Read moreThe study, conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, shows that chronic exposure to alcohol seems to move behaviour control to the dorsal striatum — the brain region associated with habit formation — and away from the prefrontal cortex — the brain region associated with complex decision-making.
The short version: He’s pretty much right on – but he is definitely going to offend a lot of zealots.
I’ve seen his stuff before (though I’ve actually read a lot more out of his rather besieged ex-sex-addict blogging partner, Hugo Schwyzer.) This guy knows what he is talking about – they both do – and he is refreshingly pragmatic and shame/judgment-free.
Read moreRead moreTwenty years after onset of alcohol dependence, three-quarters of alcoholics are in full recovery. . . .more than half of those who have fully recovered drink at low-risk levels without symptoms of alcohol dependence. . . .only 13 percent of people with alcohol dependence receive specialty alcohol treatment (AA, rehab).
Read moreHis work consists of asking patients a series of questions about their symptoms to see whether they match up with any of the disorders in the DSM. This matching exercise, he writes, provides “the illusion that we understand our patients when all we are doing is assigning them labels.”