Opening Statement

The purpose of this book is twofold. First, it is to debunk the current Psychological/Religious (P/R) paradigm of addictions. Second, it is to provide an alternative and replacement addiction hypothesis, Hypoism. I spend most of the book presenting and explaining the latter. The two purposes, though equally important and parallel in their orientation, may not be mutually dependent. In other words, the validity of either argument may not be contingent nor logically dependent on the validity of the other. That could be accomplished separately. I chose to approach them together because I think they are intertwined. This is the case because valid knowledge in all areas of thought always works cooperatively to produce the truth about any related subject.

The value of the first purpose is to end the ineffective and superstitious treatment of, and the damaging and discriminating behaviors toward addicts, which is caused by the P/R paradigm. The value of the second purpose is to provide an addiction hypothesis which hopefully will stimulate the eventual discovery of the true addiction paradigm, which may be, and I believe is, Hypoism. Either way, I hope and predict that the true addiction paradigm will end discrimination, provide real and effective recovery, and lead to realistic and humane public policy concerning addiction issues. I believe the Hypoism paradigm does this.

Because this new paradigm of addictions is not always immediately clear to all readers, I want to begin with a straightforward statement concerning the flow of the book. You might say this is my opening statement for the case that I will be presenting to the jury. As the case is made throughout the book, I will preface each chapter with the point of the subject matter being discussed and finish with a conclusion. If you become lost or confused, please refer back to this section in order to regain your bearings.

This book presents to the world, for the first time, the actual entity that causes all addictions. This entity, or disease if you like, is called Hypoism. The book tells the story of how I discovered this disease and how Hypoism, though disguised as human diversity, has always been with us. This diversity is the product of the natural processes of evolution and natural selection. It is the diversity of the function of one particularly old part of the human brain known as the Limbic System. This is why I subtitle the book "The Disease of Limbic Diversity."

Chapter 1, How I Happened to Write this Book, is my personal story behind the motivation for beginning this project, the results of which is this book. I didn't start out to write a book. I started out trying to explain to myself what had happened to me. Like everything else in my life, I couldn't stop. My sponsor also told me to keep writing. So, here are the results of that.

Chapter 2, The Introduction, exposes the erroneous philosophical and theological ideas about human nature (how humans actually work) that we have historically held so dear, and which have led to our misconceptions surrounding all human issues generally, and addiction issues specifically. Also discussed are the differences between the current paradigm of addictions, the P/R paradigm, derived from these superstitious and incorrect concepts, and the new addiction paradigm called Hypoism. Hypoism stems from the reality of human nature and human diversity, so long misunderstood. Also discussed here is why the P/R paradigm of addictions has caused the present mess in addictions, and why its replacement with the Hypoism paradigm will lead to the resolution of this mess and a completely realistic perspective from which to deal with addictions.

Chapter 3, Hypoism - A Real Disease, presents the neurobiology of addictions and the newly conceptualized organ in the human brain that actually produces addictions. This organ, the FOKS, "Feel O.K. System," is a major part of the decision-making mechanism present in all people and is located in an area of the brain not amenable to conscious control. The FOKS includes the reward pathways provided by evolution to reinforce instinctive behaviors. In hypoics, this organ's function is altered by evolutionarily diverse genes (alleles) functioning at lower levels than in the majority of people. These genes have turned the FOKS/decision-making apparatus into an addiction-making machine, which functions against the will of the hypoic. There are two parts to understanding this process: 1) The neurobiology, and 2) Its implications; how this biology actually works within the human brain. The neurobiology is straightforward, its misperceived implications, however, is our present conceptual downfall. The implications of the biology is what differentiates Hypoism from all other addiction theories. Addiction is, thus, an unintended consequence of evolution and natural selection brought to our awareness by our species' technological ingenuity and ability to produce mood-altering drugs in such concentrations and quantities, which allows for mass addiction by hypoics. Seen in this light, addictions take on a totally new and realistic appearance. This chapter also explains how the hypoic FOKS produces the three major problems encountered by hypoics:

1. Addictions.

2. Emotional evaluation difficulties.

3. Decision-making difficulties, as well as, (and most importantly), the majestic, beneficent, creative and joyous qualities of this same hypoic FOKS.

Chapter 4, All the Addictions, lists all the addictions that are encountered by hypoics and how the addictions work in each hypoic. One of the critical discoveries about the FOKS is that all the addictions are physiologically based on built-in, hardwired, human instincts as well as anything else that raises FOKS activity, such as mood-altering substances and certain behaviors.

Now that we have an understanding of the process behind the difficulties and addictions experienced by hypoics, we can enter the FOKS, and look at ways to intervene in these difficulties .

In Chapter 5, Interventions, we dissect the various parts of the decision-making apparatus (figure 2.) and explore how interventions at each place of this system either work or don't work and why. What we find here is that all the different types of interventions that have traditionally been used in addiction intervention either don't work, produce new addictions, or turn the hypoic into a completely different person. In other words, either they don't work or they destroy the hypoic. We do, however, find one place to intervene, which accomplishes everything we want it to. This place is the autonomous thinking belief. Intervention at the ATB via the 12 Steps (as I interpret them) interrupts the addictions in each hypoic while preserving all the other wonderful and unique characteristics of each hypoic. This is exactly the approach all hypoics are in search of to be safe, free, productive, and enjoy life to its fullest.

Chapter 6, The 12 Steps, is a discussion of what I have gleaned to be the essence of the 12 Steps: How to use them to produce recovery from the addictions and other devastating effects caused by Hypoism and how to safely use its vast positive qualities. Also discussed is why the hypoic, with his sponsor, needs to continuously use the steps to maintain a life free from the negative manifestations of Hypoism while enjoying its positive qualities.

Chapter 7, Role of the Instincts, examines (in more detail) each instinct behind each of the addictions and how these very same instincts, present in non-hypoics, cause discrimination.

Chapter 8, Research, Societal, and Policy Issues, explores the need to scientifically study the Hypoism hypothesis as well as ways to use this new paradigm in the present tense, even before it is perfectly defined scientifically. In other words, how to stop the hypoic genocide and allow recovery to occur on a new and massive scale.

Chapter 9, Misconceptions of the Disease and Recovery, discusses how our present misconceptions of the disease of addictions lead to many recovery mistakes, relapses, and damage to hypoics attempting to recover today.

Chapter 10, Vision of the Future, is a glimpse of what we have to look forward to when the new Hypoism paradigm becomes accepted by society.

The Bibliography is short and concise because I chose only to include those readings that I felt enhanced the development of the ideas discussed in the book. Use the material in the bibliography to fully document and appreciate the concepts developed in the book. Use the bibliographies in these readings to find all the specifics you need for your own sake. I didn't want to clutter up the bibliography with a lot of erudite journal stuff. The bibliographies of these books have provided that for you.