Addiction and Recovery Articles

With the costs of private rehab reaching as much as $20 000 per month and more, those people without private health insurance or the means to pay for rehab often wonder what they can do to better painful and crippling addictions to drugs and or alcohol.nnIt's unfortunate that everyone is not in a position to benefit from the high standard of care as is offered at better private rehabs, but as our current health care reality precludes universal access, we are left with few opt

Cough syzurup nnFor some people, getting high is an endless experimental pursuit and in the past few years, the powerful narcotic effect of a certain kind of cough syrup was discovered. Starting in Houston and spreading from there, cough syrup containing Codeine and Promethazine was taken up as the drug of choice in certain hip hop circles - with a special slow paced style of hip hop developing along side it echoing the alleged euphoric effect it has of slowing the world down

There are an estimated 20 million alcoholics in America, and about 6 million people dependent and using pain pills daily. Of course a significant number of these chemically dependent people are using the two togethernnAn addiction to pain pills and alcohol concurrently presents with some significant problems, and as with any addiction, the earlier it's dealt with the better the prognosis and the easier the detox.nnPeople may develop an addiction to alcohol with opiate type pa

Why can’t they just stop drinking or using drugs? Can't they see the damage they're doing to themselves, to their families and to their careers?nnFor those that have never endured addiction or alcoholism, it can be tough to understand how anyone could continue to drug or drink even in the face of mounting adverse consequences. If the answer to the problem is as easy as to just stop doing something harmful, it seems a bit ridiculous that it ever gets so bad!nnAnd the tru

Recovering (addicts/alcoholics) have in my experience, a problem with trust. nFirstly, trust in themselves, and then trust in society because they distrust themselves.nI guide patients with an illustration of paying back a bank loan.nnWhen the bank’s risk manager contacts you about your overdue installments on your car loan you know that this might be the last call from the bank. Should you not make this full payment, the bank would repossess your car.nnWhen a person no lon

When people think of inhalant abuse (sniffing glue, gasoline, turpentine etc.) they generally tend to picture inner city homeless; poor souls already past the hope of help. But the reality of inhalant abuse is far different, and far scarier. 17 million Americans report having used inhalants at least once, and the most common age of experimentation is during late childhood and the early teen years.nn What is inhalant abuse? nnKids sniffing glue, gasoline or other volatile chem

Change Your Self-Image for Greater Success n nOne of the key elements of living beyond recovery is to achieve more success in our life. Whether you focus on your career, your finances, your relationships, or other areas, does not matter. The bottom line is that in order to increase success you must change your self-image.nnLet's face it, out there we had either a very poor self-image or none at all. I remember feeling very insecure. The sense I had of myself was that of a "fr

Although there are several thousand free or almost free drug and alcohol rehabs within the nation, finding them when you need them can be very problematic!nnMost people don’t think much about drug rehab until they need one, and when they do, the challenge of making such an important decision quickly can overwhelm. It's tough for anyone, but at least those people with comprehensive private health insurance have the luxury of choice. For those of us without good insurance

It's a common question many people have. Am I really an addict? (… or How do I know if someone I care about is addicted?) What's the difference between an alcoholic and drug addict? Is there a difference between a cocaine … heroin … or even a marijuana addict?nnA lot of people today drink alcohol and a fair number use drugs. (Does that make them all alcoholics or drug addicts?) Of course not!nnSo how do you know for sure? …nnThe difference between someone who is addic

Yes it is true that there are many offline organizations available to help in recovery, but not everyone who's addicted can get to those organizations. For some people with special needs like the deaf, the visually impaired and blind, the disabled, the homebound and for geographically isolated alcoholics/addicts, "cyberspace" offers all of these the chance of forming a Recovery Community. nnNow all of these don't sound like much when you just read it off in a list like that,

People begin experimenting with drugs for a variety of reasons but why do some get addicted where others do not? Genetics plays a small role but there is also a strong psychiatric aspect of addiction that is extremely powerful.nnOur brains are complex and every thought we have can eventually rule our life. Because we only use about 12% of our brain for our every day thoughts and reasoning, we often forget that the other 88% is available to help guide us.nnIt's very important

