Substance Abuse Understood as Perversion
There is no question that in our current age, the medical model is the most frequently used model to explain human nature. Since the onset of the age of medicalism (beginning in the 19th century and still going full force today) the word 'nature' is more and more frequently being replaced by the word 'behavior', the aspect of human nature that is almost the exclusive focus of clinical psychology today. This is due to the rise of Skinnerian behaviorism as the preferred model for understanding human nature. In fact, behaviorism claims that there is no human nature, that everything humans do is because they are programmed like robots and nothing more to it. The denial of an inherent human nature in clinical psychology is the result of an abhorrence for insight-oriented and philosophical approaches that use qualitative methods of research, which are difficult and sophisticated, which means very few persons have the ability to conduct this type of research. Clinical psychology prefers quantitative methods of research that are so dead easy that any mindless idiot can do the research. Since the onset of the age of medicalism, clinical psychology has tried to prove to the world that it is a science, (because in the current age, only the sciences that study quantifiable objects are respected) and so it uses quantitative methods of research, which is a grotesque mistake because quantitative research cannot grasp and reflect on what lies beneath human behavior. Science, conducted using the standard quantitative methods, can only describe behaviors, frequencies thereof, and make mechanical speculations on causal correlations. It is devoid of insight. Without the capacity for insight, clinical psychology fosters ideas that place responsibility for human behavior not on humans themselves, but on ideas of afflictions, or diseases. These modern ideas redirect the responsibility for how one lives one's life away from the individual onto malignant, maladaptive, or malevolent forces outside of individual control. The idea that aberrant or destructive behavior is caused by forces beyond the control of the 'afflicted' is a carry-over from mediaeval ideas of brain diseases, chemical imbalances in the body, and 'evil spirits' or 'devils' from a supernatural realm. We see this mindset still alive today in common phrases such as 'afflicted with depression' and 'stricken by the disease of addiction'.
There is no more evidence for 'chemical imbalances in the brain' than there is for devils taking possession of the will of persons who engage in deviant behaviors. In any case, the deviant is seen as helpless and weak, in need of an external, superior force to resume normal functioning. There is a strong element of power and social control in scientific and religious claims; both rely on an ignorant populous' faith in authority. Researchers who document an increase in certain chemicals in the brain after ingestion of mind-altering substances claim that the increase in chemicals is proof of a 'chemical imbalance in the brain'. This is a bogus, politically-driven way of conducting scientific research, heavily criticised by the philosophers of science who are themselves scientists. The greatest philosopher of the English-speaking world, David Hume, warned scientists during the 18th century about how easy it is to make false correlations and how to avoid them, yet clinical psychology has steadily ignored his insight on the common problems that arise in the social sciences (clinical psychology is a social science, not a physical science, though it pretends). Nothing has been proven except that there is an increase in certain chemicals during drug use, sex, eating food, running, etc. No one really knows what these increases actually mean.
Science is based on making correlations and it is very easy to make false correlations when studying phenomena in which all variables cannot possibly be isolated. Different scientists sometimes make opposing claims about the exact same observation. For example, scientists who study the brains of schizophrenics claim that dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for collecting all of the data that is impinging on the nervous system, and moving that data to the next level of processing. In opposition, the scientists who study the brains of people who use drugs claim that dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure. In the case of schizophrenics, sudden floods of dopamine are correlated with feelings of terror and paranoia, while in drug users, sudden floods of dopamine are correlated with feelings of pleasure. So which one is it? ... terror or pleasure? The 'scientific evidence' is inconclusive in either direction, and it may be neither, because no one really understands what brain neurotransmitters really are, all we know is that they increase and decrease under various conditions. Another thing to consider in the study of brain chemistry is that no one knows what a 'chemically balanced' brain looks like, so there really is nothing to compare. Brain chemistry changes so often, so rapidly, so drastically, and under so many different conditions, including simply having memories, that scientists are unable to describe the nature of a 'balanced' brain. Scientific evidence in clinical psychology is politically driven; there is a lot of money at stake for 'proving' the existence of brain diseases. Another thing to consider when evaluating the claims made by behavioral psychologists is that 95% of all research in clinical psychology is conducted using the null hypothesis research method to make claims on truth, which means that almost all 'scientific evidence' in clinical psychology is bogus because the null hypothesis method is not scientifically rigorous. It is such a sloppy tool that nearly any ridiculous idea can be proven 'true' by using this method of making scientific conclusions. Moreover, only the low-level sciences, such as behavioral science, make claims on truth. High-level sciences, such as physics, seek to discover laws of nature, without ever making claims on truth because there is no place for the concept of truth in real science. The concept of truth when used in science, decays science into a kind of religion which is then obligated to constantly prove that its claims are true, over and over again in an attempt to gain as many converts and disciples as possible in order that it may increase its power of persuasion, manipulation, social control, and ultimately wealth. The science used in behavioral psychology is a pseudo-science that stands to profit immensely by persuading a massive, ignorant populous to have 'faith' in its authority. Thomas Szasz, Peter Breggin, and Sally Satel, are among a growing number of concerned psychiatrists who have extensive knowledge of how junk science is used to manipulate and subjugate an ignorant populous.
