the world’s population, but new growth has become harder to find, with 0% new smartphone unit shipment growth in 2017.
That new growth was pushed exponentially by a right-wing populist juggernaut, spawning a hugely profitable grey market in clickbait and fake news-friendly services. One of many is the ‘Boryou Public Opinion Influencing System’, for example, which can post manually and/or automatically at a rate of 100 posts per minute to around 30,000 websites.
Companies such as 118t Negative News or Weberaser offer quick removal of offending web content, whilst click farms like Weibosu can flood online polls with thousands of votes. Russian firm Siguldin can reportedly manipulate voters, competition and polls as a means of influencing public opinion: ‘Siguldin markets itself as being capable of manipulating almost any voting system on the Internet’. Many providers run as many as 10,000 devices simultaneously. VTope, a Russian crowdsourcing company, leverages around 2 million memberships to offer real-life posts and activity for a client in exchange for credits and other incentives.
The Entertainment Effect: Eat the Doughnut
8.4m voters who voted for Obama in 2012 voted for Trump in 2016. A major instant regret factor emerged afterward—amongst this 8.4m, post-election disapproval of Trump was twice as high than for any other voter. This might be the ‘eat the doughnut’ effect: voters clearly could not swing that far ideologically so quickly, so were more likely temporarily moved by the seduction, excitement, and sensationalism of dopamine-infused last-minute online populist appeals.
Tech critic Tristan Harris explains that social media works by seducing users into exciting short-term fixes—not necessarily healthy choices—as a means of keeping them hooked, recalling that: ‘People in tech will say, “You told me, when I asked you what you wanted, that you wanted to go to the gym. That’s what you said. But then I handed you a box of doughnuts and you went for the doughnuts, so that must be what you really wanted.” It is easy to see why the market for last-minute micro-targeted political appeals to swing voters is so profitable.
Chutzpah & Testosterone
‘Who knew that all it would take to make progress was vision, chutzpah and some testosterone?’ asked Trump voter Steven Sanabria, in a letter featured in a New York Times Op-Ed. That who turned out to be Silicon Valley, and a whole raft of populist politicians, political consultants, and a huge global grey market. As stated by political scientist Drew Westen, dopamine reward circuits ‘overlap substantially with those activated when drug addicts get their “fix”, giving new meaning to the term political junkie’.
By turning voters into junkies, and by repackaging politics as entertainment, social media giants have pulled off an impressive and highly profitable coup d’etat; pro-democracy campaigners now need to tame the technological beast if they do not want it to become an even greater threat to democracy than it already poses today.
The post Eat The Doughnut: Why Social Media Threatens Democracy appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
Drug Against Alcoholism Works, French Researchers Claim
From Medical XPress
French researchers provided fresh evidence Friday to support claims that a drug touted as a miracle cure for alcoholism, and prescribed for this purpose in France, actually works.
The drug, baclofen, had “a positive effect” at high doses in reducing alcohol consumption over a year of treatment, according to study results released at a conference in Paris.
Developers reported on a drug trial named Bacloville, conducted among 320 heavy drinkers aged 18 to 65 between May 2012 and June 2013.
The trial compared the safety and efficacy of the drug given to some participants at high doses, to a “dummy” placebo pill given to others.
Neither the trial participants nor their monitors knew who was getting which pill. The patients were not asked to refrain from alcohol.
Fifty-seven percent of those who got the real drug stopped drinking or drank less, compared to 37 percent of those who got the dummy drug.
A second study, dubbed Alpadir, also reported Friday that people who received the medicine made bigger cuts in drinking compared to those given a placebo.
French health authorities gave provisional approval for use of baclofen, originally designed and widely used to treat muscle spasms, in 2014 for the treatment of alcoholism.
Many people in other countries are thought to use the drug without a prescription to fight alcoholism.
Interest was sparked in 2008 by a book, “Le Dernier Verre” (The Last Drink), by French-American cardiologist Olivier Ameisen, who claimed to have self-treated his alcoholism with high doses of baclofen.
A subsequent French trial found high doses of the drug caused a significant percentage of heavy drinkers to give up or moderate their intake.
Several trials since then have come up with contradictory findings.
Last year, Dutch researchers in a different study found the drug may work no better than counselling.
