This journey to discover the Dark Tower along with Roland is one that has captivated readers for decades and concluded in the final novel of the series, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower in 2004.
The character Odetta Holmes has dissociative identity disorder. Research indicates that approximately 2 percent of people in the world experience dissociative disorders and they are more commonly diagnosed in women.3
One constant of our love for Stephen King stories is the characters that he creates. He is able to deftly describe people so that even if we can’t relate to them, we are able to understand them perfectly. The character Eddie is addicted to heroin in The Drawing of the Three. What is the science behind addiction? The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines addiction as “a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.”4 When we are addicted to something, it changes the physiology in our brains and the way they function. Some people use drugs to feel better while others use them out of curiosity. Depending on the person and their ability to exert self-control, addiction may become inevitable.
To understand more about addiction, we interviewed Andrew Memelink, a substance abuse counselor, about his experiences working in this field.
Addiction changes the physiology of the brain.
Kelly: “A recurring theme in many of Stephen King’s works is addiction. A character in The Drawing of the Three is addicted to heroin and quits cold turkey. What is your experience helping people overcome an addiction? What is the process like?”
Andrew Memelink: “I’ve worked in the field of addiction for fifteen years, fourteen of which have been as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. I’ve run outpatient substance abuse groups, residential treatment groups, been a program director at a treatment center, head counselor at a detox facility, and a counselor at a methadone clinic (MAT).
Process varies greatly but could include drying up or quitting using and detoxing either at a hospital or on their own. The next step is to work on their underlying issues through therapy, treatment, or through AA. They may go to a MAT facility to avoid withdrawal and try to avoid relapse. If they get sober and don’t deal with their underlying issues, that usually ends up with being sober and miserable (dry drunk).”
Meg: “Addiction was primarily considered a moral flaw in the past. Do you think people still view addiction this way and how does that affect their treatment?”
Andrew Memelink: “In the medical community it’s still seen fifty-fifty as a moral flaw versus the disease concept of addiction. The disease concept of addiction is becoming more and more prevalent. In the field of addiction and people working in the addiction field, it’s widely accepted as a disease (disease concept of addiction). In the community and people who don’t appear to understand addiction, the moral flaw concept is very prevalent. I still hear from patients all the time saying ‘my family doesn’t understand, they keep asking me why I can’t just stop.’ The stigma of addiction remains a major barrier in all forms of treatment and recovery in all facets of our society. From a provider standpoint I see the stigma of working with addiction as the primary reason why addiction counselors make a fraction of what mental health therapists earn, why we have to do much more paperwork, and have a much more difficult time receiving funding for our patients to attend treatment or participate in treatment services. In the past two months I have been asked by social workers and chaplains at the hospital I work at to do presentations on addiction and the process of recovery. Fifteen years ago it didn’t appear anyone outside of addiction wanted to hear anything about addicts or how they could help them.”
Meg: “I’m glad to hear that’s changing!”
Drug abuse and addiction cost American society more than $740 billion annually in lost workplace productivity, health care expenses, and crime-related costs.5
Kelly: “What is the difference between the physical need and the mental or emotional desire?”
Andrew Memelink: “The physical part of heroin withdrawal is in the acute stage of withdrawal. More than any other drug, heroin withdrawal is usually the most intense. Common symptoms include full body sweats, frequent vomiting and diarrhea, bone pain (like you got beat up in a gang initiation), and cramping. The mental and emotional side in acute withdrawal is irritation, frustration, depression, and difficulty finding pleasure in anything. Post-acute symptoms are physically minimal but the mental and emotional ones are vast. They include cravings, ongoing difficulty feeling pleasure, struggles dealing with difficult situations, sleep problems, depression, and anxiety. The sleep problems can include very lucid or realistic dreams. It’s not uncommon for people in early recovery to report having used in their dreams and waking up feeling high.”
Kelly: “That’s fascinating! And it must be scary to wake up and believe all the progress you’ve made has been undone.”
Meg: “What advice would you give to someone trying to overcome an addiction?”
Andrew Memelink: “It’s not going to be easy, it will be hardest and the worst at the beginning. It will get better over time; the key is to keep fighting. Deal with your underlying issues so they don’t keep dealing with you. Life can be better than you can imagine at this time.”
Kelly: “Are you familiar with any Stephen King books or movies? Do you have a favorite?
Andrew Memelink: “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (1982) and Different Seasons (1982) were phenomenal in general. Storm of the Century (1999) also was always a favorite of mine.”
Kelly: “Those are all great! Thank you for speaking with us.”
How does heroin affect the body? Heroin binds to and activates specific receptors in the brain called mu-opioid receptors (MORs). They release dopamine and the brain’s reward centers are activated. When heroin enters the brain, it’s converted to morphine and users describe a pleasurable rush feeling. The good feelings are offset by potential complications including sleepiness and slowed breathing, which can lead to possible brain damage and even coma. Prolonged use of heroin can permanently affect the brain. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, “studies have shown some deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which may affect decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations.”6 The process of detoxing from heroin can be quite painful and uncomfortable with symptoms ranging from muscle aches and nausea to shaking and depression. These symptoms tend to be strongest within twenty-four to forty-eight hours after using the drug and can last up to several months.
Drug overdoses have become the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States, killing an average of forty-four thousand people every year.7
Parallel universes are a theme in the Dark Tower series but are they possible? To understand the theory of a multiverse, we first need to understand a bit about the big bang theory. Scientists have studied how after this great explosion universes expanded, then cooled down and galaxies were brought together. In the 1980s, a physicist named Alan Guth introduced the idea of inflation. He suggested that gravity can sometimes act repulsively and it is because of this that the big bang was born. When we look at inflation creating the universe, we can predict what outcome it would have. Guth explains that inflation allows us to understand the uniformity of our universe. The observable universe is very uniform and as it expands, the uniformity would inevitably continue.8