Rand's Statements About Addiction

[determinist]

I have a friend who has a drug addiction problem. I want to help him and I'm afraid Narcotics Anonymous has some faulty premises that may make its value questionable. Are there any free excerpts online about addiction, by Ayn Rand? I remember her briefly mentioning addiction as escaping reality.

[CapitalistSwine]

Before any proper advice can be given two important questions need to be asked: Which drug is this? and at what level is his addiction?

Edited September 12, 2010 by CapitalistSwine

[Greebo]

Drug use is usually an attempt to escape from reality. Addiction, however, can be a consequence of the use of substances even when those substances are not mind altering.

For instance - the addiction to nicotine is, and I speak from personal experience here, no pleasant thing to overcome. The cravings one feels are overwhelming if one lacks practice in maintaining self control.

[JayR]

Narcotics anon. is not going to help unless your friend really wants to stop. From my experience, theres nothing that anyone can say or do to stop him unless he's finally had enough, and honestly wants help. Depending on the drug, even at that point the outlook is grim. It really sucks, but the best thing you can do is give him support without enabling him, and let him know that your gonna be there when hes ready to reach out. (if he hasnt already) Let him know that stopping this as early as possible is going to make it exponetially easier for him, the longer it goes on, the harder it is to stop.

j..

[Greebo]

What are the specific premises NA has that you think may be faulty?

Edited September 13, 2010 by Greebo

[JASKN]

What are the specific premises NA has that you think may be faulty?

I think Jay wasn't criticizing NA, but saying that there is no point in going unless an addict wants to go. I agree with this, and everything else Jay wrote. determinist, you are getting just slightly ahead of yourself by considering NA first.

As CapSwine noted, it depends on the drug. Heroin, crack, and meth carve huge changes in a person, while pot "addiction" is comparatively easy to control. Hardcore addicts will probably use several drugs, whatever they can get.

Also, while Rand may help in the long run and indirectly, I do not think her philosophy is going to get your friend out of his addiction mess at the outset. He will need some very concrete things to keep in mind at every waking moment to overcome the blinding desire to use. Most addicts do not recover, and those that do have been at "rock bottom" for a very long time so that death seems probable, and that extreme realization acts as the motivator to change.

However great a friend, if the addiction is to something serious, my main advice is to keep a caring distance from him as he will likely try to use you for all you are worth in his quest to get more and more drugs. Addicts really are one of life's heartbreaking realities.

[ZSorenson]

Addiction is physiological. Solving it is more to do with brain and medical science and not philosophy. The right treatment totally depends on the drug in question.

Philosophy can tell you something about avoiding addictive substances or the benefit of being free of such, but that is all.

[determinist]

Before any proper advice can be given two important questions need to be asked: Which drug is this? and at what level is his addiction?

It's as bad as it gets: heroin injection. He is currently prescribed to a drug that reduces cravings and can be taken orally without the same sort of tolerance problems as heroin. It is called Buprenorphine. He said he's willing to attend NA meetings, try meditating, and read about ideas other than NA (e.g. Ayn Rand's mentions).

What are the specific premises NA has that you think may be faulty?

Looking to a higher power to solve problems, when no higher power exists in objective reality that can save someone from an addiction, makes me skeptical. I once read articles talking about the founders of NA and AA claiming their intentions were to evangelize. I wish I could find the article. It was linked somewhere on Dawkins's website.

Edited September 16, 2010 by determinist

[Greebo]

Looking to a higher power to solve problems, when no higher power exists in objective reality that can save someone from an addiction, makes me skeptical. I once read articles talking about the founders of NA and AA claiming their intentions were to evangelize. I wish I could find the article. It was linked somewhere on Dawkins's website.

That's the main issue with most -anonymous programs, I agree.

However, that they are based in part on "higher power" solutions doesn't mean one cannot get benefit from them if one chooses to be rational about the arbitrary.

I personally look at the "higher power" as the power of reason. The power of my own mind, when fully alert and determinedly rational, to overcome the cravings of my body. I've never been a Heroin addict, but I have overcome lesser addiction (smoking) and it was mental focus that allowed me to do so.

In that light, the power of the focused mind most certainly is a "higher power" than the irrational mind enslaved to whim and craving.

[JayR]

It's as bad as it gets: heroin injection. He is currently prescribed to a drug that reduces cravings and can be taken orally without the same sort of tolerance problems as heroin. It is called Buprenorphine. He said he's willing to attend NA meetings, try meditating, and read about ideas other than NA (e.g. Ayn Rand's mentions).

