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Preface

It is rare for groundbreaking scientific advances to become recognized years or decades after development. Yet, it has happened. For example, the validity of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was only recognized years after its discovery. So, although uncommon, it can occur. In this particular case, famed psychotherapists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, along with Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, compiled evidence which serves as a bedrock in support of the most accurate diagnostic model for the cure of substance use disorders (SUD) ever developed. Those theories and observations fuel a reaction against the disease concept of alcoholism and addiction as chronic illnesses, yet fully support the hypothesis that addictive processes manifest as curable personality disorders fashioned through altered neurochemistry. Hence, the testimony presented by Freud, Jung, and Wilson, nearly 100 years ago, offers the only legitimate roadmap for the cure of substance use disorders (SUD).

So, why has the disease concept continued to thrive unabated? Probably because the proposal that addictions represent chronic illnesses is too financially lucrative to abandon. Insurance companies are known to pay upwards of $30,000 to $40,000 per person, per month, to chemical dependency treatment facilities who continue to suggest that addictions are incurable. Further complicating the issue are those who have boasted of counterfeit miracle cures which fell flat because their financial motives impeded their ability to deliver the goods. This book is meant to present facts which will overturn that economic interest.

Undoubtedly, all readers of this book will have some questions about the aforementioned remarks. So, here are a few questions and answers one might consider:

Question 1: How do we know, for a fact, that addictions can be cured?

Answer: Because one of the most venerated psychotherapists in history noted the evidence of cure in the 1930’s.

Question 2: And who was that psychotherapist?

Answer: The psychotherapist was Dr. Carl Jung.

Question 3: Did Dr. Jung make any public statements concerning his evaluations?

Answer: Yes, he did. Dr. Jung’s observations are noted in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous on pages 26 and 27 (Wilson, 1939).

Now, this information might come as a surprise to some who are struggling with substance use disorders (SUD). Because those who hold a pecuniary interest in the status quo profit while obscuring Dr. Jung’s observations. For example, the historical justification for abandoning the pursuit of a cure for addiction was the lack of scientific advancement in the 1930’s. In other words, medical technology was not sophisticated enough to assist with replicating Dr. Jung’s findings. However, it was during the 1930’s that AA’s 12-Step program became the most popular method for treating alcoholism. Which has been used to validate the presentation of addiction as an incurable, chronic illness (Wilson, 1939).

However, reliance upon 12-Step programs has never been a wholly sufficient method for arresting addictive processes. Indeed, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported in its Project Match findings that, “While some [suffering with substance use disorders] experience[ed], or eventually will experience lasting remission, authoritative studies report relapse rates of 50 percent or more at two to four years after treatment. A recent meta-analysis of past alcohol treatment outcome studies estimates that more than 50 percent of treated patient’s relapse within the first 3 months after treatment” (NIH, 1997). Yet, in spite of the risk of severe consequences, and even death, associated with relapse potential, the vast majority of addiction treatment philosophies are still based upon ineffective behavioral models.

Nevertheless, at this stage in history, medical research has advanced phenomenally as indicated by the invention of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), among others, respectively (Pinel, 2011). And those two groundbreaking technologies, which were developed after the 1970’s, can be principally responsible for the presentation of research evidence supporting the cure for addiction.

However, a major obstacle to understanding how Dr. Jung’s observations can be experienced in a more advanced technological age is that the addiction treatment industry is looking at the problem in reverse order. The problem being, that the fundamental scientific theories supporting the industry are recommended by those who have never experienced addiction. Consequently, they have no ability to accurately diagnose the disorder introspectively. They don’t have first-hand knowledge of exactly what an addict or alcoholic is experiencing internally; biologically or mentally. There is the complete inability for a theoretician to derive an understanding of addictive processes from the vantage point of introspection. So, all of their marbles are placed in the flawed bag of chronic illness as economic interest motivates support for the adoption of treatment protocols. And the vast majority of treatment philosophies are defective because of the misconception that drug addicts became addicts because they enjoy using drugs, and alcoholics suffer with alcoholism because they love to drink. And, there is no truth to either of those premises whatsoever.

