Can you make sense of addiction?

If you suffer from the disease of addiction or your loved one does, then there is a good chance you have tried to make sense of this disease. As William Duncan Silkworth, M.D. said:

To be sure, alcoholism, like every other disease, does manifest itself in some unique ways. It does have a number of baffling peculiarities that differ from those of all other diseases.

Human nature tempts us to blame the addict for their disease as well as each and every relapse. For this reason, Cottonwood Tucson offers a Family Program: Family week is about creating change. Often, families come into family week fearful, angry, distraught and obsessed. Their interactional pattern is focused around the illness or chaos of a single member, and their ability to care for themselves emotionally, and sometimes physically, can be seriously compromised. In these families, the interactional patterns are stuck and unhealthy behaviors have become logical. Family program is based on the theory that all behaviors are logical and learned. Family program is designed to shift an unhealthy set of logical behaviors to a healthy set of logical behaviors: to create new patterns of behavior that allow for the recovery of the family and its loved one. The goal of family program is to create a shift toward a new way of interacting that is more useful than were the old patterns.

Over the past several weeks many people have been trying to make sense of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death, not unlike how we tried to understand the untimely death of Cory Monteith. The truth is we never want to accept death, its finality. This is true no matter what the cause of our loved one’s death, or the timing, it does not matter if our parent suffered from heart disease from the time we were a child. When death comes, we still struggle to make sense of it.

English: Signature of American television personality, Oprah Winfrey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oprah Winfrey premiers a new series ~ Oprah Prime

This Sunday, March 9, 2014, Oprah Winfrey premiers a new series Oprah Prime; it will offer an in-depth conversation about current events and serious issues facing us as a society. To kick-off the new series Oprah will be interviewing Russell Brand and the discussion will be about heroin addiction.

You can see a teaser here.

Oprah Prime uses a wider lens to explore the topic of heroin addiction

On March 4, 2014, a press release was issued to announce of Oprah’s new series premier and the first topic of conversation – heroin addiction.

This Sunday, during Oprah’s exclusive television interview with Russell Brand, he shares his personal thoughts on addiction, his hope for a more compassionate perception of those struggling with drug addiction, and how the recent passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman has caused him to reflect on his own sobriety. Oprah also uncovers the startling personal stories of a mom of two and a former college athlete who both say they began using heroin following an addiction to prescription pills. They each share the devastating effects of drugs on themselves as well as their family and friends.

Think about tuning in. Remember Oprah Prime will play Sundays, starting March 9, at 9/8c on OWN; you can check the schedule in your area TV here.

It might be a good way to start the conversation.