Can Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics Attend Holiday Parties Safely?
09 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Alcohol and Other Drugs, Denial, Family and Friends, Questions & Answers, Recovery, Sober Living Tags: addiction and holidays
Obviously, people in early recovery are more vulnerable than folks who have been clean and sober for several years. Newcomers have not yet replaced their old habits — developed over years of using — with newer, healthier reflexes.There is a real possibility that being in a drinking (and perhaps drugging) environment could massively trigger a desire to use. This is also possible when we are further along in recovery, but by then most people have learned to deal better with situations that might be triggers.
Nonetheless, there is no reason that we can’t attend holiday parties with relative safety, so long as we follow some simple guidelines.
Can Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics
Attend Holiday Parties Safely?
Why Go To Meetings?
28 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in 12 Steps, Alcohol Addiction, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Drug Addiction, Family and Friends, Questions & Answers, Recovery, Sober Living
A Unique Experience
A man can never know what it is like to bear a child. If we can agree on that, then perhaps you’ll be able to follow along with me when I say that no non-addict will ever be able to understand exactly where an addict or alcoholic is coming from.
The experience of addiction is incomprehensible, on a gut level, to anyone who hasn’t been there. I can tell you that withdrawal from heroin, Oxycontin, methadone or other opiates is like the worst case of flu you’ve ever had, multiplied several times, and you still won’t really get it. More“I love smoking pot, but I think I may have a problem. I smoke it every day, and when I can’t get it, I drink…”
04 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in 12 Steps, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Denial, Questions & Answers
Sound familiar? Read on…
What Causes A Person To Become Addicted To A Substance?
24 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Alcohol and Other Drugs, Questions & Answers, Recovery, Treatment
The details vary, but in general:
- The presence of the substance in the brain mimics or alters the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and especially dopamine.
- Physical changes occur in the brain that adapt it to the altered levels of those substances.
- At that point, it is necessary to continue the substance in order to feel normal, even if we do not use enough to get high. Sometimes we reach a point where it is no longer possible to get high.
What is the difference between a therapist and a psychologist?
14 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in Questions & Answers, Treatment Tags: certification, licensing, psychologists, therapists, therapy
A psychologist has a degree in psychology, the study of the mind. Psychologists may or may not be therapists. Those who do therapy are known as Clinical Psychologists. Other psychologists are engaged in research and a variety of other pursuits.
A therapist has special training in ways of helping clients identify and deal with behavioral and emotional issues. More
Shel
Bill
