Eileen P. DeClemente wrote a book about her experience of alcoholism and recovery. What is unusual about about Eileen is that she has alcohol induced dementia. This is the first I have heard about the link between alcoholism and dementia at such an early age.

This is taken from Eileen’s website:

“Eileen DeClemente was 11 years old when she took her first drink. For 26 years she used drugs and alcohol to absorb her pain.
At the height of her addiction she was taking more than 90 pills a day.

By all accounts, Eileen DeClemente should be dead.
�
ALIVE is the inspiring story of one woman’s battle back to sobriety and a family who loved her through the darkest years of her life.
�
This courageous story recounts the details of an addiction so consuming it nearly killed her and destroyed her family. In this raw and riveting memoir, Eileen shares her fight to recover and live.  Finding courage where their was no hope, she shares her defeats, her victories and the story of her present struggle with alcohol induced Dementia.�
�
To anyone who has ever battled an addiction, and to the people who have loved them. This story is for you.”

I have not read the book yet but I thought that many of you mind find this inspiring and interesting. Here is some.

To read more about Eileen or to purchase her book, visit the website: www.eileenisalive.com.

I’ll Stop Tomorrow; 

Paul Campbell has hit the nail on the head when he says ‘This book was written by somebody who had everything and lost everything’ and ‘someone who went through the living hell of chronic alcoholism and the tough times of recovery’. 

Author Paul Campbell was once a highly successful advertising executive in Ireland. He had the kind of financial and personal success that many people can only dream of until alcohol nearly destroyed him. Thankfully, he lived to tell the tale. Today, he is a successfully recovered alcoholic turned addictions counselor living in Kildare, Ireland. 

Through a man’s perspective, Campbell touches on the many issues surrounding the alcoholic. Now a addictions counselor but once a chronic alcoholic, he has his finger on the pulse of alcoholism from both perspectives. 

Campbell was asked to write a regular news column about alcoholism for the Irish Book Review. He covers topics such as ‘The Alcoholic Mind’, ‘Alcohol Obsessions’, ‘Handling the Holidays in Recovery’ and ‘Intervention Advice’, these columns provided the basis for his first book ‘I’ll Stop Tomorrow’. 

In ‘I’ll Stop Tomorrow’ Campbell delves into why the alcoholic drinks, he asks if you are an alcoholic and then supplies a test for you to take.  He also speaks of anger, boundaries, the mind of an alcoholic, women and alcohol, relationships, control, physical effects of alcohol, AA, recovery, society, making amends, an extremely useful intervention section, and a subject close to my own heart; shyness and alcohol. 

Time and time again whilst reading ‘I’ll Stop Tomorrow,’ I found myself nodding in agreement with what Campbell had to say about the disease of alcoholism. He has a canny way of making you feel understood. I admire his educated view and personal insight on alcoholism as well as the fact that his style is neither pushy nor preachy.

This effective book will benefit many audiences, especially family and friends of the alcoholic, executives, housewives, husbands, wives, alcoholics, the newly sober and anyone wondering if they may have a problem with alcohol. 

Paul Campbell’s first book is a great addition to the alcohol and recovery genre, I am certainly better informed for having read it. My hope is that he returns with a follow up book that focuses on long term sobriety.

Click here for more information about Paul Campbell   

Click here for ‘I’ll Stop Tomorrow’ by Paul Campbell  

Click here to read Paul Campbell’s weekly columns

This article is not new but is interesting…Here is an extract from ChristianityToday.com

As Clapton’s legend grew, so too did his destructive behaviors. Within a year of his conversion he became addicted to heroin, kicked it, but moved on to alcohol, sexual promiscuity, and a string of failed relationships. “Bad choices were my specialty,” he said. In 1987 he hit the bottom. Failing through a month of rehab, he fell to his knees and finally “surrendered” to God, dedicating his sobriety to his newborn son, Conor. Four years later, when Conor died in a fall from the window of a 53rd floor of a Park Avenue apartment, Clapton admitted, “There was a moment when I did lose faith.” Still, he found the strength to present a session to his Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on “handing your will over to the care of God.” Afterward, a woman confessed that he had taken away her “last excuse” for drinking, a confirmation to Clapton that “staying sober and helping others to achieve sobriety” is “the single most important proposition” in his life.

To read the full article click here 

I recently read the brilliant book “Broken, My Story Of Addiction And Redemption” By William Cope Moyers with Katherine Ketcham.

It has taken me a while to write this review and not because I couldn’t think of enough great words to describe the excellent reading experience I had, but because when I approached William Cope Moyers and asked if I could review his book, I had no idea that aside from his story of addiction and redemption, he is also an accomplished journalist in his field and once worked for CNN, he is also the son of veteran journalist Bill Moyers who served as White House Secretary in the US President Lyndon B Johnson administration. I felt a little under qualified to say the least.