The fact that hes on burenorphine (suboxone) is a good start, many people go the methadone route, which I would advise to avoid at all cost. The withdrawl from methadone in many cases is worse than heroin, not to mention the fact that with methadone the cravings arent reduced, so people go get theyre cheap high at the clinic in the morning and spend the rest of the day shooting up as usual. The suboxone is easier to come off, and contains an opioid blocker so even if he tries to get high, as long as he takes his pill under his tongue, he wont feel a thing. It only takes a few tries untill he realizes its a complete waste of money. The only catch is, and this is important you have to make sure he actually takes that pill.

What people dont tend to realize is withdrawal from heroin is a nightmare, its not just "oh I want to get high really bad" its mentally and especially physically HELL. So when you see your friend do awfull things is his struggle, remember that its not him its the drug. That seems ridiculous from am Objectivist point of view with regard to people having freedom to make their own choices, and taking responsibility for their own actions, but, the fact is, cut him some slack, hes not him anymore, not untill hes removed that poison from his system.

j..

[BRG253]

In her essay, "Apollo and Dionysus," Rand describes drug addiction among hippies as follows:

Is there any doubt that drug addiction is an escape from an unbearable inner state, from a reality one cannot deal with, from an atrophying mind one can never fully destroy? If Apollonian reason were unnatural to man, and Dionysian "intuition" brought him closer to nature and truth, the apostles of irrationality would not have to resort to drugs. Happy, self-confident men do not seek to get "stoned."

Drug addiction is the attempt to obliterate one's consciousness, the quest for a deliberately induced insanity. As such, it is so obscene an evil that any doubt about the moral character of its practitioners is itself an obscenity.

In a passage from a different essay, Rand says that "drug addiction is nothing but a public confession of personal impotence." Her published comments all refer to addiction, and do not include any explicit reference to the idea of using illegal recreational drugs without abusing them or being an addict.

source - http://www.noblesoul...faq.html#Q5.2.4

Having a meth addict sibling who is the absolute worst person I've ever seen, I agree with Ayn Rand's statement on the subject, and have no sympathy whatsoever for people who destroy their minds with drugs. Meth addicts are like mad dogs who need to be put down.

Edited September 17, 2010 by JASKN
Added quote tags

[JASKN]

Having a meth addict sibling who is the absolute worst person I've ever seen, I agree with Ayn Rand's statement on the subject, and have no sympathy whatsoever for people who destroy their minds with drugs. Meth addicts are like mad dogs who need to be put down.

While I sympathize with having to regularly deal with an addict in one's life, these projected sentiments do not follow from your Rand quote. Her evaluations have "technical" accuracy, but she does not comment on the psychological difficulty of both sides concerning ongoing addiction. She may very well have had great sympathy for a heroin addict, and I also doubt she would have thought that any human need be "put down," as you have put it, for being addicted.

Addicts are sub-human in their behavior, but they are still humans who need to get over a terrible problem and get back to living their lives, however long that process may take.

[softwareNerd]

Her evaluations have "technical" accuracy, but she does not comment on the psychological difficulty of both sides concerning ongoing addiction.

Yes, philosophy is a vital important starting point for such problems, but for most people it is only a start.

For example, take a relatively trivial example: imagine a child who is afraid of spiders because he has been brought up to think that they can hurt him in some way. He may not even have been told this explicitly: he might have inferred it from someone else's reaction to spiders. To overcome his fear of spiders, one has to start by explaining that they are not dangerous. This is the factual explanation that would be analogous to understanding "spider-interaction philosophy". It might need to include a demonstration: e.g. "see I picked him up and nothing happens". It may even be purely non-verbal: e.g. he sees a sibling deal fearlessly with spiders. If the child has not yet automatized his fears very much, then wee bit of will-power with the next couple of spiders might fix his issue. However, if he has a deep-seated automatized fear, he may feel psychologically scared of them even after he knows that he has no reason to be so.

Analogously, on a more complex topic, someone has to start by thinking "these drugs are bad for me, and I need to get off them". That would be backed with some type of reasoning. That is as far as philosophy will go. One still has to go the next step and get over the psychological barriers: one has to de-automatize the old behavior and automatize new behavior. The actual reasons that made a person start using drugs and continue to use them are probably varied and probably run deep; so, even realizing that drugs are not a solution might not be convincing enough. If the addiction is strong, it is not easy to break out of the psychological issues.

[SapereAude]

Having a meth addict sibling who is the absolute worst person I've ever seen, I agree with Ayn Rand's statement on the subject, and have no sympathy whatsoever for people who destroy their minds with drugs. Meth addicts are like mad dogs who need to be put down.

While agreeing about meth addicts it isn't rational to paint with such a large brush.

