The Lesser Spotted Addict - Paperback

by Daniel Groenewald (Author)

Humans have consumed alcohol and cannabis for millennia, but not until the publication of Anthony Benezet's Mighty Destroyer Displayed in 1774 did the idea that alcoholism was an addiction surface. Ten years later Dr. Benjamin Rush argued that alcoholism is a disease, and this theory survived until the present day. Alcoholism remained the only recognized addiction for 170 years. In 1935 the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous proposed that alcoholics are powerless over alcohol and need to rely on a higher power to overcome. The principles of AA were thereafter adopted by many organizations which led to addiction becoming a condition recognized beyond alcoholism-Narcotics Anonymous (1953), Gamblers Anonymous (1958), Food Addicts Anonymous (1960), Debtors Anonymous (1968), Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (1976), Co-Dependents Anonymous (1986), and many more. The Lesser Spotted Addicts refutes that addiction is a disease; that victims are powerless over it, and that they require a higher power to overcome. It shows that the strength to overcome addiction comes from within and that each individual possesses this strength. This empowering guide contains ground-breaking principles to draw on this strength. It deals not only with recognized addictions such as substances, overeating, and toxic or unfulfilled relationships, but also with addictions to emotions which include hate, anger, neediness, revenge, un-forgiveness and jealousy. By ignoring frequency and quantity this book redefines addiction as any repetitive behavior that causes harm to oneself or others. It offers a new path from the traditional doctrine that labels addicts for life and requires complete abstinence from their vice. For seventy-five years the false belief that addicts are powerless has led to countless individuals being disempowered, and for more than two hundred years the unproven theory that addiction is a disease has provided a scapegoat for addicts to justify their hurtful acts. This guide reveals that these notions not only disempower addicts, but also urges all to recognize any repetitive behavior or emotion that causes harm to others or oneself. This easy to read book provides a step by step account on how to overcome addiction and grow spiritually and emotionally as a result.

Author Biography

By mid-1990 Daniel Groenewald's cocaine addiction was destroying his life. He sought help at a rehab centre that told him he had one of three choices: incarceration, rehabilitation, or death. Defiant of any of these being inevitable he decided to overcome cocaine by his own willpower-and he did. But many other addictions continued to plague him. A decade later he attended an AA meeting for the first time. The creed that addicts are powerless over addiction went grossly against his grain; after all he had beaten cocaine. But he realized that quitting cocaine had not cured his addictive personality. Later that night he wrote the Articles of Association for Alternative Addicts. And so began a journey of empowerment that led to overcoming, not only addictions to substances and vices like gambling, but also to toxic relationships, and most of all to negative emotions such as revenge, hate, and anger. This led to a life of contentment, joy, peace, and ultimately love.