Beyond Addiction Quotes

“From another corner of neuroscience, we’re learning about a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Though there are more than fifty neurotransmitters (that we know of), scientists studying substance problems have given dopamine much of their attention. The brain’s reward system and pleasure centers—the areas most impacted by substance use and compulsive behaviors—have a high concentration of dopamine. Some brains have more of it than others, and some people have a capacity to enjoy a range of experiences more than others, owing to a combination of genetics and environment. The thing about dopamine is that it makes us feel really good. We tend to want more of it. It is naturally generated through ordinary, pleasurable activities like eating and sex, and it is the brain’s way of rewarding us—or nature’s way of rewarding the brain—for activities necessary to our survival, individually or as a species. It is the “mechanism by which ‘instinct’ is manifest.” Our brains arrange for dopamine levels to rise in anticipation and spike during a pleasurable activity to make sure we do it again. It helps focus our attention on all the cues that contributed to our exposure to whatever felt good (these eventually become triggers to use, as we explain later). Drugs and alcohol (and certain behaviors) turn on a gushing fire hose of dopamine in the brain, and we feel good, even euphoric. Dopamine produced by these artificial means, however, throws our pleasure and reward systems out of whack immediately. Flooding the brain repeatedly with dopamine has long-term effects and creates what’s known as tolerance—when we lose our ability to produce or absorb our own dopamine and need more and more of it artificially just to feel okay. Specifically, the brain compensates for the flood of dopamine by decreasing its own production of it or by desensitizing itself to the neurotransmitter by reducing the number of dopamine receptors, or both. The brain is just trying to keep a balance. The problem with the brain’s reduction in natural dopamine production is that when you take the substance or behavior out of the picture, there’s not enough dopamine in the brain to make you feel good. Without enough dopamine, there is no interest or pleasure. Then not only does the brain lose the pleasure associated with using, it might not be able to enjoy a sunset or a back rub, either. A lowered level of dopamine, combined with people’s longing for the rush of dopamine they got from using substances, contributes to “craving” states. Cravings are a physiological process associated with the brain’s struggle to regain its normal dopamine balance, and they can influence a decision to keep using a substance even when a person is experiencing negative consequences that matter to him and a strong desire to change. Depending on the length of time and quantities a person has been using, these craving states can be quite uncomfortable and compelling. The dopamine system can and does recover, starting as soon as we stop flooding it. But it takes time, and in the time between shutting off the artificial supply of dopamine and the brain’s rebuilding its natural resources, people tend to feel worse (before they feel better). On a deep, instinctual level, their brains are telling them that by stopping using, something is missing; something is wrong. This is a huge factor in relapse, despite good intentions and effort to change. Knowing this can help you and your loved one make it across this gap in brain reward systems.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“How Do People Change? Over time. With stops and starts, along a crooked line. With practice. With ambivalence. More often than not, without formal help. When the trade-offs seem worth it. With a little help—sometimes a lot of help—from friends and family. With anguish. With effort. With joy.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“When people see their behavior as inconsistent with their self-image or goals, their motivation to change can increase.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“It takes awareness to be proactive instead of reactive, to try something different instead of going back to the same old dysfunctional routine.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Positive communication is 'contagious.' When you communicate positively, others tend to mirror it. They listen better and understand more, and in turn they feel better. Positive communication invites positive communication.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“The power to influence someone, no matter how great the influence, is not the same as responsibility for another person's choices. Our loved ones' problems become our problems - that's a price we pay for love - but our loved ones' problems are not our fault.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Research has demonstrated that in order to change, we don't unlearn behaviors; we have to learn alternatives.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Another very important thing to remember about stages: people move back and forth through them, not just forward in one direction. Change, and a person's readiness for it, very seldom proceeds in a straight line. It goes in fits and starts as people learn along the way. We say this as an anxiety preservative for you. Your loved one may start to think about the issues, start to think about changing, start to make plans; then drop them, return to the old behavior, figure out again it's not working so well, start to think about changing again - all fodder for learning. Keep in mind that people learn things at different paces; some people pick up on certain things quickly, while others have to go through many rounds of trial and error. For each individual, it depends on what he is trying to learn - he may get the hang of managing emotions but take a long time to make new friends, or learn to enjoy parties without drinking, or fall asleep without medication.

It is important to try to resist comparing your loved one's, or your own, pace and style of changing with others.' Preconceived notions of how the change process should go will only set you up for disappointment, as change seldom follows a predictable path. By understanding the nonlinear snature of change, you can more readily relate to attitudes and behavior that don't fall neatly in line with a forward march of progress fantasy of change.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Perhaps you have had the experience of ending a long relationship; you managed to go through with it but can still remember agonizing for months, maybe years, before you did it. Afterward, it seemed like everything reminded you of your ex and made you question your decision. Maybe you remember how lonely you were at first and how long it took before you figured out what to do with the time you used to spend together. ...

The point is that change is hard for everyone. It takes learning - learning new ways of thinking about ourselves and the world, learning new behaviors, learning to tolerate the pace of change, and learning to live without the old routine. Keeping this in mind in a matter-of-fact rather than pessimistic way can help you stay calm and patient and go on living your life through the ups, downs, and unexpected parts of change.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Motivation to change can occur whenever the costs of a behavior outweigh the benefits.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Using substances or engaging in other compulsive behaviors is goal-oriented behavior, not crazy or stupid or immoral.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“People do not use substances in a vacuum. Their relationships impact their substance use just as their substance use impacts their relationships.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“science has revealed that teenagers are not simply grown-ups who text a lot; they are neurologically, psychologically, socially, and legally different from adults, and they have different treatment needs.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Substance problems are complex and multidetermined, often driven by underlying psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or attention deficit disorders that require specialized attention over and beyond just treating the substance problem.”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change

“Opioid Use Disorders There are several medications approved for use with opioid users. These fall into two categories: 1) blocking the effects of opioids, and 2) replacing the abused opioid with a different, longer-acting opioid for maintenance on that medication. Opioid replacement or maintenance therapy has a long and documented history of effectiveness and safety. Opioid blocking medications, while basically safe, have been poorly received by the client community. We hope that the effectiveness profile of blockers changes with the advent of new, long-acting (one-month) injectable blockers (Vivitrol), but evidence is still being collected. Blockers: Naltrexone/Vivitrol: This blocks opioid receptors (yes, the same naltrexone from the alcohol category, but used for opioids for an entirely different effect). Naltrexone is given daily and orally and therefore has compliance problems because people can simply stop taking the medication and get high within a couple of days. Vivitrol, an injectable form of naltrexone that blocks opioid receptors for one month, is showing promising results in improving compliance. This”
― Jeffrey Foote, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change