Many of us develop routines in our recovery that keep us feeling safe and protected from anything that could potentially put our sobriety at risk. While these habits are wonderful for us, we can’t allow our lives to be controlled by such strict adherence to routine. There is an entire beautiful world out there, and…
Treatment is a time to develop the tools necessary to maintain sobriety when one reenters the “real world”. When we leave treatment, we are not cured of addiction. We are at the beginning phase of entering into a lifetime of sobriety and personal growth, free from the constraints of addiction. Our chances of maintaining our…
Inhalants, as the name suggest, are a group of drugs that are inhaled by user to achieve a high. These drugs are capable of doing tremendous damage to the brain and body, the effects of which can be far worse than many “hard” drugs. The fact that these drugs are legal to buy make greatly…
One of the first steps toward entering into a life of sobriety is detoxifying our bodies of any remnants of drugs or alcohol. The process is uncomfortable, but a happy future in sobriety it waiting for us at the end. Determining how long it will take for acute symptoms of withdrawal to diminish is difficult,…
Coping skills are the behavior patterns we exhibit when faced with problems. For most people suffering from the disease of addiction, their only way of coping with external stressors was by using drugs or alcohol. In sobriety, however, it is imperative that we develop healthy mechanisms and behaviors to handle these stressors. Anxiety and fear…
Alcoholism is a complex disease that encompasses the mind, body, and spirit. It affects every aspect of our life and those around us, damaging our relationships and well-being at every level. Acceptance of the disease is difficult, and many people believe that, although their lives are no longer manageable as a result of their drinking,…
Not all drugs create physical dependence and subsequent withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana and many psychedelics and hallucinogens, for example, do not cause a user to go into a state of withdrawal when discontinued, but still carry the potential for addiction. A person addicted to drugs that do not create physical dependence is still at just as…
Euphoric recall is the tendency for a person recovery to look back at their past drug or alcohol abuse in a positive light, often reexperiencing the feelings of the past situation. During euphoric recall, a person will only remember the euphoria associated with their drug or alcohol abuse without remembering the suffering and pain of…
In recovery communities, particularly 12-Step fellowships, there is an emphasis on helping those new to recovery go through the process of achieving and maintaining sobriety. The concept of helping others as a means of maintaining one’s own sobriety comes from the collective experience of many men and women in recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous was the first…
Spirituality may be a bothersome term for some because it seems to imply religious thought. In recovery, however, spirituality is simply addressing the indefinable part of ourselves that caused us to fall victim to hopelessness and depression, and seek drugs and alcohol as a way to fix our problematic internal condition. These feelings are symptomatic…