Addiction and Recovery Articles

Recovery from a sports related injury is 50% physical and 50% psychological. If an athletic does the physical rehabilitation, and fails to do the psychological rehabilitation, he will not return to his prior level of performance. In fact, his performance will decrease, and his chance of re-injury escalates. Careers have been shortened, teams have lost games, and athletes have failed to play at their potential because athletes have not done the appropriate psychological recovery.

To cure illness and suffering, we need to know the underlying CAUSE. Practitioners are often content to work with and remove the symptoms alone. Unfortunately these symptoms will eventually reactivate within the individual until the route cause of the illness has been dealt with, mentally, emotionally and physically. Joel Goldsmith, a famous spiritual healer in the 50s, founder of “The Infinite Way” movement wrote, “Unless there is a change of consciousness, there will be a re occurrence of the disorder.” (i)

20 Exte al Assets for Developing a Healthy Teenager Who is Alcohol and Drug Free “40 percent of those who started drinking at age 13 or younger developed alcohol dependence later in life. Ten percent of teens who began drinking after the age of 17 developed dependence.” “Teens that drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol.”

Signs of Sexual Addiction (Based upo Patrick Carnes work) 1. Loss of Control • Out of control sexual behavior predominates • The addict cannot control the extent, duration and regularity of his/her sexual behavior • Behavior excesses continue despite clear signs of danger (consequences)rn-- Compulsive masturbation -- Compulsive pornography use -- Chronic affairs -- Exhibitionism: intrusive "flaunting/showing"rn-- Dangerous sexual practices, i.e., asphyxiation -- Prostitution -- Anonymous sex (at porn shops, bars, etc.)rn-- Voyeurism: intrusive "watching"

Most of us have been fooled by the industry to believe that nicotine addiction is the problem that needs to be overcome in order to be successful. Drug companies are making a fortune with their gum, pills, and patches which do nothing more than make a prolonged withdrawal from nicotine. The truth is, that nicotine withdrawal lasts a maximum of 48-72 hours, and is only characterized by headache, some irritability, difficulty concentrating, and mild depression.nnWhat you are re

There is a solution to the madness of alcoholism and addiction; a solution that will restore sanity and health, repair relationships and rebuild finances. The solution will have different components for different people but the key to the solution is personal responsibility. If you can, for even one minute, accept 100% responsibility for the state of your affairs, you can start down your path to recovery in this very same moment. By accepting the responsibility for the havoc

There’s new hope in the treatment of alcoholism, heroin, and other opiate addictions with positive results occurring for drug abusers, entering into inpatient drug rehab, which combine administration of the pharmaceutical Naltrazone Hydrocholoride, along with an overall addiction treatment protocol. Unfortunately, this pharmaceutical has not proven to be effective in blocking the addictive properties of cocaine, crack or in non-opiate based addictions.

The ingredient list for meth is so absurd that it almost seems far fetched: drain cleaner, gasoline, Freon, acetone, battery acid, ammonia, and paint thinner cover just part of the list. After all, who in their right mind would ever have thought to create a cocktail of such undesirable substances and put it into their body? The answer is someone who is not in his or her right mind. Methamphetamines actually eat away at the brain tissue, resulting in behavior very similar to t

The concoctions of chemicals being used to create the deadly mixtures being used to create illegal drugs will astonish most people. Not only are the chemicals dangerous but the amount of each chemical that is added to illegal drugs drastically varies depending on who is mixing the combination. ...

A.A. History Brief: The Bible in the Big Book By Dick B. Copyright 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved Dr. Robert H. Smith was the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He is affectionately called “Dr. Bob” by many AAs. Dr. Bob had much to say about the Bible in his talks with and to the more tha 5,000 alcoholics he helped in Akron, where A.A. was founded. Perhaps the most important thing he said about Alcoholics Anonymous and the Bible was that the basic ideas for the Twelve

When you talk about the dangers of over consumption you usually hear about some of the major offenders. Cirrhosis of the liver being on the top of the list. Another danger less talked about but lurking in the background is cellular dehydration. We have all heard not to drink in the heat because it will dehydrate you but heavy long term drinking without adequate hydration is as dangerous. When drinking alcohol you will urinate an astounding 60% more fluid then you took in. Alc

