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Some Definitions and A List of Addictions: Hypoism - The name of the disease I hypothesize for the purpose of developing the global concept of addictions as a real disease. A chronic, progressive, and frequently fatal (albeit recoverable) thinking and decision-making disorder due to the effects of genetically transmitted [Unless caused by physical damage to the FOKS by encephalitis, trauma, intracerebral hemorrhage, etc.] critically low activity of the FOKS resulting from various physiologic deficiencies of the limbic neurotransmitter systems working within the decision-making apparatus. The hypoic FOKS turns the decision-making apparatus (FOKS/DMA) into an addiction machine. Hypoism has three inevitable manifestations: 1) addictions to substances, ideas, people, and behaviors, 2) decision-making difficulties leading to disasters, and 3) situation and self-evaluation mistakes having damaging repercussions in the hypoic's life. Only hypoics are capable of being addicts and all hypoics get addicted to one or more addictors. The current belief that anyone is at risk of addictions is nonsense. The addictor is not the cause of addiction. Rather, addiction is caused by the hypoic neurophysiological mechanism. Because the use of addictors (FOKS raisers) is a vain attempt by the hypoic to self-treat his/her Hypoism, and inexorably leads to addiction, any other attempt to raise the FOKS, whether by psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies, or gurus, likewise leads inexorably to new addictions, not recovery. Recovery from Hypoism needs to be from the actual disease, Hypoism, rather than from the low FOKS activity This is the key implication of the neurobiology and neurophysiology, and the main reason we are presently at a standstill in dealing with addictions. The focus has been on removing the addictions, a serious mistake, rather than on the recovery from the underlying disease, the only true way to deal with all the manifestations of Hypoism. This corrected viewpoint will make all the difference between our present impotence and our future success. The book delineates this crucial distinction, one that isn't presently even recognized. addiction (see list of addictions) - Use of an addictor (see addictor below), a substance, person, thought, feeling or behavior, for the purpose of changing how you feel, irrespective of the consequences to yourself, your family, your job, your loved ones or your country, against your own will. Thus, choice, control, and lack of control are meaningless concepts when talking about addictions. Addiction has short-term personal benefits but long-term deleterious effects because of neurophysiological progression that occurs in ALL addictions. All addictors raise FOKS activity and are turned into addictions by the hypoic FOKS/DMA addiction machine. Probably, they specifically raise the activity of the deficient neurotransmitter within the FOKS (and the neurological reward cascade), which is genetically determined. That is exactly how they change how you are feeling. Addictions are used by the addict to self-treat his disease of Hypoism. Addictions work in the beginning, but backfire in the end. Only hypoics get addicted. One other issue I'd like to clarify is that of the many euphemisms for the word addiction that minimize and help addicts deny that they are addicts: dependency, obsession, co-dependent, habit, fixation, craving, fetish, preoccupation, compulsion, and/or abuse. These words mean only one thing to the hypoic: ADDICTION. A distinction needs to be made between the neurophysiological addictions associated with and caused by Hypoism as part of the Hypoism entity and the physical addiction that can occur to anyone, including non-hypoics, who receives prolonged medically-prescribed, physically-addicting drugs such as opiates, benzodiazapines, barbiturates, etc., or nicotine (if used for non-hypoic reasons, e.g. social). This inadvertent physical addiction ends once the use of these drugs ceases. Non-hypoics addicted in this fashion have no antecedent or subsequent signs or symptoms of neurophysiological (hypoic-type) addictions or thinking disorder. addictor - Hypoics get addicted to anything that raises their genetically determined critically low FOKS activity level. These FOKS elevators are called addictors. Addictors come in two varieties, neurotransmitter substitutes and the FOKS-raising built-in instincts. These addictors all work by stimulating the reward cascade or final common pathway of all addictions, either directly such as neurotransmitter substitutes, the actual drugs, or indirectly by the FOKS activity raising instincts, the precursors of behavioral addictions (see chapter 7, Role of the Instincts.) Addictors are turned into addictions only in hypoics by the hypoic FOKS/DMA addiction machine. Feel O.K. System (FOKS) - This is the key emotional evaluative organ in the brain that determines Hypoism and inexorably produces addictions in Hypoics while working within the decision-making apparatus of the brain. The FOKS exists in all