We don’t yet truly understand the underlying processes occurring in the mind with addiction, and although we are getting closer to an understanding, things remain murky. One thing we do know with certainty however is that things are not always what they seem, and what seems logical and intuitive is not necessarily what's true or what works.nnMuch of public perceptions about addiction were formed in decades past, when we truly had little understanding over the processes

Fundamentally, it seems ridiculous, when all that's needed is to just stop doing something harmful, why can’t you just do it on your own?nnIt's very hard for anyone who has never been addicted to understand what the problem is, and when we start losing our careers, our families and even our health; why can’t we just stop? nnAnd the truth is, many of us who are addicted don’t have a good answer for this one; we just know that when we try we fail, and we fail

The 'holy grail' … that wonderful magic formula or pill that will simply erase all of our worries and fears … and make the world such a happier place for us all …nnCan you imagine simply taking a pill and having all of your relationship, money, work, personal and spiritual difficulties simply vanishing in an instant? Sheer bliss I tell you.nnOn the face of it – it obviously seems slightly ridiculous (or maybe not if you're an extreme optimist or in serious denial –

This article comes from the experiences I had myself and workshops I have written to assist others in there "struggle with addiction".nnFirst and foremost, what is addiction? It is only the result of abuse. To clarify this, I will break it down step by step.nBefore any person gets to a stage of addiction and starts to seek help, they are happy, content and generally a good person. Then when a discovery has been made and it has been labelled as an addiction, the recovery path

Does anyone say as a child they would like to grow up to be an addict one day? No one wants that type of life but millions of people find themselves struggling with addiction every day.nnIt's a devastating condition that wreaks havoc on families and people from all walks of life. It's not just bums on the street. It's doctors, lawyers, teenagers and soccer moms.nnDrug addiction is at staggering levels and many people struggling with this feel they have no hope of recovery. Mo

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson n nIn the past, many of us were following down a path, that of self-destruction. Before I started my recovery, I was the kind of person who didn't know where to go. I was insecure and lost. So I followed a path, encouraged by other lost souls, who like me were drowning their pain in substance abuse and other addictions. Then, one day I decided to follow another path.

Unless you choose to do great things with it, it makes no difference how much power you have. - Oprah WinfreynnFor the past twenty years, Oprah has been a powerful role model for me. I am not unique; millions of men and women have been greatly inspired by her power and wisdom, her charisma and her ability to stay open and real as her success rose to amazing heights. Here is a woman who, as we know, has grown up in a poor and abusive environment. She made a clear decision that

?The Serenity Prayer: How it Can Help Your Recovery from Addiction God, grant me the serenityr To accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. These days, a lot of people have heard of the Serenity Prayer.

Anyone who has been around 12-Step programs for any length of time has inevitably heard the old saying "Denial is more than a river in Egypt." Indeed, when it comes to addictive behaviors of any sort, denial is definitely a whole lot more than a slogan. It is often the underlying dynamic that keeps an addiction ...

The term "codependency" can mean different things to different people. Over the years, a number of authors have offered a variety of definitions for this difficult dynamic that seems to affect more people than we can imagine. My definition is a very simple one: "codependency" occurs when we put other people's needs ...

Have you ever wondered about the impact of your thoughts? By now, most people have either seen the movie The Secret or have heard about it. By showing a number of different situations and how people respond to them, The Secret teaches that we are creating our lives with every thought we have, every second of the day ...

Most of us are aware that we want to be treated with respect by other people. You probably find yourself becoming upset, angry or hurt when someone acts in a disrespectful way toward you, because it feels as if that person does not value you enough to treat you well. SELF-RESPECT: WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?

In the immortal words of John Lennon, another year is over and a new one's just begun. Isn't it interesting how we, as a society, agree that this is the time to give ourselves and our lives a complete and total new makeover? We have decided that at this time of the year we will revisit the year we're leaving behind ...

