I question the concept of limited use for an addict

Question:

Stanton:

I recently discovered your site and read The Addiction Experience which is the best description of addiction I have seen. I have been sober 6 years after a 10-15 year drug (alcohol) addiction and have noticed how logically flawed the orthodox disease model of addiction is. I do question the concept of limited use for an addict. Given the pathological relationship between an addict and his or her drug, isn't abstinence necessary in order to break this relationship and begin to learn and practice new attitudes and behaviors? Isn't it comparable to telling a woman who has been beaten up regularly by her abusive husband for 10 years that she should just see him less and get beaten up less severely and less often?

Steve

Stanton's Answer:

Dear Steve

Not all women who are beaten are beaten for ten years. What if she was beaten for four years, left her husband, didn't have any relationships for a few years, then met a different sort of man and created a different relationship? What if in the meantime she had gotten a degree and a good job? That's what "The Addiction Experience" is about -- the shifting needs for an addictive object based on changing personal outlook and circumstance.

Stanton

© 2000 Stanton Peele. All rights reserved.
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