AA works because II

Yup. My favorite example is the alcoholic who drinks themselves to death. Most folks know or know of someone who has done that. I used to work with a guy who lost his license as a surgeon due to his addiction, got into recovery and became a therapist. He'd walk us through the process of drinking yourself to death, and it was really amazing. Aesophogeal (sp?) hemoraging (blood coming out of places that shouldn't bleed), acute pacreatitus (which leads to bile leaking into the abdominal cavity and eating away at all sorts of important organs), liver failure (jaundice due to poisons not being taken from the bloodstream).... the list goes on and on. These are hideously painful side-effects of drinking. did you konw that when they do an autopsy on an alcoholic the people in the room have to wear special maskes? Because when they take out the brain the smell of alcohol is so pungent that they'll get sick if they don't have a mask on. And these aren't pedestrians, these are professional autopsy-ers. Can you believe that? So what kind of passion, what kind of dedication does it take to drink to that point? Pancreatitus is supposed to be the most painful thing a human being can experience, and I'm pretty sure it usually happens relatively early in late-stage alcoholism... The zealotry of the late stage alcoholic is truly, horrifyingly amazing, isn't it? Few and far between are the folks who are that dedicated to anything....

he truth is, as a therapist I am usually not able to be of much help to an active addict. It's a bit depressing to be honest. Ever hear this joke? Q:"How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb?" A: "Only one, but the lightbulb has to really want to change." Ha! The addict who is not at the point of wanting a miracle is usually not at a point of being willing to surrender their "religion" so to speak. And can I blame 'em? Who in this class, if I wrote a REALLY compelling post on the message board, would give up your religion? Anyone? No takers, huh? ;-)

Religion can be casually defined a system of beliefs and values around which I organize my life and behavior. By that definition addiction to cocaine for example would easily be a religion. Thinking of it this way is VERY helpful for me as a therapist (and, on a personal level, as a family member) because it helps me keep my perspective. History is full of people who went to a bloody, gory, painful death to avoid denouncing their religion. So is there some key phrase, so poignant question, that I can ask a client (or family member) during this session that's going to convince him or her to lay down their addiction if they are not ready? Not a snowball's chance in hell.

People do not change their fundamental belief system until the pain of staying the same outweighs the fear of change, and sadly, for many death precedes that.

Can you tell I have some passion about this topic? ;-)

I will say that the book "Motivational Interviewing" has some really useful techniques for helping some resistant addicts walk toward powerlessness. There's a lot to learn in this class, but this piece about addiction being a lot like a religion is probably one of the most useful things I've come to in my career. Perhaps it will be useful to a few of you as well...