Early recovery is full of serious challenges. Just in case the obstacle course of post-acute withdrawal isn’t enough, let’s add in the loss of one’s primary method of coping with the world, along with the gift of experiencing—in all their glorious undiluted intensity—the uncomfortable feeling states that were previously blocked out, numbed, sanded down, and…
DetailsThe human nervous system consists of two main parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord. The PNS consists mainly of nerves, long fibers that connect the CNS to every other part of the body so that information can be sent back and…
Details“The giant tree grows from a single seed. A journey of a thousand miles starts with the very first step.” Recovery consists of two basic parts: 1) getting “clean” (in the parlance of my twelve-step program)—discontinuing using, becoming abstinent, and halting the vicious obsessive-compulsive circle of active addiction; and 2) staying clean—remaining abstinent by learning…
DetailsAt earlier stages of addiction, treating an emerging addiction tends to be easier, less costly, and less disruptive, at later stages when severe adverse effects on major life areas are manifest, more intensive treatment is required. It’s similar to taking care of a serious infection— painful, but necessary to facilitate healing and a return to…
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As human beings we have a remarkable capacity for dealing with serious events when things hits the fan. It is when difficult, challenging circumstances are perceived as insurmountable—when we find ourselves without the physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual resources to deal effectively with stressful events—that we find ourselves in crisis. A crisis can be any…
DetailsOnce suicidal ideation (thoughts of committing suicide) is present, four basic areas must be explored in assessing suicidal potential: Once suicidal ideation (thoughts of committing suicide) is present, the risk that a person will attempt and commit suicide can be assessed by exploring four basic areas: Does the person have an actual plan to kill…
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The inexorable truth the phenomenon of tolerance teaches all addicts is that the longer they use (regardless of the substance), the less of the desired effect they will experience from the same quantity. As human biochemistry adapts to the substance and becomes used to it, it takes more of that substance to produce the same…
DetailsMaintaining active addiction necessitates a set of defensive maneuvers to evade the natural corrective consequences of cognitive, behavioral, and ethical dissonance as the disease progresses. Addiction is especially insidious in how it convinces those of us who suffer from it that we do not have it. Those who become addicted almost always believe they can…
DetailsOne of the shortcomings of mind- and mood-altering substances is that they always wear off. But the effects don’t just subside, returning one to the baseline state they were in prior to seeking chemical refuge. One of the inexorable dynamics of dope in any form—whether from the street like crack, prescribed by a doctor like…
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