Do smokers weigh up the indisputably bad risks of smoking's effects? What if smoking was named differently, such as 'Diving into shark infested waters?' nnWe had a kitten given to us once. It was a crazy little ball of fluff that skitted across my kitchen floor getting under my feet. I used to say, "Ollick!" which really was an exasperated short version of, "Oh look out," or "Oh look I can't cook with you skitting under my feet"... and so on.nnSo the kitten got to be called O

For years and years cocaine was one of the most dreaded drugs. It was labeled as highly addictive and then along came crack cocaine and that was placed in a league of its own, one that was extremely lethal. Maybe it is the hype surrounding the surge in prescription opiate addiction but it seems that the talk about cocaine has been reduced to a low roar. Does this mean that fewer people are abusing cocaine? The answer to that question is no. Are there less people that are addicted to cocaine now? No.

“Success is the attainment of a worthy Goal or ideal” Earl Nightingale. Recovery begins at the onset of abstinence from the individual’s drug of choice. Successful recovery is the attainment of a worthy goal or ideal. There are two phases of the recovery process, ...

Bill W., Dr. Bob, and the Cure of Alcoholism: “The Rest of the Story” A Four-Video Project Proposal by Dick B. and Ken B. © 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved Key points: 1. A.A. claimed an overall 75% success rate for its early days [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., “Foreword to Second Edition,” xx]. And the third A.A. group in the world founded in Cleveland on May 11, 1939, claimed a documented 93% success rate during its first three years (May 1939 to June 1942) [DR. BOB

If you want to know how to stop drinking – there are a few things you need to do. But first you need to understand that if you have a serious drinking problem – there is a big difference between stopping - and staying stopped. With a bit of will power, almost anyone can stop drinking for a short period of time – but it’s maintaining that, that is the hard part. And that’s the part most people struggle with. So how to stop drinking comes in two main parts.

There have been a lot of sports figures in the news recently as a result of drugs. Most recently, Alex Rodriguez has been accused of steroid use. This was a major story as he appeared to be one of only a handful of “clean” baseball heroes of recent times. Just prior to the Rodriguez scandal was ...

By Melanie Solomon http://www.aanottheonlyway.com The product is copyright © by Melanie Solomon. No part of this product may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any other means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written consent of the copyright holder, unless it is kept written, in its entirety, along with the author's biography. This product is supplied for information purposes only and, as experienced in this subject matter as the contributor is, the material herein does not constitute professional advice.

Hearing “Cheese” does not mean to flash your pearly whites for the camera anymore. Cheese is the nickname for the emerging deadly drug craze sweeping the country. It is also known as Cheese-Heroin and it is the new face of heroin. It is a combination of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM ...

My experiences as a psychotherapist and spiritual counselor have made it evident to me that we all seek to disce a deeper meaning in our human existence by connecting with a higher spiritual sense of life, on personal and collective levels. There are universal questions and conce s that invariably emerge for all of us. Who am I? What is my purpose? What fuels my quest for meaning in life? What makes life meaningful? What meaning does God and faith embody for me?

Many people suffering from low self esteem turn to drugs to alleviate the feelings associated with low self worth. Feelings of inadequacy, poor self image, and inability to cope with the demands of day-to-day life prove too much, and a means of escape is sought. Apart from my own personal experience, I have met many addicts whose decline into addiction was the result of this ‘self-medicating’ attempt to feel, and appear ‘normal’.

As time has gone by over the past ten to fifteen years there has been a steadily increasing rate of drug use by teens and at schools. This problem is not inherent of only a few countries, but is rather a global trend that has never experienced a true decline. CNN has recently published a survey on the use of alcohol and drugs during teen’s school day, the results are shocking. A survey done by the National centre on addiction and substance abuse at Columbia university showed

The secret for becoming a non-smokernFrom many of the well known methods on how to quit smoking, I will share with you the biggest discovery that will make you feel powerful enough to start the process of becoming a non-smoker. This discovery will power you up day after day. You will enjoy the process and finally experience how easy life can be as a non-smoker. nLet’s see an example: If you have ever tried to quit smoking in the past, what event or events caused you to

In 1956 the American Medical Association labeled alcoholism as an illness, and in 1966 upgraded the identification to a disease. In professional circles today alcoholism is viewed as one form of addiction. Most therapists and treatment centers view addiction through the disease model. Yet the ...

