recovery

In Memory of Amy Winehouse

Posted by: MDS on Aug 02, 2011

Tagged in: staying clean , recovery , rapid drug detox , naltrexone , Amy Winehouse , addiction

Void

I cannot stop thinking about the tragic and untimely death of Amy Winehouse. Here was a young, beautiful, immensely talented woman, haunted by the demon of addiction. This demon does not come from the outside; it is not sent to you by the evil in the world. It comes from within. I am not saying that drugs were not brought to Amy by ‘friends’ or dealers. We have to invite that demon of addiction in; we have to open ourselves to it; invite it as a welcomed guest and allow it to stay. That is something we do ourselves. Something in us: be it anxiety, depression, loneliness, yearning for the unattainable something, or lack of meaning in our lives, creates some void in us that the drugs fill and we let them.

Amy seemingly had everything: loving parents, talent, money, and wonderful music she wrote herself. Yet she felt a need to fill a void in herself with booze and drugs. Everyone could see it, and everyone did see it. Everyone tried to help, her parents were desperate, and she was desperate. However, they were most likely desperate for different things.

Desperation

Help your addict/alcoholic hit bottom

Posted by: Chez Wise on Feb 24, 2009

Tagged in: Respect , recovery , Nar-A-Non , Men , Functional Alcoholic , enabling , drugs , Dos and Donts , Boundaries , AODA , alcoholism , alcoholics , Alcoholic women , alcohol , Al-Anon , addicts , addiction recovery , addiction

For decades we have listened to the “experts” tell us recovery cannot happen until the addict or alcoholic hits bottom. Bottom for most alcoholics and addicts is jail, institutions, or death. Are you willing to wait?

No one, absolutely no one does anything without a reason or with out leverage of some sort. The same holds true for addiction of any kind. If there is no reason to get clean and sober, they won’t. If nothing ever happens that is all that bad, they won’t. Many just keep lowering their standards. In our current economic down turn, we will see more and more individuals falling deeper into their addictions. The truly sad part is the family will watch, not having a clue what to do, or the resources for solution.

If this is you, there are a lot of things you can do. First and foremost take an inventory of how you are adapting to the addict or alcoholic. How are you lowering your standard of living to accommodate them? For instance, some addicts and alcoholics tend to live in filth. They do not do the dishes, clean the bathroom or kitchen, and even their laundry will be piled sky high waiting for someone else to do it. Look around your house. How are they participating in the cleanliness of the nest? Then there is the other half that are up at three a.m. cleaning everything under the sun. How are they interrupting your sleep?

Here is a chance for you to take the blinders off and really get honest with yourself. If you find you are making excuses, such as “that is just the way they are”. Stop it! If you are participating in Al-anon and using the excuse, “I just detach from it”. Stop it! This is not 1951, the rules have changed. Our knowledge and experience has taught us a lot over the last 50 plus years. Detach emotionally, but do not accept even for a moment.

Extended Aftercare, Inc. (EAI) - Houston's Best Kept Secret

Posted by: extendedaftercare on Feb 10, 2009

Tagged in: treatment centers , treatment center , treatment , sobriety , rehabs , rehab facility , rehab , recovery community , recovery , Men , Meetings , insurance , health insurance , drugs , drug treatment centers , drug treatment , drug rehab , directory , alcoholism treatment , alcoholism , alcoholics , alcohol , addicts , addiction treatment , addiction recovery , addiction , 12-step

THE BEST KEPT SECRET

EAI recently launched its 2009 marketing campaign “The Best Kept Secret”, which focuses on reeducating the public as to the services, personnel and recovery community that exists here. “The myth that EAI is a halfway house of homeless people couldn’t be farther from the truth,” states CEO & Chief Clinical Officer Keith Liles. “It is important that people know of the changes over the past 24 months, and that at EAI, there is a vibrant supportive residential treatment program featuring customized care, a staff of high achievers and impassioned care giving, and, a commitment to continuous improvement of campus facilities.”