Without proof of its efficacy, prescribing high doses of the drug known as baclofen may be irresponsible, they warned at the time.
Ethypharm, the laboratory developing the drug, said Friday it would submit an application by month-end for the commercialisation of baclofen for the treatment of alcoholism in France.
According to the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), 3.3 million deaths around the globe every year are the result of harmful alcohol use—almost six percent of all deaths.
The post Drug Against Alcoholism Works, French Researchers Claim appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
November 11, 2018
Addiction Stigma And Discrimination
I regularly receive emails and phone calls that poignantly illuminate the stigma and discrimination people can face as they make the journey through addiction to recovery and a life of purpose and meaning. Drug warrior ideologues have employed manipulative rhetoric and caricatured images of people experiencing alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems for political, professional, and financial gain. The resulting policy and practice consequences have inflicted harm in multiple quarters, but perhaps most devastatingly upon those most directly affected by such problems. Misconceptions about the nature of addiction and pessimism about the potential for long-term recovery have fueled social stigma, led to the mass incarceration of drug users, and assured inadequate resource allocations for addiction treatment. Stigma has also inhibited help-seeking and created obstacles to recovery in such areas as housing, education, health care, and employment, as well as contributing to the social isolation of people in recovery. For people in recovery, addiction-related stigma can insert itself into all manner of restrictions years into the recovery process. Below is an illustration of such a restriction when Shiv Sharma, a member of the Board of SMART Recovery International (SRI), requested a visa to travel to the SRI board annual meeting in the U.S. (His letter to me is shared here with his permission.)
Dear Bill,
Thanks for taking an interest in my situation. It is much appreciated. I provide below some background and details on my recent situation.
I was born and grew up in London, the son of first generation immigrants from India. Despite growing up in government housing, I did well at school and managed to go to university where I graduated with a degree in Pharmacy. I went on to train and worked in community pharmacy for ten years. Unfortunately, ever since I was a teenager, I had started using recreational drugs, initially cannabis. However, in my 20’s I developed problems with illicit heroin and crack cocaine. By the time I reached my 30’s I was not fit enough to work and left regular employment. I also had co-existing mental health problems. During the time I was using I was arrested on a number of occasions for possession of controlled drugs. Although I was never given a custodial (prison) sentence, I was sentenced to a number of community-based, court-ordered rehabilitation programs. My last conviction was in 2011.
Shiv Family
I got married that year and for the first time I really engaged in my treatment. Initially I was put on OST (Opioid Substitution Treatment) in which I was prescribed methadone. However, I only took this for about 6 months and detoxed myself completely from opioids and all illicit drugs. I have been abstinent since 2013 and was introduced to SMART Recovery at that time. I initially attended meetings as a participant but after about 4/5 months I trained as a facilitator and started running meetings. In parallel with this I started to volunteer at my local Addiction Recovery Centre to support other people experiencing substance abuse problems. I like to think that my lived experience and visible recovery has helped and inspired other people trying to overcome addictive disorders.
About 4 years ago I entered paid employment in the field of addictions. Initially I was a Recovery Practitioner and after a few years I was promoted to Team Leader for the Young People’s aspect of the service. Earlier this year I moved into a new role as the Team Manager responsible for Criminal Justice, Young People and Outreach. I work closely with the police, courts, probation (parole) and all aspects of the criminal justice system to ensure that offenders with “trigger offences” are drug tested on arrest and those identified with substance misuse issues are engaged into evidence-based treatment interventions either in the community or in prison depending on the severity of their offence and the decision of the court.
As mentioned previously, I have been actively involved with SMART Recovery for 5 years. Initially I was a participant, then a facilitator, and I also promoted the program regionally in Greater London at Public Health England events (the government body which oversees the NHS). In 2016 I was appointed as a peer member to the Board of Trustees for UK SMART Recovery and have been involved in the strategic planning and direction of the organisation. At the end of last year I also joined the Board of SMART Recovery International (SRI) which is a new international entity with the aim of overseeing global growth of the SMART Recovery program.
In my personal life I have been fortunate enough to be blessed with 2 beautiful children. I have a three year old boy (who has just started kindergarten!) and a 1 year old baby girl. I have really fought hard for my recovery and endeavour to be a good family man, citizen and contributing member of society.
