To check the dissertation project
against some addiction criteria.
by
H.L.Otto
Atchison Kansas
April 1990
Runner: Is writing an addictive task?
Abstract
The author expresses curiosity
about his intensity for
living life and the various difficulties in
optimizing
his short time here on earth. He never
did accept
accusations of perfectionism and workaholism,
although he
does generally recognize the disadvantages perceived
by
others who do not cope well with his seemingly
constant
striving, or high standards of a self.
Life-tasks can be
seen to be infinite - thus the author tastes
both the
life-tasks of eternal life yet has the `dysfunction'
of
human limitations. Kritsberg (1985) points
to "lives...
progressing in a way that is healthy. (153 i)"
Thus the
author writes to clarify his thoughts about
addiction and
health - assuming that written thought can be
healthy.
Detailed contents
Page
Title
Abstract
Detailed contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A healthy life?
Choices
A human danger
Relationships
Honesty
Unhealthy rules/roles
Transition to general addiction
Recovery from ill-health
Model measurement
Table E38 - Limits of the Family System measurement scale
Conclusion
Positive activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Postscript
Table E39 - Syndrome characteristics by group
Table E40 - Positive non-syndrome characteristics by group
Interesting questions
Addiction
Theory W a254
Adjectives for Co-Dependency
Co-dependency dynamics (154)
Well-stress or eustress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table E41 - Personal list of eustressors
Addict inactivity
Works cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A healthy life? A healthy
family or healthy
organization hardly questions the element of self-choice
and
the accepting of other's choices in a cooperative world.
Some organization members simply don't question, and many
organizers don't understand pure functional organization.
Thus this dissertation attempts to support a more functional
world or at least accepts and promotes individual choice.
The study of successful organizers may even conclude that
a
free enterprise society bases upon self-choice and the
acceptance of other's choices toward cooperative aims.
Thus
the challenge for a healthy life becomes the acceptance of
choice - your choice and others' choices - to build a
congruence of work actualizations for success. A success
not only for organizations, but also for the individuals
which accrue the benefits of organizations. Healthy
organizations can be seen as those structures which provide
more than what individuals could do alone. All can
be
served.
Choices. Two major groups
tend to influence our
choices - "our society and our families. (152 63)" These
groups can be viewed as organizations especially if some
Addiction
Theory W a255
form of organization chart exists to document the member
structure.
A human danger.
[Although there is nothing] wrong
with striving and
pushing ourselves to become better. The
danger with the
obsession about being number one is that this
is an
addictive value. We are telling ourselves
to live on the
edge - not to visit the edge...(152 64)
In a fast-paced, temporary
society...there is a lack
of emphasis on relationships. (152 69)
Theory W application.
Unfortunately Nakken (the
author of the above quotes in 1988) does not explain the
Alderfer/Maslow hierarchy of human needs which places
relatedness into a human life-context. Nakken's book
preaches rather than educates. In contrast, the Theory
W
dissertation defines the self and its pure functional
organization of relationships - see chapter 7.***
Relationships.
Relationships with objects
are, realistically,
relationships of convenience. Once a person
starts to
look to an object or event for emotional stability,
he or
she is building the foundation of an addictive
relationship with it. (152 9)
The solution to the addictive
relationship with
objects or events is that "the recovering addict has a
relationship between Self and others. (152 89)" The
capitalization of Self is significant. Again, see chapter
7
*** of the Theory W dissertation for the definition of a
self.
Addiction
Theory W a256
[In a hi-tech world] persons
suffer from very
complicated diseases involving deep psychological
and
social problems. To understand how a disease
begins and
progresses, it is necessary to understand [1]
the nature
of the substance, [2] the behavior of the afflicted
person, and [3] the characteristics of the society
or
culture in which s/he lives. (111 15)
[This] information, sensibly
acted upon can go a long
way towards helping everyone develop his or
her best
self. (111 17)
Thus we again come to the
challenge of organization
structure - specifically of the organized self.
But what if we cannot find
like-people who want to,
and will to strive, and to push their selves into growth
situations? Answer - we continue to look! We
continue to
piece together a set of relationships which will provide
what no one person can. That set of relationships requires
honesty (intimacy).
Honesty.
Honesty has a frankness to
it. Honest people work to
be open and genuine. Honesty is free of
judgement and
blame. It may hold guilt but no shame.
