Beyond Addiction by William C. Moyers

Improving our understanding of alcohol and drug addiction

An 'Insider's' Appeal

Now it's your turn.

Usually, in this space I offer solicited guidance to readers who are struggling with problems related to alcohol or other drugs. Sometimes I just pontificate on what is relevant to my own experiences in sobriety, whether you ask for it or not.

Today I'm the one asking for your help.

I am writing a book. It is an "insider's" guide to addiction and recovery. I'm an "insider" not by design or inspiration. Like most people, I went to school and strove to pursue a career that delivered professional success, offered a decent paycheck and made an incremental difference in some corner of our vast world. "When I grow up, I'm going to drink heavily and take a lot of drugs so I can be an addict" was not an aspiration that ever crossed my ambitious mind.

Of course, that's what I became. Fortunately, my story didn't end there. I got a real education in treatment a few times and, for the past 17 years, have gained decent traction in sobriety, often despite my shortcomings. So I've sort of stumbled into the "insider's" club by default, plus I've gotten plenty of unique opportunity for on-the-job training where I work. There are a lot of people like me and families like mine who need help. And I learn by helping them, too.

Thus, the genesis for this "insider's" guide. Here is a rough sketch of some of the chapters:

• "The Science and Spirituality of Addiction." Why is it that about 1 in 10 of us are born and grow up at a much higher risk to develop a dependence on certain substances?
• "The Addict in Me, the Addict in You." The addict isn't the only one who suffers from this illness. It infects families, too, with consequences that compromise the entire fabric of family dynamics.
• "Where's the Bottom?" It is folly and dangerous to expect that the addict must first "hit bottom" before he is ready or willing to accept help. There is only one bottom with addiction, and nobody ever should reach it.
• "Treatment." If addiction is really an incurable illness, then what the heck is the point of treatment? And what is treatment anyway?
• "Now Sober but Still Recovering." It is easy to stop getting high. The challenge is to stay stopped. What happens once the issue is no longer the actual substance, but the rest of life?
• "Stigma." Private shame and public intolerance keep people from asking for help or getting the help they deserve, because addiction often is not viewed as the illness it is. Where does this come from, and how can it be eliminated?
• "Relapse." Many addicted people "slip" into taking a drink or drug again, sometimes decades after their last use. But relapse isn't necessarily the end of recovery. It can serve as an invaluable milepost in the ongoing process of getting well and staying that way.
• "The Next Generation." Unlike Bill Clinton, most of us inhaled and did all those other things that got us drunk or high. Now here come our kids and our grandkids. We have a unique opportunity and responsibility to tell them the truth, or we risk allowing them to learn it elsewhere.

I think the book will be pretty good, once I get it written. My deadline is tight.

What do you know? My hunch is plenty. You wouldn't read this column if your interests and experiences didn't run the gamut of these chapters. Feel free to pitch in. Send me an email with your insights, whether you be an addict, the family of one, a professional in the field or a spiritual wanderer. Jump in, too, if you disagree with the basic tenets of addiction as a disease and recovery as a lifelong process that requires complete abstinence. I can't promise that you will make the cut and end up in the book. But no doubt, your opining will make it into my "insider's" head. And what I've discovered for a long time now is that the best of what's bouncing around in there usually comes from others.

January 7, 2012