Addicted Babies

With the rise in opiate abuse, this should not surprise anyone.

 

Cases of newborns with addictions soaring

 

Again, those calling for legalization cannot prove that this phenomenon will not continue to increase once the supply is decriminalized and people feel freer to experiment and even get hooked.

 

What happens to these children is debated: some say no harm, others say lots of harm, others still acknowledge the harm by try to pass it off as a matter of an overall unhealthy social environment.  What we do know is that being born addicted means that you will likely have a terrible life... because you have terrible parents.

 

This is the one question we almost never ask people these days: what kind of a parent will you make?  We are so used to addressing a person's character in terms of his own happiness or ability to care for himself, but what about his ability to conduct that basic function of raising kids?

 

We ought to ask this question more often, because babies happen... and then what?  Is everyone else supposed to raise your child for you so that you can run around and have more fun?

 

Instead, we fall for the hippie shtick about personal freedom and 'you-are-not-the-boss-of-me.'  Get this: I will be your boss if you come to me and ask me to fix your problems.  You can't get stitches from the doctor unless you hold still, and so you can't expect help if you are not going to cooperate with the helping.

Aftermath of My Porn Addiction Presentation

Readers here may remember me mentioning that I was putting on a presentation of pornography addiction in my parish last Saturday.  Had a fairly good turn-out (half the people who RSVP'd didn't bother showing up, but were made up for by people who didn't RSVP but came anyhow).  So, the food didn't go to waste.

 

I'm not all that thrilled with how it came off.  Perhaps it is because I was so nervous.  There was also the fact that by the time I got through describing the problem, there wasn't much time to discuss the treatment side.  So, I will have to do a Part II.

 

But, most folks in the audience seemed satisfied.  Well, at least to my face.  Perhaps it was pity.  I was sore from standing all the way from 7:30am (we had the Soul Saturday services first) to 6pm when Great Vespers ended.  My back and my feet were telling me it was too much for them.

 

I will work on the videos, and hopefully can get them up in a month or so.

 

Please pray for me.  My computer is still randomly crashing, and I can only imagine what it will do once I start editing MP4s with it.

 

The News Just Keeps Getting Worse

One of the most tragic stories I have read in a while:

 

Pornography Websites 'Accessed by 44,000 Primary School Children'

 

Yes, it appears to not be one of those headlines that oversells the reality-

 

Some 200,000 aged under 16 -- one in 16 who went online -- also accessed an adult website in the same month, while one in five teenage boys under 18 were clicking on porn, the online video regulator said.

 

One adult site, Pornhub, which allows users unrestricted access to thousands of hardcore porn videos free of charge attracted 112,000 of the teenagers.

 

And, that's in an island (Great Britain) of 60 million people.  You can imagine the numbers for the US for over 300 million.  These early exposures are what leads to 'hijacking.'  I would be surprised if all but a small percentage of the older children are purposefully accessing porn.  There are a lot of hidden links these days.

 

I have stopped posting comments here with hot links because so many of them end up being (or becoming at a later point), porn links.  In fact, I don't even check them, because I am tired of getting 'surprised.'  My software blocks some, but not all.  I don't need any of it.

 

These children are being harmed.  Some will get hooked, but a vast majority will not.  However, this does not mean they are not influenced by it.

 

How many kids who 'occasionally' peaked into porn will continue to compare their own sexual experiences to the videos they saw in childhood?  How many women will wonder about their bodies or their 'performance,' because of watching some of this junk?  How many men will also wonder about themselves and their wives?

 

Couples used to have the freedom to explore and enjoy their sex without the worries and concerns that porn adds to the mind.  Just like Adam and Eve, you can't un-ring the bell of knowledge.  Once it is gained, it is retained.  Experiences follow us for the rest of our lives.

 

With modern medicine and technology, we sometimes think we can fix anything.  Sometimes we can't.  The best we can hope for is a way to cope.

 

These images are not something anyone should want to, or have to, cope with.

 

Addiction and 'Hijacking'

There are some people who become addicts because they purposefully use a substance or a behavior to 'feel better.'  Then there are those who find themselves addicted or 'get hooked' through no real 'need.'

