Addiction can take over your entire life. After a certain point, it does not seem like it is possible to get better. We don’t think that there can be any life after recovery. Drugs and alcohol were everything to us. It’s impossible to have fun in recovery. Substances were the way that we relaxed, the…
Many cities and rural places are difficult to be around because they remind a person of their addictive tendencies. It may be triggering to go past old haunts, places they frequented when using substances, or where they have memories attached to addiction. Romanticizing addiction is the last place a person wants to go if they…
Recovery is a long arc, a story that starts with rehab and ends when a person’s life is over. That leaves a whole lot of room in between for many nuances. There are programs and different styles of healing from addiction, but detox and rehab have high success rates for a reason. They work to…
Addiction and alcoholism put a strain on people’s marriages, without a doubt. Families can be destroyed in the wake of what is considered to be one of the most stressful situations a family can experience. People who drink will spend all their money on alcohol, create an environment where kids may not feel safe, and…
Rehabilitation can be a difficult thing for people to admit they need in support of recovering from addiction. Asking for help is not easy for many people, especially those who struggle with substance abuse issues. Going to rehab can be intense because of past experiences that inform the current decision, or it is a new…
The best-laid plans don’t always play out according to script. Addiction treatment bears this out as much as anything else in life. Even if you have done everything you could to help a spouse, child, or friend, now they are out of treatment early and you feel lost as to how to best handle the…
Risky behavior in recovery is a formula for relapse. It is easy to forget that there are triggers and things which can trip you up if you are not careful. Recovery is not a game, it is serious business. It is easy to forget, but addiction can rear its ugly head in many ways if…
Hedonic adaptation is known as ‘the hedonic treadmill,’ a concept studied by researchers who focus on happiness and well-being that refers to people’s general tendency to return to a set level of happiness in spite of life’s ups and downs. It is known as a treadmill because of the experience where people always end up…
Chances are if you have to ask whether or not you have a drinking problem, you likely have a problem. If you continue drinking in spite of negative consequences, that may be an indication of a serious problem. Most people who experience drinking problems try to quit (and succeed) at some point. It may be…
Addiction is treatable and recovery is a lifelong process. A person recovering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol must completely change his or her lifestyle. A person in recovery goes through daily struggles to stay sober and will need encouragement and support to maintain sobriety. Drinking alcohol when your spouse is in recovery creates…