 I am an avid reader and I devoured this book in just a few sittings. I realized that both the message and challenge this book delivers is so powerful it has to be shared.

William tells his story memoir style, beginning in his early childhood he describes his young life and a particularly disturbing event. He goes on to detail his descent into addiction which begins during his high school years and continues throughout his adult life.

William’s life story is as interesting as his path of addiction. The fact that William was born into a privileged family makes his story even more interesting. It proves that addiction can happen to anyone.

This is not an average story about someone from a broken home with unsupportive parents who turned to drugs and alcohol then on to crime to feed a bad habit. This is a story about a man who seemingly had it all but who obviously felt the same way most addicts feel, like something was missing, that some part of him was not enough, that he was uncomfortable with his place in life and ultimately that he needed something outside of himself….drugs and alcohol to make him feel better.

William portrays an honest account of how most of the time he fooled the people closest to him into assuming he lived a normal life, yet the reality was that he was spending time in crack houses in the most unflattering of areas with the kind of people society rejects whilst spending enormous amounts of money on his drug habit. Slowly but surely, William’s life unravels as is more often the case when one is inflicted with the disease of addiction.

After a few attempts at recovery, you wonder if William will ever find a place of surrender.

“Broken, My Story Of Addiction And Redemption” by William Cope Moyers with Katherine Ketcham is a truly gripping account of addiction. William’s life story is fascinating and deeply moving. It is inspiring and courageous and will strike a chord with anyone who has been touched by addiction or is suffering from this awful affliction.

Toward the very end of the book, William delivers a challenge to all of us who are recovering from addiction, he asks us to speak up and “To break down the wall of shame, stigma and discrimination that keeps people from finding their paths to recovery, I invite my audiences to take action in their own communities”. He goes on to outline his worthy challenge to us all.

For more information about the book you can visit the website http://www.williammoyers.com/

William Cope Moyers also writes a regular column that I subscribe to and I find extremely valuable, go to this link to sign up:http://www.creators.com/health/william-moyers/parents-weekend.html

Another book by William Cope Moyers is “A New Day, A New Life”. It is in the form of a guided journal and a video.  I saw this book in the very early days of my own sobriety and it was how I first became aware of William.

Additional Info: William Moyers is the vice president of foundation relations for Hazelden Foundation.

Not that you would have noticed from the national press, well I didn’t anyway. September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.

Here is a government website full of information that you may find useful, or perhaps you know someone who would appreciate this information.

National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month September 2009

Zig Ziglar’s words are ALWAYS worth reading, he such a smart man with an amazing brain. Straight forward and to the point, he has much life experience to learn from.

Today when I opened my regular email from Creators.com, classic Zig Ziglar I was pleasantly surprised to read Zig talking about addiction. I thought this was worth of sharing with you all….

Addictions Make Relationships Difficult by Zig Ziglar from Creator.com

While getting a haircut, the barber, who has been cutting my hair for many years, was interrupted by a phone call. The conversation lasted no more than one or two minutes. When he hung up, he said to me, “This fellow wants to come to work with me as a barber, but he smokes.” I commented that I was glad he was turning him down because the last thing I wanted to do was leave his shop smelling like smoke.

He explained that the guy certainly would not smoke in the shop, but the problem was that when he felt the urge to smoke, his mind would leave the client in his chair and go outside for the cigarette he was craving. He then elaborated by saying that when a client was in the barber shop, he wanted to make certain the barber was giving him his undivided attention, not thinking about the cigarette break he could take in a few minutes.

I have been interested in addictions for a long time and have learned that with the possible exception of crack cocaine, most addictions are acquired over a period of time. In most cases, you don’t suddenly go from tobacco to heroin, nor do you go from weighing 140 to 250 overnight. Occasionally, the first drink of alcohol brings on an instantaneous addiction, but that is more rare than common. Most people don’t become alcoholics after the first drink, though for some, that first drink does light the fire and an alcoholic is in the making.

What addictions do cause — whether they are addictions to smoking, drinking, gambling, drugs, pornography, and so on — is difficulty in building winning relationships. The reason is very simple. In each case, with some addictions being stronger than others, when a person needs a fix, a drink or a thrill, his or her thoughts are not with the person whose company he or she is enjoying. Their thoughts are on themselves and what they can do to get that fix, drink or thrill of pornography or gambling

To read the rest click here

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Vivian Eisenecher has written a brilliant book titled “Recovering Me, Discovering Joy”.

