Barbara Sinor, Ph.D.

If you are not familiar with our national addiction to drugs, statistics from SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration) National Survey on Drug Use & Health (2006) show that there is an estimated 22.6 million persons with substance dependence or abuse within the past year. Of these, 1.6 million people received treatment at a specialty facility and 6.2 million who reportedly felt they needed treatment for their problem.

My motivation for writing Tales of Addiction came when I completed co-authoring the manuscript What’s Really Going On? Questioning Our View of Addiction with my friend and colleague Deborah McCloskey. It also comes from my personal experience of living with an alcoholic father and again in my adulthood while coping with an alcoholic son. While researching the field of drug and alcohol addiction, it has become clear that more effort is needed to fully understand the plight of our addiction population, as well as, how this population can help guide younger generations toward the freedom of sobriety through the sharing of their own personal stories.

In the case of alcohol, most alcoholics are men but the incidence of alcoholism in women has been increasing over the past thirty years as has adolescent drug and alcohol abuse. Women tend to become addicted to alcohol later in life than men and it is estimated that 1.8 million older women suffer from alcohol addiction. Scientific advances over the last quarter century have established that drug addiction is a chronic brain disease. Alcohol has widespread effects on the brain and can affect neurons (nerve cells), brain chemistry, and blood flow within the frontal lobes of the brain. Researchers are particularly interested in systems of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in the brain that are affected by alcohol. Some research is focusing on the way these neurotransmitters are employed in the brain after long-term alcohol use in order to adapt to the cravings and pain of withdrawal.

Key evidence for the view that drug addiction is a chronic brain disease consists of images of people’s brains taken during or following drug exposures. Brain imaging studies have provided information on individual drugs’ neurobiological effects; helped explain the causes and mechanisms of vulnerability to drug abuse; and yielded important insights into abusers’ subjective experiences and behaviors, including their struggles in recovery. (“NCE & Practice Perspectives,” April 2007)

Regarding the use of heroin, in the early 1970s MMT (methadone maintenance treatment) facilities expanded swiftly and was declared a ’success’… Yet, growth of both MMT clinics and numbers of patients treated quickly stagnated; then as now, MMT is available to only about one in five persons with the disease of heroin addiction. (“Addiction Treatment Forum” Vol. 15, #3 Summer 2006) This statistic demands recognition. Hope of addiction recovery for only one in five heroin addicts is a staggering statistic to consider.

Dr. Vincent Dole who died at age 93 in 2006 was considered by many the “Father of MMT.” He was highly respected for his “gentle giant” approach to patient advocacy. Dole felt “…if the persistent stigma and prejudice surrounding MMT is any indicator, society is still lacking the open-mindedness to accept the lessons of science over outdated beliefs.” Dole taught that substance dependence “…is foremost a chronic, relapsing medical disease, rather than simply a moral, mental, or behavioral problem,” and that “…above all else, practitioners must listen to their patients when it comes to providing effective care.”

Obviously, the need for addiction and recovery counselors is paramount to the task of guiding those addicted to drugs (including methadone) and alcohol toward that different direction which Father Leo Booth spoke about that can lead to a healthy sober future. I applaud all who have challenged themselves and society in helping direct our addicted population to sobriety.

A passionate advocate for addicts of all kinds is the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Dr. Nora Volkow. Volkow says brain science is proving that we all have the potential to become addicted to something: drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, gambling, even food.

Dr. Volkow adds, “I have never met anyone who thought they would become addicted. They always say that this is the last thing they thought would happen to them… But this disease robs you of freewill. The challenge is to find a cure.” Until a cure is discovered, let us proudly share our pain, struggles, failures and successes with one another in hopes that our children will not follow the addiction path. Whether sober, using, straight or in the process of recovery, everyone’s personal story can be a valuable insight for our younger generations, as well as, an awakening call to ourselves as adults.

Synopsis

Deborah McCloskey and Barbara Sinor, Ph.D.

This three hundred page manuscript is a brief look at ten years in the real life of a substance abuse counselor. My co-author, Deborah McCloskey, took the time to write extensive notes pertaining to her personal struggles of working with drug addicted clients while employed in a methadone clinic located in Southern California from the late 1990s to her untimely death in 2006. We worked on this manuscript together over several years sharing our passion for client advocacy and discovering alternative ways to deal with those addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The manuscript progressed to a long narration of countless stories related through Deborah from her clients. I have woven these powerful stories, as well as, the immediate highs and lows of her own life crises to form a tapestry filled with pain, joy, defeat, and success. The entire manuscript is molded by Deborah’s heartfelt desire for her clients to be free of drugs. Her deep compassion for those she counseled guided them toward self-education, self-discovery, and self-recovery. These counseling methods both endeared her as “the counselor to get” and locked her into a decade of searching for better ways to help those she felt were stuck on the merry-go-round of a methadone system.

It is evident throughout the manuscript that Deborah’s passion for aiding those in addiction became her focus, as well as, to help redirect the way we as a society handle our drug addicted population. This passion led her to write the fascinating stories which pose the compelling question: What’s really going on? The manuscript addresses this question and others surrounding the need for changes in how those with drug addictions are treated in our society. One of Deborah’s goals was to manifest this vision and to bring the reality of addiction out-of-the-closet.

The stories are true, the people are real, the life threatening incidences and tales of pain and death are factual. To balance the darkness, Deborah uses her candid sense of humor to reel in the reader until he can no longer resist. Once he enters, he will not leave until he finds justice. But is there justice? Throughout the manuscript the reader will search for illumination within the intriguing stories of depression and defeat, but find it rarely. Only in a few select brave souls who have struggled to become drug-free will the reader find the answers to the manuscript’s questioning title.

The target group for this manuscript is all with an interest in learning the factual reality of drug and alcohol addiction, including those addicted. Readership will include teachers, social workers, medical professionals, and counselors who wish to experience the eye-opening truth about their students, clients, and patients. It will be read by those incarcerated, working in hospitals, attending college, in our government, and our general adult population whether addicted, sober, or straight. The manuscript instructs us all to ask questions surrounding those we love and those we do not know--our addiction population.

“Once I started reading What’s Really Going On? I couldn't put it down! You can tell the passion the author has as you read it. I can also tell how she learned about methadone and the patients as she went along in her work. I am sorry we never had a chance to formally meet or maybe we did--I was at that National Conference she referred to and I am pleased that NAMA has been mentioned in the book.”

"What's Really Going On? is a truthful look into the world of Methadone Treatment with a mix of compassion and humor. It is a great read for those in the field of recovery and provides insight for those who do not understand the life of addiction and recovery. Much applause to Dr. Sinor for bringing her friend’s poignant story to life; a great tribute to Deborah McCloskey.”

Lori Carter-Runyon, Executive Director Hilltop Recovery Services

“What’s Really Going On? is a page turner with a deceivingly simple point of view: A helper wanting to help and people needing her help, if only things were that simple. I am fascinated by What’s Really Going On? on several different levels. First, as a chemically dependent person in recovery; second, as an addictions therapist; and lastly, someone who simply loves a great read. As a person in recovery, the emotions, mindsets, and motivations of real people bound in the web of addiction are depicted in very realistic terms and empathically described right down to the most basic need for simple survival. As a therapist, I understand the balance between the desire to help and make a difference in the world and being at war with the realities of human, ethical, and bureaucratic limitations. I recommend this book to audiences in any helping profession, people in recovery, the families of drug addicts, and the users themselves.”

Bill Urell, M.A., CAAP-II, Author The Addiction Recovery Help Guide

Laurie A. Gray, JD Drug Court Intervention Program

**This manuscript is seeking a publisher, if there is interest please email me.