People come to addiction in many ways, sometimes through trying to self medicate from PTSD (many combat vets) some become addicted to a drug prescribed to them by a doctor legitimately and so on. This doesn't excuse behaviors but one should always look at individuals as individuals.

[JayR]

Having a meth addict sibling who is the absolute worst person I've ever seen, I agree with Ayn Rand's statement on the subject, and have no sympathy whatsoever for people who destroy their minds with drugs. Meth addicts are like mad dogs who need to be put down.

Say what you will about your sibling, but statements like this really irk me. This blanket, silly statement about a whole group of people who youve never met is most likely the result of a naive, sheltered, probably young mind with collectivist tendencies. People who probably havent had the silver spoon removed from their mouths yet are in no position to make harsh judgements on the lives and bad choices of others whos hardships, setbacks, and struggles are beyond the scope of anything said people have seen in the movies which they probably use to form their opinions. Although evasion on a grand scale is usually required to get yourself into trouble with addiction, no one starts using drugs with becoming an addict as their end. I could end this by saying "evaders that drive with a suspended licence, get caught, and then try to rationalize a moral blank check for themselves as to shirk the resposibility to others when the punishment is handed down should be put down like dogs", but I wont.

j..

[BRG253]

While agreeing about meth addicts it isn't rational to paint with such a large brush.

People come to addiction in many ways, sometimes through trying to self medicate from PTSD (many combat vets) some become addicted to a drug prescribed to them by a doctor legitimately and so on. This doesn't excuse behaviors but one should always look at individuals as individuals.

Sorry, I have a tendency to hyperbolize. My anger toward my brother makes me want to go on a scathing rant every time I think about it. But this thread isn't about my brother, and I concede that not every drug addict in the world is necessarily as rotten as he is. I guess I should apply my comment to him specifically: I have no sympathy whatsoever for him and people like him. I certainly wouldn't view victims of PTSD or other medical problems the same way.

Edited September 18, 2010 by BRG253

[JASKN]

I could end this by saying "evaders that drive with a suspended licence, get caught, and then try to rationalize a moral blank check for themselves as to shirk the resposibility to others when the punishment is handed down should be put down like dogs", but I wont.

...because if you did, you would be committing that very same generalizing error you scolded him for committing. Please, if you disagree with a post, counter with an argument sans the lengthy psychologizing. You sure had a lot of "probablys" in there.

[Trebor]

I have a friend who has a drug addiction problem. I want to help him and I'm afraid Narcotics Anonymous has some faulty premises that may make its value questionable. Are there any free excerpts online about addiction, by Ayn Rand? I remember her briefly mentioning addiction as escaping reality.

For what it's worth, Brad Harrington writes some excellent letters to the editor and posts them on The Forum for Ayn Rand Fans. He himself used to use drugs, but has turned his life around, profoundly. In one of his posts (letters to the editor), he speaks to his own struggle:

Drug Addiction: The Torture Of An Atrophied Mind

And he has written as well on other drug related matters:

Drug Prohibition: High Time For A Repeal

The War On Drugs: A War On Liberty And Common Sense

Perhaps were you to contact him, he might have some helpful advice for you.

Best wishes.

Edited to add that Brad now has his own blog.

Edited to add:

Actually, Brad doesn't just write letters to the editor. From his blog's "About Me":

"I write a regular Sunday column on national/international issues for the Philadelphia Bulletin, and a regular Saturday column on local issues for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle here in Cheyenne. Those columns are the bulk of what you will find here. Other papers throughout the country run me on occasion as well, and I would like to soon tackle longer-length pieces and a few books."

Edited September 18, 2010 by Trebor

[Trebor]

determinist,

After my post mentioning Brad Harrington and suggesting that he might have some helpful advice with respect to your brother, I wrote to him, a little concerned about having suggested that someone contact him, to make sure that he was okay with what I'd done.

He replied (quoted with his permission):

"I don't have any problem helping someone out who's currently in the shoes I used to wear. Be happy to - in the name of individualism and humanity.

You might also pass along this link to Rational Recovery, a program completely free of the nonsense to be found in 12-step groups:

http://www.rationalrecovery.org"

Brad mentions Rational Recovery in his "Drug Addiction: The Torture Of An Atrophied Mind," which, if you haven't read, I highly recommend, given your dilemma.

RR was helpful to him.

As was his wife.

However, I don't think he's willing to part with her.

[zarthusthra]

Any opinions on addiction to a nootropic?

[DancingBear]

Any opinions on addiction to a nootropic?

Not that differ significantly from other addictions and not that can be applied without context.