I'm not at all shy to admit I was a regular pot smoker for over 7 years of my life. I smoked almost everyday because I enjoyed it. It was something that eased my mind and gave me a sense of relaxation. Over time however, I began to see that everything I thought I enjoyed about it was only an illusion. I was giving my power away to smoking weed. I thought I couldn't be happy, creative, or not stressed out without it. It became my "umbrella" so to speak. My protection and esca

According to Patrick Carnes, there are 11 sexual addiction behavior types. This information is important when when working with sexually addictive or codependents or co-addicts of sex addicts. As you will see, sex addiction comes in many forms and types. Anything from the lone web surfer who spends 5 hours a night looking at pornography, to the patron of a prostitute, to the exhibitionist (man in the raincoat), the voyeur, and others. Sexual Addiction Behavioral Types 1. Fantasy Sex - Sexually charged fantasies, relationships, and situations

Relationships are the heart and soul of our society. If our relationships with others were to disappear, most of us would feel all meaning slipping away from our lives. Our husbands, our wives, our children, our parents and extended family, our co-workers and our friends help to create what we become in life. We are a social species. Relationships unfortunately can falter. And when your relationship with your life partner is faltering, you need to act decisively.

Being married to a functioning alcoholic can cause many problems in a family. Tens of thousands of families in North America alone are struggling with this issue. A drinking problem can begin in many ways. For some people it begins with social drinking. Social drinking can gradually deteriorate into alcohol abuse and eventually into alcohol dependence. The drinking became a habit and the habit became alcohol dependence or alcoholism. It matters not whether the alcohol is in the form of beer, wine or hard liquor. Alcohol is alcohol in any shape or form.

Life is full of events that lead to personal distress. And stress can build upon stress which can lead to marriage problems. If one of you drinks to reduce stress, in time the drinking itself causes stress and becomes a major roadblock to solutions. Quite naturally, you look around to see what’s causing your distress and the only person there is your spouse, so you instinctively blame him or her for upsetting you. Blaming your spouse is a gut reaction that escalates marriage problems, because it generates resentment and alienation. It is the Achilles’ heel of an intimate relationship.r

Will You Use this Key Step to Change your Life? Commitment is one key to losing weight, getting in shape, learning a new skill, finding your soul mate, getting a better job, learning a new language, running a marathon, going back to school, drinking less, spending time with your kids or communicating better with your partner. Commitment gets things going. You may be one of those people who can commit to personal change and follow through just like the women in the weight-loss adds on TV. If so, congratulations! But, for the rest of us, it's not always that easy.

If you live with an alcoholic you will almost certainly feel shame. Some people will experience it to a very high level others less so but almost everyone who lives with an alcoholic experiences it to some degree. You will probably feel anxious that people will discover your secret, that they will judge you and, inevitably, will find you unacceptable to be around decent people. Seeing it written down like that it probably seems stupid. How could anyone feel that.

The Flame of Love Byr Payam Ghassemlou Ph.D. On a daily basis, many of us spend a lot of time thinking about our life challenges. We think about all sorts of difficult situations, like financial problems, and make ourselves believe we can’t handle them. Catastrophic thinking about our lives bombards us with anxiety and contributes to our feeling of insecurity.

What Is Codependencyr Codependency is a learned behavior that refers to an obsessive need for affection, attention and affirmation. It is also known as “relationship addiction” because; this relationship based on emotional dependency is the other side of the coin of emotionally destructive and abusive.r

When you free-associate with the concept of creativity, what arises? Perhaps what you connect to involves turning ideas into reality and plumbing the depths of imagination. Perhaps you think of particular artistic mediums, or of ways of being that entail risk taking, and exploration. For some, creativity is a soulful expression of self in whatever way fully reflects that person’s essence. Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow asked, “The key question isn’t ‘what fosters creativity?’ but it is why in God’s name isn’t everyone creative?

As many people in recovery have probably heard, (and often ignored or debated) it is detrimental to early recovery to become involved in romantic relationships. This article will discuss some of the reasoning behind the often-proposed suggestion “no relationships for the first year.” Perhaps ...

When you walk into a 12-Step meeting, one of the first things you may see is a sign that says, “We Care.” Though short and seemingly insignificant, this message highlights one of the components of 12-Step recovery that makes the program so effective: empathy. What Is Empathy? In its broadest sense, empathy is central to what it means to be fully human. It allows us to tune into how someone else is feeling and gives us insights into the thoughts, emotions and behaviors of other people.