people and has the same function in all people, but works very differently in hypoics. This is the physical location where the diverse genes produce their effects in Hypoism. It is this hard-wired evaluation mechanism and its connections to the common pathway of reward which basically gives us our genetic level of how well we like ourselves (self-esteem), how we respond emotionally to our own internal needs (instincts), external stimuli, and, finally, how we place emotional content onto decisions and emotional conceptualization of past events and future outcomes. Its role in our brains lies in its key position in the decision-making apparatus (see figure 2, page 66). In hypoics, the FOKS is stuck in the ON or YES position concerning certain FOKS-raising stimuli. These stimuli are all listed elsewhere in the book, but, in general, they all consist of mood-raising chemicals (drugs, alcohol, substances), ideas and beliefs (instincts), certain people (via instincts), and behaviors related to the instincts which internally raise FOKS activity (gambling, falling in love, violence, racism, work, etc.). This state of being stuck on YES is what an addiction is. The cause of this stuck position is the critically low-activity level of the FOKS, defined by the genetically transmitted diverse (different from normal, the most common) alleles of the genes making up the physiology of the FOKS. It is the basic feedback mechanism that tells us (via emotional feelings) internally how we are doing, evaluates our thinking, feelings, behavior, and experiences. It gives emotional context to every experience, both internal and external, and is included in our memories. Obviously, it is quite important to the continuity of our lives, survival, and quality of our existence. Another more romantic way to look at the FOKS is that it is the soul or spirit of the individual. This is the irrational, emotional, and individualistic face of each person. It is the person's uniqueness. There is no FOKS just like your own. As nebulous as it may seem, it still is a physical and substantial organ, not ghostly or phantasmagoric. Thus, my definition of the word spirituality embodies this concept. Spirituality means knowing your FOKS in depth and detail and in reality. Knowing who and what you are. Knowing your FOKS, loving it, accepting it with all its limitations and assets - no more, no less. This is what occurs in real recovery. recovery - The active process of doing all 12 Steps* (as interpreted by the Hypoism paradigm) on a continuing basis in one's life; not just "not doing your addiction." The reason that just stopping your particular addiction through will power, religion, fear, or pharmacology doesn't lead to recovery is because recovery must be from HYPOISM, not from the addiction per se. The disease is HYPOISM, not the addiction. Hypoism involves an entire self-concept and lifestyle based on hypoic thinking, feeling, and acting, not just behavioral addictions. One can stop using any particular addiction, yet continue to live out the hypoic disease and, thus, ruin one's life despite abstinence from that single addiction. Hypoism is a global and all-inclusive disease in one's life, not merely an addiction or even a group of addictions. Hypoism is a thinking and decision-making disorder that has always been present and will always be present in the hypoic's life. Getting rid of any particular addiction has nothing whatsoever to do with recovery, although it is a necessary prerequisite. recovery, history - Prior to A.A., there was no recovery from any addiction. Drugs, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, religion, and other superstitions were tried without success. Opiates and cocaine were even used to treat alcohol addiction with obviously disastrous results. A.A. came along and people started to recover. Rehabs started popping up, run by alcoholics recovering in A.A. People started recovering in larger numbers. Eventually, because of A.A.'s success, the disease concept of alcohol addiction became popular. This led to a superficial attitude in society that maybe "alcoholism" was a disease and that we could actually get people sober so that they could go back to work and be productive (i.e., "treatment" of "alcoholics" could save corporations money rather than firing the drunk and training new people for the job). Soon thereafter, "treatment" centers were opened by previously ineffective modalities such as religious groups, psychologists, and psychiatrists using 12 Step modalities and in-hospital A.A. meetings. More people got sober, and the religions and psychologists began taking the credit. In fact, the old, previously ineffective, "treatment" regimes joined the cause and started taking credit for A.A.'s success. This has continued to the point where at present sober A.A.s have to become certified by the state to "treat" addicts attempting to recover under the auspices of the very people who were never able to help a single addict get sober before. This is a complete reversal of how recovery began! Even more striking, these very same ineffective therapists