In September of this year, SRI held a strategic planning session in Arizona in conjunction with the annual US SMART Recovery conference. I made arrangements to attend and booked a visa appointment with the US embassy in London. Despite being totally transparent about my history and it being over 7 years since my last drug possession offence I was denied a visa. At my interview, the officer did commend me on my recovery but said that they were unable to grant a visa because my crimes were “of moral terpitude”. I am more than happy to send you a copy of my ACPO certificate which lists my convictions. They are all low level drug-related and are considered “spent” under the UK Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. In my job role I have undergone enhanced criminal record checks and have been cleared to work with vulnerable adults and young people and I have access to secure settings such as police custody suites and prisons.
I find it hard to understand why the US embassy did not take all of this into account when coming to a decision. The purpose of my visit was to contribute to the important work of our Recovery organisation. I felt excluded and judged on the basis of my previous addiction problems which I have now overcome. This also illustrates how what is fundamentally a health issue has been mixed in with the criminal justice system for too long now. People do recover and change. I and many others am living proof of that and to be burdened with the stigma of past actions is something we have to overcome.
I admire your advocacy work Bill and do let me know if you’d like to know anything else.
Many thanks,
Shiv
The “moral turpitude” brand on people recovering from substance use disorders is a destructive anachronism that should be now and forever abandoned. If we want people who have experienced AOD problems to resolve such problems and contribute as productive citizens, then communities must remove obstacles to personal and family recovery, provide visible pathways of entrance into recovery, and create environments that enhance quality of personal and family life in long-term recovery. Removing such obstacles (including social stigma), expanding recovery space in local communities, and assuring sustained recovery support are major goals of the recovery advocacy movement. The above letter from Shiv Sharma is testimony of how much work remains to be done.
Content originally published by Bill White in the White Papers
The post Addiction Stigma And Discrimination appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
Recovery Communities Can Help Cultural Healing
These are questions being asked by people of conscience from diverse political, economic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. As Van Jones suggests, the sources that could help us get re-centered could come from unexpected quarters. Is it possible that people in addiction recovery and diverse communities of recovery could serve as a force for cultural and cross-cultural healing?
A reasonable response might well be, “What could people whose past lives have been ravaged by addiction have to offer on issues of such great import?” It is not the lessons from addiction that might offer a balm for our cultural wounds, though addiction can be an astute if unforgiving teacher; it is rather what has been collectively learned within the recovery from addiction that holds solutions of potentially larger value to our country and beyond.
Individuals, communities, and whole cultures are always in a process of self-correction from extremes that threaten their existence. Addiction recovery is itself such a correction process. What is needed culturally when ideologically extremes prevail is a vanguard of people who purposefully infuse into the culture critically needed and missing ingredients. People in recovery and communities of recovery may be uniquely poised to provide such missing ingredients.
Narcissism, with all its ornaments of self-righteousness, arrogance, and self-aggrandizement, has become the new religion—a selfie culture gone mad. We now have leaders who champion these defects of character as a source of pride and purported strength. This worship of self when elevated to a cultural level fuels fervent nationalist movements that claim superiority, build walls of isolation, and deny the interconnectedness and interdependence of all people and nations. People who have been addicted know something of this religion, its sources, and its solutions. The addicted person’s world progressively shrinks in anguish to the person-drug relationship—a radical disordering of personal priorities and a progressive disconnection from others.
Many valuable lessons can be found in the process of escaping such self-entrapment. It takes a village to heal the wounded—and we have all been wounded; healing and wholeness require resources and relationships beyond the self and beyond closed social silos. Personal survival hinges on a greater social unity and common purpose; what we share in common is far more important than our superficial differences. We can achieve together what we have been unable to achieve alone. Distortions of reality, projection of blame, and scapegoating can be diminished by acceptance of our brokenness—our Not-Godness, acceptance of our common humanity, and the assertion of personal responsibility. Amends can be made for past sins of omission and commission. Personal and collective excesses can give way to greater balance and harmony—from competition and conflict to compassion and care. Self-absorption can be diminished through open acknowledgement of one’s imperfection. The masks of grandiosity can be shed and replaced by genuine humility. Bitterness and resentment can give way to forgiveness and gratitude. Preoccupations with power and control (and the resulting close-mindedness and aggression) can give way to tolerance, mutual identification, and service to others. Anguished self-absorption can give way to connection to community, shared joy, and laughter. Settings can be created where people actually listen to one another without interruption or condemnation. Those are among the lessons of recovery.
