Recovery science . . .

So I read this morning that Dr. Phil is going to have a guy on his show today talking about "How to Stay Sober."

The guy, Howard Urschel III, is the author of a new book called Healing the Addicted Brain and is the CEO of a Dallas treatment center called the Urschel Recovery Science Institute. He calls his treatment protocol "Recovery Science"—it apparently (according to a press release for the show) "integrates the latest anti-addiction medications and therapies, combined with unique, individualized psycho-social direction, stress management, coping skills, and even legal guidance."  

I like how Urschel (and by extension McGraw) is bringing attention to the neuroscience of addiction. People don't focus on this enough—the cascade of changes we put our bodies through during repeated exposure to substances. ... I haven't looked at his book yet, but the jacket copy posted on Amazon says it talks about the biological origins and effects of addiction, and offers "tools and strategies designed to overcome the biological factors that cause addictive behavior along with proven treatments and medications."  

Dintcha just know that last part was coming: medications for addiction.  

On the page of his website entitled "Anti-Addiction Treatments," Urschel shills suboxone as "ongoing treatment for opioid addiction." He also promotes time-release Naltrexone; Chantix; and a protocol called Prometa, which apparently consists of one or two GABA-manipulating meds, all of which he says "heal the brain." There are links to each of these drugs' developers/pharma companies.  

Also: he claims to have a 90 percent success rate. I'm not surprised opioid addicts are achieving 90 percent "success" if taking suboxone counts as being "healed."  

When I watch this afternoon, I'll be waiting to see if he talks about how hard it is to GET OFF suboxone. Most people, including some physicians who prescribe the drug, do not understand that suboxone is itself an opioid drug—one that is about 35 times stronger than morphine in its ability to bind to the body's opiate receptors.

A lot of the work Phil McGraw does is helpful. But regarding addiction?—this is the same Dr. Phil who visited Britney Spears in detox as part of a concerted effort to get her and her parents to participate in a taped intervention for his show—a stunt that drew criticism not only from the struggling Spears family but also from mental health professionals, who considered his visit and the statements he issued afterward as a violation of Spears's privacy.

It doesn't surprise me that Dr. Phil is plugging Urschel's book. ... Phil McGraw grew up in north Texas, and this guy?--his treatment center is in, you guessed it: Dallas. "Recovery Science," man. You gotta pay to play. All in the game.