I don’t like to give links on my blog, but this TED talk was posted today on Facebook and I thought it was phenomenal. I felt a need to add a comment, but I don’t want to diminish the truth and importance of the piece:
My comment:
There is soooo much good and right about this. It is why support groups can help…providing the connections we all yearn for, loving unconditionally. I also like what he said about an addict’s inability to live life as it is. There is only one thing i would add. It is true that most people who take drugs for pain after trauma do not end up addicted. But there are some and not all of these are due to lack of connection. I believe that for some people, there is a chemical reaction to a drug that leads to “the phenomenon of craving”. I think comparing it to an alergy is appropriate because one person can take in a food that would send another one to the hospital. Having said that, this video says so much…the addict needs love. Shaming and punishing addicts does not work.