Addiction and Recovery Articles

Who would have thought that my meanderings over “What is Addiction” in my last blog would lead me to an Ezine article by Melanie Solomon, July 11, 2010 and her amazing book AA-Not the Only Way — Your One Stop Resource Guide to 12-Step Alternatives–Second Edition? In it she cites many statistics based on government research and other reputable institutions that validated my experience working in the treatment field for 30 years. I felt happy for my clients gratified gi

A blended family or step parenting can be a very big challenge for everyone involved. The following are some guidelines to make the new family unit function more effectively. 1. Be Patient – A natural family is created slowly, yet a blended family is more abrupt. Allow time for adjustment. 2. Make Respect a Rule – Demand that each member of the family is treated with respect. Members may not like each other, yet acting with respectful actions and attitude is mandatory. Discipline behavior and character.r

TOBACCO is one of the few legal substances available in stores as a consumer product, that will kill or harm when used as intended. It is the #1 killer over-the-counter drug the world has ever seen. Why is it we believe there’s enjoyment in something that is literally killing millions of people every year. nnBelieve me.. no other consumer product in the history of the world has even come close to inflicting this amount of damage on mankind. If anything else of this magnitud

Former professional hockey player and Narconon Trois-Rivieres spokesperson, Claude Lapointe has joined the fight against drugs. Mr. Lapointe has signed on to help raise awareness about drug addiction , and help educate today’s youth concerning the truth about drugs. Claude will also be donating his time to help fundraise for drug awareness and prevention. Working along the drug prevention team of Narconon Trois-Rivieres drug rehab, he will be attending some of the drug prev

Apart from a John Lennon song, mind games is an expression often used by football managers and others to imply some sort of psychological manipulation of another person to gain some sort of advantage over them.This is normally fairly innocuous stuff at press conferences to try and rattle their opponents. Mind control is really a much more creepy term and tends to be applied to any sort of situation or relationship where someone is trying to manipulate your thinking so it agrees with their own.

The success of community based substance abuse treatment programs is based, according to Dr. Darryl Inaba, on the fact that they are uniquely able to provide care and support that is sensitive to culture, gender and place. As one of the original founders of San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc., Dr. Inaba has a long history with treatment programs that "come from the street" and so was greatly impressed with what he saw during a recent visit to Los Angeles based

n nA residential treatment center , often referred to by the acronym RTC, is a live-in therapy/behavior modification facility for adolescents who suffer from a variety of emotional conditions, ranging from drug abuse to violence to sexual behavioral problems to video game addiction and disrespecting parents. Different RTCs work with different grades of problems, and so the structure and methods of RTCs varies. Some RTCs are lock-down facilities; that is, the residents are loc

What do you think it is going to take in order for rational thinking people to finally speak out in huge numbers? How much more do we need to see? How many more stories to we need to hear before we can comfortably speak the simple truth that pornography is the master exploiter of our world and has created a moral epidemic?

Breaking bad habits are not as hard as you may think. Let's say you want to quit smoking, lose weight, or change any addictive behavior. You're doomed for failure unless you know the way you think, and what will or will not work for you. Simply put - you have to know yourself to change yourself. Two Brain Concept Right brain and left brain thinking stems from research in the 60s by psycho-biologist Roger W. Sperry.

It seems like each generation has a different trend that they follow when it comes to drugs and alcohol. One year drinking alcohol is on the rise and the in thing to do but two years later the majority of kids are smoking marijuana. Never has the US been faced with the illogical dangers that are present today. There is no proof or evidence that indicates today’s teens are in big trouble except for what has been witnessed thus far.

The normal answer is, if you are asking the question then it is already a problem. True it is a bit of cliché but unfortunately it is also true. People seldom raise the issue to someone outside the relationship until they can no longer ignore it. You may have thought that there is a problem. You may have even brought it up with the drinker. You were almost certainly met with a dismissive denial that there could possibly be a problem and you were probably more than happy to accept the reassurances and bury the concerns and doubts till another bout of drinking makes them surface again.

