The Wall Street Journal recently ran a commentary arguing that "Not Everything is Healthcare." Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare, Centene and Humana have devoted billions of dollars in the past decade to building new “affordable housing.” They’re also spending heavily on nutrition programs and local community resources. No, the insurance industry hasn’t suddenly begun emphasizing philanthropy over profit. Rather, it … Continue reading SDOH and Recovery Capital: Of Course Everything Isn’t Healthcare
Revisiting the Work of William White: Sick Systems in Treatment Interview with John DuCane 1989
“I was recruited by the field to address a shadow side of the organizational life of addiction treatment programs. As I responded to these calls, it became quickly apparent that something far more universal was afoot than the aberration of organizational life of addiction programs” – William White, Recovery Rising pg. 233 In 1989, John … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White: Sick Systems in Treatment Interview with John DuCane 1989
Addiction care system under threat and more vulnerable due to low institutional trust
The last few months have been pretty distressing for those of us who care about people with addiction, their access to treatment, as well as the welfare of their families and communities. There are credible threats to cut Medicaid funding, which is estimated to fund 30-40% of all substance use disorder treatment in the US. … Continue reading Addiction care system under threat and more vulnerable due to low institutional trust
Revisiting the Work of William White. “Alcoholism/Addiction as a Chronic Disease: From Rhetoric to Clinical Reality”
This foundational paper can be found in various places. Currently, the most convenient place to find the paper is the archive of Bill's materials at the Lighthouse website. As of today, this link does work for free access to the full paper, from the new location archiving his papers. (The section of their website containing … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White. “Alcoholism/Addiction as a Chronic Disease: From Rhetoric to Clinical Reality”
Codependency A Helpful Concept Turned Toxic: A Lesson from Our Own History
A few weeks ago on February 27th, Melody Beattie died at age 76. For those who may not know the name, she was an author and wrote a best-selling book called Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself. It may be hard for readers in our current era to … Continue reading Codependency A Helpful Concept Turned Toxic: A Lesson from Our Own History
Follow the science . . .
I'm reposting this to supplement Monday's post on retiring the concept of "deaths of despair." Zeynep Tufecki's analysis of the damage to public trust from misleading public health messaging during the pandemic reminded me of this post. She describes problems of omission, misrepresentation of confidence levels in information, a desire to be a counterforce to … Continue reading Follow the science . . .
The opioid crisis as a disease of despair?
I'm sharing this to supplement yesterday's post on retiring the concept of deaths of despair. A version of this post was originally published in 2018 and is part of an ongoing review of past posts about the conceptual boundaries of addiction, the disease model, and recovery. Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com The narrative that … Continue reading The opioid crisis as a disease of despair?
Time to retire “deaths of despair”?
Source: Data Behind Americans’ Waning Trust in Institutions. The Pew Charitable Trusts. Addiction recently posted an editorial suggesting that professionals and media stop using the term "deaths of despair" because it's inaccurate, it conflates different problems, and it contributes to misunderstandings about the causes and solutions. The term ‘deaths of despair’ collates deaths caused by substance poisoning, suicide … Continue reading Time to retire “deaths of despair”?
Recovery Languaging: Moving from Normalizing Healing to Normalizing Use & Pathology
For well over a decade, significant focus of effort within the recovery community and across our service space has focused on changing how we talk about substance use conditions and those who experience them. As noted in the 2014 paper Language, Substance Use Disorders, and Policy: The Need to Reach Consensus on an “Addiction-ary” our … Continue reading Recovery Languaging: Moving from Normalizing Healing to Normalizing Use & Pathology
“these things take courage, and they encourage each other”
Read Spotted Newt book shop, Hazard, KY Brian's post yesterday on Bill White's article The Road Not Taken: The Lost Roots of Addiction Counseling brought this previous post to mind, with the shared emphasis on connection to community and community organization as central to addiction counseling. Enjoy! When Bill White called for an overhaul of … Continue reading “these things take courage, and they encourage each other”
Recovery Review 