I have long been interested in Vivian Eisenecher’s story. When I first embarked upon my own sobriety journey, I scoured the Internet for sobriety success stories and I came across Vivian’s website many times.

I admire Vivian’s quest to help others using her own experience with alcoholism as a platform. And, as a fellow social anxiety sufferer, I was keen to learn about Vivian’s battle with social anxiety disorder (SAD).

After reading “Recovering Me, Discovering Joy” I realized that Vivian’s book is not just a story about alcoholism, social anxiety and depression. There is a much wider, universal appeal to this book. It is a true self help and personal development book that most people would glean something from.

Vivian uses personal stories, quotes and solid facts to share her journey with the reader. This is a cleverly written book that gives you hope, inspiration and a identifiable companion in each page.

“Recovering Me, Discovering Joy” just proves that there are unlimited possibilities when you embrace sobriety and tackle your problems full on. Vivian clearly leads the way using her faith and wisdom and has definitely earned her title as Recovery Queen.

Those of you who follow Recovery Princess know that I am an avid reader and that I strongly believe in reading as a source of help in recovery.

I devoured this short but compelling book within a matter of hours. It was a fantastic read and extremely moving.

Throughout the book my eyes welled with tears numerous times as I empathized with the main character Brian’s plight and revisited some of my own teenage memories of addiction.

The story charts Brian’s journey through the beginning of his addiction until his point of surrender and return to a sober state.

Brian is a teenage boy who mainly uses drugs as opposed to alcohol throughout his addiction.

I found that although this story of addiction was more about drugs than alcohol, my focus was not really on that. The story is told in such a way that the reader can very clearly relate to the essence of addiction regardless of the substance used. You can relate to the intense need for escapism and a lack of regard for the future especially at such a young age.

The book is so moving in the sense that you can see how quickly addiction can ruin and confuse a young life.

As well as anyone who has ever battled with addiction, parents of teenagers would do well to read this book as would those of you who started your addiction at a young age.

Brian was one of the lucky ones who managed to not become ‘institutionalized’ but not before he had already been subjected to many different psychiatric hospitals and recovery institutions. The story will reasonate with those of you who have come from a difficult family upbringing as well as those of you who have been lucky enough to realize that life can get better after addiction.

For me, the golden moment in the story is near the end when Brian, through the help of his wisely spoken A.A sponsor begins to understand the magnitude of what living a full and meaningful life is really about. To help his with this, Brian’s sponsor gives him 5 main questions to assist him along his new way in life. This enticed me to grab a piece of paper and get writing myself.

The story is inspiring, sad, uplifting, moving and realistic. I highly recommend this quick read and I am better off for having read it.

 Visit this link to sign up to Sober Conversation blog

Visit this link to find out more about the Sober Conversation book

This guy is interesting, he has been through it all and is now telling his story and sharing his advice.

Paul Campbell, author of the bestselling title “I’ll Stop Tomorrow”, brings his advice to The Irish Book Review in a weekly column on understanding and dealing with alcoholism

Source: Paul CampbellOnline PR News – 05-August-2009 – Paul Campbell was one of Dublin’s most dynamic and successful businessmen. He had a loving family and lived in a beautiful home. Yet in only three months he lost it all. He found himself living alone in a bedsit. He had lost his family, his business, his home and had nothing to look forward to in life. Why? Because he was an alcoholic and alcohol had taken control of his life.

Through practical suggestions his book, and now his column provides alcoholics, their families and friends a step-by-step guide to recognizing and accepting their illness and embarking on the road to recovery.

Click here for full story

I just visited The Irish Book Review website where Paul Campbell has his weekly column so that I could sign up for updates. Click on the following link to read his weekly articles about alcoholism. You can also sign up to the RSS feed.

Paul Campbell Weekly Column

I came across this article and liked the unusual writing style of the author. Good content and an interesting read.

Understanding Substance Abuse And Addictions And How They Affect Our Relationships

Source: Knoxville Relationship Psychology Examiner, Ron Mottern

Substance abuse and addiction wreaks havoc on our relationships for any number of reasons. In the local area, authorities busted 15 members of a drug ring in Crossville that was distributing cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana and prescription drugs. In Knoxville, four churches have been burglarized and I am willing to venture that these burglaries are related to supporting a drug habit. Although the social implications of these stories are apparent, what is not mentioned is the interpersonal misery that is caused by substance abuse and addiction. While the headlines focus on the broader aspects of drugs in society, the lives effected by drug abuse and addiction are only marginally acknowledged. A recent case where we may imagine the relational hurt caused by substance abuse and addiction is the Taconic State Parkway crash that left eight people dead, including four children, and has been linked to alcohol and marijuana use by one of the drivers.

