tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post8517328743935250907..comments2024-03-29T04:06:37.402-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Philip Seymour Hoffman: the Death of a GeniusStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-72542400375614237282014-02-05T15:04:03.288-08:002014-02-05T15:04:03.288-08:00I thought this was an interesting article. I'l...I thought this was an interesting article. I'll take aerobic exercise for my endorphins, but its scary to imagine what its like when you just can't feel good no matter what you do. I hope science can keep learning, with so many "uncontrolled experiments" in play.<br />http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116456/philip-seymour-hoffman-saved-drug-replacement-therapy<br /><br />The brain’s own opioid system (e.g., endorphins) becomes suppressed by the high concentrations of opioids used by addicts, and many people’s brains never recover full function. That means no matter how sober they are, they cannot experience ordinary pleasure, they feel vaguely ill all the time (like a low-grade flu), and they are constantly craving opioids. Which is why long-term opiate-replacement therapy—that is, taking a small amount of an opiate under the supervision of a doctor indefinitely—may be an answer for the most intractable addict or for the recently relapsed addict.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-48430980985877247502014-02-05T04:51:00.725-08:002014-02-05T04:51:00.725-08:00Last I heard he had been going to AA and NA meetin...Last I heard he had been going to AA and NA meetings, but had stopped a week before his death. He was also taking about a dozen prescription drugs.Stuart Schneidermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-30354934180553998712014-02-04T15:12:59.871-08:002014-02-04T15:12:59.871-08:00Hoffman is reportedtohave suffered at thievery lea...Hoffman is reportedtohave suffered at thievery least from depression for which he self medicated. Thereis a better way to treat depression and rather than romanticize ordemonize let's look at why he didn't get effective treatment or whether he even tries psychotherapy.GVAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-17343658398576877332014-02-03T20:03:02.606-08:002014-02-03T20:03:02.606-08:00If Hoffman died "in his greatest role," ...If Hoffman died "in his greatest role," who wrote the script? What a waste.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-91714041738796849732014-02-03T17:49:10.279-08:002014-02-03T17:49:10.279-08:00My brother died 8 years ago, in his 30's, from...My brother died 8 years ago, in his 30's, from Methadone overdose, a drug used to treat heroin addiction, but had also used Meth and anything he could get before he got treatment. He died in bed at a halfway house.<br /><br />He didn't have the success of Hoffman, but did dream of success, listening to the Amway motivational speakers talking about having tears in their eyes writing a million dollar check to help orphans or whatever.<br /><br />A few years before he died he looked back to his lost marriage, when he felt the best, and reflected that he was using the most drugs at that time. He never reflected that his money problems were related to drug usage.<br /><br />I don't know anything about what "addiction" is, but I can see apparently we're not all the same, and experience different sorts of pain, and we all find different coping mechanisms for that pain, and perhaps none of them are all-bad, but if they give relief, they'll be abused eventually if we're not careful.<br /><br />I could see my brother's bad habits clearly - offering to buy him food, and his first choices were cola and Little Debbie snack cakes. His mind was laser-focused on whatever would provide some sort of relief. Illegal drugs were just more expensive.<br /><br />On the other side, he was a people person, and would sit up all night talking to a friend who needed help, and in the end, his heroes were the drug treatment counselors, who had redeemed themselves to help others. I learned a lot at his memorial service, and he affected many people for his generous spirit. <br /><br />I guess one virtue of unavoidable pain inside, is you learn the value of kindness, and just give everything out front, since you never know what tomorrow will bring. I have no evidence I would have been stronger. God just gives us different challenges.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-59850219079740100142014-02-03T15:00:09.462-08:002014-02-03T15:00:09.462-08:00I have never seen any of his movies.I have never seen any of his movies.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-40082806722921404842014-02-03T12:32:48.065-08:002014-02-03T12:32:48.065-08:00Methinks the writers at Esquire and The New Yorker...Methinks the writers at Esquire and The New Yorker are hijacking Hoffman's death in order to showcase their own erudition, the greatness of their own artistic genius. We are to assume it takes one to know one.<br /><br />Lastangonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-12669884795739986682014-02-03T06:35:47.244-08:002014-02-03T06:35:47.244-08:00Having read Theodore Dalrymple's book "Ro...Having read Theodore Dalrymple's book "Romancing Opiates" I think it wise to have an extreme skepticism of claims of "addiction" to heroin. The book is extremely enlightening, and cuts through a lot of the sentimental nonsense that surrounds our ideas about these drugs.Ari Mendelsonhttp://www.politicallyincorrectnovel.comnoreply@blogger.com