QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
My son is currently in a treatment program - NOT AA! - for BPD involving alcoholism. He and I have both seen many of AA's recovering alcoholics lose their joie de vivre after they stopped drinking, becoming solemn, gloomy ex-drunks -- they quit drinking but they also quit smiling and laughing. Almost not worth it. Is this the price of curing BPD? Including that horrible, PHONY exuberance - they recover sobriety and equilibrium, but not the joy. Can you honestly tell me if your programs do this too?
ANSWER:
Absolutely not. Your son likely needs medications to feel better - it's not just
avoiding alcohol. An individual will go back to drinking unless their underlying symptoms
go away, or are at least treatable in a manner that offers an alternative to drugs and
alcohol.
In "Biological Unhappiness" and this Website I state what my goals are for my patients. While not all individuals choose to
achieve those goals, those who do are not considered by me to be successes until they have
achieved them.
There are three parts to successfully treating the BPD:
1) Control all chronic symptoms - including the other diagnoses from the
screening test
2) Having a formal plan for
dysphoria
3) Retraining the brain
