THE FIX CHALLENGE: Join These Former Addicts in Seeking A Natural State

It's deep clean time - alcohol, caffeine, sex, processed foods, the works - now that Ayahuasca helped get us get past addiction. It's time to seek a total natural state.

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By Doug Heyes and Alesha Carlander

05/21/14

SOURCE THE FIX

EDITOR'S NOTE: What follows is a challenge to readers, whether in recovery or not or just going about your life with your normal bad habits and ups and downs. We invite you to join these two writers in striving for - and reporting back on - what they call a 33-day "total cleanse." Both have been in recovery, one from bulimia, the other from drugs and alcohol, for many years and tell their dramatic stories here.They will be detailing in the comment section their 33-day detox adventure, which starts Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day). We challenge you to start your own detox along the way and share the ongoing experience in the same space. Whoever we judge as best contributor gets a $200 writer fee. You don't have to be a hard substance abuser to join in - anyone can participate and report back on the results on your life, mindset, emotions and general sense of well-being.

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Okay, here’s the deal: We’re taking on a total cleanse, clear, detox vortex immersion - 33 days, complete abstinence from all consciousness-altering substances and habits - alcohol, drugs, caffeine, tobacco, sugar, sex (alone or with someone), gambling, animal foods, processed foods, preservatives, chemicals, the works. 

We’ve both earned our street cred with addiction and recovery - Doug with drugs and alcohol, Alesha with food. We believe it’s time for a new paradigm in recovery, an expanded model that combines conscious step-work with transforming technologies from science, medicine, psychotherapy, nutrition, meditation, community, ancient knowledge. 

We hold a vision of a widespread shift in the consciousness of recovery from stigmatized disease theory to celebrated spiritual opportunity. We believe the challenges we face and the issues we address in recovery are portals to growth, learning and Self-awakening. We theorize that there is an undeniable connection between the sacramental use of certain entheogenic plant medicines and an experience of Self-revelation of sufficient magnitude to drive recovery.

At the moment, both of us seem to have our demons under reasonable restraint - at least to where behaviors once associated with our primary destructive addictions are simply not present. Nobody’s flipping cars at 3 AM. Nobody’s locked up in the ladies’ room. We’re happy, loving, creative, successful people. Despite these measures of balance we may have achieved with our former behaviors, neither one of us really knows what it feels like to be – well – natural. 

What is our true, clear, conscious Organic State, unsurpressed, unaided? How will we change physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually? How will it influence our vision for a new age in recovery? How will it affect our own healing consciousness? Will we be more creative, productive, proactive, prosperous? Will we finally get rock star bodies and the energetic vibration of ascended masters? Or will we just feel like shit and want to kill for a spliff and a grande Americano?

We both currently use tobacco, marijuana and caffeine, as well as Ayahuasca and certain other sacramental entheogens. Doug is nobody’s vegan by a long shot, though he's very big on stir-fried veggies and quinoa. He's also a bit of a sugar junkie. Alesha’s much more conscious about the whole food thing. But hey, she’s a professional.

It is our shared view that human beings are powerful beyond measure, not the weak, sick, diseased wretches the addiction industry says we are. We’re profoundly capable of change, and the process is accelerated through focused practice, retraining and remapping the brain. Current neuropsychology puts the time frame for changing an entrenched habit or behavior at about 33 days – exactly the time frame of our great Natural State experiment. Let the good times roll!

Through this intensive personal process, we hope to bring forward a new understanding, to implement our learning into a new model for transformational recovery, drawing from a wide variety of approaches and disciplines. We’ll be bringing in masters from related fields to share their wisdom and guide us on our journey. We challenge you to join us – for the whole trip or any part of it. We ask for your solidarity, strength and support. We seek here to open a dialogue, to invite you to share your own tales from the trail, your own experiences and perspectives about recovery, health and healing.

Here are our stories:

ALESHA: The bulimia really started when I was about 13, though I’d been obsessed with food for as long as I can remember. I was just getting into high school. My body was going through radical changes. I was the heaviest I’ve ever been in my entire life. Everywhere I looked I would see these beautiful, sparkling, perfectly put together girls with unimaginably wonderful lives. I would feel so small, alone insignificant, thinking about all the ways I fell short of perfection. There was always someone smarter, funnier, prettier or more talented. 