Holistic Drug & Alcohol Rehab Centers take many different approaches to treating drug addiction, as there are drugs. The holistic drug detox philosophy involves the transformation of the total person, as opposed to only dealing with the symptom, which is the addiction. Underlying the addiction is an assumption that the individual has lost or is missing a component of life.

nnThe devils drug; as it is known by most users; crack/cocaine is one of the most addictive and destructive drugs ever created. A former user quoted, “I would never wish this upon my worst enemy.”nnThis drug will create an overwhelming desire to experience the feeling of the first high over and over again. This will cause an addict to always be chasing this drug, and using for sometimes days, or even weeks on end.nn Psychological Effects n n Euphorian Supreme confidencen

A random poll among newly sober clients, recovery counselors, and people who have achieved years of clean time would probably produce a varying consensus about the most pressing need for successful recovery. Most respondents, however, would likely agree that relapse is often an indicator of stress. The process of recovery, like the process of grief, is fluid and dynamic. Exploring relapse before it happens is a good way to identify potential problems so you can be prepared f

It seems the more experience I gain in the field of psychotherapy, the more clients I interact with, the more I live my own life, the more I believe the attempt to inappropriately control events is at the core of unhappiness. The use of control is paradoxical: we believe taking control will ...

Myth #1: Drug addiction is voluntary behavior. A person starts out as an occasional drug user, and that is a voluntary decision. But as times passes, something happens, and that person goes from being a voluntary drug user to being a compulsive drug user. Why? Because over time, continued use of addictive drugs changes your brain -- at times in dramatic, toxic ways, at others in more subtle ways, but virtually always in ways that result in compulsive and even uncontrollable drug use. Myth #2: More than anything else, drug addiction is a character flaw.

From Loneliness to Solituder By Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D.

I would like you to imagine that you are on a forest path and you are walking to a pool which is in the middle of the forest. Look at the trees on both sides of the road. Do you see the leaves of trees green or do you see them black and white? What about the trunks of the trees? Do you see them brown? Do you feel the coolness of the air on your face? Or is the weather humid? With each step you take, the leaves and trunks of the trees, and all the flowers and plants are becoming clearer…and clearer... As you see more and more clearly, your body is becoming more and more relaxed…r

Checking into an alcohol and drug rehab center is for most addicts one of the most frightening times they experience. All the components that made your life predictable and safe is all of a sudden turned completely upside down. You will be isolated from your family and friends and spend your life surrounded with strangers. And last but not least, your weird but safe comfort zone consisting of a life of addiction will be stripped away like a lightning strike. Let's face it; ma

A frantic mother of a 15 year old daughter of a local suburban neighborhood tells her therapist that her daughter has quit the cheerleading squad, no longer dreams of college and becoming a lawyer, and her childhood friends have been replaced with friends she has never met. Her daughter has ...

Methamphetamine or more commonly known in South Africa as “Tik” has caused Cape Town to have one of the worst drug problems in the world. Every single aspect of this drug is completely devastating, from its short-term to long-term effects and from its physical and mental effects on the body. This particular addiction can cost many people their lives, and not just those people who are actually consuming the drug. Tik addicts have been known to be very prone to violence, in the

To stop face picking the first thing that you need to address is your issues with perfectionism when trying to stop picking. When You think to stop face picking you think of picking acne or compulsive pimple popping. Sometimes you start face picking at stuff that is not noticeable or is not there at all. It seems like people today pick because they think that they need to look like perfectly sculpted statues and have completely smooth skin. This is a good example of the way in which our subconscious mind can push us into anxiety, stress and physical problems such as face picking.

