see attached

Here's an interesting thing. Compare the titles of these two books. Addiction as an Attachment Disorder The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path Although both use the words attachment and addiction, only addiction has the same semantics. Attachment is used by each in an entirely different, even opposite sense. In the first -- Addiction as an Attachment Disorder -- attachment refers to the "Attachment Theory" developed by John Bowlby, and now so widely accepted as to hardly be considered a theory anymore. In this case, attachment is a good thing -- "secure attachment" being a prerequisite for healthy child development and later-life psychological stability. In the second case -- The Thirst for Wholeness: Attachment, Addiction, and the Spiritual Path -- attachment is used in the Buddhist sense: as an obstacle to spiritual development. The author, Christina Grof, is the wife of Stanislav Grof, famed pioneer of using LSD with terminal patients -- and source of a whole load of crap about "shamanism," "kundalini" yoga, and "spiritual emergency," (the latter basically the result of fucking about with your "chakras"). This second sense of "attachment" is typical of usage in the field of "transpersonal psychology" -- a more polite way of saying whacked out weirdos who used to call themselves New Age until it got too embarrassing. "Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield and Stan [Grof] in the Big House at Esalen" from The Association for Transpersonal Psychology site Somewhere back in there, since 2002 or so, I realized that this difference in semantics is why I quit drinking 22 years ago -- and quit Buddhism at the same time. Took me a long time to understand that. Note in what follows that the "thirst for wholeness" that leads people to do alcohol and drugs, is the same impulse that draws them to "spiritual" trips of all kinds. This is the reverse of what Christina Grof is suggesting. If you qualify on either front, heads up. Word to the wise -- and otherwise. Note also, and well -- although it doesn't say so in the following clips -- that the attachment problems referred to are generally the result of experience in the first three years of a child's life -- long before either kind of "spirit" is even a remote fantasy. Addiction as an Attachment Disorder by Philip J. Flores, Ph.D. From the Foreword: Addiction is a disorder in self-regulation. Individuals who become dependent on addictive substances cannot regulate their emotions, self-care, self-esteem, and relationships. In this monumental and illuminating text Philip Flores covers all the reasons why this is so. But it is the domain of interpersonal relations that he makes clear why individuals susceptible to substance use disorders (SUDs) are especially vulnerable. His emphasis on addiction as an attachment disorder is principally important because he provides extensive scholarly and clinical insights as to why certain vulnerable individuals so desperately need to substitute chemical solutions and connections for human ones. her eyes were clear and bright / but she's not there Here's a similar book from the same publisher. Creating the Capacity for Attachment: Treating Addictions and the Alienated Self by Karen B. Walant Detached, alienated people, many of them functioning with a pathologically developed false self, barely navigate life's challenges. Our cultural emphasis on autonomy and separateness has led to a retreat from valuing interpersonal, communal dependence and has greatly contributed to a rise in the number of people whose suffering is often expressed in addictions and personality disorders. Using actual patient material including diaries and letters, Karen Walant's Creating the Capacity for Attachment shows how "immersive moments" in therapy -- moments of complete understanding between patient and therapist -- are powerful enough to dislodge the alienated, detached self from its hiding place and enable the individual to begin incorporating his or her inner core into his or her external, social self. May all beings be securely attached.

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