Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com To what extent does this tendency influence discussions around addiction and drug policy -- elevating counterintuitive and novel ideas? “Human attention is drawn to novelty, to things that are new and unexpected,” says Aral. “We gain in status when we share novel information because it looks like we're in the … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Month: May 2022
The Algorithm of Medical Care Discrimination
Persons like me in long term recovery can face horrible treatment if it becomes known we have had a substance use disorder. This is particularly true when we may need controlled substances as part of our legitimate medical care. There are now algorithms being used to scan our personal and medical data to see if … Continue reading The Algorithm of Medical Care Discrimination
Bill White’s website has moved
Attention! There is a 2025 update! Jump all the way down below the original 2022 section, and see the 2025 update. Early this morning I noticed that Mike Dennis, the researcher at Lighthouse Institute, posted the following on his LinkedIn account: Researchers and practitioners who access Bill’s website, williamwhitepapers.com, will notice a new look effective May … Continue reading Bill White’s website has moved
Grief and Depression as Factors in Addiction Counseling
Disclaimer: nothing in this post should be taken or held as clinical instruction, clinical supervision, or advisory concerning patient care. In his 1916 article1 titled “Mourning and Melancholia” Sigmund Freud grappled with clarifying the differences between melancholy and mourning. In his usage melancholy refers to what we would loosely call “depression” and mourning refers to … Continue reading Grief and Depression as Factors in Addiction Counseling
Loss of Institutional Knowledge – a Critical Tipping Point in the SUD Workforce Crisis
Our substance use care system workforce has long faced very high turnover rates. One of the studies from years ago that always stuck with me as framing out the challenges and value of working in our field, was from 2003, the toughest job you'll ever love: A Pacific Northwest Treatment Workforce Survey. It identified turnover … Continue reading Loss of Institutional Knowledge – a Critical Tipping Point in the SUD Workforce Crisis
Polarisation, tension and hostility: just another day in the field of addictions.
Someone relatively new to the substance use disorder area asked me recently why I thought there was so much division and hostility in the addiction and recovery field, compared to other parts of health and social care. Do we really have more conflict than in some other healthcare areas? There are strongly held positions which … Continue reading Polarisation, tension and hostility: just another day in the field of addictions.
Rescorla is to Pavlov as Semiotics is to Freud
A few weeks ago, while I was reading in the psychoanalytic literature, I saw that Freud (1915) abbreviates the Conscious mind with the initials “CS” and the Unconscious mind with the initials “UCS”. To me this seemed like much too much of a coincidence. Why did it seem like a coincidence? From my rather extensive … Continue reading Rescorla is to Pavlov as Semiotics is to Freud
Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
The question of how to describe and categorize addiction has been the subject of several of my recent posts. Some people scratch their heads about why I care so much about whether we think of it as a disease. Bill White summarized the stakes well here: If AOD problems could be solved by physically unraveling … Continue reading Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
Recovery Review 