Archive for March, 2009
Octomom’s confabulated thinking suggests addiction
Confabulation is described in Wikipedia as “the formation of false memories, perceptions, or beliefs about the self or the environment as a result of neurological or psychological dysfunction.” The source of most such dysfunction is psychotropic drug addiction, involving the repeated use of drugs capable of causing distortions of perception, memory and beliefs. Journalists usually look for addiction last. It should be first, particularly when “confabulation” is combined with bizarre behavior.
Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in late January, has been in the headlines ever since. Most shake their heads and wonder, “What’s she thinking?” Many figure she’s simply irresponsible. Those who understand addiction might instead ask, “What is she on?” Addiction to psychotropic drugs, ...
An addicted ballplayer, rock-throwing chef (oh, at a Ferrari Enzo), R & B girlfriend-beating singer (yes, THAT Chris Brown), a Japanese finance minister (yes, he had to be drunk) and a girfriend-killing meth addict.
Runners-up for top story of the month:
John C. Odom, the minor league baseball player traded for 10 maple bats who died November 5 at age 26, only recently determined by a medical examiner to have died from an “accidental overdose.” The combination of drugs, heroin, methamphetamine, the stimulant benzylpiperazine and alcohol, suggest that the “accident” should be re-stated as "death contributed to or caused by distortions of perception from brain damage rooted in alcohol or other-drug addiction”)*. At the time, the former prospect in the San Francisco Giants’ chain seemed to handle the trade well, kidding that the kooky deal would make a great story if he ever reached the major leagues. Dan Shwam, who managed Odom last year, felt ...
Under Watch: Ervin Lupoe (mass murderer), Annette Yeomans (suspected embezzler and known spendthrift), and R. Allen Stanford and Bruce Friedman (suspected Ponzi artists)
Under watch:
Ervin Lupoe, who killed his wife Ana and their five children in Wilmington, California, after both he and his wife had been fired from their hospital jobs for falsifying income records so they could qualify for a low-income child care program. The Lupoe’s each made over $40 per hour as radiological technicians for Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles, but made it appear they were earning less than $10 per hour. They were behind in their mortgage payments and had recently bounced checks for $15,000 and $2,000 to reportedly pay for back property taxes and penalties. Although there was nothing in Lupoe’s military record indicating any problems, he had applied for but was rejected by several police agencies before ...
Chris Brown and a bar full of alcoholics, enabled to society’s detriment.
Enablers of the month:
One of the sources reporting on the Chris Brown-Rihanna entanglement, explaining they are “both pretty stubborn.” No, Mr. Source, while we can’t yet be sure about her, Brown is an addict. Dr. Jay Carter, a psychologist and “world-renowned expert on anger and abuse,” says “both need therapy, and Chris needs anger-management classes….If they do get back together…they need to attend joint counseling.” No, Mr. Carter, while she may need counseling he needs AA. (I’d say “Mr. Carter, you idiot,” but that would unfairly denigrate idiots.)
Heidi, the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decided to allow her loyal customers - most of whom were unemployed alcoholics - to drink now but pay ...
Baseball great Dock Ellis, over-achieving addict.
Sometimes, it takes an addict:
Baseball great Dock Ellis, the former major league pitcher who threw a no-hitter while on LSD and who had no memory of his performance that day in June, 1970, dead from cirrhosis of the liver at age 63. Near the end of compiling a 138-119 career record from 1968 through 1979, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ellis began counseling addicts at a prison in Pittsburgh. He began his drinking and using career by the time he was in high school and didn’t get permanently sober until after he retired from the game in 1980. He managed to pitch for the triumphant 1971 World Series team and was named to the All-Star team that year. He was ...
“Rachel Getting Married” is an excellent portrayal of early recovery.
“Rachel Getting Married”
Some critics describe Jonathan Demme’s (“Silence of the Lambs”) “Rachel Getting Married” as a movie about a marriage and how a multi-cultural and multi-racial society is getting comfortable with itself. One notes that Anne Hathaway’s Kym, out of rehab for the weekend, is quick to condemn everyone else at her sister Rachel’s wedding—but he (seemingly) has no idea why. Some mention that the younger brother drowned, but forget why (she lost control of the car she was driving while stoned out of her mind). Some claim it’s a movie you’d want to immediately see again. I doubt it, even if it’s worth seeing once.
There is decent AA dialogue, in which the “one drink is too many and 50 ...
Telling her to get help doesn’t explain the behaviors. That can be important.
Dear Doug
A litany of suspects
Dear Doug:
My boyfriend and I have a 6-month baby boy. Although Jake was a serious drug addict when we met two years ago, he stopped doing drugs and even got his first job. We moved in together a year ago and I fell prey to his controlling nature. I used to have friends and now have none, because Jake doesn’t like them. I can’t leave the apartment unless he goes with me. I can’t have any money unless he gives it to me, and then he demands to know how I spent it.
Before he goes to work he takes our son’s car seat so I can’t leave. He calls ten times a day to “check” ...
Kids’ names may be a clue to parental alcoholism
Alcoholic Myth-of-the-Month
“The more unpopular your name, the more likely you are to land in juvenile hall.”
So found a new study conducted by Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania, researchers purporting to show a link between a name and the likelihood of getting into trouble.
The researchers ascribed a popularity score to boys’ names based on how often they showed up in birth records in an undisclosed state from 1987 to 1991. They compared the scores with the odds of landing in the juvenile justice system and found that “a 10% increase in the popularity of a name is associated with a 3.7% decrease in the number of juvenile delinquents who have that name.” In other words, there’s a proven correlation between less popular names ...
15-year old addict trips over speed bump
Alcoholic Antic-of-the-Month
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
”WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU: A teenaged girl flagged down a Myrtle Beach, S.C., police car to complain a nightclub bouncer had thrown her out and took her identification away from her because it was fake. Officers checked, and sure enough, it was. Officers asked the girl for her name, and she gave several different names and birth dates before they told her she was being arrested. At that point she turned and ran -- and tripped over a parking lot speed bump. The unidentified 15-year-old was charged with resisting arrest, possession of tobacco products, being a runaway, perjury, possession of fake identification and public intoxication. (Myrtle Beach ...