When I quit drinking twelve years ago, I tried these meetings. They were not for me.
You’ve accidentally pushed one of my buttons; I’ll try to maintain self-control.
<rant>
Have you ever noticed that while the working-class slob who drinks himself into the gutter is a drunk, the celebrity with a drinking problem is said to “suffer from alcoholism”? The withered wreck in the crack house is a menace to society, while the showbiz yapper or political talking head who sucks pills with breakfast, lunch, and dinner “suffers” from “an addictive disorder”?
This to me is bullshit. I don’t care if every shrink on the face of the planet disgrees, I cannot accept the characterization of the drunk or the addict as one who “suffers” from anything other than the consequences of their own voluntary actions. Talking about these people in the same terms we use to discuss a cancer patient, or anyone else who really is sick, is an insult to the people who suffer from conditions they didn’t voluntarily embrace.
I would agree with the author completely (and yes, I’ve been there and done that with booze and with other things as well) that recovery is no different from addiction: it’s something you put behind you. The idea of making public hay out of one’s status as a “recovering addict” is something I find pretty silly, but I guess it’s inevitable, especially if we accept the notion of addicts as victims of anything more than their own weakness. Sometimes it seems like everybody wants to be a victim, and given the special treatment and regard we hold for victims, it’s easy enough to see why.
On the religion question I’ve little undersatnding of either side: those who find solace and support in either the church or the therapy couch are welcome to whatever floats their boat, but I personally can’t comprehend the appeal of either.
This bit…
Admitting powerlessness and asking for help are signs of honesty and maturity. But making a fetish out of a long-ago disorder and engaging in groupthink are not.
…struck me as odd, coming from a person who has openly embraced Catholicism. If that’s not “groupthink”, I can’t imagine what is.
This…
you can't overcome addiction on your own.
…is an outright lie.
</rant> |
