Two: One Destined to Addiction the Other to be Free

People abusing substances and the great harm this creates is a profound global problem.  The topic generates books, newspaper articles, untold number of research projects mostly in search of a biological cause and cure as well local and international conferences.  In spite of all this activity, the problem persists.  In fact it is exponentially growing.  At best, desperate firefighting briefly puts out the flames of supply and overdose deaths only to have a new blaze start-up again in the same or different location.

The problem of substance abuse persists because there is no coherent synthesis of the various conceptual models that can explain what is causing it and, based on the explanation, how to prevent it from happening in the first place.  Of course without an integrated conceptual model we continue to struggle with the job of controlling what already exists.

Until now.

Polgar has written a trilogy about addiction which has become four books.  His conceptual model is psychosocial and is based on comprehensive synthesis of various conceptual models.  As is invariably the outcome of such efforts he has achieved conceptual clarity about the problem including how it can be prevented and what people who have it need to do to achieve and maintain abstinence.

In the first book TWO, Polgar illustrates how an addict is created and how it can be avoided.  Both are a function of environmental factors.  He makes the point that all addicts become addicted and that even non-addicts can become addicted also because of environmental factors.  While the distinction may be subtle, it is a significant one mostly overlooked.

In the second book Freedom, Polgar illustrates that getting and staying abstinent is not at all easy.  But it can be done.  The doing requires a guided journey through several challenging mazes, the end result of which is knowing what has to be done, and most importantly why.

The third book is about the nasty dancing, many who are recently abstinent, end up doing with biological psychiatry.  When previously intoxicant suppressed negative emotions come to the surface in desperation, especially addicts,succumb to the lure of a quick and easy fix with a prescription drug.  There is no quick easy fix and the guest for one comes at a price.  Through the voice of the protagonist Sally, Polgar empowers the uninformed to seek information and to do the work that leads to a life of purpose and meaning.

The fourth book takes a wide lens look at the human malaise.  Polgar uses the creation and subsequent troublesome lives of addicts as an example of what happens to most of the seven and half billion who inhabit the world.  Through the voice of Sally he explores the parable of the prodigal son, focusing on how we squander the gift of developmental potential as the son squandered his father's gift of wealth. Persistent tribalism and how to leave it behind is the theme throughout the fourth book.

The number of addicts who become addicted is exponentially increasing.This is a global problem that requires an explanation on which relativeprevention and intervention strategies can be based. TWO, the first book in a trilogy about addiction, accomplishes this by providing anevidence-based psychosocial explanation of how addicts are created andhow this can be avoided.