Existential analysts, psychoanalytic philosophers, and analytic psychologists view substance abuse problems as a type of perversion, in the original sense of the term, which comes from philosophy. In Aristotle's philosophy of eudaimonism, a perversion occurs when an object or substance is used for something other than what its nature determines most suitable. In Frege's formal logic, a perversion occurs when a logical constant is used for a purpose that changes between the beginning and end of the argument. For the general public, we can simply say that a perversion occurs when something is used for a purpose other than what it was originally intended.
The starting point for understanding substance abuse as a type of perversion is recognizing that both are signs of unresolved ontological disturbances. There are striking similarities between the aetiology of substance abuse, addictions, and perversions of all sorts. Drug use is a perversion if the purpose of entering into an altered state of consciousness is to escape life rather than to enter more deeply into life. Escape and transcendence are similar feelings, easily confused by those with unrefined emotional capacities. The former is accomplished by going away from, or obliterating a disturbance, while the latter is achieved by going directly into and through a disturbance, to the point of resolution and release. Humans have an unconscious motivating force that is not very well understood even by those who have spent decades exploring the nature of this deepest part of the human, of life itself. However, there are some things about this very deep part of human nature -- which ancient Greek and Roman philosophers called 'the abyss' -- that we can come to know, through the study of the patterns and manifestations of this mysterious motivating force.
When we look very closely, we notice that when humans go through periods of deep and permanent personal transformation, they do so in an altered state of consciousness (usually without the use of drugs). When we look even more closely at the nature of these altered states of mind -- that humans enter whenever they go through a profound healing or transformative experience, culminating into resolution and transcendence of a disturbance -- we see that they are always, without exception, inside a state of consciousness that is not just slightly altered, but extremely, drastically different from their ordinary consciousness. Humans are always in some kind of deeply altered state whenever they express, grow, heal, resolve, and release on an existential level, a vital level, an ontological level.
The desire to alter one's consciousness through the use of drugs or other perversions, especially sexual, is an unconscious desire to access a part of the self that is undeveloped or blockaded through social conditioning or fear. We grow by developing the undeveloped parts of ourselves. We do this both consciously and unconsciously. When this inherent need to grow is attempted or carried out through an unconscious means, it may appear in a perversion, and is always done in a ritualistic form. A natural part of growing involves expressing the unexpressed, resolving the unresolved, and releasing the unreleased. When a disturbance is held at the ontological level, which is what I call 'the deepest part of the human' -- others call it 'the soul', 'the spirit', or 'the heart' -- it is nearly impossible to access verbally, and very difficult to access without entering into some kind of altered state of consciousness that involves the whole being in an intensely present moment, so completely present that the sense of time and the mundane world is lost. When this happens, we are tapping into the eternal, the part of ourselves that is connected to the entire universe without regard to time and space. When I say 'eternal' here I mean that there is an aspect of blood and bones that is connected to the eternal nature of the universe -- along with rocks, flowers, and astronomical dark matter -- even though all material changes in composition through seasons and millenia.