What you have not been told is that there is a wealth of peer reviewed scientific research evidence compiled since the 1980’s which demonstrates the error of those beliefs. Indeed, the evidence that addiction can be cured has been documented and collected in voluminous files of peer reviewed psychological research results since the 1980’s. Peer review means that the quality of the research evidence is being judged by experts who critique each other about the value of their work. Again, these are the evaluations of experts in the field of psychology; not simple magazine contributions from unqualified medical professionals.

So, under scrutiny, it appears that the treatment industry is taking great pains to avoid changing the theoretical direction of treatment strategies which would benefit society. And those findings which better support the most comprehensive understanding of how best to treat chemical dependency disorders have been subjugated in support of the present economic interest. Presently, there is enough psychological research study results in the files of millions of hard drives around the world to mentally and emotionally heal every man, woman, and child in America. And if psychology was not a product bought and sold on the open market, that information would be readily available to people who could put it to good use in their marital, family, parenting, and economic relationships. But as it stands, psychology is an economic dynamic, and members of the general public rarely investigate findings by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Nevertheless, this book includes the findings of peer reviewed scientific studies which offer exact introspective information identifying the biological structure of addiction with extreme accuracy. In other words, seeing addiction from the inside-out allows for the identification of connected neurological and emotional processes in accredited scientific terms. Once the areas of the brain affected by addiction are isolated, therapies can be developed which cure the mind. Once the mind is cured, Dr. Jung’s observations are replicated. That is what this book is all about.

Introduction:
Why This Book?

If certain portions of the evidence documented in AA literature had been produced in a laboratory environment, Bill Wilson might be considered one of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th Century. Yet, because he lacked technical advantages taken for granted by contemporary researchers today, literary evidence of the mental and emotional processes of addiction which can be tied to neurobiology is treated as second hand knowledge.

Nevertheless, an additional innovation explained in this book, no less essential to understanding how addiction problems can be permanently resolved, is the story of a man who struggled with severe alcohol and cocaine addiction for over 13 years and then experienced cure. During that 13-year period he voluntarily committed himself to four different addiction treatment facilities, and fully participated in the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 12-step program. Unfortunately, over the years, the man only had limited success with recovery. His lack of achievement continued even after once having attended over 600 AA/NA meetings in the same year. He also relapsed twice after being abstinent from all chemical use for as long as one year. And during his entire relationship with 12-step programs, the one thing he could never forget was his constant fear of death.

Then, after a liquor and cocaine binge on the night of January 9, 2001, he was cured of alcoholism/addiction and didn’t know it. In other words, from the following day forward, he was able to remain abstinent from alcohol and cocaine use indefinitely, and hadn’t the slightest idea why. After approximately a year he began to suspect that somehow, someway, he had been brought back to a pre-chemical use state as if he had never used cocaine or drank liquor before in his life.

So, after years of homelessness, poverty, and visits to jails and institutions, his life trajectory became redirected. Eventually, most of what had been lost through alcoholism/addiction was restored. He was able to establish a new career in the construction trades, re-marry, and re-establish a social life among his pre-addiction peers.

While having completely forsaken the idea of ever using cocaine again, he did return to social drinking sometime later with no alcohol related problems to speak of. Furthermore, he entirely abandoned his participation in any 12-Step or other drug treatment programs.

By 2011 however, his curiosity got the better of him and he reached out to participants of 12-Step Programs to offer them his evidence of cure. He was resoundingly rejected. Undeterred, the man decided to return to college to study chemical dependency, and set his sights on becoming a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC). His mission, he felt, was to find out what had changed him from being a relapse prone alcoholic/addict into a respected member of the community. He had no idea why, after having been so mentally ill, that he was then capable of maintaining a voluntarily indefinite state of abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages.

By this time, he was living in a new home in the suburbs, had purchased two new vehicles, and shortly thereafter, began investing in the stock market. The man was completely baffled because he hadn’t the slightest idea of what had changed him. And the only credible explanation available was Dr. Jung’s observations recorded in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (Wilson, 1939, pp. 26-27). So, he enrolled in the Human Services Department at San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas, in order to answer his questions, and identify what had triggered the life-saving change within his mind.

