by K. Lanktree / Studio L Online
Five Ways You Can Reduce Stigma
by Geoff Kane, MD, MPH
Too often society is unfair to people with addiction—a fact that disturbs most people with active addiction, most people who are recovering from addiction, and most people who advocate for those groups. Fortunately we can do something about it. Don’t be daunted—small steps can have a powerful impact.
Read MoreThe State of The Art
by Howard Weissman, Executive Director / NCADA
Addiction remains misunderstood and stigmatized. This is news to exactly no one. But recovery is not stigmatized, it’s celebrated. The problem is, it’s celebrated quietly, often in closed meetings with coins that stay buried in purses or pants pockets.
Read MoreRecovery: Can You Have It Your Way?
by Geoff Kane, MD, MPH
Many individuals with a personal or professional stake in addiction recovery consider recovery a spiritual process and diligently defend the right of everyone in need of recovery to practice spirituality in whatever non-hurtful ways are meaningful for them. When it comes to how these people in need practice “recovery” itself, there is no such unanimity among stakeholders—except for possible agreement that the process won’t go very well if everyone pursues their recoveries with the same diversity as their spiritualities.
Read MoreWhose Fault Is This?
by Ron Grover, An Addict In Our Son’s Bedroom.
"Who is doing this to my (child)?"
I bet I'm safe to say that every parent of an addict has asked themselves this question. I know I spent many an evening thinking about these questions and even tracking down friends’ and dealer’s phone numbers on my son’s phone. Calling friends that are police officers, one the chief of police in our city and another, a friend I grew up with since 12-years-old, that is the elected sheriff of a major county in KC. All in a futile effort to control and fix this situation.
Read MoreChaos, Disorder, and Burdens
by Erik J. Welsh, PhD
There are numerous elements that can contribute to chaos or disorder in an addict’s life. When someone becomes entangled in addiction, the consequences and effects essentially govern the psyche in such a way that the addiction becomes the identity.
Read MoreThirteen Truths and A Lie – An Annotated List
Not a #TBT exactly but another post that originally appeared on Wrath66.com, a now defunct blog of yours truly, sometime in the fall of 2008. It is here now as it was referenced in the current episode (as of this writing,) Episode 6, of The Since Right Now Podcast as well as an insight into the head of an addict, at that point almost 10 years in recovery, drifting about the upper reaches of a very deep depression.
This particular post was an expression of what I dubbed the 8 Mile Method [video, explicit language] of disarming one's detractors. Though, in retrospect, it is not remotely as insightful or soul-barring as I think I believed it was at the time.
I'm pretty sure it would be at best an incomplete—not to mention, unsatisfying—4th Step [pdf].
It's also worth noting that a number of my beliefs have evolved since the writing. Most noticeably, my position on taking an SSRI.
Read MoreThe 7 Habits of a Mildly Intellectual Man.
#TBT*
This post originally appeared on Wrath66.com, a now defunct blog of yours truly, sometime in the fall of 2008. It is here now as an insight into the head of an addict, at that point almost 10 years in recovery, drifting about the upper reaches of a very deep depression. Unsure if we were headed up…or further down.
*Throwback Thursday, Mom.
Read MoreA Look at Aversion Therapy for Alcohol & Drug Abuse [Excerpt]
by Drew Gibson