Alcoholism

Most of the time, when people talk about substance use disorders, they are imagining an addiction to a single substance. A person is addicted to cocaine or to prescription painkillers or to alcohol and so on. But substance use disorders are not always an either/or proposition. Sometimes they are a both/and proposition. And when that...Read More

Signs help us make good decisions. Traffic signs—stop, yield, lane ends, one way, and more—help keep everyone on the road safe. Signs pointing to the restrooms or identifying the exits or revealing whether a business is open or closed help us travel through public spaces. And in extremely busy spots—the airport, a stadium, a performing...Read More

If you are a parent, you want the best for your children. But if you are a parent struggling with drugs or alcohol, it can be difficult to provide your kids with the love and attention they deserve. Worse, your substance use disorder can have lasting effects on the lives of your children. The experiences...Read More

Not Wholly Sober: Functioning Alcoholics, Dry Drunks, In one sense, the idea of sobriety is pretty easy to wrap your head around. If you are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you are sober. By extension, if you have given up drugs and alcohol entirely, you can also be described as sober. Seems fairly...Read More

Routine in Recovery As a general rule, we are believers in the power of routine in recovery. A good slate of routines can go a long way toward helping you maintain your sobriety. For example, it is a good idea to have a set of routines around things like attending 12-Step (or other) recovery meetings,...Read More

You have probably heard the old song that opens: “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.” It is a nice thought, isn’t it? As the summer arrives in full force, it is nice to think that perhaps the living will, in fact, be easy. Turns out, however, that the season of the year has very little...Read More

Emotions have a way of sneaking up on a person. One moment, you are feeling perfectly fine, but then a stray memory makes you feel sad. Or you are working steadily on a project, but then a series of small setbacks add up to mounting feelings of frustration. Or you are feeling down in the...Read More

Both good and bad habits in addiction recovery can be powerful. Sometimes the power of a habit is good for us. Other times, the power of a habit is a problem. Take, for example, a habit like brushing your teeth in the morning and before bed. The odds are good that you don’t spend a...Read More

You’re sitting at home one night watching your favorite show or reading a new book or helping your kids with their homework when all of a sudden the lights go out. It’s a blackout. After you find a couple of flashlights or light a few candles, you will turn your attention to the source of...Read More

The modern world—and social media in particular—has changed the way we think about the word “friend.” Heck, in current usage, the steadfast noun can even be used as a verb, as is: “Hey, I friended you. Why haven’t you accepted my friend request?” Friends vs Acquaintances But let’s face it, the vast majority of people...Read More