It is about
facts - personal facts. (152 99)
But these facts must be reconciled
by relating with
others - sometimes dishonest others. If others reciprocate
with honesty, that honest performance creates trust -
including trust in self.
Honesty creates trust
and trust creates safety.
Recovery [from addiction] is dependent on safety.
To
grow, we need a safe environment for the Self.
(152 89)
There's a selectiveness about
honesty, and this takes
time to develop. Honesty is about sharing
ourselves with
others, but we would be foolish to do this with
some
people. (152 100)
Addiction
Theory W a257
Sounds like damned if you
don't and damned if you do -
so what's the use? Answer - we continue to select (choose)
others with whom we want and will to be honest! We
take the
risk and learn to build success from the "failures."
Many of us have not come from
a youth which has
provided true relationship experiences. Thus we have
not
built successes from the normal failures of people
relationships. And as a result we may slip into addictive
situations.
The escape from unhealthy
addiction comes through
healthy people relationships - they are absolutely necessary
for a meaningful strategy-oriented organized life.
Thus if
one needs relationships with people, one seemingly must
build honest people relationships.
Recovering addicts must
dedicate themselves to
learning how to get their love, trust, and emotional
need
met through healthy relationships with other
people and
their own spirituality. (152 101)
Healthy relationships need
confrontation (challenge),
discovery of another's ideas, and resolution resulting in
renewed relationship - the risk being a truncated
relationship. We must be able to succeed in these normal
people-failures.66
Unhealthy rules/roles.
In the addictive environment,
unhealthy "rules and roles are an attempt to bring order
and
stability to an increasingly chaotic and unstable situation.
Addiction
Theory W a258
(153 15)"
The unhealthy rules to be
discovered by the addicted
individual (either for their own organization or for any
larger organization) are rigidity, silence, denial, and
isolation.
Rigidity "cannot adapt to
change easily, nor does it
willingly allow...members to change. (153 17)"
Silence "cannot talk about
what is happening...
(153 18)" Denial tells us "to pretend that nothing is wrong
- to pretend to be normal. (153 20)"
Isolation promotes that "the
members cling emotionally
to each other, but never become intimate. (153 22)" And what
is intimacy? Certainly not physical sex in the above
context - but not entirely clear due to the rule of
silence.67
To become more healthy we
need to become less rigid,
less silent, deny less, and move against isolation.
These
actions amount to more relatedness.
Why do we put up with chaotic
and unstable situations?
____________________
66Relationship with objects
(unhealthy addiction),
offers seeming non-failure by avoiding people relationships
- doing things alone rather than together. That is
a fatal
fault in light of the statistically significant research
by
Alderfer.
67 Intimacy along with physical
sex defines human
sexuality according to the Beginning Experience facilitator
training. Intimacy differs from physical sex.
Addiction
Theory W a259
Why do we attempt to correct instability? Answer -
the
future situation may be more enjoyable by virtue of a higher
degree of order. Yet the healthy individual needs to
have
their growth facilitated. A higher degree of growth
for any
organization can be seen as admirable - from the
organization of a single individual to organizations with
groups of individuals. That higher degree of health
even
transcends to impact on national productivity and the
national trade deficit.
Transition to general addiction.
The Family
Addictions Genogram describes "addiction as an unhealthy
relationship with a mood altering substance or experience
that is characterized by compulsion, loss of control, and
continuation despite adverse consequences. (154 1)"
Seventeen addictions are identified - alcohol, caffeine,
cleanliness, drugs, eating, exercise, gambling, hoarding,
overweight, masturbation, religiosity, sex, shoplifting,
spending, tobacco, underweight, and workahol.
Data accumulated from
ten years of research have shown
that people who use available street drugs to
`handle' or
`get through' problems of anxiety, depression,
loneliness, and boredom do indeed get some benefits
from
these drugs. (111 19)
At the existence level of
self organization, drug use
(or other diversion) provides quick and easy attraction.
Meditation, biofeedback, new interests, and vigorous
physical exercise (111 78) are offered as existence level
Addiction
Theory W a260
alternates - but those tasks avoid the why strategy of the
self life, that of relatedness and growth leading to a
feeling of joy. Simple? Nope, but it's better
in the
long-term than dope or the other addictions.
Recovery from ill-health.