The roots of my alienation had found fertile soil in the rigidly constrained Christianity of my childhood. For as long as I could remember, I’d been talking to God. Problem was the messages of unconditional love and compassion I was getting straight from the Source flew directly in the face of the harsh dogma of sin, retribution and damnation I was being force-fed at church.

I badgered my parents and pastor with questions about their beliefs, about God and Jesus. If we’re all God’s children, then why is Jesus His “only begotten Son?” Why is God a “He” anyway? Where does God live? In Heaven? Everywhere? Is Heaven everywhere? If Heaven is everywhere, aren’t we already there? And if we are, why is there so much suffering? If God is Love, why is there so much hate? If we’re all guilty of Original Sin, aren’t we already doomed to the pit of fire? What’s the point of living righteously if we’re damned before we even start? Their answers rang false and hollow. I was branded a troublemaker, unwelcome in our church by the time I was 10 years old.

Alone and adrift on a sea of lies and pretense, I turned for comfort and control to my old friend, food. I’d shut myself away and gorge on candy, sweets, pastries, yummy delicious things till the world went away. And then I would hate myself.

By the time I was 13, my world had closed down to a small, dark corner, my dreams of love and happiness had devolved into a nightmare of self-loathing and misery. This girl I knew handed me a wild card. I could have anything I wanted, be anything I wanted, eat anything I wanted. All I had to do was make a deal with the devil. I was never a big fan of Satan, or even heavy metal, but I found myself in my heart of darkness thinking about it, wondering about it, wrestling with it. In the end, I never did sign the contract in blood by the light of the full moon. But just the fact that I would consider such a course was evidence of my treachery, proof of my absolute moral and spiritual bankruptcy, my unworthiness in the eyes of God. I was already the walking dead

Six Ways Your Family Is At Risk From Addiction

How it affects your loved ones.

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By Pamela Wray

05/22/14

SOURCE THE FIX

ADDICTION IS A PROCESS

Addiction must be viewed as a process that is progressive, and an illness - not a disease - which undergoes continuous development from a starting point to an ending point. According to Craig Nakken in his book, The Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive Behavior, “we must first understand what all addictions and addictive processes have in common: the out-of-control and aimless searching for wholeness, happiness, and peace through a relationship with an object or event. No matter what the addiction is, every addict engages in a relationship with an object or event in order to produce a desired mood change or state of intoxication. The crucial crux of the situation is that the addict will not recover unless he or she wants to recover regardless of any intervention!"

After spending many years on drugs, even young, otherwise healthy bodies fight back. The vibrations of an addict are of a very specific sort - they ricochet out of control, mostly out of reach. The energy called up by the drug quickly disperses, leaving a void, a nothingness. Nature abhors a vacuum, so negative forces rush in, take up residence. The only immediate relief is more narcotics. This is the vicious cycle of addiction for an addict. 

DIFFERENT EFFECTS FOR DIFFERENT FAMILY STRUCTURES

In days past, when society spoke of “family,” it was typically referring to Mom, Dad and the kids, plus grandparents and an aunt or uncle. Family structures in America have become more complex - growing from the traditional nuclear family to single‐parent families, stepfamilies, foster families, and multigenerational families. Therefore, when a family member abuses substances, the effect on the family may differ according to family structure.

SMALL CHILDREN

A growing body of literature suggests that substance abuse has distinct effects on different family structures. For example, the parent of small children may attempt to compensate for deficiencies that his or her substance‐abusing spouse has developed as a result of drug abuse. Frequently, children act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances, according to S. Brown and Lewis V. in The Alcoholic Family in Recovery: A Developmental Model. In a single‐parent household, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.

Empirical studies have shown that a parent’s alcohol problem can have cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, and emotional consequences for children. Among the lifelong problems documented are impaired learning capacity; a propensity to develop a substance use disorder; adjustment problems including increased rates of divorce, violence, and the need for control in relationships; andother mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and low self‐esteem.