Excesses within our current cultural life suggest deep wounds—wounds crying for a collective and sustained healing process. As our culture seeks self-correction, communities of recovery can offer healing ingredients as we as a people seek a new moral center. For those in recovery who have concealed these gifts within the rooms, perhaps it is time to reach out and touch someone.
Post Date
November 9, 2018 by Bill White
The post Recovery Communities Can Help Cultural Healing appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
November 10, 2018
The Role Of PTSD In Mass Shootings: Let’s Separate Myth From Reality
From the LA Times:
Just hours after former Marine Ian David Long killed himself and 12 other people at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday night, observers speculated that post-traumatic stress disorder played a role in the tragedy.
The Ventura County sheriff alluded to it. One of Long’s former roommates in Reseda mentioned it. Even the president of the United States said it.
But psychology experts say it is premature to suggest that Long suffered from PTSD — or that it could have prompted him to open fire in a bar packed with young adults.
“Unless someone comes forward and says this man was experiencing PTSD or being treated for PTSD, there is no reason to think he had PTSD,” said Lisa Jaycox, a behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist at the Rand Corp. in Washington, D.C., who studies how people to react to violence.
Jaycox’s previous work has shown that even among veterans who have seen combat, fewer than 1 in 5 suffer from PTSD. She also said violent behavior is not a common symptom of the disorder.
Jaycox spoke with the Los Angeles Times about myths and facts about PTSD.
Do we know for certain that the Thousand Oaks shooter suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder?
No. We know he did see combat in Afghanistan, but it’s a small portion of people who develop post-traumatic stress disorder after an experience like that.
In my own work, when we looked at people who had recently been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, about 14% of them suffered from PTSD. It’s not the norm.
Whenever a mass shooter has a military background, people are quick to blame it on PTSD. Does that make sense?
No. There are about 20 symptoms associated with the disorder. One of them is anger and irritability, but that is not the predominant picture of post-traumatic stress disorder. Most people who have PTSD are not violent.
What might be more pertinent here is that military personnel who have violent outbursts may be more likely than other people to own a gun privately and to be highly trained with firearms.
What exactly is post-traumatic stress disorder?
I think of it as a very human reaction to a traumatic event, and then an inability to recover.
In the wake of a mass shooting I’m sure everyone who was there will be thinking about it constantly in the days and weeks afterwards — dreaming about it, having difficulty focusing on work or relationships. But if those symptoms persist for more than a month, then that is classified as PTSD.
What are some other symptoms?
They cluster in four areas. Re-experiencing the trauma, so flashbacks, nightmares, recurrent thoughts. Then there is arousal, which includes irritability, difficulty concentrating and difficulty sleeping.
Another set of symptoms have to do with withdrawal and numbing — feeling disconnected from people and emotionally blunted. And finally, avoiding things that might remind you of the trauma — not wanting to talk about it and avoiding certain people and places.
Do most people with PTSD develop it as a result of military service?
No. It’s much more common to be exposed to it through community violence, sexual violence or sexual assault.
We’ve done work in the Los Angeles County school system that shows one-third of kids who have been exposed to community violence suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Most of these kids are flying completely under the radar. It’s the 7th-grade girl sitting quietly at her desk or the 8th-grade boy playing basketball. They are not shooting people.
Are people with PTSD more likely to commit mass shootings?
I would say no, but I don’t think there is great data on that because these events are so rare. But again, there is not a high likelihood of being violent when you have PTSD.
When we think of PTSD, we mostly think about military men. Why?
Probably because they are more frequently depicted in the media and in movies.
Women are actually more at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder than men. Men are exposed to more accidents and injuries, they are more likely to be on the front lines of war, or be mugged at gunpoint. But women are more likely to develop PTSD after an interpersonal trauma. Getting attacked by a coworker is a different thing than a stranger mugging you. That carries the meaning of not knowing who can you trust, whereas being attacked by a stranger is usually a one-off.
The post The Role Of PTSD In Mass Shootings: Let’s Separate Myth From Reality appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
