{"id":19958,"date":"2020-10-08T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=19958"},"modified":"2020-10-08T09:34:26","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T16:34:26","slug":"freedom-from-addiction-the-science-of-addiction-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2020\/10\/08\/freedom-from-addiction-the-science-of-addiction-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom from Addiction<\/em>: The science of addiction recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a student of psychology, I sometimes feel besieged with the message that science is the superior way of understanding.<\/p>\n

The scientific method is empirical, rational, as objective and unbiased as possible, and self-correcting. Often enough I find myself annoyed by the tedium and monotony required by such a method. It\u2019s a lot of work, and definitive answers are rare, if they exist at all.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I cannot help but notice the similarities between the scientific method and the 12-step path of addiction recovery\u2014or any method of addiction recovery that is effective, I suspect.<\/p>\n

To recover from addiction requires seeing oneself without bias as much as possible. It demands rigorous objectivity. Our \u201cexperiment\u201d\u2014which is to say our very lives\u2014must be open for others in our recovery program to observe. As in science, we cannot keep our findings to ourselves, lest we fall prey to skewing the data for our convenience or benefit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Freedom from Addiction<\/em> is a column exploring issues relating to addiction (graphic by bestdesigns).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Interestingly, I find that as I recover further from my primary addiction to sex and relationships, my resistance toward the scientific method abates.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that I think science can answer all our questions and solve all our personal and global problems, but I have an increasing respect for those who dedicate their lives to finding something they may never find. I admire those who look for the truth, regardless of what they would like the truth to be.<\/p>\n

This is the attitude one must have to recover from addiction. If we try too much to find only what we want to be real or true we end up creating a world of delusion and suffering\u2014we remain ruled by addiction\u2014or what we think we want. Sooner or later the bubble bursts, and this can be a painful disillusionment, as it was for me.<\/p>\n

If we look for the truth above all else our egos may be crushed; our fantasies will invariably crumble. But we will become more whole, more grounded, more compassionate, more present, and more self-contained. I believe we will become who we really are\u2014we will recover our true selves, which is what addiction recovery is all about.<\/p>\n

We are the guinea pigs and the mad scientists in this life. If we wish for our lives\u2014our grand experiments\u2014to be fruitful and to deliver understanding, meaning, and value, we must aim to put our personal preferences aside and, simply, seek the truth.<\/p>\n

With a curious mind, like that of a good scientist, we may be surprised by the freedom that comes with surrendering what we think we need or want in order that we may see what is actually there. In my experience, many unexpected gifts come with a dedicated search for truth, even though I may never come to a definite answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a student of psychology, I sometimes feel besieged with the message that science is the superior way of understanding. The scientific method is empirical, rational, as objective and unbiased as possible, and self-correcting. Often enough I find myself annoyed by the tedium and monotony required by such a method. It\u2019s a lot of work, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19959,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19958\/revisions\/19959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}