PARTNERS

The consequences of an adult who abuses substances and lives alone or with a partner are likely to be economic and psychological. Money may be spent for drug use; the partner who is not using substances often assumes the provider role. Psychological consequences may include denial or protection of the person with the substance abuse problem, chronic anger, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, inappropriate sexual behavior, neglected health, shame, stigma, and isolation.

PARENTS OF GROWN CHILDREN

Alternately, the aging parents of adults with substance use disorders may maintain inappropriately dependent relationships with their grown offspring, missing the necessary “launching phase” in their relationship, so vital to the maturational processes of all family members involved.

When an adult, age 65 or older, abuses a substance, it is most likely to be alcohol and/or prescription medication. The 2012 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that 12.5 percent of older adults reported binge drinking and 6.4 percent reported heavy drinking within the past month of the survey. Veteran’s hospital data indicate that, in many cases, older adults may be receiving excessive amounts of one class of addictive tranquilizer (benzodiazepines), even though they should receive lower doses. 

Further, older adults take these drugs longer than other age groups. Older adults consume three times the number of prescription medicine as the general population, and this trend is expected to grow, as children of the Baby Boom (born 1946–1958) become senior citizens, according to “The epidemiology of alcohol use, problems, and dependence in elders: A review” by K.K. Bucholz, Y. Sheline., and J.E. Helzer. 

STEPFAMILIES

Interestingly, many people who abuse substances belong to stepfamilies. Even under ordinary circumstances, stepfamilies present special challenges. Children often live in two households in which different boundaries and ambiguous roles can be confusing. Effective co-parenting requires good communication and careful attention to possible areas of conflict, not only between biological parents, but also with their new partners.

Experts believe that the difficulty of coordinating boundaries, roles, expectations, and the need for cooperation places children raised in blended households at far greater risk of social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Children from stepfamilies may develop substance abuse problems to cope with their confusion about family rules and boundaries.

Substance abuse can intensify problems and become an impediment to a stepfamily’s integration and stability. When substance abuse is part of the family, unique issues can arise. Such issues might include parental authority disputes, sexual or physical abuse, and self‐esteem problems for children.

Substance abuse by stepparents may further undermine their authority, lead to difficulty in forming bonds, and impair a family’s ability to address problems and sensitive issues. Clinicians treating substance abuse should know that the family dynamics of blended families differ somewhat from those of nuclear families and require some additional considerations.

EXTENDED FAMILY AND INTERGENERATIONAL EFFECTS

The effects of substance abuse frequently extend beyond the nuclear family. Extended family members may experience feelings of abandonment, anxiety, fear, anger, concern, embarrassment, or guilt; they may wish to ignore or cut ties with the person abusing substances. Some family members even may feel the need for legal protection from the person abusing substances. 

Moreover, substance abuse can lead to inappropriate family subsystems and role taking and the effects on families may continue for generations. Intergenerational effects of substance abuse can have a negative impact on role modeling, trust, and concepts of normative behavior, which can damage the relationships between generations. For example, a child with a parent who abuses substances may grow up to be an overprotective and controlling parent who does not allow his or her children sufficient autonomy.

FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY

Neighbors, friends, and coworkers also experience the effects of substance abuse because drug abusers are often unreliable. Friends may be asked to help financially or in other ways. Coworkers may be forced to compensate for decreased productivity or carry a disproportionate share of the workload. Consequently, they may resent the person abusing substances, according to H.C. Fishman in Intensive Structural Therapy: Treating Families in Their Social Context.

In cultures with a community approach to family care, neighbors may step in to provide whatever care is needed. Sometimes it is a neighbor who brings a child abuse or neglect situation to the attention of child welfare officials. Most of the time, however, these situations go unreported and neglected.

Substance abusers are likely to find themselves increasingly isolated from their families. Often they prefer associating with others who abuse substances or participate in some other form of antisocial activity. These peers support and reinforce each other’s behavior.

Different treatment issues emerge based on the age and role of the person who uses substances in the family and on whether small children or adolescents are present. In some cases, a family might present a healthy face to the community while substance abuse issues lie just below the surface.

