Archive for the ‘Learned Behavior’ tag
Problem Drinker, Heavy Drinker, Alcoholic
As we all know alcoholism is a progressive disease and no one starts out as a hard core alcoholic nor does everyone progress to that stage of the disease. I know many heavy drinkers that by most medical guidelines would be classified as alcoholics but they don't seem to fit the mold. They can, for example go to a party or family gathering and drink a lot, get very drunk but at the end of the day they can turn it off. They never miss a days work, lose jobs or families and their lives aren't really affected in any noticable manner. Many are able to live out their lives without negative consequences.
I know many people and family members who fit into this catagory and in a way I have always been a little jealous and wondered why they could pull it off and i could not. It almost seems like they have an "off switch" and I do not. Certain recovery programs espouse the idea that it's all learned behavior and the alcoholic can be retrained to drink normally. I have tried many times over the years to drink normally but could never get my "off switch" to work, once I started all bets were off.
I guess the reason I'm even posting this is that I still wonder if it really is a learned behavior or is it a bio-chemical brain chemistry thing that seperates the alcoholic from the heavy drinker. If it truely were a brain chemistry issue then you have to wonder if a drug will ever be invented to address the problem. Any thoughts.
I know many people and family members who fit into this catagory and in a way I have always been a little jealous and wondered why they could pull it off and i could not. It almost seems like they have an "off switch" and I do not. Certain recovery programs espouse the idea that it's all learned behavior and the alcoholic can be retrained to drink normally. I have tried many times over the years to drink normally but could never get my "off switch" to work, once I started all bets were off.
I guess the reason I'm even posting this is that I still wonder if it really is a learned behavior or is it a bio-chemical brain chemistry thing that seperates the alcoholic from the heavy drinker. If it truely were a brain chemistry issue then you have to wonder if a drug will ever be invented to address the problem. Any thoughts.
Cbt
A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach: Treating Cocaine Addiction.
www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/CBT.pdf
* CBT is on self-control strategies, that is, what patients
can do to recognize the processes and habits that underlie and maintain
substance use and what can be done to change them.
* In CBT, substance abuse is a learned
behavior that can be modified.
www.drugabuse.gov/pdf/CBT.pdf
* CBT is on self-control strategies, that is, what patients
can do to recognize the processes and habits that underlie and maintain
substance use and what can be done to change them.
* In CBT, substance abuse is a learned
behavior that can be modified.
