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This reminds me of an article I read which said that 95% of the soldiers in Vietnam who had become addicted to heroin simply stopped when they came back to Amer

by bjterry 10y ago

This reminds me of an article I read which said that 95% of the soldiers in Vietnam who had become addicted to heroin simply stopped when they came back to America. 1: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-...

Broken_Hippo 10y ago
I have read about this a few times. I think the main difference is in what the folks are changing: They are changing habits and lifestyle - their input - rather than changing their base personality - their output. Naturally with different input they act differently: Same for dropping a drug that affects the way you act. And I do somewhat understand - I changed a lot of things when I moved overseas. I likely seem different: But I'm also happier and have a different knowledge base than I did a few years ago. People's expectations of me changed as well: As soon as people realize I'm not Norwegian (the English accent gives me away), it is OK if I break some social norms - those things that I had trouble grasping anyway.
- johnchristopher 10y ago
  We are, if anything, creatures of habit. Drawn to the safety and the comfort of the similar.
  - Nomentatus 10y ago
    Meditation is one good way to break this. Rubbing your nose endlessly in your own thoughtless patterns can be bloody embarrassing. Certainly life-changing.
- Nomentatus 10y ago
  I was thinking just this, too; and then fipped my opinion a few seconds ago. What I was thinking at first was "I just changed my tactics, that's all." But of course, that's what others see as our personality; our tactics. Not just our typical tactics, that is; but also what we revert to when pressed. I think I changed both, so I'm not who I was. I seem the same to me, of course... but so what. I still feeling twenty inside sometimes, or younger but that doesn't mean I am - I certainly ain't.
huxley 10y ago
I get a bit antsy when I see big unexpected flips in numbers like that and think Johann Hari oversimplifies the case. That was the initial study, a followup with 943 Vietnam vets by the original researcher Lee Robins found that: "In the 8- to 12-month period since their return, about 10% had some experience with opiates, but less than 1% had shown signs of opiate dependence. In the “drug positive” sample, three-quarters felt they had been addicted to narcotics in Vietnam. After return, one-third had some experience with opiates, but only 7% showed signs of dependence. Rather than giving up drugs altogether, many had shifted from heroin to amphetamines or barbiturates. Nevertheless, almost none expressed a desire for treatment." [1] So the point still stands that environmental factors affect patterns of drug abuse, but it is complicated by two things, the numbers are less dramatic than "95% simply stopped" and also would raise one concern that addiction was clinically tested on return but was self-reported in the interviews. https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/99/4/235/138453/DRUG-USE-BY-U-S-ARMY-ENLISTED-MEN-IN-VIETNAM-A https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/99/4/235/13845...

by bjterry 10y ago

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

I have read about this a few times. I think the main difference is in what the folks are changing: They are changing habits and lifestyle - their input - rather than changing their base personality - their output. Naturally with different input they act differently: Same for dropping a drug that affects the way you act. And I do somewhat understand - I changed a lot of things when I moved overseas. I likely seem different: But I'm also happier and have a different knowledge base than I did a few years ago. People's expectations of me changed as well: As soon as people realize I'm not Norwegian (the English accent gives me away), it is OK if I break some social norms - those things that I had trouble grasping anyway.

johnchristopher 10y ago
We are, if anything, creatures of habit. Drawn to the safety and the comfort of the similar.
- Nomentatus 10y ago
  Meditation is one good way to break this. Rubbing your nose endlessly in your own thoughtless patterns can be bloody embarrassing. Certainly life-changing.
Nomentatus 10y ago
I was thinking just this, too; and then fipped my opinion a few seconds ago. What I was thinking at first was "I just changed my tactics, that's all." But of course, that's what others see as our personality; our tactics. Not just our typical tactics, that is; but also what we revert to when pressed. I think I changed both, so I'm not who I was. I seem the same to me, of course... but so what. I still feeling twenty inside sometimes, or younger but that doesn't mean I am - I certainly ain't.

huxley 10y ago

I get a bit antsy when I see big unexpected flips in numbers like that and think Johann Hari oversimplifies the case. That was the initial study, a followup with 943 Vietnam vets by the original researcher Lee Robins found that: "In the 8- to 12-month period since their return, about 10% had some experience with opiates, but less than 1% had shown signs of opiate dependence. In the “drug positive” sample, three-quarters felt they had been addicted to narcotics in Vietnam. After return, one-third had some experience with opiates, but only 7% showed signs of dependence. Rather than giving up drugs altogether, many had shifted from heroin to amphetamines or barbiturates. Nevertheless, almost none expressed a desire for treatment." [1] So the point still stands that environmental factors affect patterns of drug abuse, but it is complicated by two things, the numbers are less dramatic than "95% simply stopped" and also would raise one concern that addiction was clinically tested on return but was self-reported in the interviews. https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/99/4/235/138453/DRUG-USE-BY-U-S-ARMY-ENLISTED-MEN-IN-VIETNAM-A https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/99/4/235/13845...