using your brain to beat addiction

Billy O’Connor

Professor of Physiology

Graduate Entry Medical School,

University of Limerick.

Ireland.

November 17th 2016

Using

your brain

to beat addictionGetting your message across in addiction therapy

National drug and alcohol awareness week

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Flow

Do more of what you love doing.

‘Maturity is the rediscovery of the seriousness

we had as a child at play.’

Nietzsche

Any activity that creates an ordered sense of

self (e.g. by setting a goal) provides us with

meaning and happiness.

Those individuals who can generate their own

flow experiences will tend to be happier.

After each instance of flow a person is more

than they were the person before. Each new

refinement of a skill enlarges the person and

makes them more unique.

A flow centered culture is anchored in the

timeless present (not the future) and is more

similar to our hunter gatherer past.

The problem of a single-minded, narrow focus of attention

Hint. Ask yourself, am I asking the right question?

?

The problem of a single-minded, narrow focus of attention

Sometimes it is the question that is wrong - not the answer.

The brain is designed for pattern recognition and brands often employ this

fact to reinforce their message.

Can you find the hidden message?

The importance of a broad, sustained attention

?

Sometimes words get in the way of the real message.

Can you find the hidden message?

The importance of a broad, sustained attention

The importance of the story in generating empathy

Stories help us find out what others are most concerned about and figure

out how best to address that.

A man fishing in a river sees a body floating by. He pulls it out, but

then sees another coming downstream and then two more and then

more after that. He calls for help and his caring community does

help. People pull the bodies out but more bodies come floating

downstream faster and faster.

The townspeople organize brigades and develop efficient systems

using a conveyer belt to bring the bodies to a safe spot, and shovels

to dig mass graves.

Finally someone says “You know, maybe we should go upstream

and find out what’s killing these people.

A River Story...

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety

The opposite of addiction is connection.

“Fortune favours the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur.

Read six non-fiction books a year.

Read widely

Education Mind set Skills