| Name |
Views and Comments | Date |
| fleming |
Nice site. Thank to work... |
7/2/2006 |
| ken |
perfect site good information, very nice news and etc... tnx |
7/2/2006 |
| ordwine |
perfect site good information, very nice news and etc... tnx |
7/2/2006 |
| whitelaw |
I love this site. Good work... |
6/29/2006 |
| melvin |
Nice site. Thank to work... |
6/24/2006 |
| dan umanoff, m. |
Re: 'Why We Love'
So, one of the most romantic, mysterious, and most sought after feelings, falling in love, is determined to be universal, in-born, genetic, and neurobiological, in other words instinctive, as well as is the pain of rejection and falling out of love. The evolution of this instinct is also conceptualized. Well, this is not a new idea but it's nice that the public has finally been made aware of it. How can this knowledge help us understand ourselves?
One area where this yields a complete paradigm shift and the potential for solving its mysteries and misconceptions is in the field of addictions. I do this in my book, Hypoic's Handbook. The brain machine involved in instinct regulation, reward and reinforcement for instinct use, and there are many instincts and neurotransmitter systems involved here including the reward mechanism in the nucleus accumbens, the dopamine spritzer, is the neurobiological basis of all addictions, both to drugs (endogenous neurotransmitter substitutes) and behaviors (instinct addictions). Yes, there is even an addiction to falling in love and a 12 step program for these addicts. In fact, you name the instinct (behavior) or neurotransmitter substitute (drug) and you will find the corresponding addiction and 12 step program. The list is pretty long. The only thing that differentiates people who get addicted and those that don't is the other evolutionary concept of genetic diversity. Genetic diversity of instinct regulation and reinforcement, a bell curve distribution of genetic activity of the genes that regulate these instincts caused by the existence of different forms of the same regulatory genes, what we call alleles, is the biological basis for who merely enjoys these drugs and behaviors and who gets addicted to them. Low activity alleles cause the addictions, a condition or disease I call HYPOISM, HYPO for low and ISM for the recognition that it is a disease, a disease that causes addictions via a purely neurobiological and genetic basis. That addictions are genetic and thatlow activity genetic alleles are causative is well known and well documented both in humans and lab animals. So, everyone is born with this instinct regulation and reinforcement system but only those born with the requisite low activity genetic alleles of the regulating and reinforcing genes become addicts. The implications of this is that all people enjoy instinctive behaviors and their neurotransmitter substitutes, drugs, but only certain people are capable of getting addicted to them and they do, inexorably. Thus, addictions are not character disorders but genetic neurobiological ones. They are not conscious choices but unconscious inexorabilities, just like falling in love. If one lacks the functional brain mechanism for falling in love one will not fall in love, sort of like Mr. Spock from star trek. Instincts are like this and so are addictions. Addictions require the brain mechanism as well as the requisite genetic alleles. This is Hypoism. And, just like falling in love, addictions happen against one's will. The implications of this addiction theory are enormous. Not only does this theory allow us to understand the biological and evolutionary basis of all addictions but, most critically, it leads to an understanding of how addictions can be prevented and treated. All this is discussed at length in my book. Lastly, this understanding leads to changes in beliefs and negative prejudices about addicts exactly in the same way as we have changed our attitudes about homosexuals once we have realized the biological basis for that behavior. The genetic and neurobiological basis of addictions and its prevention and recovery, non-drug prevention and recovery by the way, Hypoism, is the only way out of the current mess we are having with addictions. So, I suggest you let your readers know about this so hypoics, from 10-20% of the population, can begin to prevent and recover from all their addictions post haste.
"Love is an action not a feeling.
Integrity is an action not a thought.
Anything less is too little." ---
Dan F. Umanoff, M.D.
Author of Hypoic's Handbook - The Hypoism Paradigm of Addiction.
http://www.hypoism.com
President and founder of The National Association for the Advancement
and Advocacy of Addicts, Inc. (N4A), a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization of addicts for addicts offering free educational and legal services to discriminated against and abused addicts of all varieties, "substances" and "behavioral," and their families.
http://www.nvo.com/hypoism/thenationalassociationfortheadvancementandadvocacyofaddicts/
11183 Oakdale Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33437
561-733-2139
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3/8/2004 |
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