So, you’re sober and damn proud of it. Or maybe you’re trying your very best to get back on the straight and narrow. Perhaps you have a buddy that needs to be. Whatever the case, you may be finding yourself with a less-than-desirable social life because, guess what, alcohol is everywhere. Everywhere. At work events,…
If you’re a casual drug user, you may be wondering where to draw the line between recreational use and addiction. Scientists are continually learning more about what causes addiction, and while they don’t have it completely figured out, it’s clear that there are physiological, social, and environmental influences. In this article, we’re going to define…
The suffering of a loved one can sometimes be so painful to endure, that we forget to remember it’s not our own affliction. When we care for someone deeply, their pain becomes our own. Without realizing it, we align their successes with our happiness and their failures with our sadness. This interdependent relationship…
Alcohol addiction and withdrawal can have several side effects, one of those being alcohol-induced insomnia. Studies show that 36-91% of people with an alcohol dependence experience insomnia or sleep disturbances, so it’s a very prevalent problem for many. If you’ve started having trouble sleeping due to drinking or after quitting alcohol, we’ll cover why this…
When seeking help for substance abuse or addiction, there are several different methods of counseling and treatment. Counseling seeks to identify the root causes and triggers for addiction while helping develop tools for coping in stressful situations. Addiction is caused by both genetic and environmental factors. If addiction runs in your family, you have a…
What exactly does it mean to blackout? It seems that definition takes on a different connotation depending on who we are talking about. For the deadbeat dad or homeless man on the corner, blacking out is understood in negative terms, wherein a person consumes too much alcohol in a bout of binge drinking, and as…
Going through an addiction, even when rehab has aided in recovery, is a long and grueling journey. When the high wears off and an addict begins to pick up the pieces of their life, they often face an amalgam of problems. Recovering addicts must hold down a job, commit to sobriety, establish new routines, and…
Addiction takes a huge toll on relationships. Other than parents’ relationships with their children, marriages tend to suffer the most under the strain of addiction. Certainly, there are few issues in a relationship that wreaks as much havoc as addiction does. Substance abuse or addiction usually brings lying, cheating, stealing and/or manipulating along for the…
Drug and alcohol abuse is as old as human civilization. In the United States, addiction has been acknowledged as early as the 1600s. Although addiction is now understood and treated as a disease, society once viewed it as a character flaw of the individual. Early aversion therapy included prayer, adding bird dung or a…
Guilt and shame can create problems for anyone entering recovery. Guilt and shame are powerful emotions that are vital in the healing process. People who are new to recovery often struggle with issues of guilt and shame surrounding their addiction and the acts committed while intoxicated and addicted. Powerful emotions play an integral part in…