TREATMENT

In any form of family therapy for substance abuse treatment, consideration should be given to the range of social problems connected to substance abuse. Problems such as criminal activity, joblessness, domestic violence, and child abuse or neglect may also be present in families experiencing substance abuse. To address these issues, treatment providers need to collaborate with professionals in other fields. This is known as concurrent treatment.

Whenever family therapy and substance abuse treatment take place concurrently, communication between clinicians is vital. In addition to family therapy and substance abuse treatment, multifamily group therapy, individual therapy, and psychological consultation might be necessary. 

With these different approaches, coordination, communication, collaboration, and exchange of the necessary releases of confidential information are required. With concurrent treatment, it is important that goal diffusion does not occur. Empowering the family is a benefit of family therapy that should not be sacrificed. 

Pamela Wray is a writer and author based in Birmingham, Alabama. She has a blog.

Should Prescribing Doctors Be Held Responsible When Their Patients OD and Die?

Rehab admissions have increased, emergency room visits are up and overdose deaths from prescription medication have multiplied dramatically as a result of unregulated prescribing practices.

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By Remi L. Roy

05/20/14

SOURCE THE FIX

On June 25, 2009, fans around the globe mourned the death of Michael Jackson. Like too many before and since, Jackson, only 50 at the time, met his demise at the hands of a prescription medication addiction that no doubt had ruled his life for the final days, years and maybe even decades before his death. 

The autopsy conducted on Jackson’s body concluded that the cause of the star’s death was a fatal injection of propofol. Sold under the brand name Diprivan, propofol is a powerful sedative that slows heart and nervous system activityand is most often used to relax patients before, or during, general anesthesia for medical procedures and surgery. The post-mortem also included details that he had ingested a number of other pills, including a reported eight lorazepam, on the night he overdosed. 

What followed in the wake of Jackson’s untimely passing was a peculiar series of events that saw his personal physician Conrad Murray charged with, tried for, and convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s death. The bizarre trial revealed that Murray stayed with Jackson six nights a week, and that he was at times begged to administer drugs to help his insomniac patient sleep. While the doctor's defense team argued that Jackson had injected himself with the lethal shot of propofol, the jury found Murray guilty and he served two years in prison before being released in late 2013. 

Once a renowned physician with a promising career, Murray had his medical license revoked in Texas and suspended in California and Nevada. Though he is now practicing medicine again, the incident irreparably tarnished his reputation in the U.S. He is currently working with local heart surgeons in his new role at the Trinidad Ministry of Health. 

Murray’s anti-climactic exodus marked an end to the bizarre story of the murder of pop music’s prodigal son. Still, regardless of the here and now, the strange case of Dr. Murray had the effect of setting a precedent for criminally trying physicians in cases where their patients die of drug overdoses from prescribed medications.

More recently, the fallout from another celebrity death caused a stir when former Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was lost to a vile combination of morphine and fentanyl. The notorious rocker’s doctor, Daniel Baldi, was subsequently charged with seven counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count that stemmed from Gray’s 2010 overdose. 

Baldi had already faced four medical malpractice claims and three suits for wrongful death prior to being tried for involuntarily killing seven other patients. The doctor, who ran a pain clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, was accused of audaciously writing scripts for Gray and others, and faced up to 16 years in prison if convicted of the crimes. 

According to court documents, Baldi "did unintentionally cause the death of Paul Gray by the commission of an act likely to cause death or serious injury, to-wit, continually wrote high-dose prescription narcotics to a known drug addict.” Gray’s wife Brenna agreed with those findings. She testified that Baldi prescribed Xanax to Gray, knowing that her husband was gripped by an addiction to the anti-anxiety medication.

Despite calls for justice by Gray’s widow and the friends and family members of other departed patients, Baldi was cleared of all charges. On May 1, jurors determined the doctor was not guilty of any of the seven counts of involuntary manslaughter leveled at him. Unlike Murray, Baldi would not be held responsible and jailed for the overdose of the people he had prescribed drugs to.

Of course, celebrity overdoses and the trials of their doctors are but a drop in the bucket of the issue at large. A Google search with the keywords “doctor overdose deaths” turns up nearly 34 million hits. The headlines are as varied - “Tulsa physician has most patient overdose deaths,” “NYC doctor on trial in patients’ overdose deaths,” “Long Island Dr. Feel-Good charged in Oxycodone overdose deaths...” - as the stories are tragic. 

