Horace Lorenzo Anderson Sr. is the face of the humanity that binds us all. Mr. Anderson’s 19-year-old son was killed in Seattle’s CHOP zone last Saturday, June 27th. No one came to Mr. Anderson’s house to give him the tragic news. He learned about his son’s death from friends who were in the area when the event occurred. In a…
Time Ran Out In Wimberley, Texas
Time Ran Out In Wimberley, Texas. In our little town of Wimberley. Texas, this Memorial Day weekend, time ran out for hundreds of families that live and vacation along the lovely Blanco (pronounced Blank-o) River. Folks around here aren’t easily thrown by inclement conditions. We’re quite familiar with severe drought and with flash floods, to the extent that area meteorologists…
What Difference Does It Make How Addiction Is Defined?
It can be an effective technique for responding to tough questions, when the person being interviewed either doesn’t know, or doesn’t want to provide, the information requested. Simply dismiss the question and its relevance, by challenging the interviewer with, “What difference does it make?” While Hillary Clinton didn’t invent the tactic, she did make it famous, during a…
Making The Case
Making The Case Today, The Stand presents opening remarks in its argument that the addiction industry has misled the American public by claiming scientific certainty that addiction is a chronic brain disease, and by claiming that current treatment methods effectively manage the chronic disease. As will be shown, evidence fails to support either claim. Rather, in both cases, a preponderance…
With One Bold Act, The Industry Could Change Everything.
Tear Down The Barrier To The Truth About Addiction! In an imperfect addiction industry, there are many things in need of improvement. But there is one obstacle, that through the decades, has grown to underpin and surround the industry, forming a blockade that preserves unproven beliefs and practices while keeping out new insight, understanding and unimagined opportunity. Tearing that…
When Everybody Knows What No One Can Prove…
Brain Science. What, Like it’s hard? Part 3a The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, but the myth – JFK In his 1962 Yale commencement speech, President John F. Kennedy addressed one of the great issues facing our nation at that time. And now, 53 years later, his same remarks go right to the heart of…
The Exit Plan
Stand Up! Make It Personal. Part 4 Is There An Addiction Brain? If we trace the path of addiction research, sift through the volumes of published reports and opinions from science, medicine, justice, and education; then add the evolutionary (certainly not revolutionary) development of treatment, we find the one question that when answered, can place us on the path…
But Wait – Before Going All Thelma and Louise…
Stand Up! Make It Personal: Part 3 Time To Stand If you have had to deal with addiction in any form with anyone at any time, you no doubt have experienced the feeling, perhaps many times, of being willing to consider any type of treatment that might offer a way out of the nightmare. But when “anything” starts to…
Have You Heard The One About The Accountant & The Mechanic?
Stand Up. Make It Personal. Part 2 Have You Heard The One About The Accountant & the Mechanic? Imagine that an accountant drives his new Lamborghini Aventador into the sports car garage complaining that his shiny new car isn’t working right. Something must be wrong and he wants it fixed. “What seems to be the problem?” the mechanic asks,…
Life After Sports – Do You Have A Story?
When Life After Sports Leads To Eating Disorders & Addiction I need your help. Do you know an NCAA athlete who developed an eating disorder or substance abuse problem during or after leaving their sport? If so, please let me know. I’m developing a piece on the difficult transition for the elite college athlete returning to the real world,…
Stand Up! Make It Personal: Part 1
Happy New Year folks, and welcome to The Stand 2015. When I kicked off this blog about five months ago, I honestly had no idea what to expect. Would anybody see it? Would anyone care? At the time, that really wasn’t the most important thing to me. I just knew that I had to get the information out there, though…
Brain Science, What Like It’s Hard? Part 2
Part 2 For some, all this talk about brain processes and neural communication might sound a bit too mechanical for comfort, as though the way we experience our emotions and what drives our behavior is merely a function of a series of electrochemical processes. And while there is a segment in science and society that subscribes to that line…