Recognizing an existential vacuum, the drug abuser experiences unhappiness and, as a maladaptive response, turns to drugs or alcohol for relief of emotional pain. In the tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), it is through the recounting of life stories that the addict learns how to interpret their past in a way that gives meaning to the past and hope for the future. From a phenomenological perspective, the past is relived, interpreted and created in the present experience of an AA meeting, and becomes a model for creation of the future.

Medical and Spiritual Model of Drug Rehabilitation

Do you have an addiction? The question shouldn't be hard to answer. There are fairly clear lines between an addiction and a casual behavior. nn According to substance abuse experts Chris and Pax Prentiss, founders of Passages Malibu, a residential drug rehab program , addiction is caused by underlying problems in a person’s life that they are unable to cope with. When someone is unable to cope with their circumstances they sometimes turn towards drugs and alcohol for relief

Many women who wear makeup may think that the concept of cosmetics actually being addictive is absurd, however they don’t realise how addictive something that alters out appearance can be. Some women will admit that they are not willing to even step out of their front door without makeup on. Admittedly an addiction to makeup and other cosmetics is not as dangerous as an addiction to any drug or alcohol, however some people may not realise how dependant they are on their cosme

Perhaps no drug has invited as much heated debate and ferocious argument as marijuana. Marijuana has been a source of fierce pro and against positions mainly because it is considered by many to be the least harmful of drugs; and whether or not marijuana addiction is an actual threat is debated as often. Effects of marijuana: Marijuana is harmful because it is a drug like any other, even if it is the least harmful. More importantly, it is considered a "gateway drug", in that t

People who have addictive behaviors feel frustrated when they relapse in the recovery stage. With each relapse the feel of frustrated will be highlighted more, to where they believe that cannot be overcome their addiction. The root cause of inability to overcome any addiction is including: false beliefs and irrational exceptions. One of the false beliefs about recovery that is repeated too much is; “I have decided that I don’t drink alcohol, so, I shouldn't have a problem!” While the fact that recovery is a process, not an event.

Many alcoholics live structured and full lives while they drink; this is because their days are spent drinking and their life revolves around the pursuit of inebriation. Once this destructive cycle comes to an end some find this sudden lack of purpose and newly found free time to be quite stressful. Unless some way can be found to fill this time many newly recovered alcoholics will inevitably return to their previous heavy consumption of alcohol. So what are some of the activ

A woman enters my office disheveled, thin, mid forties, with hollow eyes. It is as if the sparkle in her eyes ceased to exist a very long time ago. She tells me she has been drinking and is using methamphetamines. I am not surprised to hear this because lately my practice has been filled with ...

If you were a woman with breast cancer, you’d probably want to know that there were several treatment options you had: radical mastectomy, lumpectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, holistic services, nutritional approaches, some combination of these options, or doing nothing, with new options emerging continually. You might be inclined to let your physician decide what to do. However, most individuals would want to make a decision of this magnitude for themselves.

There is a lot of discussion these days about the legalization of substances, especially marijuana. These discussions and articles focus on how it might improve the economy, to decriminalization resulting in fewer deaths and a drop in the growth of HIV cases, to medical benefits of marijuana. You might expect someone who witnesses the difficulties and occasional devastation that substances cause to be firmly against legalization. This is not necessarily the case.

As a counselor for both in class and online alcohol awareness classes my students and I often discuss the possible ways a person can drink socially without becoming intoxicated. Of course the answer is simple, have one drink and make sure you are well hydrated, well rested and well fed. But the question remains, are there other ways a person can delay or diminish the effects of alcohol?

Here are ten common situations that are very dangerous to a person in recovery. Recognizing these dangers will help you avoid a possible problem in the future.

A Great Close to Our Southern Califo ia Meetings Dick B. © 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved Ken and I are back in Maui and excited over the many meetings we had in Southern Califo ia from LAX, Redondo Beach, North Hollywood, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Santa Ana, to three hotels – Best Western, Wyndham, and Marriott in the area. The trip was made possible by air fare contribution of Christian friend Freda M.; hotel contribution of David Powers of Rock Recovery Ministries and Sol