 

There are a growing number of people whose brains are being 'hijacked.'  It is not the old fashioned 'addiction' or even 'dependency.'  It really is even a stretch to call it 'abuse' (even though it certainly is as far as outward appearances).

 

Brain hijacking comes in many forms, from food designed to induce us to eat more of it to High-definition streaming porn ads that pop up and immediately set the mind ablaze.  It is more than the dealer offering a 'free sample.'  It is a methodological approach to getting people hooked through camouflage and subterfuge.

 

An interesting read on the topic is The Fix.  While I don't agree with everything he says, much of it I do.

 

We live in an age where science is now coaching the corporate-government complex on how to hijack our minds and get us to go along with thoughts and plans we would much rather not do.  We are no longer able to entirely exercise our free-wills, because we are laden with bad information which is then enforced by the hijacking of our natural functions.

 

This is a real challenge to a recovery model that is designed for those who choose to abuse substances and behaviors for set reasons.  Sometimes, I think we have people chasing ghosts in their memories that really are not there.  Treatment may mean an entirely different approach for those who are hijacked versus those who are addicted.

 

I think it also explains why some people shake off even severe 'addictions.'  If the hijacker can be dislodged, the problem will go away.  I'm not saying that I think spirituality is optional, because I do believe that true spirituality makes everyone better, addicted or not.  What I am saying is that there can be times where what seems like an addiction case is really something else.

 

I call this a brain hijacking.  Perhaps I am wrong, but I am seeing more and more cases of people with compulsions that simply don't match up with more traditional addiction narrative.

 

Of course, this hijacking can eventually lead to real addiction as the hijacked person acts out and starts creating his own reasons to use.  But, they did not start out that way.

 

 

 

Prescription Drugs as the 'Gateway'

I grew up with an 'up-close-and-personal' life experience of this problem.  Not something that I write about, but I would have to say that it has influenced me in my approach here.

Drug Dealers Aren't to Blame for the Heroin Boom. Doctors Are.

Over the past year, I've spent more and more time trying to understand the human brain and its effect on perception and spirituality.  Addiction is a large component of this, since it is interwoven with so many systems within the brain.

There really are two forms of addiction: one is dopamine-related, and the other is endorphin/opiate-related.  Alcohol and cocaine play off the former, while marijuana and heroin work on the latter.

My sense is that the opiates are the more difficult addictions to break because they trigger that sense of satisfaction and contentment that people so desperately need these days.  Too much dopamine and you end up with OCD and chronic anxiety.  I'm looking for a down side to too much endorphin other than not wanting to get out of bed ever again.

Satisfaction is hard to 'overcome.'  People who live tidy and well-insulated lives, away from the turmoil of the world, are hard to convince that they need to repent and change.

The draw of opioids in today's culture is largely about how little satisfaction we have with what he have and how most of us now engage in work that has no real season or cycle.  We live in the era of the perpetual, where nothing stops because there are no seasons and no lasting accomplishments.

We are endorphin-starved... up until the doctor gives us the script.

In America, things are relatively stable for the time being, but we could very well end up like Manchuria in the 19th century with an opium epidemic, just as I believe we are entering into a period similar to 'Gin Craze' of 18th century England.  People are hungry for marijuana, and are quite willing to admit that they only want it to get high.

Something is missing from our modern life.

Heroin in the US

Sorry that posting has been a bit sporadic lately, but with Lent and the passing of our Metropolitan, it has been a busy time.

I've also been spending a lot of time reading about sexuality and brain research, which has left me with even more questions than answers.  The upcoming presentation on the 29th may be more controversial than I expected, because what I am theorizing is something that I have not heard as a popular description of sexual disorders and sexuality in general.

So, what I am really hoping for is that those who attend are willing to argue and question what I am going to say.  I need the 'push back.'  It helps get to the truth, or at least something resembling it.

In the meantime, here's a fascinating, albeit brief, take on the heroin situation in the US.  Hint: it is not getting any better.

Cool Web Resource on the Brain

In my research into pornography addiction, I came across a really interesting site that describes the various areas and functions of the human brain-

 

mybrainnotes.com

 

It is a bit complex at times, but helpful nonetheless.