Addiction is not only an unhealthy habit, but it can also have adverse affects on one’s personality. When a person becomes addicted to a behavior or habit, he or she slowly undergoes a transformation in personality. To understand how addiction affects personality, it is important to first realize what causes addiction. According to school speaker and addictions expert Scott Gallagher, all addicts have at least one thing in common. They believe there is something wrong with

Wedding Invitation Cards is a superlative way to announce that you are entering into a new life! Wedding invitations are a superb thought through which people know more about your style of wedding, theme and venue. Unique wedding invitations can be kept as a souvenir to remember the happy couple after the wedding.rnWhether the wedding party is outstanding or average, luxurious or not, stimulating or a tire. You should plan your wedding invitation card, with full concentration

When You Want To Hurt - A Letter To Those Who Suffer -r

Do you know how to cure porn? It’s a lot more difficult to know than you might assume. Does it mean you in no way see another naked image again? Is that genuine recovery? Before is that simply an impression that traps people? To truthfully answer the question, you have to comprehend what it is that a man gets from porn. Too many people argue it is just about sex, but that is only a minor part of the matter. In most cases, it is much more about an intense emotion that he fee

Personal Myth Byr Payam Ghassemlou Ph.D.

Most people tend to appreciate that the internet carries a wide range of health article and related material, and most people would probably accept that some of this material is of a highly dubious quality. The paradox of the internet is that anyone can access virtually any type of information about anything, and at the same time that anyone can produce any piece of information about anything.

Learning how to deal with extreme emotions such as anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, and many more, is very important in preventing relapse. Here is an excerpt from my book Handling Stress and Anxiety.

PHILOSOPHY OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION AND FREEDOM FROM EMOTIONAL PAIN IN RELATIONSHIP PATHOLOGIESnnMarvin L. Speciner, BA, RCPnOwner / ModeratornLivingwithanalcoholic e-group, Yahoo Groupsnn“The present is the future as long as there is no movement to changethings in the here and now. Feeling bad in the present about asituation that you are not working on changing can only lead to yourfeeling bad in the future as well. Emotional attachments to sourcesof pain in the present lead

The alcohol addiction counseling that is available today is much further advanced than the primitive approach used previously for treating alcohol addiction. Alcohol addiction has existed for many years and is widely known as "alcoholism". Drinking, occasional overindulgence and getting a little 'merry' is nothing new, but most individuals do not take their drinking to the level of alcoholism. Those that do however, frequently see their lives falling apart and, all too often,

For years I was driven by an obsession to drink. In the beginning I tried to control it, but after a while it had complete control of me. Alcoholism took me to a deep emotional, spiritual and physical bottom, and only when I surrendered to this program did I begin to recover. In sobriety I've ...

Volumes have been written on the importance of taking responsibility. Some of it is psychological, some of it legalistic and much of it moralistic. This article is about taking responsibility for your own emotions, with a focus on marital conflict. An argument typically starts over something small. If it can be nipped in the bud, it’s nothing. But sometimes it escalates to the emotional boiling point, where voices are raised and both parties are hurling unrepeatable expletives at each other. Alte atively, one or both parties may slip into a seething silence.

It’s never been easy to raise a child, but with the addition of something as widespread, ever-changing and topical as social media, parents can feel as if they’re always playing catch up. According to Verywell Family, 51 percent of teens use social media sites daily. With so many adolescents on social media, it’s important for parents to understand the potential impact that social networking can have on teen mental health. Social Media and Mental Health

It is an unfortunate fact of life that many people rely on alcohol to unwind after a busy day at work or after the children have gone to bed. Some people find themselves unable to relax without having an alcoholic drink or 2. Other people may eventually find that those 1 or 2 glasses of wine have developed into a bottle or 2 of wine, or that their drinking is no longer just restricted to the evening.

 What should you do if you discover you're drinking too much? 