Kritsberg (1985) uses the
Family Integration System (153 91) as a model of recovery
from unhealthy addiction. The principles are (1) daily
awareness, (2) relationship connections, (3) information
from other individuals, (4) myth awareness, (5) a personal
strategy, (6) awareness of the loving inner child, (7)
affirmation which challenges "us to imagine how much of our
own reality we create by how we think and speak (153 141)",
(8) recognition of a higher-power spirit (153 151), and
integration which "records the triumphs and insights that
are a testament to the recovery process. (153 153)" Writing
assists this integration and internalization, thus writing
can be a tool of recovery.
Model measurement ranges
from plus ten for a highly
functional system, to minus ten for a severely dysfunctional
system in terms of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
(153 14). The table below provides insight into the
scale
of measurement.
Addiction
Theory W a261
Table E38 - Limits of the family system measurement
____________________________________________________________
Positive attributes
Negative attributes
_________________________ ___________________________
wholeness
fragmented
continual change
resistance
conflict allowed/resolved conflict denied/ignored
permission to deviate
never free to leave
sense of self
unclear personal boundaries
sense of humor
very serious
outsiders coming in
resisting outsider entrance
no secrets
secrets
no rigid rules/roles
rigid rules/roles
____________________________________________________________
Note: (153 30).
Conclusion. Preocupation
versus awareness of life
around us, breeds physical/emotional68 abandonment, thus
we choose and cause the above negative dysfunctional
attributes. Vital life enjoyable energies are lost
and
wasted. "Fear...energy is diverted into hurt and anger.
(153 35)" The hurts are loneliness and sadness (153 36).
Anger "is controlled, repressed, and transformed into
resentment because the...family is not generally a safe
place to show anger. (153 35)"
The alternative to these ill
feelings are good
feelings of joy, love, and freedom by choosing to facilitate
healthy life relationships around us. Scholarly writing
can
____________________
68 The emotion (feelings)
continuums are joy-sorrow,
love-hate, and fear.
Addiction
Theory W a262
help support the facilitation of good feelings.
Positive activities
Within a healthy relationship
there is active support
for the other person. Each person will
work at helping
the other get what he or she needs and wants
out of life.
(152 103)
Is this not convenience?
Yes it is! But with one
important difference - it is accomplished cooperatively for
mutual benefit. That is the simple goal of all
organizations - cooperation. Thus the universal human
need
of relatedness comes to be fulfilled through cooperation.
Then, with relatedness fulfilled, growth can begin again
and
again. The `again and again' reflects the normal `failures'
of our individual lives.
Postscript. The Kritsberg
(1985) model fits within a
bigger picture - and not just a personal picture. Addictive
or co-dependence syndrome characteristics need be mirrored
to orient for a bigger picture - the negative terms of the
previous table can be turned into the positive terms of a
following table. Then the Theory W organization model
can
be linked to the positive terms - see following chapter.
Addiction
Theory W a263
Table E39 - Syndrome characteristics by group
____________________________________________________________
Emotional Mental
Physical Behavioral
__________ ______________ _______________ __________________
fear thinking in
tense shoulders crisis-oriented
anger
absolutes lower back pain
living
hurt lack of
sexual manipulative
resentment information
dysfunction
behavior
distrust compulsive gastro
intimacy problems
loneliness thinking
-intestinal unable to have fun
sadness indecision
disorders tries to fit in
shame learning
stress-related complusive
guilt disabilities
behaviorsa -addictive
numbness confusion
allergies
disorders
hypervigilance
____________________________________________________________
Note: Adult children of alcoholics syndrome (153 39).
a Stress bibliography probably
from 1984 -
W.E.Oates (1978) "Workaholics,
make laziness work for
you."
Garden City NY: Doubleday. Lima158o. 1bib.
Harper & Row (1976) "Positive
Addiction." New
York: Author.
p.92ff. 2bib.
J.A.Sommer (1979) "9 Keys
to Mental Health."
LIGUORIAN.
Liguori MO: Liguori Publications.
3bib.
N.J.Muckerman (September 1984)
"Among Ourselves."
LIGUORIAN.
Liguori MO: Liguori Publications.
Inside front
cover. 4bib.
A.M.Buono (September 1984)
"John Paul II and the
gospel of
work." LIGUORIAN. Liguori MO: Liguori
Publications.
pp.2-4. 5bib.
M.J.Culligan & K.Sedlacek
(1976) "How to kill stress
before it
kills you." New York: Grosset & Dunlap.
