Category Archives: addiction

Romancing the Relapse: Relationships in early recovery

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One of the first things we hear in recovery, both in treatment and around the rooms of the support groups, is “No new relationships in the first year.”  If it’s not one of the first things we hear, it’s certainly one of the first things that get our attention.

That’s hardly surprising.  Emotions that have been suppressed by alcohol and other drugs are suddenly bubbling to the surface with none of the edges knocked off.   Add to that the fact that we’re feeling at loose ends, with all that time on our hands that we formerly spent using, and the fact that we really don’t want to face life directly yet, and we’re ripe for distraction.  Since rehab romances are one of the most common issues in early recovery, it crosses our minds, “Why not, as long as the other person is in recovery too?  We’ll have so much in common!”  Read more..

Will it be harder to recover if you don’t believe in God?

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If we believe in a loving god who cares what happens to us, looks after us, and answers prayers, the peace that our belief brings will unquestionably be a great support in recovery.  On the other hand, if we believe that a god will take care of us simply because we ask, without our putting any effort into our recovery process, then it is quite possible that believing could hinder our recovery.  Likewise, if we were raised to believe in a harsh, punishing god who will make us pay for our transgressions, we may find that we are emotionally unable to deal with the implications and may so totally reject the “God Thing” (as many of us call it) that we end up throwing our recovery out with our religious beliefs.
Read more…

When AA Alone Isn’t Working — The Fix

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Some addicts believe that the 12 steps can solve all their problems. But they’re designed to treat addiction—not depression, anxiety, and the like. So how do you know when you need a therapist, and what kind do you need?

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Why Do Addicts Keep Using Despite The Consequences?

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Early in human history, there were probably few alcoholics or addicts because the alcohol content available in fermented fruit was low, and plants that produced other intoxicating substances were relatively scarce.  The development of agriculture made it possible to insure supplies of grain for beer production, and enabled organized farming of other plant producers of mood-altering substances. …

Read more at the Sunrise Detox Blog

Why Do Addicts Keep Using Despite The Consequences? — Part 2

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Previously we mentioned that the pleasure center is a portion of the brain over which we have no conscious control, and that it can be stimulated by a variety of chemicals — some of them produced inside our bodies and some that we introduce from outside.  We said that the pleasure center rewards us for activities that it interprets as contributing in some way to our survival, whether they be social interactions, exercising, or more prosaic things such as eating.  We also stated that these pleasurable feelings, when pursued too far or for too long can create problems.  Now we need to examine how that happens….

http://sunrisedetox.com/blog/2011/08/24/addiction-alcoholism-compulsion-2/

Why Do Addicts Keep Using Despite The Consequences?

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Early in human history there were probably few alcoholics or addicts, because the alcohol content available in fermented fruit was low, and plants that produced other intoxicating substances were relatively scarce.  The development of agriculture created food surpluses, especially of grain, the major ingredient in beer, and a class of workers that was not tied to food production.  These specialized occupations — brewing and raising non-food crops among them — allowed a gradual increase in the organized  production of mood-altering substances.

Read more at the Sunrise Detox Blog

Why I Haven’t Been Posting Much Lately

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Both of my faithful readers will by now have noticed that I’m not posting very regularly on this site. It’s not though lack of interest, and I didn’t relapse (in fact, I just celebrated my 21st sober anniversary on 9/14/10).

Thing is, I’ve taken a part-time job writing for a recovery site, and I don’t have time to maintain both blogs. Since the other (paid) job covers the same territory, and since I have the potential to reach more people, it was a no-brainer. I’ll continue to post here from time to time, but it will be irregular at best.

I invite you all to subscribe to my posts at the Sunrise Detox Blog.   (Click the thingy at the bottom left of the page.) Thanks for visiting WhatMeSober.Com, and thanks for your interest.

Keep on keepin’ on,

Bill

My dad’s an alcoholic and he won’t stop drinking

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My father is a 60-year-old “functioning” alcoholic — whatever that means. My parents own a business together and he goes to work every day, comes home and makes a lot of money. None of us in my immediate family realized he was an alcoholic until about eight years ago when he had to go to the emergency room for acute pancreatitis. It was horrible; he was in a sort of coma, going through DT’s, and he nearly died. The doctor told us that he was an alcoholic and that he had to quit drinking. Looking back, I can’t believe we were all so blind to what was actually happening. I always thought he drank too much, but it never really occurred to me that he wouldn’t be able to stop. …

http://goo.gl/gBy7

Is Marijuana Addictive?

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I received this letter as a comment on another site. It is reproduced with the permission of the writer. Edited for clarity in one place (brackets).

I’ve been smoking pot for about 3 years now, and was smart enough never to get into anything hard because that would equal death.

Around 16 yrs. of age I was put in a juvinile program “rehab” due to all my marijuana tickets. Things were alright for the first couple weeks without out my bud, but as they days went on things became very dysfunctional. I always felt stoned without out the euphoria. My reflexes were slow, I was socially impaired, i couldn’t concentrate, and had mad swings of emotions. I’ve never cryed as much as I did that year. I felt suicidal and very depressed.

I’ve been going on what I call smoking binges for awhile now. I smoke literally all day. I couldn’t work or go to school, because by the time i smoked a few bowls i would be completely sober in a half hour. I had to be high. My tolerance became to high and the bud was not enough, no matter how much i smoked i couldn’t get high because i always felt fried, wihtout the euphoria.

I was wondering if PAWS could [result from] HEAVY MARIJUANA USE? I’ve been having these symptoms for over 3 years now, because everytime i sober up i make usually to 4 months and every thing is so dysfunctional and scary i relapse into another binge. THank you SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT.

The First Step Is No Theory — Part 1

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All 12-step programs use some variation of the following as their first step: “We admitted we were powerless over (insert addiction here)–that our lives had become unmanageable.”  Many of us had trouble admitting to ourselves that we were powerless, and in some cases were unable to come to terms with the idea that our lives were unmanageable.  So here’s as simple an explanation as I can come up with.

http://sunrisedetox.com/blog/2010/08/27/the-first-step-is-no-theory-part-1/

Want to know why we say “No relationships for a year?”

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Want to know why relationships are the number one cause of relapse?

Of course you don’t.  But here’s the reason, anyway:

…love is comparable to a drug  addiction: It activates the parts of the brain associated with motivation, reward and addiction cravings, according to new research from Stony Brook University.

Researchers were able to show a connection between romantic rejection and a cocaine craving via brain images….

So…we fall in lust, our addiction center is stimulated again, something goes a little bit wrong — or we feel the need to celebrate — and boom, there’s Mrs. Jones.

More Here.  Read it and weep.