This chemical is called orexin, which is involved in the pleasure experienced after taking alcohol or drugs. Experiments with rats showed that they stopped drinking freely available alcohol when a drug stopped orexin's euphoric effects. Furthermore, rats taken off alcohol and then given the drug did not relapse when they were placed in an alcohol-associated environment. One of the researchers, Andrew Lawrence, surmised that a drug could be developed to block the orexin system in human beings to stop the craving for alcohol. It could also prevent relapse among recovering alcoholics (Chemistry and Industry).
In an addiction forum in Park City, a reformed drunk, Jack Trimpey, criticized alcohol recovery programs as ineffective (Thalman, 2003). He explained that most of these programs are premised on the belief that alcoholics or addicts are powerless against that urge to drink or get high. Yet, according to him, addicts do not need to run through the reasons on how their addiction developed. They do not need special supplements or new menus or the religiosity of Alcoholics Anonymous. He stressed that recovery is not a process but a specific event. It may or may not be a disease. People drink or abuse because they love the drink or substance. But when they get fed up with it, they simply stop and quit. Trimpey is nationally renowned addiction buster. He conducted his own research. It revealed that more than half of those who managed to quit any addiction did it on their own. He believes that undergoing recovery programs will only keep the addict from one drink to another. These programs, he said, deny free will. A human being is a free moral agent with the right and ability to choose right from wrong. He is an evolved being with the ability to overcome the "inner beast." The programs only suppress the addiction but not overcome it. The result is a cult-like behavior (Thalman).
Instead of yielding to the lure of fanatic recovery programs, Trimpey urged affected persons to use moral courage to assess their condition and its impact on other lives around them (Thamlan, 2003). He stresses this in his book, "Rational Recovery: the New Cure for Substance Addiction." Traditional attitudes and treatment methods only give them "gut-grinding" but a false...
This is that they would not be all right if they simply stop. Their self-indulgence is, in fact, the root of the addiction and all the pain in their lives, stresses Trimpey. His approach does not use faith as basis but tries to lead the stricken to a change within. They need to recognize and then ignore that inner and addictive voice, which pushes them towards alcohol. At the same time, they should realize in a flash that they have also beaten that inner addictive voice. It does not really take much time or effort to end the battle. The approach should not be one day at a time, as recovery programs advocate. If this is the pacing, the addict will never get through, according to Trimpey (Thalman).
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Thalman, J. (2003). Just quit. Deseret News: Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved on January 31, 2009 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20031024/ai_n11425694?tag=content;col1
