Mac and cheese kid arrested in Florida

[bballgrda]

The crux of the article I keep referring to is that the Europeans now treat alcoholism by having heavy drinkers take a pill before they start drinking. The pill overrides the neural pathways that get "pleasure" (sense of normalcy) from alcohol. Within a couple of days the person no longer has the desire to drink. Whether or not there is relapse the harm reduction is almost immediate and at a very low relative cost. But it's implementation has been objected.

I see alcoholism as the "hijacking" of neural pathways. I think it is a mental illness much like depression. The brain has the capability to be "normal" but is stuck in a loop. I don't believe it is a progressive disease. And I don't believe that people should be told they have to bottom out and that they can never touch a drop or they will end up on a bender. That is codifying and self predictive.

So yes, introspection, making amends and serving others are great and I wish everyone would do those things across the board. But we don't lean on people who just got over a bout of depression to apologize to others.

I referenced this pill in the addiction thread on the cesspool. Radiolab had multiple guests on for a show, one of which had short term success, long term failure with the pill. They speculate as to what the cause of this may be. Full disclosure, I am not sure what the overall statistics on the lasting success of the pill is. The concepts it presented are still fascinating regardless.

Spoiler: Addiction Post

Reminds me of a Radiolab episode, “The Fix.” I recommend listening to it if you find yourself w/ 30min in a car or something (can listen to it at 1.25x speed comfortably). Many of the topics brought up in this thread are touched upon. It starts off by introducing Baclofen, a muscle relaxant, and its efficacy at treating addiction, “flipping a switch.” They look at alternative programs to AA, using “evidence based treatment” to decide what drugs should be administered to the patient.

They interview a patient of one of the programs. He talks about how the alternative programs were effective in removing “the urge to drink, but not completely the urge to be intoxicated, to ‘feel like himself.’” Really brings up some fascinating questions regarding the ego and self-identity. Highlights the importance of filling the void left from one’s addiction. They bring him back (after yet another relapse) and he talks about going back to a 12 step AA program in addition to using meds and attending an EBT program, citing the positive feeling of being w/ others in the same boat.

The episode concludes w/ an interview of an NIH researcher. She claims that some drugs light up the same circuits in your brain that are involved when one feels “connected.” Makes me wonder about the future, are we as a society becoming more isolated or more connected?

For those who have never been addicted it can be difficult to empathize with an addict, they are involved in blatantly self destructive behavior that makes no logical sense and is all sorts of whacked from a cost/benefit view.