Garrett Irwin > Recent Status Updates

Discussing with Craig L. Bloomberg
- talked about reliability of Gospels, differences between Synoptic and not, the dating of when they were written (30 year maximum, 2-5 for resurrection), aligned with Paul’s writings in jail (Acts/Luke)

James Dixon Case
Thought he had all the evidence pointing toward guilty, but when he changed his perspective when giving other valid information, he saw the other side of James being innocent. Asks us to do the same with the “case” for Jesus.

Conclusion (Cont.)
Here we are at the end, but it could just be the beginning of a new way of approaching the hyper-medicated, overstimulated, pleasure-saturated world of today. Practice the lessons of the balance, so that you can look back at the light of your progress.

Conclusion (Cont.)
I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life you have been given. Stop running from whatever you are facing, and then I dare you to run towards it. The world may reveal something to you.
“Recovery is like that scene from Harry Potter when Dumbledore walks down a dark alley lighting lamps along the way. Once he gets to the end he turns around and sees all the progress he made.

Conclusion
We all want a break from the tough standards we put on ourselves, so we are drawn to the pleasures of the world. The so very many of them. But instead of seeking oblivion by escaping from the world, we run towards it.
Story of Muhammad, addicted to cannabis. Went on a hike and was being overwhelmed by thoughts of previous use. Then found a love for photography in nature.

Destructive sham- Relapsing, shame, lying, back to using
Pro-social shame- Relapsing, shame, radical truth, acceptance and escaping
Example of Lori and her “expected” shame she would receive for her church led her to never brining it up even when in medicine addictions. She was using destructive shame and never wanted to tell the church. AA is an example of prosocial shame, where they accept who they are

Radical Honesty (Cont.)
Being Radically honest leads to three things
1. Awareness
2. Intimate human connection
3. Creates Accountability
“The antidote to the false self is the authentic self. Radical honesty is a way to get there.”

Radical Honesty- Chapter 8
Maria grew up with alcohol addiction in here house. Learned to hide it and lie about what was going on at home. Ended up doing the same when she became an addict in her early 20s. She started lying about random things, not even related to her addiction, and sometimes didn’t make sense. Lied about where she was, why she came home late, what she had for lunch.

Micheal was addicted cocaine and alcohol. Decided to stop for marriage, found that he had no emotions when he stopped. Decided to start taking cold showers and ice baths, which then he felt really good after.
- The idea of pressing in on the pain side, to feel the pleasurable side. (Working out, cold baths, fasting)
“Just as pain is the price we pay for pleasure, so too is pleasure our reward for pain.”

3.) Categorial Self-Binding
All the kinds of diet. Limit the problem, but just enough to keep one thing. Can be used in a positive way. Jasmine who drank 10 beers a day, limited all alcohol (physical binding) in house, but kept one in fridge. Helped her to think of just not drinking this one single beer, instead of all the alcohol in her house.
“Binding ourselves is a way to be free.”

2.) Chronological Self-Binding
The act of trying to impose time limits. I will only smoke once, then only on weekends, then only on days I have classes, then only on days I don’t have exams, then only before 9am. Once we partake in our drug of choice, we aren’t ruled by time, but by our pleasure pain balance.
-less work means more leisure activity time

3 Types of Self Binding
1.) Physical Self- Binding- Create a physical barrier for drug of use. Ex, lockbox for pain pills, locked cabinets for alcohol, get rid of Kindle and made it to where you had to go to bookstore/library

D- Date
O- Objectives
P- Problems
A- Abstinence
M- Mindfulness
I- Insight
N- Next Steps
E- Experiment

Chapter 2 (Cont.)
- 34% of Americans feel pain often/very often, the most of any country.
Stimulants doubled in children from 2006-2016, nearly 2/3 of American children were giving medicine for ADD symptoms.
Adults are taking more opioids, which have killed more than guns/cars in the year 2012.
“The reason we’re all miserable may be because we are working so hard to avoid being miserable.”

Chapter 2 (Cont.)
- Are we striving too much for a pain free world? Kids currently receive stars every week in grade school, but then become anxious and depressed when getting into the real world. Should we allow kids to feel some pain and go through some difficulty in safe ways? Doctors in 1900s believed some levels of pain were beneficial.
- 50% increase in new depression cases from 1990-2017

Chapter 2
- David Story, began taking adderal and anxiety medicine. Ends up getting addicted and taking 3 types of medications every single day. Becomes suicidal, wife gets pregnant and he realizes he needs change. Takes two weeks in a psych ward and turns around

Jacob is caught by wife who leaves him. As other people control the electricity in chat rooms. “It is never as good as I Imagine. The reality is always less. I tell myself never again and destroy my machine. But at 4am the next morning I am rebuilding it. I want to stop. I want to. I don’t want to die an addict.”

Detective story about older brother seeing Japenese cartoon sex drawings and doing them on younger brother.
- “The internet promotes compulsive overconsumption not merely by providing increased access to drugs old and new, but also by suggesting behaviors that otherwise may never have occurred to us”

Chapter 1 (Cont.)
- Patient Chi was addicted to the process of ordering and receiving items online. Amazon worsened it, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in debt and returning cheap items the second he received them, because he didn’t even care what he bought
-Jacob’s story. Wife dies, he remarries and moves to Seattle. Uses electricity to pleasure himself and post videos online of masturbation

Chapter 1 (Cont.)
An attempt to find less addictive opioid painkillers to replace morphine, chemists found a new compound, Heroin. Named after the German word for courageous, Heroisch, turned out to be 2-5x more potent than morphine.
-Today’s cannabis is 5-10x more potent than the 1960s version, and our food has become filled with artificial flavors.
-Patient Max used timeline to explain drug use. 14 types

Chapter 1
Addiction- The continued and compulsive consumption of a substance or behavior despite its harm to self and/or others.
Jacob’s story about masturbation machine he built, figured it would go away. Comes back when moves to Western Europe. Indulges in porn and more technology online, thinks about ending his life.
The more something is available, the more common an addiction is to follow.