Accessing altered states of consciousness is a learned skill meant to develop parts of the self that are unused, undeveloped or forbidden by one's culture, usually due to fear. If we refuse to grow or are forbidden from growing towards the fulfillment of our highest potentials, we develop ontological disturbances because we are out of balance with our inner nature which constantly attempts movement towards higher and higher states of being as we mature. We do not grow by ignoring our disturbances; we grow by going directly into and through our disturbances, expressing them, resolving them, and releasing them, which culminates in transcendence. If we collect unresolved disturbances, they become blocks to our higher potentials. We cannot reach our higher potentials in life when we have internal obstacles, unresolved disturbances. Our inherent nature demands that we do something with our unresolved disturbances, because it is not natural to simply carry a disturbance in an unresolved state. I believe that unresolved disturbances decay the body neurologically, and the unconscious attempt at resolution is motivated by our neurobiology. The laws of physics show us that any system that remains under pressure for a prolonged period without release will decay, and the same is true of the human body. Unresolved disturbances are neurological pressures. I cannot explain the neurological aspect of human nature because I lack the type of knowledge needed to discuss emotional needs as neurological needs and the resolution of disturbances as necessary for restoring optimal neurological functioning. All I can say on this for now is that because our nerves carry electrical impulses, the foundation of our being, and our hearts beat because of these electrical impulses, this means that at our core, we are a kind of electrical energy, and the part of us that is made of matter is secondary to the part of us that is made of fire, of electricity. No one knows what electricity actually is; all we know is what electricity can do, and ways that we can harness its potential and direct it for specific purposes; beyond these primitive observations and practices, we are at a loss on understanding the full nature of electricity.
The attributes in common between substance abuse and perversions include the following:
- altered states of consciousness
- access to a part of the self that is inaccessible during ordinary consciousness
- a means of escape from the unpleasantness of an unresolved disturbance
- use of a medium to induce an altered state of consciousness
- attempt at resolution and transcendence unresolved disturbances
My approach to all repetitive, uncontrollable behaviors that involve the use of consciousness altering objects or substances follows the same line of thought that I have given elsewhere to understanding fetishism, which is also a type of perversion in the popular sense of fetishism, rather than the anthropological sense of the term. Perversions are a natural part of life because almost everyone has some kind of internal block that hinders growth towards fulfillment of higher potentials. The natural way to transcend internal blocks is by using a helper; an object, substance, or guide to carry us through the healing process of expression, resolution, and release. For some this appears in the form of internal objects that symbolically contain what is needed to make personal breakthroughs. Deities and idealized, sexually alluring personas are common internal objects. In mythologies around the world, the process of resolving ontological disturbances appears as a journey through the dark into the light, either using the higher self as guide, or relying on external sources as guides. Healing ontological disturbances is a subversive act. It requires letting go of the safety and security that modern people have become so accustomed to that they now see it as a fundamental right. This is a distinctly modern view; in past centuries, safety and security were thought of as temporary periods in time, not constant states that can be arrived at and maintained indefinitely.
Metamorphosis into a higher consciousness is accomplished by going into and through oneself. This theme appears over and over again in philosophy, psychoanalysis, mythology, and recently in transpersonal neurology. I found this theme as well in my work with several hundred people who repetitively, uncontrollably engage in bizarre rituals, either alone or with hired professionals.
Substance abuse can be successfully treated the same way that other perversions are treated: through a process of discovering, resolving, and releasing the reasons for the existence and persistence of the perversion. It is not necessary to discover the origins of the disturbance; it is enough to discover the reasons. Origins and reasons are not one and the same. For example, a man who feels compelled to wear women's lingerie in private may be doing so out of a longing for emotional intimacy, softness, and nurturing. If he is unable to fulfill these emotional longings or needs through an external source because none are available to him, and he is unable to draw from internal resources because he has none available, the emotional need remains alive but unfulfilled, and because it is very painful to live in deep, unfulfilled longing, it tends to go unconscious, surfacing in some kind of fetish ritual done out of compulsion. The reason for his fetish may be that he is living in a kind of emotional starvation, and this is a different aspect of the perversion than its origin, which may or may not be found in his early childhood with one or more specific instances, or a general experience of life during his vulnerable years. It is not always possible to discover the origins of perversions, and it is not necessary to discover them, because when the reasons for the existence and persistence of a perversion are addressed, it can be resolved without ever knowing the exact origins of the disturbance that manifests as a perversion.
The fundamental difference between treating perversions as brain diseases and treating them as ontological disturbances is that the former focuses on behavior control as the desired result, while the latter focuses on personal growth and enlightenment.
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