Lima159.3c.
6bib.
M.Machlowitz (1980) "Workaholics."
Reading
MS: Addison
Wesley. 7bib.
W.E.Kraft (1974) "A Psychology
of Nothingness."
Philadelphia
PA: Westminster Press. Lima131.33k.
8bib.
R.May (1975) "The courage
to create." New
York: Norton.
Lima155m. 9bib.
F.Herzberg (1962) "Work and
the nature of man." New
York : World
Publishing. Lima158.7h. 10bib.
W.Glasser (1976) "Positive
Addiction." New
York: Harper
& Row. Lima158.1g. 11bib.
Addiction
Theory W a264
R.L.Veninga & J.P.Spradley
(1981) "The work stress
connection:
How to cope with job burnout." Boston
MS: Little,
Brown. Lima158.7v. 12bib.
D.H.Bell (1982) "Being a man:
The paradox of
masculinity."
Lexington MS: Lewis. Lima305.3b.
13bib.
Table E40 - Positive non-syndrome characteristics by group
____________________________________________________________
Emotional Mental
Physical Behavioral
_________ _______________ _______________ __________________
freedom contemplative exercise
practice strategy
love
thinking
joy critical
respect other's
thinking
choice
the
mind thinks balance diet practice intimacy
24 hrs/day
choose fun actions
simply
choose
appreciate your
practice
skills recognize good attractivenesses
proact
to aim
stress schedule steps
and objectives balance
not deadlines
react
to others activities
____________________________________________________________
Note: Positive side of the negative table above.
Interesting questions.
An education series on
Co-Dependency conducted by McKechnie poses questions for
potential addiction (154). These are good seminar marketing
tools - most people can personally identify with them.
Overextend yourself?
Tend to be a perfectionist?
Must you be running things?
Excessive need for approval?
Second-guess your decisions?
More concern for others than yourself?
Overeating? Overspending? Overworking?
When will the bottom fall out of good times?
Is life very serious? Relaxation hard? Having
fun?
Insomnia? Colitis? Asthma? Skin allergies? Back
aches?
Adjectives for Co-Dependency.
Notes to describe an
Addiction
Theory W a265
addict taken from a February 1990 Menninger workshop (154)
-
immature, stuck, reactive, emotionally charged, out of
control, indirect communication, victimized, powerless,
enmeshed, cutoff, no sense of self, rigid, inconsistency,
polarized, emotional roller coaster, blamers, being a
victim.
In Beattie's bestseller personal
case study (241), she
opens with -
It is not easy to find
happiness in ourselves, and it
is not possible to find it elsewhere.
(Agnes Repplier,
"The treasure chest")
Then Beattie provides what
seems to be the crux of her
case -
Needing people too much
can cause problems. Other
people become the key to our happiness.
I believe much
of the other-centeredness, orbiting our lives
around
other people, goes hand in hand with codependency
and
springs out of our emotional insecurity.
I believe much
of this incessant approval seeking we indulge
in also
comes from insecurity. The magic is in
others, not us,
we believe. The good feelings are in them,
not us. The
less good stuff we find in ourselves, the more
we seek in
others. They have it all; we have nothing.
Our
existence is not important. We have been
abandoned and
neglected so often that we also abandon ourselves.
(241 91)
Co-dependency dynamics (154).
Denial causes low
self-esteem. Everything's not okay, but minimize the
feeling. Normalizing builds up tolerance for inappropriate
behavior. Role reversal blurs performance boundaries.
Isolation and secrecy perpetuates my wrongness. Enabling
takes care of others as a substitute for caring for self.
Addiction
Theory W a266
Overfunctioning and underfunctioning take place.
One solution. Then there
came a book on codependency
which offered a series of exercises (246). I did those
exercises and hope to package the results for use of those
who could become closer to me. The exercise not only
studies themselves but compares their results to mine.
Thus
I can communicate myself to them and see their comparison
to
me. (Sounds like a psychologically complex togetherness
activity.)
Well-stress or eustress.
Anxiety comes from our inability
to organize actions
to actualization. Stress underlies action as well as
anxiety. The stressors producing stress are (1) physical
appearance and well-being, (2) social situations and
interpersonal relationships, (3) school or job, and (4) the
family (111 29). Stress "not only can be positive but
it
can actually be curative. This type of stress, known
as
`eustress,' serves as a stimulus to action, and without it
little would get done in the world. (111 21)" Theory W
renames eustress as well-stress.