Now, after completing all of the academic requirements to become an LCDC (classes taken before practicum and internship) he decided that he would rather be licensed to treat any type of mental or emotional disorder. So, he transferred his studies to the psychology department at Texas A&M University-San Antonio with the goal of becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). While at Texas A&M-SA he earned his Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degree in psychology, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Three years later he enrolled at Arizona State University and earned his Master of Science (MS) degree in psychology, maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

The change in degree programs was pivotal however, because it was through the psychology curriculums, not the Human Services licensing requirements, that the gentleman found the evidence he had been searching for. Surprisingly, access to peer reviewed psychological research is rarely assigned or required as part of the undergraduate Human Services LCDC curriculum. So, it was absolutely jarring to discover that individuals being licensed to treat chemical dependency are not exposed to evidence indicating that substance use disorders can be cured. Yet, that information is laid bare for those seeking to be licensed to treat other disorders such as major depression (MDD), general anxiety disorder (GAD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Indeed, it was a psychology professor at Texas A&M University-San Antonio who, during a conversation about addiction, questioned why chemical dependencies didn’t have the same potential to self-extinguish under therapeutic methods like other mental and emotional disorders.

Nevertheless, this book will explain in layman’s terms those neurological and emotional processes which affect all individuals who are struggling with any type of substance use disorder (SUD). Because the major discovery made by the gentleman in question is that the primary biological causes of substance use disorders affect all individuals in the exact same way (Wemm & Sinha, 2019). The very same sections of the brain are implicated which predict the same symptomology. So, if the medical community proceeds with experimentation and protocols from that perspective, then the ability to generate a cure for addiction evolves from being only possible to probable.

And the individual in question stated it this way: “I began drinking beer in the morning for breakfast my first year out of high school, when I was 19 years old. I also smoked marijuana daily. Years later, I begin to snort cocaine on an intermittent basis, and eventually developed a severe addiction to crack cocaine. However, after many years of death-defying struggles, I experienced the exact same phenomenon that Dr. Carl Jung observed, yet was unable to replicate. And I never used cocaine again.

Now, after having been cured of addiction, many times over the years, I have engaged in social drinking. And at other times, I have made the decision to discontinue social drinking for reasons which include economic considerations. The fact is, that I became very well served when I acknowledged the sheer danger related to any chemical use, in any amount.

I have frequently embraced complete abstinence from all chemical use for periods of 6 to 18 months without any recovery program participation. What I did do however, was focus on my relationship with environmental stressors and take therapeutic actions which reduced their effect.

Yet, whenever I have told my story to those who are involved with current chemical dependency treatment programs, I am confronted with doubters and skeptics who insist that I either did not experience cure, or was never addicted in the first place. Some even proposed that because I did not achieve a cured state while participating in a 12-Step program, that I am still sure to relapse; even after almost 20 years of excellent mental and emotional health. Others attribute my success to something unique, as if cure is exclusive to my experience but can’t happen to anyone else. All of those criticisms are inaccurate.

The medical and scientific communities accepted long ago that other mental/emotional disorders are outgrowths of diseased or otherwise affected regions of the brain. And I am convinced that the same areas of the brain which shackled me to addiction, if treated therapeutically, will release any other individual who sufferers with that condemnation.

Furthermore, my experience has also convinced me that I could have been saved many years of suffering if the treatment industry had explained to the public that people become addicts against their will! Addiction is not a moral issue. Yet, because addiction processes are so misunderstood by the general public, many who struggle with chemical dependency experience the “Helplessness State of Depression.” They become discouraged and quit seeking a permanent solution for addiction after repeated failed attempts through recovery program participation. I am very fortunate to have escaped that outcome.”

Speaking of the “Helplessness State of Depression,” research study results indicate that repeated subjection to an unavoidable negative stimulus can lead to a stage of depression where one fails to avoid the stimulus even when a path to avoidance is given. Those findings caused researchers to conclude that learned helplessness might be a component of human depression and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (Maier, S. F., 2001). So, it should not be surprising that some individuals will lose the intestinal fortitude necessary for recovery after multiple failed attempts to reach their goal.

That being said, this book will offer any reader, or treatment professional, a pointed introspective which reveals the biological brain processes supporting substance use disorders. Therefore, it is meant to be a complete, concise, and direct approach to curing addiction. Consequently, anyone with a basic understanding of counseling and psychotherapy who is willing to diligently study the contents of this book, will be able to develop a series of therapeutic methods which will permanently disengage addictive processes.