“One ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them. In the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie.” -J.R.R. Tolkien

Dysfunctional relationships are relationships that create more emotional turmoil than satisfaction. Relationships are part of the human experience. But what happens if one or both partners have never been involved in a happy relationship, or had one modeled for them as a child? Chances are they ...

There are very fuzzy boundaries between helping and enabling. If you’re enabling, you think that you’re helping, but what you’re doing is anything but helpful. Here's some information so that you don't confuse the two. Helping When you help someone you are doing something that they cannot do for themselves -- but here’s where the line gets blurred. Ex: If I ask you to help me by mailing my letter, the nice thing would be to do it.

The human ego is like a chained up dog. It is always hungry, and it depends on others to feed it. Go a day without social validation and you will feel deep pains of starvation in your soul. It’s as though the little man or woman inside encounters others with a silent plea, “Tell me I’m okay.” Not receiving the desired affirmation is painful enough. But what happens when we receive subtle or not-so-subtle indicators that someone thinks we are not okay—that we are not

Alcoholism is a serious problem affecting nearly 18% of all Americans at some time in their lives. There are several factors which can make a person more susceptible to an addiction to alcohol. These include a family history of alcohol addiction, a personal history of mental illness, high levels of stress or major life changes. Peer pressure can even play a role in the development of an addiction to alcohol. Moderate drinking is defined as 1 to 2 drinks per day for men and 1

Drug smuggling operations can rely on willing or unwilling couriers. In either case, the transport possibilities are seemingly limitless. Cartels and small-time transporters alike are driven by the high profitability of the drug trade and they will go to any length necessary to accomplish their goals. Here are some of the most widely-used methods of drug transport. -Willing Couriers- People willingly transport drugs from one country to another every day. Their methods range f

Methamphetamine is much different from regular amphetamine pills. Without going into a chemistry lesson, meth is simply a more refined or condensed form of amphetamine. It is much more powerful than what some people might think of as diet pills or speed. It produces both an intense feeling of energy and strong euphoric pleasure at the same time. Some of the intensity depends on how quickly it gets into the system. This drug in pill form, taken orally, is slow to produce this effect. Injecting it or smoking it is a completely different experience.

According to the most recent statistics, the divorce rate, often quoted (even by this author in psychology classes) as 50% of marriages, is actually closer to the low 40 percentile. (Divorce Rate: It's Not as High as You Think, By Dan Hurley, The New York Times, April 19, 2005). But that does not negate the fact that the United States has the highest divorce rate in the world per capita. The fact that so many American marriages end in divorce leads to the question is marriage an outdated institution? I think the answer is dependent on some of your personal variables.

Purple Drink Promethazine and Codeine containing cough syrup abuse has become popular in certain circles, especially in Houston and the South. Mixed with soft drinks and soda, it is drank and taken in high doses creating a euphoric effect that can "slow" people down. This relatively new phenomenon of abuse is different from over-the-counter cough syrups such as Robitussin DM which contains dextromethorphan. The promethazine and codeine cough syrups are available only by prescription, but as with many drugs, people are finding legal and illegal ways to find it. A Potent Combination

Where is the line between support and enabling? Support means you’re doing something because someone can’t do for themselves -- caring for a two-year-old, or preparing meals for your elderly grandmother, for instance. Enabling is giving assistance that makes it easier for someone to continue on the wrong track -- like paying credit-card bills for a shopaholic, making excuses for work absences caused by drunkenness, or supporting a person who uses drugs.

Depression, in its various forms, affects nearly 19 millio Americans each year according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). With prolonged major depression, shortages or imbalances of mood-influencing chemicals in the brain usually play a role. Studies show that depressive ...

Codes of ethics and standards of practice are set forth by professional associations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC). Such codes define principles of ethical behavior required by the profession. Additionally, treatment centers such as the Hazelden Foundation defines requirements for employees designed to ensure consistent ethical behavior across the organization (Hazelden.org).

Whenever I have used the word cure in speaking about alcoholics or addicts in the presence of people who work in substance abuse treatment, they’ve cut me off in mid-sentence, as if I had uttered an obscenity. “There’s no such thing! Alcoholism and addiction are forever!” I was told again and again.nnSome therapists actually feel threatened when they hear me speak of a cure, and they become quite aggressive. They constantly hold up that basic precept of Alcoholics Ano