Real people sharing real stories about their experience with substance abuse and mental health.
During my twenty-five year career in substance abuse treatment, I’ve frequently heard family members (and clients) insist that "Alcohol isn't his/her/my problem - drugs are!" and "Alcoholism isn't his/her/my problem - addiction is!" as if the same principles of recovery from chemical dependency don't apply to any dysfunctional situation where alcohol either isn't present or isn't present enough to be identified as the primary drug-of-choice.
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By: Lisa Blomgren, Alumni Coordinator The term “FOMO” (fear of missing out) has gained a lot of attention in the last few years with the rise in social media usage. Still, it is something that I experienced myself long before the term was coined in 2004 and even longer before Myspace hit the scene some…
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By: Mike Murphy, Manager of Alumni Services One of the hardest things for people to do in early recovery is cutting ties with people, places and things that no longer serve us well. Whether it’s the local bar and the rowdy crew you used to roll with, the dreaded Ex, the job that was burying…
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By: Lisa Blomgren, Alumni Coordinator The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous states, “we aren’t a glum lot,” and “if newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it.” One of my favorite parts of my job is hearing all of the incredible things our alumni are doing when I make…
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By: Jack H., Transformations Alumnus Hi I’m Jack and I am an alcoholic!!! It took me 40 years to even have a hint that I may have a drinking problem. It took me an additional 10 years to address it. I grew up in Boston where drinking was pretty much a normal and regular occurrence…
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By: Lisa Blomgren, Alumni Coordinator As a dog owner, I know the importance of training a dog, trying to understand its ways, giving it grace when it acts out, and teaching it to heel when it gets out of line. Winston Churchill once called depression “a black dog.” This black dog is not a sweet,…
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By: Mike Murphy, Manager of Alumni Services If you’re like me, you hear things like “You seem so much happier” or “Life seems to be treating you pretty well, nowadays!” pretty regularly now that you’re in recovery. And while it is true, and I genuinely appreciate the positive attention that is being paid to my…
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Depression is a common mental health disorder that affects many different people. Although most people have heard of depression and have a general understanding of what it is, there are still often misconceptions. Depression is a term that many people know, but the different types of depression remain fairly unknown. This article looks at 5…
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“Is depression a mental illness?” is a commonly asked question. To be clear, depression is an illness that will affect as many as one in ten Americans at some point in their life.[1] Since depression is a very serious mental illness, depression is a leading cause of disability, death, and economic damage in the world.[2]…
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You don’t need to have experienced the scourge of addiction personally to understand that it creates severe problems in the world today. All studies have shown that substance use disorders of various types are on the rise. The latest information shows that 95,000 American adults die due to alcohol every year, and 7% of all…
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