By Tom Horvath, PhD Boredom is the perception of being under-stimulated. We all have optimal levels of stimulation (some generally want more, some generally less). Whatever your level, when you are not getting enough, you are bored (and when over-stimulated, you may be stressed). Boredom is often considered an undesirable state. However, let’s start with its advantages. If not much is going on in your immediate world, you have time to consider the larger context of your life. It is easy to lose track of what is more important than day-to-day and moment-to-moment issues. If bored you have a moment to consider what is important, rather than just immediate or urgent. When feeling bored you might say, “I’m glad nothing is pressing on me at the moment; I can think about the bigger p...

by Kenneth Anderson, M.A. THIQ is an acronym which stands for tetrahydroisoquinoline, a chemical which is formed in the brain when a metabolite of alcohol combines with dopamine. The THIQ theory of "alcoholism" became very popular in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was erroneously believed that THIQs were formed in the brains of "alcoholics," but not in the brains of normal drinkers. The theory became so popular that it was regularly taught to clients at Hazelden, both in a document riddled with historical errors and in a videotape which I recall seeing in the 1990s. THIQ theory is discussed in more detail below. Although THIQ theory was debunked in the 1990s when it was found that THIQs were formed equally well in the brains of both normal drinkers and "alcoholics," recent research sug...

By Tom Horvath, PhD The Thanksgiving dinner table will provide many opportunities for conversation, and perhaps nearly as many opportunities for disagreements and fights. That level of tension can easily motivate us to overuse substances! Let’s look at some ways to prevent the tension from getting that high. Tips for Listening at Thanksgiving Is it essential that you provide your opinion? If you are talking with someone whose opinion (based on your experience with them) is unlikely to be open to examination, stating your different opinion will likely not lead to a meaningful conversation, and could lead to a fight. Instead, you could say “You have very strong feelings on this subject.” If someone holds forth at length (and perhaps in a way you have already listened to before...

By Tom Horvath, PhD A recent scientific paper analyzed the responses from nearly 10K individuals who identify themselves as “in recovery” from substance problems. In recent years the addiction recovery field has been considering how to define “recovery.” Five major organizations have offered definitions or attempts at definitions. However, there is not much data on this issue. Two previous studies have looked at how individuals in recovery define it. The present study is an advance because it identified 30 sub-groups, based on socio-demographics, substance use problems, and help-seeking history. Each sub-group was analyzed for which components of a recovery definition might be common for that sub-group. The second study had averaged all subjects together, thus losing some of the diff...

By Tom Horvath, PhD With Halloween parties starting this weekend, the holiday season begins. That season will continue through Thanksgiving, multiple holiday celebrations near the end of the year, New Years, and then on to the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day. Including work, family, and other social events, you could be invited to a dozen or more events during the holiday season. If you are intending to stop or reduce your substance use, especially alcohol, for the next 3-4 months your work is cut out for you! I often feel especially sympathetic for someone who aims to start such a project at just this time. On the other hand, when next year arrives, you will have been through it already, and perhaps won’t dread the holiday season when it arrives. What might you keep in mind to ...

Kenneth Anderson, M.A. First, it is important to define our terms. A stimulant is a drug which raises levels of physiological or nervous activity. A depressant is the opposite of a stimulant, i.e., a depressant is a drug which lowers levels of physiological or nervous activity. A depressant is not a drug which causes depressed mood; the correct term for a drug which causes depressed mood is a depressogen. A depressogen is the opposite of an antidepressant, just as a depressant is the opposite of a stimulant. Although alcohol can act as a depressogen and cause depression in some people, alcohol also acts as a euphoriant, and some people drink to feel less depressed. However, this is beyond the scope of our article, and we shall focus on the stimulant and depressant effects of alcohol....

By Kenneth Anderson All too often I hear people erroneously lay the blame for the current war on drugs on Nixon; however, this is historically inaccurate. The focus of Nixon's war on drugs was treatment, and under Nixon, the harsh drug laws of the 1950s were eased. Ronald Reagan was the true architect of the evil known as today's war on drugs. Let's start by looking at some historical background. The US Rise of Substance Use There was an explosive growth in the use of marijuana from 1967 to 1979, with LSD bringing up the rear. Although marijuana and LSD were promoted in the early 1960s by both Timothy Leary at Harvard and Ken Kesey at his ranch in rural La Honda, California, about 42 miles from San Francisco, their influence was quite local and had little impact on the US as a whol...

by A. Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP It is an old idea that we need to balance both ends of a polarity to have a good life. Over 2,000 years ago Aristotle suggested that using the mid-point between two extremes would be a sensible guide for behavior. For instance, the courage polarity has recklessness (acting without taking risk into consideration) at one end, and cowardice (being so afraid that you do not act at all) at the other. The mid-point, courage involves doing what needs to be done, even if you are afraid. There are many examples of balancing a polarity. Getting to balance involves moving to the center from both extremes. However, some polarities do not fit this pattern. On what I am terming an expanding polarity we want to move toward both ends of the polarity simultaneously. ...

By Tom Horvath, PhD This blog will focus less on physical skills (like playing the piano or hitting a baseball) and more on “psychological skills” like being assertive. Physical and psychological skills are not entirely distinct. Your body will need to play its part in a psychological skill. For instance, you would need to say “no thanks, I’m not interested in that” with your mouth. The physical skills needed to accomplish a psychological skill are typically already well known to you. You just need to use them! Without further ado, let's take a look at practicing psychological skills. Practicing Psychological Skills #1: Interpersonal Skills Nevertheless, the physical aspect of a psychological skill can be a good place to start. To stay with our example, you could practice sayin...

By Kenneth Anderson, MA Two people of the same weight, height, and sex can drink the same amount of alcohol over the same period of time, and when they stop, one will have few if any symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, while the other will go through severe alcohol withdrawal. Why is this? Although environmental factors (e.g., kindling) may have some influence, the primary reason for this difference appears to be genetics. One of Several Studies on Genetics of Alcohol Withdrawal A 2005 study conducted at a detoxification unit in Germany by Martin Driessen et al. gives us an idea of what percentage of people will develop alcohol withdrawal. There were 217 patients in this study, and they had drunk an average of 15.6 US standard drinks per day during the 30 days prior to the study. The r...