What are you addicted to? [other than blogs]

This is becoming a weekly rant as I watch relevant documentaries on BBC 2 and come away either enthused or with my blood boiling. This time I’m somewhere in between…

“Am I Normal?” this time presented by Dr Tanya Byron [clinical psychologist] asked the controversial question “Is Addiction a disease or the excuse used by weak willed people to absolve responsibility?” More specifically, is being addicted to something like drugs, alcohol, porn, chocolate or online gaming an illness, or an excessive choice by the individual?

In our quote “therapy saturated culture” can addicts such as big name celebrities hide behind the label and plead “its my disorder that controls me”, or is it a chosen escape vehicle for the desperate and needy?

Fascinating to learn that early psychologists linked alcohol to mental health and the word “addiction” became a negative. This was one of the ideas that fuelled the prohibition laws in the 1920’s.

I found myself liking Dr Jeffry Schaler who categorically states society uses the label as an excuse for weak willed people to self-indulge. Addicts choose to stay addicted.

Here’s the science part - we were shown clinical evidence that shows the troublesome behaviour/substance stimulates the release of Dopamine in the brain, making you want more of it.

But at what point does a passionate pastime become an addiction? One definition was that “its an excessive enthusiasm if it adds to your daily life, and its an addiction if it takes away from your daily life”. My response is “according to whom?”

Computer games give you the Dopamine rush from killing foes or gaining levels. Online gambling sites are designed to give you “nearly won” more than “won” because the Dopamine rush of a “nearly won” makes you want to bet again.

And oh dear, the TFT guy went down like a lead balloon. His crusading “I can cure 98% of issues because I come from the university of results and I can fill seminars” spiel sounded embarassingly like the gung ho lines I used to come out with, until I realised that the person’s conscious mind needs a ritual to go through to let the unconscious mind change, and therefore no one ritual fits all.

The EMDR guy just used trance, suggestions and negative imagery to pattern interrupt his smoking client, and guess what? He started smoking again. Quelle surprise!

By far the most important, and I’d say most understated conclusion in this documentary, was the revealing statistics that say 60-70% of addicts eventually grow out of the behaviour of their own accord. It’s like a “phase” they’re going through. Unfortunately, some addicts phases can last decades, if not a lifetime!

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Breaking news – The “Project FP” countdown has begun:

http://www.CoachTherapist.com

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Even if we answered the question posed, my response is “So what next?” If all addictions are illness, so what next? A boom in therapy? If addictions are all conscious choices, so what next?” The death of therapy?

Debate raged around the idea of control of use versus responsibility of use. Surely its not an either or but includes both?

And another thing – I have to point out that Dr Byron does a lot of “mind reading” when she listens to what a client says, then interprets it and suggests her label for what they just said. Clean Language and NLP prohibited that addiction decades ago!

Tony Robbins suggested [or rather borrowed someone else’s model and renamed it as he was taught to do by Jay Abraham using Jay’s Maven Strategy] that any behaviour that meets 3 of the 6 human needs becomes an addiction. And that’s a very individual thing. Until they find another more effective vehicle that meets those needs, which would tie in with the “phase” concept.

By the way, if you’re a TFT or EFT user [and I chose that term carefully] is it normal for you to tap the client? I always practice a hands off approach and get them to learn tapping points themselves, and besides, I don’t like litigation. Feedback please…

Dr Byron’ conclusions? Addiction is an illness and there are loads of unproven complementary and alternative practitioners making boatloads of cash out of it.
That makes me so angry, I’m off to play World Of Warcraft for 3 days…

Medication or Meditation Part 2

Did you manage to catch the documentary on BBC during the week with Professor Kathy Sykes investigating the myths, facts and benefits of meditation?

She started in a monastery in Nepal by interviewing “the happiest man in the world” and then went on to start an impressively disciplined meditation practice. When most people first try meditation or self-hypnosis they usually can’t sit still for very long cos their conscious mind races with thoughts and distractions. You’ve probably found that to be true.

But give it long enough, and something inevitably happens. Yup, her stuff came up! Sadness about her father’s death and all this repressed emotion that she didn’t even know was in there. And this is the essential first step in my HGE method - to strengthen the connection between the conscious and the unconscious minds through trance.

When asked what the benefits of meditation are, the monk stated “emotional balance, the banishing of anxiety and a change in the way you experience every moment of your life”. Not bad for a built in, no cost approach!

What struck me was here is a professor, a physicist no less, making a meal out of something really basic and easy to comprehend. She was surprised that the relaxation response affected the physical body! At this point I’m shouting at the TV!

Next we’re taken to a closed community in the US where they practice TM – transcendental meditation. But did they have to focus on the guys bouncing across the floor in the Lotus position? “You won’t actually see them levitate” she was told. Didn’t do much for their street credibility.

So there you have it – the big revelation is that, and I quote “Meditation might help anyone deal with life”. Get away…

What was far more intriguing was the medical research that shows the more you meditate, the thicker the Insula gets. The Insula is a thin layer of brain tissue that helps you feel internal states – hunger, thirst and emotion. Science proves that he more you meditate, the more you physically change the structure of your brain tissue. Thus strengthening the connection between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.

Which brings me right back to where I started this discussion.

So my advice is this – if you don’t close your eyes and go inside on a regular basis, why not start right after you finish reading this? Take 5 minutes to breathe deeply, close your eyes and listen, really listen for what comes up…

And if you are a seasoned meditation veteran, I bet you could do it more often…