I feel that any form of so called psychotherapy is strongly contraindicated for addicts. The question Why did you start using narcotics in the first place? should never be asked. It is quite as irrelevant to treatment as it would be to ask a malarial patient why he went to a malarial area.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that exploring the reasons behind addiction is counterproductive to recovery.
William S. Burroughs argues that in the context of addiction, traditional psychotherapy practices may be misguided. He suggests that instead of delving into the past traumas or reasons for drug use, treatment should focus on the immediate needs and solutions for overcoming addiction, similar to not asking a malaria patient why they went to an area with the disease. This perspective prioritizes the recovery process over blame and understanding of initial circumstances.
In practice
During a panel discussion on addiction recovery strategies.
God save the Queen and a fascist regime … a flabby toothless fascism, to be sure. Never go too far in any direction, is the basic law on which Limey-Land is built. The Queen stabilizes the whole sinking shithouse and keeps a small elite of wealth and privilege on top. The English have gone soft in the outhouse. England is like some stricken beast too stupid to know it is dead. Ingloriously foundering in its own waste products, the backlash and bad karma of empire
Like most qualities, cuteness is delineated by what it isn't. Most people aren't cute at all, or if so they quickly outgrow their cuteness ... Elegance, grace, delicacy, beauty, and a lack of self-consciousness: a creature who knows he is cute soon isn't.
There is nothing more provocative than minding your own business.
Gentle reader, the Fountain of Youth is radioactive, and those who imbibe its poisonous heavy waters will suffer the hideous fate of decaying metal. Yet almost without exception, the wretched idiot inhabitants of our benighted planet would gulp down this radioactive excrement if it were offered.
Language is a virus from outer space.
One very important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they know and don’t know they know... Once the breakthrough is made, there is a permanent expansion of awareness. But there is always a reaction of rage, of outrage, at the first breakthrough... So the artist, then, expands awareness. And once the breakthrough is made, this becomes part of the general awareness.
If you consciously let your body take care of you, it will become your greatest ally and trusted partner.
Firmness in the body leads to firmness in the nervous system.
Let's face it, in America today we don't have a health care system, we have a sick care system.
Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits. Similarly, from a healthy person, smiles and happiness shine forth like the rays of the sun.
Each of the substances of a man's diet acts upon his body and changes it in some way and upon these changes his whole life depends.
Thinking of disease constantly will intensify it. Feel always 'I am healthily in body and mind'.
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