now think they are the mainstay of "treatment" for addictions, and society, in denial and ignorant about this history, takes this for granted. It is absolutely false! The P/R paradigm has usurped recovery and now calls it "treatment", while A.A. has abdicated leadership in recovery out of an outdated fear that asserting leadership may ruin A.A. itself. There is no evidence whatsoever that psychotherapy or pharmacology is useful in treating addictions (in the true meaning of the word recovery), yet these institutions are now running the rehabilitation and "treatment" of addictions as well as setting the criteria for the recovery of addicts in general. All of a sudden and against this historical background, addiction has become a psychiatric disease whose "treatment" is decided by psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers, most of whom are alanonics and have unconscious punitive and vindictive anti-addict motives. These people are now the "experts" and "pundits." Other addict-haters are the state bureaucrats who set criteria for "treatment" regimes, training guidelines, and credentialing of "alcoholism counselors." The whole issue of credentials obtained after some courses in a school, presumed to teach people how to be an addiction counselor, is preposterous! The curriculum, unlike medical school curriculum for M.D.s, has no basis in fact or science and has never been shown to have any relevance or relationship to recovery. These curriculae have simply been made up by people who believe that recovery ought to occur via this route. Anyone who has the desire can take these courses, pass a test, and become a certified addiction specialist. It all reminds me of a recent advertisement I saw for the "National Association of Professional Astrologers" who certifies professional astrologers and gives them credentials as certified experts in the field of astrology! Doctors, nurses, social workers, alanonics, and recovering addicts are all mandated to take the addiction course, pass the test, and poof, they are certified addiction experts somehow given the extraordinary ability and power out of thin air to "treat" addicts and get them sober somehow. This is a hoax and must be either proved or dumped. Recovering addicts must demand the abolition of these superstitious, damaging, and groundless practices. This situation is completely backwards and is damaging many hypoics who come under their auspices. I included this small history so you can see it. What you do with it is up to you. Again, it's a situation about addicts being hurt, charlatans making money and alanonics taking power over the people they hate. Check out the history of addiction and recovery yourself if you find this hard to believe. Ask the experts how they got their expertise all of a sudden and from where. They can't tell you because they have no answer. Their concept of the disease is wrong. How could they be experts when this is the case? The fact is that there is no expertise in addictions and no one has the power to get an addict sober. There just is no technique, treatment, regime, course, ritual, or anything else which will get an addict sober other than the four essential principles of the 12 Steps, done in a 12 Step program with a sponsor. Credentials, courses, and bogus certification of "addiction counselors" produce ass kissing, no-life administrators, bureaucrats, spies, squealers, snitches, paid guardians and charlatans, but no recovery. These "counselors" are all working for non-hypoic agencies whose business it is to control addicts or to make a living from them, not to free them. This is the painful result of A.A.'s abdication and National Council on Alcoholism's joining the anti-addict establishment. This is a major reason why only recovering hypoics with no conflict of interest or ax to grind should and must be the only helpers of other hypoics. * The 12 Steps as translated and reinterpreted by the Hypoism paradigm were fortuitively discovered by Bill Wilson and actually are derived from the neurobiology of Hypoism as discussed in Hypoic's Handbook. As derived, they no longer need superstition or mysticism adjuncts and become realistic and infinitely more effective and inclusive. They consequently deal with the entire gamut of Hypoism issues, including people addiction, the primary addiction of all hypoics attending alanon-type groups (true and definitive recovery is now available for these hypoics as well). The steps move the emphasis from the mere isolated primary addiction to the recovery from all three major manifestations of Hypoism (above). Comprehensive and complete recovery is therefore possible. All hypoic issues are thus included, removing the need for "outside help." Moreover, the steps are not self-help, requiring a dispassionate sponsor (decision consultant) indefinitely. Addictions. All equivalent in the Hypoism paradigm. (* denotes socially acceptable addictions and are thereby camouflaged)
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You can take the addiction out of the hypoic, but you can't take the Hypoism out of the addict.