The

No one starts doing drugs with the intent to become so addicted that they lose everything and ruin their life. Drug abuse starts for a variety of reasons, and prevention campaigns can help address those reasons and encourage people to make the decision not to start doing drugs in the first place. If you or a loved one are addicted in the New York area, we offer drug treatment in Long Island and out-of-state. Self-Medicating

The issue of personal grooming may seem slightly odd in the context of running a business from home, or working from home, but actually aside from the physical practicalities and needs of personal grooming, it is a really important issue in terms of the individual's attitude to their work and their home.r

If you haven't heard of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 12 Step Program, you are a rare individual. AA started the 12 Step Program in 1935. The 12 steps collectively make up the methodological approach developed for fighting alcoholism, as well as other addictive behavior patterns. Dr. Bob Smith, or simply Dr. Bob, and Bill Wilson, or simply Bill W., founded AA in Akron, Ohio. Why are the shortened names included? They help emphasize that in Alcoholics Anonymous anonymity is as

When many people hear the word spiritual or spirituality, or any word associated with religion or spiritual terminology they immediately assume that the underlying idea or rationale behind it is that of becoming a good or a better person than they were before. To many if not most people, this is not a very attractive option for a number of reasons, most typically because they fear it involves giving up on a number of behaviours or goals in life that they believe are important to them, and they do not believe would be compatible with being a better or good person.

Have you quit drinking, smoking or binge-eating and then fallen “off the wagon?” Maybe it’s because you haven’t had the kind of support system you need after you quit? I quit drinking over 21 years ago now. A friend of mine just asked me the other day if I ever think of drinking anymore. So I ...

The Christian Recovery Movement Today—Growing or Going? By Dick B. 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved Consider the Origins In two of our recent books, Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous and The Conversion of Bill W., we covered the seemingly-forgotten-yet-very-important origins of Alcoholics Anonymous in five groups of people and organizations, primarily of the mid-to-late 19th century. Though critics of A.A., within and without, have often sidetracked discussions of origin

Recovery from a food addiction requires the practice of moderation rather than abstinence with respect to food.Moderation can be more difficult to learn and practice than abstinence. The first step, especially if you are overweight or obese, is to see a physician. Your doctor will perform an exam so that any physical issues can be addressed during recovery. Your doctor will probably recommend that you also consult with a nutritionist to develop an eating plan. Serious binge e

“The two pillars of 'political correctness' are: a) willful ignorancernb) a steadfast refusal to face the truth”r George MacDonald Last week (19/05/06) Sandra Kanck, an MP in Australia, stood up in Parliament and told the house that ecstasy “is not a dangerous drug” and “could have been used to treat victims of last year’s killer bushfires”. Since then the Prime Minister of Australia, her own party and the press have vilified her and called for her resignation. To some extent one can see why there might be such a reaction.

As you contemplate entering a committed relationship, the greater your neediness, or his, the more likely codependency, dysfunction and disappointment will follow. Focus on what you want, not on what you need. I once knew a woman who as a teen dated a man in his twenties. He had a strong need to get married and the teen wasn’t ready. The pressure to fulfill his need increased until one day he lay down on the railway tracks with a train coming. He’d rather die than be without her. She caved. Use your imagination as to where that marriage went.

Dysthymia & Social Anxiety—The Straws that Stirred my Drink Some alcoholics when diagnosed with alcoholism put the drink down and never go back to it. If alcohol is causing problems in their lives, they know they’re better off without it. There’s no underlying force driving them to drink again. ...

Why is the drinking age set at 21? This question is usually asked by the minor who wants to drink or is already drinking. In working with an adolescent population, I hear the litany of justifications that youth have for drinking underage and why they feel the laws are unjust. The problem is that they also share these thoughts with their parents, and often times the parents may accept one or more of these justifications as a reason to be lenient on the child's behavior.

