Recovery from Addiction: Confronting Complacency
by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Few would argue against complacency’s tendency to erode the foundations of change. Most of us experience the lull that can follow a flurry of effort and progress. We lose steam, let our guard down, relax, and suddenly find ourselves slipping back into the very patterns we are trying to break – […]
Addiction: Where Science Meets Fiction
by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. If you wanted an objective appraisal of a home you probably wouldn’t ask the sellers to choose the appraiser. With drug research this is exactly what happens. Congress advocates for the war on drugs, Congress funds the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and with their billion dollar annual budget NIDA […]
The Streets Are No Place for Addicts
The Streets Are No Place For Addicts by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Treating trauma with trauma isn’t helpful, it’s abusive. Turning away from loved ones in need deepens isolation and disconnection. Trauma and isolation cause addiction, connection cures it. Addiction, trauma, and mental illness occur amongst people without a home at much higher rates than the […]
Internet Addiction in an Attention Economy
Internet Addiction in an Attention Economy We Can Use Technology to Practice Moderation by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Nothing makes media moguls and tech giants salivate more than our attention. Fanciful algorithms identify and target individual interests to pop irresistible, personally tailored click-bate onto our screens with a voyeuristic air. Isn’t it a bit strange that […]
Changing Addictive Behavior in a Culture of Convenience
Changing Addictive Behavior in a Culture of Convenience By Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The process of changing addictive behavior is anything but convenient. To make matters worse, people changing addictive behavior find themselves couched in a culture of convenience. Moving away from a reliable source of comfort is already hard enough with an enveloping worship of […]
How to Quit Drinking Through Self-Guided Change
How to Quit Drinking? Self-Guided Change by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. For those who wonder how to quit drinking problematically, it is important to understand that seeing through the cultural brainwashing is arguably the most challenging aspect of overcoming addiction. For starters, most people who have a “problem” according to family and society are not “addicts” […]
Social Constructionism and the Roots of Addiction
Updated November 9, 2021 Addiction is a Social Construct by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The perpetually changing understanding of addiction provides clear evidence of its social construction. With rare exception, the infectious agents that cause a disease don’t change, the pathological biological processes of a disease don’t change, and the biologically degenerative conditions of a disease […]
Witnessing Brilliance: Justice Department Cannabis Crackdown
Federal Crackdown on Cannabis 2018 by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The Cannabis Crackdown: On January 4th 2018, Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions issued a memorandum to all United States Attorneys stating that the federal government’s hands-off approach to enforcing cannabis laws was “unnecessary.” The memorandum rescinded the federal government’s hands-off approach to cannabis, effective immediately, due […]
Persistence in Life and Recovery
Persistence in Life and Recovery So we are now about two weeks into the New Year. That’s long enough that the great enthusiasm we had for our 2018 goals has dimmed a bit, or worse. So now what? Life is a continuing challenge of balancing short-term and long-term satisfactions, as SMART Recovery’s 4th Point, Lifestyle […]
Witnessing Brilliance: Justice Department Cannabis Crackdown
Federal Crackdown on Cannabis 2018 by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. On January 4th 2018, Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions issued a memorandum to all United States Attorneys stating that the federal government’s hands-off approach to enforcing cannabis laws was “unnecessary.” The memorandum rescinded the federal government’s hands-off approach to cannabis, effective immediately, due to “Congress’s determination that marijuana […]