If you’ve found your way here to this article, the odds are that you’re in a tough place right now. No matter if it’s with unresolved grief or substance abuse, you are not alone. Maybe you, or a loved one, are overwhelmed with grief. So overwhelmed that you find yourself coping with a glass of wine, …
Unresolved Grief and Substance Abuse Are Connected Read More »
When we hear about someone “working the 12 steps,” our minds go to recovery. After all, the 12-step treatment approach was developed to help people all over the world reach sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous. You may have a close friend or loved one progressing through the 12-step treatment approach right now. If so, you probably know …
Would all the humans please stand up? How about those dealing with shame in addiction recovery? How can we work to overcome the guilt and shame that comes with recovery? Okay, if you’re standing and reading this article, you probably know what it’s like to deal with shame. That’s because we all have at least one …
Are Our First Responders at Risk for Addiction?Firefighters, police officers and paramedics share two major job components: each is a hero of the community, and all face inherent danger on a daily basis. These pressures can make first their careers high risk for addiction. You can imagine those dangers, right? Burns, smoke inhalation, gun violence, physical …
A Few Simple Things to Know About Setting Boundaries in Addiction Recovery Before we get started on setting boundaries in addiction recovery, take a moment to gather a few supplies: A blank sheet of paperA pencilA toddler A few crayons(If you don’t have a toddler handy, your imagination should do the trick). Use your pencil to draw a simple …
Diabetes, a broken arm, a heart attack—these are all widely recognized as medical conditions. But what about a chronic brain disorder? How does it relate to addiction? In some cases, the patient may have even contributed to the onset. Right? And yet . . . A sedentary woman diagnosed with type 2 diabetes receives understanding, guidance and …
If you work as a first responder, I’d like to start by saying thank you. Secondly, if you are one of the millions of first responders battling addiction, I want to tell you, there is hope. We all owe a great debt of gratitude to our local emergency medical technicians, firefighters and police officers. You show …
To Our First Responders Battling Addiction: There’s Hope for You Read More »
If you’ve had an injury or surgery, you may have taken opioids to manage pain. But you may be surprised what happens as you heal. It may only take a short period of misuse before it becomes opioid dependence. You may not realize how much you’ve relied on opioids until you try to stop taking …
Discovering Signs of Opioid Dependence: What Now? Read More »
We all know about the supposed power of first impressions. Allow us to illustrate how this applies to substance abuse treatment. Cut someone off in traffic only to sit across from them at a dinner party minutes later? That’s bound to be awkward. Show up to your first day on the job early, sharply dressed, and …
How Stigma Interferes With Substance Abuse Treatment Read More »
Where do you turn when you need help understanding addiction? There’s a book for that. They have a way of transporting us from all that we know into a completely unknown world—that is, from our own mind to the mind of the narrator. We see and understand things as they see and understand them. In this way, …