A drug addiction is a compulsive disorder. Addiction can be of varied kinds, namely drugs, alcohol, gambling, spending, smoking, sex, eating or any other behavior. A person hit by this is often unsatisfied and restless. Drug addiction in layman’s terms would be dependence on chemicals or on unwanted plants for the sake of getting high. This disorder requires very high consumption of drugs in order to fulfill drug seeking behavior, and is very vulnerable to relapse.nnThe

Aphrodite’s story begins with a violent birth with absent parents and a castrated father. We can conjecture that her violent birth contributed to her cruelty and vindictiveness in which she used her beauty as a channel for her aggression. In her compulsive search to transcend the pain of her aloneness, she seeks pleasure and beauty through a sensory driven reality devoid of morality. We could say that Aphrodite, like all of us, was expelled from the paradisical harmony of the womb/ocean and into a world where she is left to face the difficult and frightening realization of her aloneness.

Some time ago I was invited to be one of four speakers at a weekend retreat entitled Women In Recovery. The other three speakers came out of the AA tradition, as did the participants, but I did not. However, the person underwriting this event knew my work and felt it would be a complementary fit. At the end of the day on Saturday, a group of women asked if we could continue my class discussion back at the dorm where we were all housed (this event took place on a small college

The treatment of drug addiction is actually a combination of spiritual, traditional and the medical way that allows the patient to fight being drug addicted. It is critically important for people to look at some ways of treatment for drug addiction because it is a fact that this addiction is really catching up fast and is as fatal and dangerous as the HIV (Human Immuno Virus) and Acquired Immuno Deficeincy Syndrome (AIDS). In addition to the medical healing, a good and benefi

There have been many wild claims about video games. They’re the cause of violence in teens, they teach the wrong lessons by rewarding immoral behavior in a consequence free environment, and so on. The list is exhaustive, and often lacking any real basis. Does that mean that there is no risk or danger in letting your son play all of the video games he wants? Addiction: A Very Real Danger The idea of video game addiction has been met with mixed responses in the past. The same

In the mind of a workaholic, the life seems only to work, work and work. They have more enthusiasm and strong physical stamina to work late every day. What is the difference between workaholics and hard workers? Hard workers usually increase their work rhythm of a particular time, such as during the deadline, preparing presentations and making year-end reports. After that time-period elapsed, the work rhythm is back to normal. Workaholics have a consistent high work rhythm. W

• It’s time to sleep, but it quickly degenerates into a frustrating toss & turn party.rn• You wake up several times between bouts of shallow, unsatisfactory sleep.rn• You feel defeated and cannot focus for prolonged rnperiods throughout the waking day. These are all telltale signs that you are being deprived of quality sleep. More specifically, it is the amount of deep stage 3 sleep and restorative Rapid Eye Movement sleep . Disruption to these phases inhibits bodily

In 1988, I was 25 years old and laying in the hospital for alcoholism, drug addiction and severe depression. I thought there was no hope and wished I would die in my sleep.

For years I was driven by an obsession to drink. In the beginning I tried to control it, but after a while it had complete control of me. Alcoholism took me to a deep emotional, spiritual and physical bottom, and only when I surrendered to this program did I begin to recover. In sobriety I've ...

Most of us at one time or other have confided in a friend, or family member, and later realized that it was not such a smart thing to do. You may have disclosed personal information and they gave you uncalled-for advice. You may have been judged and hurt your feelings - but if you tell someone personal information, you must be aware that there may be consequences. It's not what you say, it's whom you say it to. Different boundaries have to be set with every person you know. There is no such thing as being too sensitive.

Many laypeople still cling to the misconception that addiction is a choice. Even those who understand the neurological basis of this disease are often prejudiced against addicts, treating them as if they were lazy or weak of will. While people may choose to use drugs in the first place, the development of addiction involves uncontrollable changes in brain chemistry. When people use a drug for the first time, their brains respond with large releases of dopamine – a neurotran

So you've identified that you or someone you love needs help. So what then are the options are far as alcoholism addiction treatment and treatment for drug addiction? In my opinion, you should always try and make rehab/treatment program your first choice. You'll typically spend 4-6 weeks ...