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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I recently got the opportunity to attend the Treatment Professionals in Alumni Services (TPAS) Collaborative in Malibu, California and was asked to share my experience. Allow me to break down what an amazing time it was.
First off, I got invited t
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Making a decision to pursue addiction treatment can be difficult enough on its own, but even more so when it feels unaffordable. For those who have dealt with external obstacles and their own levels of internal resistance just to get to this point, the cost of addiction treatment can present yet another barrier to recovery.
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The 12 step Serenity Prayer is a prayer for everyone, not just alcoholics. The prayer was written by Reinhold Niebuhr and is specifically for people who want to break their bad habits, change their ways, and accept the things that cannot be changed.
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Imagine that you suffer a heart attack and collapse to the floor. Paramedics rush to your side. Examining you from head to toe, they find can’t find a pulse or breath.
From the way your wrist lies twisted on the floor, it’s clearly broken.
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“God is love, and God has no limits, therefore love has no limits.” – Anonymous
My disease took my hand and strolled alongside me long before I took my first drink. As far back as I could remember, I had always felt out of place, as though eve
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It has been about almost eight months since I received a scholarship from the Mark Garwood Share Foundation. Returning to school to finish my bachelor’s degree has been a dream of mine since I first got sober. There were times when I thought it wou
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Help NOW, because there might not be a LATER.
We live in a fast-paced society with busy schedules and minimal free time. We have families and friends that demand our attention, and it’s rare that we get any time to ourselves. Therefore, how can
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Moving here to South Florida in 1994, my plan was to go where I knew no one, and no one knew me, in hope this would help me stop using. Did this work? Yes for about four months. But being the addict that I’m, I know where to find what I’m really look
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I think the title of this sums up my active addiction pretty well, so I’m going to fast forward right into my treatment experiences. Plus, if you’ve ever seen an episode of Cops, you pretty much know how that whole forward goes anyway.
I was s
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