Addictions: A Diaogue

[@doncarveth]

Thank you and sharing your experience

[@carolmorgan450]

I referenced a Don Carveth research in my capstone a few years back. Good to hear some dialogue.

[@rajatchandra3209]

You were in research & strategy dept of Capstone?! Nice to hear!

[@kittenchxb8206]

what a wonderful conversation; being able to cross frameworks

[@SarahAshelford-o1u]

I’m pleased this topic is extending into this discussion. Many thanks for sharing your work.

[@83catpyjamas]

Apart from the very insightfull and interesting conversation on addiction through the lens of psychoanalysis and its surrounding perspectives . It might even be a more delightfully insightfull conversation between a son and a father with all its glorious dynamics. Thanks for sharing this 🙏

[@panteasafaee3659]

That was great. Thank u so much❤

[@CarterSams]

Really enjoyed observing this conversation. Thank you.

[@mehrnazification]

Thank you both; it was great.

[@zzendawgie]

This could be a much appreciated series talk with your son on addictions!

[@bradleyriddell4745]

Really great discussion loaded with depth in references to many other avenues which in themselves are replete with a wisdom only a deep motivation to understand could furnish & grow, thank you both for your generous sharing of your combined work in mining the depths of this controversial subject area. I was interested to hear you say, Don, that society looks down on the excessive drinker because society also reifies the suffering complicated person so this can actually lead to a form of elevation of the act of seeking relief that many intuitively understand & unconsciously empathise with thus elevating the drinker as a tragic hero…..

[@CarterSams]

Hey Dr. Carveth. Thanks for the educational convo. Really glad to see several videos pop up from you lately. I’ve told you before but it takes me back to college 😍 and marinating in the learning process with fellow intellectuals. Is there anything better? 😜

[@latedinn]

don ur the man

[@stoneneils]

Addiction for me is an escape...ahh,exactly as Don just said. The strangest thing that happened to me in therapy was the day I rememered my mother tried to adopt us out at 3-4 years old...I never did meth again!! I was an addict for years until that came back to mind. I could not believe I felt no compulsion to use...let alone so intstantly. Its been 2-3 years so I'm not just talking out of my rear.

[@ukasznowicki3382]

Great discussion!

[@rayofthemoon]

Environment should be also considering. Been accepted and embraced by peers when identity isn’t full form yet. Loneliness……

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

I think the first point of different character types could illuminate a lot, an oral person would be into smoking, eating, and pleasurable substances. While an anal person could have an eating disorder, exercise habit or be into hoarding (stuff or wealth). And i would consider all of these in the realm of addiction. And i think if a theory can't include non-substance addictions, then it can't fully explain addiction. I tend to like the Fariba's view that only when there is a failure in the primary relationship, do we enter the ""pleasure principle" territory. As what is the most efficient stress reliever? A good safe relationship. The baseline of addiction is the substitution of these relationships, and the need to find other ways to manage the internal landscape. But you could maybe simplify it even further to the level of stress management. Cigarettes, eating and exercise both alleviate stress, so does an eating disorder.

[@Think54]

Absolutely loved your short video and this is even better - thank you. I love seeing you and your son talk together - do you ever come to the UK?

[@doncarveth]

Thank you. We’d love to come if some institute would invite us and pay our way!

[@matureyoungman]

Good job Don

[@mehrnazification]

Both on his work in psychoanalysis and raising his son :)

[@oysteinnodtvedt]

I enjoyed this discussion. Could addiction also sometimes serve as secondary gain by signalling to the environment and one's genetic figures a sense of wretchedness, shame, thus serving as a passive aggression? Especially if the person becomes a drug addict, lives on the street, reckless behavior etc..

[@doncarveth]

Yes, some people make a mess of their lives as an indictment of their parents, and they will not get well because to do so would seem to them to let the parents off the hook.

[@SarahAshelford-o1u]

Is it the case that addiction ‘hits ‘the body directly without the mediation of language ? This makes it harder for a psychoanalytic approach ? ( I watched a Lacanian seminar on this)

[@nickcarveth]

I think it's not without a semiotic component even in the body feelings themselves. A drug can be a signifier. Think about the penetrating quality of injection or the oral qualities of smoking and drinking etc. Often I think, Freud's psychosexual stages of development can be observed in patterns and methods of use.

[@SarahAshelford-o1u]

@@nickcarveth thank you for replying and so thoughtfully

[@Devin-s3v]

Can someone clarify? Is the defense he is talking about a defense against the self and how the self feels? This seems like it is following the idea of IFS and keeping unwanted parts exiled.

[@doncarveth]

@@Devin-s3v yes, but IFS simply cobbles together, various older psychoanalytic ideas and presents them as if they were new

[@Devin-s3v]

@@doncarveth do you discuss in one of you videos?

[@Devin-s3v]

@@doncarveth also do you have more information on how psychoanalysis/psychodynamic theory applies to addiction?

[@sojournertruth9332]

Long-term use impacts the body - the brain, liver, heart so why discount the medical model which addresses disease; not to mention the disease to the soul.

[@doncarveth]

@@sojournertruth9332 medicine colonizes the body, the mind, the soul What isn’t medical?

[@janeboltezar1458]

What's a diaogue?

[@doncarveth]

@@janeboltezar1458 a conversation

[@richardprice9730]

Addiction ? Addiction is part of the human condition my Mother became an alcohol addict and secret drinker, the Internet is a less obvious example for this one which is currently causing me real problems, a need for stimulus, TV babysitter memories of my absent mother , it seems avoidance of really unpleasant emotion sin the internet the need to watch you tube or spend endless hours on e bay bidding etc , so yes to be with my really unpleasant and unsettling emotions?I have prayed in angst about it but still cant really stop it which is quite worrying , the who to is key even if I call it a sin . Maybe it is part of my be perfect driver beat myself up and and end up a victim wanting love for this maladaptive strategy , they can gain a hold on one and become very dangerous , internet addiction is as dangerous as any other , will watch later cant afford a therapist or to continue to train so this doesn't help , it is part of human nature isn't it addiction a need to repeat and get a repetitive fix, psychic retreat ? Umm..Paranoid schizoid you mean a projection rather than a feeling of the anxiety ? It destroys our real ability to reflect to be adaptive to make progress so very damaging.

[@doncarveth]

Yes. If therapy is unavailable, seek away to find God who is.

[@melissaandchris]

I consider myself a serious student of the psychodynamic approach in psychiatry, but am disappointed to hear Don say he rejects the medical disease model. I work with severe addicts and I agree that vulnerability to addiction involves early childhood trauma exposure, but it is not possible to work on repair when someone is actively addicted to Heroin, in my experience. Also this understanding doesn't seem to acknowledge the effect of using substances over time on the brain. Otherwise I really appreciate the videos from Don over the years, but I don't think you understand this problem as well.

[@doncarveth]

You might be right. My son agrees with you, I think!

[@Willowtree53]

A little confusing for me to follow, Don.