Well-stress is the circular
plate of the self with
feelings poles of love-hate, joy-sorrow, and fear.
Fear is
a string around the edge of the plate. When tightened,
the
string will reduce the plate area. The self's point
of
choice to action moves on that plate.
Addiction
Theory W a267
A checklist of well-stress
items: hair, smell,
clothes, jewelry, physical health, relatedness, and job
tasks within organizations.
In action terms, the well-stress
items become:
maintain hair, maintain body, maintain clothes, maintain
jewelry, maintain mind, maintain relatedness, organize
job(s) tasks, actualize job(s) tasks.
When tracking individual time,
the evidential format
is unique with each individual. An example:
Table E41 - Personal list of eustressors
_____________________________________________________________
Well-stress activities
Week days Weeks
________________________________________ _____________ ______
Verb Descriptor
Noun Act u m t w r f a 100908
__________ _____________ ___________ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _
balance self
activity 21 11127
9285
improve literacy(cwc) techniques
22
develop job
scope 23 3
9 12
serve rtn/bm/att
committee 24
11
write Benedictine
syllabi 25
write
dissertation 26 1 1 2
5 1
publish facilitation article
27
1
prep
lessons 28 9
15
facilitate classtime learning
29
1313
maintain personal
assets 30 1
3 3
facilitate officetime learning
31
1517
encode relatedness activities
32 9 1 1 1423
supervise KAS58
workstudys 33
1 3
explore chronicle
market 36
_____________________________________________________________
Note: Personal log (todo.ttw).
So much for the well-stress activities view.
Let's turn
to the inactivity of the addictive personality.
Addiction
Theory W a268
Addict inactivity. Stereotypes abound -
They are less likely
to accept traditional social
values and feel little remorse for not doing
so. They
are also people who tend to do things on the
spur of the
moment and are frustrated when they cannot immediately
get what they want. Upon making mistakes,
they are often
unable to change their behavior so as to avoid
repeating
the mistake. (114 61)
Other people with an unconventional
attitude toward
life... (114 63)
Bold and aggressive `reward
seekers.' One of their
primary concerns is to seek out and enjoy the
pleasures
of life. They thrive on excitement.
(114 64)
Drawn to excitement and new
sources of stimulation.
They like wild, exciting experiences - even
ones that are
frightening, illegal, or socially unacceptable.
They are
initially sociable and likable but tend to have
difficulty establishing enduring, committed
relationships. (114 64)
One person might typically
have little energy, find
little enjoyment in the ordinary pleasures of
life, and
feel sad and pessimistic. Such an individual
is said to
be depressed. Another person might typically
have great
sources of energy, be involved in a variety
of activities
that he or she enjoys pursuing, and feel happy
and
optimistic much of the time; if these reactions
are
intense enough, the person is said to be manic.
(114 65)
The locus of control is said
to be external if someone
feels that forces beyond his or her control
- such as
luck, fate, other people, or God - determine
what
happens. Internally controlled people
are likely to take
action to manage their lives, whereas externally
controlled people are likely to sit and wait
for things
to happen. People who are extremely internally
controlled would probably be too hard on themselves,
always blaming themselves for things that go
wrong even
when they are not really responsible.
(114 68)
The pre-addictive personality
characteristics...tend
to be independent and gregarious. However,
such people
have great difficulty forming meaningful, intimate
relationships with others. They do things
implusively,
are unable to tolerate frustration, reject the
traditional values of society, and are unable
to
sacrifice immediate gratification in the interest
of
working toward long-range goals. (114
83)
Addiction
Theory W a269
Works cited
111 T.McLellan, A.Bragg & J.Cacciola (1986) "Escape from
anxiety & stress." The encyclopedia
of psychoactive
drugs. New York: Chelsea House.
114 W.M.Cox (1986) "The addictive personality." The
encyclopedia of psychoactive drugs.
New York: Chelsea
House.
152 C.Nakken (1988) The addictive personality: Roots,
rituals, and recovery. U.S.
: Hazelden.
153 W.Kritsberg (1985) The adult children of alcoholics
syndrome: A step-by-step guide to discovery
and
recovery. New York: Bantam.
154 Atchison Youth Center (1990) File of various materials
on addiction. Atchison KS: Author.
File materials
identified in the text as to specific
author and
circumstances of publication.