Prescription drugs contribute to over 22,000 fatalities a year in the US alone. The number is indicative of an epidemic that, unlike heroin in the 1970s or crack in the 1980s, is being perpetuated by educated white coats, not by drug pushers and street chemists. That revelation, it seems, is puzzling the judicial system, lawyers on both sides of the bench, police officers, researchers and doctors who, increasingly, find themselves at the center of lawsuits and criminal court cases.

MAY 23 v 29 v 30 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?

Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?

Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,

trying out new drinks.

STEP 1 - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Do I need to add to the Proverb certainly not .The Bible clearly tells us that alcohol does wreck lives . Alcohol does not control you and yes you can stop drinking but it will be the toughest fight of your life and Detoxification from Alcohol will require medical assistance . There are millions who have overcome Alcohol and so will you . Never quit trying to quit !

Matthew 16 : 24 : 27 - Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

By Joseph Dickerson

Cassy Pink ‘s Creation
“I’m gonna die if I don’t start to live again.” Once rang like lightning through my heart. I came to recognize, the life I was living, was not the one I would have chosen for myself. Bon Jovi Lyrics tapped on my senses a second time with, “It’s my life, it’s now or never.”

My life, what did I want it to be? I looked to people who seem to be living the life I desired. What did I desire? I didn’t know but I did know the basics and that was a life where I was free to be myself and one where I could stand tall with how I lived and the decisions I made. I later realized the rest would unfold as I found strength and friendship in myself. Friendship may sound like a funny term to use when referring to oneself. Grace me, with a moment to clarify. When you have a true friendship/love for someone, you show them understanding and embrace all of what makes them who they are. How often do we grant ourselves this kindness and consideration? Truly no one is harder on us, than ourselves. Learning to accept ourselves as we actually are and not as we would like to believe we are is rough on the ego.
The more I pondered the more I realized the profoundness of recognizing the break between, who I would like to believe I am and the actions I actually take. I believe I am a person with a high moral code, but my actions have not always support my beliefs. It is most difficult to recover from letting yourself down let alone others. I actualized that there would continuously be a difference between who I would like to be and who I will be. My goal became to narrow the variation.
All emotions exist because we experience them. Think about that for a moment. It is because we are built to experience all ranges of emotion that we are incapable of pure innate altruism. Motive and experience will always play a role in our actions, conscience or not. For me out of this acknowledgement I began writing under Cassy Pink. I myself am faulted because I am human. Cassy Pink is the ultimate person I strive to become.
The concept of Cassy Pink is not simply about nobility but all of whom I desire to be the dancer, the artist as well as the fisher the philosopher, the nurturer and so on. Above all I seek peace in my heart, my mind and the actions I will take tomorrow. Cassy Pink is my Idyllic self. Who is yours?
Hearts, minds and muscles will forever take their share of bangs and bruises that is inevitable. The question is what will you take from your pushes and trips? Will you learn that they are needed steps on a ladder and grow from them or will you continue to keep restarting at the bottom of the ladder? It’s easier to keep our chins up and keep climbing the ladder when there is an abundance of support and positive guidance both when we struggle and when we are doing just fine. Religions and support groups have impact on the souls that seek them out because of their regular influence and consistency in what, as well as, the positivity they have to offer.
I believe that through simply making the choice to make noble choices; we can learn how to walk with our heads held high. Life is a wheel of fortune and circumstances always play their role and there are always unknown factors. The key is to make choices that you know you can live with. When circumstances fade your clarity, ask yourself, what is best choice for the greater good? It is easy to hold your head high when your conscience is free.
Walk Tall my friends! Cheryl

MAY 23 v 29 v 30 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?

Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?

Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,

trying out new drinks.

STEP 1 - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Do I need to add to the Proverb certainly not .The Bible clearly tells us that alcohol does wreck lives . Alcohol does not control you and yes you can stop drinking but it will be the toughest fight of your life and Detoxification from Alcohol will require medical assistance . There are millions who have overcome Alcohol and so will you . Never quit trying to quit !

Matthew 16 : 24 : 27 - Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

BY : Joseph Dickerson