If you’re an addict in recovery, you may have already noticed this. Those who are closest to you are the last to believe you’re changing. Your wife, your husband, mother, father, children, close friends, don’t get as excited as you do when you celebrate one week clean, one month clean, or one year clean. They’veContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 20: Those who care the most about you will be the last to believe in your recovery”
Tag Archives: Addiction
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 18: You don’t know what you can do
You could learn a lot about addiction and recovery by watching the Wizard of Oz. I’m not referring to the scene where Dorothy and her friends pass out in a field of poppies. That’s the only outright drug reference I can recall. I’m talking about the way Dorothy and her friends are traipsing all overContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 18: You don’t know what you can do”
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 17: Recovery is easier than you think
All this reading about substance abuse and recovery may have given you the wrong impression. You may think that it’s hard to stop using drugs. Maybe it is, but nearly everyone who has experienced both addiction and recovery say the same thing: recovery is far easier than addiction. You’re accustomed to all the work itContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 17: Recovery is easier than you think”
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 16: You don’t have to use drugs to use drugs
A recovering alcoholic goes to a party in which there’s alcohol being poured. He’s determined to stay sober, but he doesn’t want to stop going to parties. All his friends are going to be there. They’ll be watching the big game on the big screen. It’s bound to be a great time. He does allContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 16: You don’t have to use drugs to use drugs”
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 14: Help is Closer Than You Think
It is a whole lot easier to get substances that will addict you than it is to get into treatment for addiction. In many localities, there are drug dealers at every corner, but to get to a clinic, you have to take two buses. Intake coordinators will make you wait in a room with oldContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 14: Help is Closer Than You Think”
Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 7: In the beginning of recovery, it doesn’t matter if you are self motivated. It just matters that you have motivation
In the beginning of recovery, it doesn’t matter if you are self motivated. It just matters that you have motivation Most people believe that internal or self motivation is the best kind of motivation and that people who are motivated for recovery to please others, whether they be the court, a spouse, a boss, orContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 7: In the beginning of recovery, it doesn’t matter if you are self motivated. It just matters that you have motivation”
The Shrink’s Links: The Smokefree Way
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. Sometimes I get new books to review. I just finished The Smokefree Way by Tamir Turgal. As an addiction counselor, I’ve read many books and heard many people talk about addiction and the process of setting oneself free. I’ve never read anything as clear and directContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: The Smokefree Way”
The man who loved lobster
There was once a man who loved lobster so much he couldn’t stop eating it. He was surrounded by stinking lobster carcasses because he couldn’t take the time away from eating to clean them up. They stunk to high heavens. No one wanted to be near him and his lobster carcasses. Every time he startedContinue reading “The man who loved lobster”
When Madness Takes Cover
So, you’ve stopped drinking, or drugging, or gambling, or sleeping around. Your depression seems to have lifted. You haven’t been violent. Your anxiety no longer makes all the decisions. You’re up in the morning and dressed when you need to be. The madness seems to have gone away. Has it, really? Madness takes cover sometimesContinue reading “When Madness Takes Cover”
Acknowledgment: April is the Cruelest Month
Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates do not peak at Christmas time. Here in Western New York, as elsewhere, they peak in April. So does all kinds of psychiatric hospitalization, depression and relapses of addiction. Why is this so, when hopes of Spring abound? Maybe the contrast between the inner weather and the outer weatherContinue reading “Acknowledgment: April is the Cruelest Month”
Keith Wilson - Counseling 