Fun Ways To Die of Alcoholism

Posted by: KenP on Jan 29, 2009

Tagged in: recovery

Fun Ways To Die of Alcoholism

Disclaimer; do not read this if you are heavily into denial about your own drinking or that of somebody you love. PLEASE do not read this if you are in the later stages of alcoholism

Wet Brain. Alcohol "works" by tying up the receptors on each brain cell (neuron) where oxygen attaches. It is the death of thousands of neurons due to oxygen deprivation that causes the feelings associated with being "high," or drunk. Eventually, after years of drinking, the fluids from the ruptured neurons accumulate in the skull, and chunks of brain tissue break loose and float to the top of the skull. Hey, are we having fun yet?

Cirrhosis of the liver. This is a condition where the liver is reduced to a mass of scar tissue after years of drinking. Anytime a person drinks more than about an ounce of alcohol per hour, they are exceeding the rate at which the liver can metabolize alcohol. The liver responds by creating a "vacuole," a tiny lesion within its own tissue to store the alcohol until the person stops drinking. Then the liver can metabolize the "poison" at its leisure (i.e., during the hangover). Unfortunately, every such episode results in a tiny hairline scar when the liver tissue eventually heals. When this happens, the ability to clot blood is lost, and there is a messy death with gallons of blood all over the operating room floor and walls. Hey, it doesn't get any better that that!

Shame.

Posted by: KenP on Dec 07, 2008

Tagged in: trust , social capital , shutting down , recovery , Men , Meetings , Masculinity , fear , Childhood roles , Boundaries , alcoholism , alcoholics , Alcoholic women , alcohol , Al-Anon , addiction recovery , addiction , 12-step

Shame.

By Scott B.

Shame was used as weapon in my childhood. My mother and father both used shame to control or attempt to control behavior of my brothers and me. I never understood how shame affected my relationships until I began recovery. Persistent feelings of inadequacy lingered in my thoughts regarding anything I did. I resented feeling inadequate and would drive myself to seek competency in many areas, many which would later prove to be fruitless in my quest for a peaceful existence. Feelings of inadequacy, I would learn are a direct result of shame based control.

Addiction Treatment / Rehab in Australia

Posted by: thegatsprogram on Nov 25, 2008

Tagged in: treatment centers , treatment center , treatment , Spiritual awakening , sobriety , rehabs , rehab facility , rehab , recovery community , recovery , psychology , Men , drug treatment , drug rehab , directory , Childhood roles , centers , alcoholics , Alcoholic women , alcohol , addicts , addiction treatment , addiction recovery , addiction , 12-step

ADDICTION & THE THIRST FOR WHOLENESS

By Robert Mittiga

(Program Director GATS Counselling & Treatment Services)

At one time or another, most of us feel some degree of emptiness, loneliness, inadequacy, idealism, or spiritual longing. We recognize the discontent, the desire to escape pain, and the tendency to seek answers in activities, substances, or relationships. This sense of restlessness and the spiritual longing is familiar to many of us. Over the many years of treating addiction and co-dependency I have heard many people talk about a non-specific hunger for something that seems to be missing in their lives. They describe a gnawing emptiness within that is never filled. This insistent stirring from within is so intense that it can, at times, be painful. It seems to originate at one’s very core, and for some of us, it feels even stronger than our sexual drive or our hunger for food.

The Greatest Loss Is Personal Freedom

Posted by: KenP on Nov 23, 2008

Tagged in: trust , Spiritual awakening , society , social capital , shutting down , recovery community , recovery , Nar-A-Non , Meetings , fear , enabling , costs , alcoholism , alcoholics , alcohol , Al-Anon , addicts , addiction treatment , addiction recovery , addiction , 12-step

The Greatest Loss is Personal Freedom

By Ken P.

"So you we want to change the world," says the now old Beatles song.

The original revolutionaries were people like Thomas Paine, the radical ne'er do well who failed everything he tried in England, fled to The Colonies to find his fortune, and was swept up in the cause for liberty. Thomas Paine wrote what proved to be the precursor to the Declaration of Independence in a little pamphlet he called "Common Sense." He personally printed copies of this revolutionary idea that The Colonies should declare their independence from England on a hand-press, then sold 100,000 copies of it on the street, starting with his neighbors for customers! Don't scoff; if you project the 100,000 copies he sold upon today's population relative to the population of the colonies, Thomas Paine would have sold 20,000,000 copies through today's outlets like book stores and Amazon.com!