The tendency to ignore the individual aspects of these stories is unfortunate since substance abuse and addiction is fairly widespread in our society. It is likely that either we or those whom we know have experienced problems with substance abuse and addiction in some way, either personally or through family or friends.

Having been engaged in substance abuse counseling for the past decade, one of the questions I am frequently asked by friends and family members who are suffering from seeing a loved one choose substance abuse and addiction is “Why is this happening.” I don’t think their question is existential. They are asking to understand how someone they love and who once loved them can betray that relationship for drugs. It just doesn’t make sense to them.

One way of understanding substance abuse and addiction is through Choice Theory Psychology. We all have five Basic Needs (Survival, Love, Recognition, Fun and Freedom) that we must attempt to fulfill. When these Needs are met, and they are met best through our relationships with other people, we are happy. When these Needs are not met, we are miserable. If I am not getting my Needs met, e.g., my wife has left me, I have been laid off at work, insert your own situation here., then I am going to be miserable. One way that I can feel better is to use alcohol or other drugs (AOD). It works every time. Unfortunately, AOD don’t fulfill our Needs, they just cover up the misery of not having our Needs met, so when I come down off my high or sober up after my drunk I am just as miserable as I was before, if not more so because it’s now been longer since I’ve had my Needs fulfilled. Because I am still miserable, I use AOD again. It is in this way that AOD get to be what we understand as pictures in our Quality World.

Click here for full article

If you were thinking about picking up the alcohol again, read this and think again!
Very interesting well written article about some famous alcoholic writers in history.

When Novelists Sober up by Tom Shone: More Intelligent Life Magazine

John Cheever was most unhappy to be picked up for vagrancy by the cops. “My name is John Cheever!” he bellowed. “Are you out of your mind?” Found sharing some hooch with the down-and-outs in downtown Boston, he was promptly admitted to Smithers Alcoholism Treatment Centre on Manhattan’s East 93rd Street, where he shared a room with a failed male ballet dancer, a delicatessen owner and a smelly ex-sailor. “The ballerina is up to his neck in bubble bath reading a biography of Edith Piaf,” he noted in his journal. He spent most of his time in group therapy correcting his counsellor’s grammar. “Displaying much grandiosity and pride,” they wrote in their notes. “Very impressed with self.” Eventually he fell silent. Four weeks later he emerged, shaky, fragile and subdued. “Listen, Truman,” he told Truman Capote. “It’s the most terrible, glum place you can conceivably imagine. It’s really really, really grim. But I did come out of there sober.”

He was the first American author of his rank to do so. Much ink has been spilled on the question of why so many writers are alcoholics. Of America’s seven Nobel laureates, five were lushes—to whom we can add an equally drunk-and-disorderly line of Brits: Dylan Thomas, Malcolm Lowry, Brendan Behan, Patrick Hamilton, Philip Larkin, Kingsley Amis, all doing the conga to (in most cases) an early grave. According to Donald Goodwin in his book “Alcohol and the Writer”:

Writing involves fantasy; alcohol promotes fantasy. Writing requires self-confidence; alcohol bolsters confidence. Writing is lonely work; alcohol assuages loneliness. Writing demands intense concentration; alcohol relaxes.
There is good reason to be suspicious of this: one could as easily come up with a similar list for firefighters, or nannies, the only real difference being that writers are more vocal about it—their denial more pithily expressed. As Philip Amis said of his father’s bottle-of-whisky-a-day habit: “He was Kingsley Amis and he could drink whenever he wanted because he bought it with his money, because he was Kingsley Amis and he was so famous.”

Click here for full article

I just came across this. What an inspiration to all of us who are overcoming alcohol and drug addictions. The 20th anniversary of National Alcohol and Drug addiction month is coming up in September 2009 and you can join in by participating in the Recovery Rally.

See below for details:

On Saturday, September 12th join thousands in NYC to celebrate the 20th anniversary of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Together, we can raise national awareness that addiction is a treatable disease, and recovery is possible!

What is the Recovery Rally?

A FREE public event to celebrate people in recovery and pay tribute to those who support them.

The rally features a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to reinforce the message that anyone can cross their own bridge to recovery.

The celebration begins in Foley Square with live entertainment, guest speakers and celebrity appearances!

Where does the event start?

Check-in at Foley Square in downtown Manhattan. Come early for pre-walk activities including a warm-up, musical performance and special guest speakers

When should I arrive?

Please plan on arriving at Foley Square by 8:30 AM to check-in. On-site registration will remain open until 9:00 AM.

How do I get to the Recovery Rally?

Public transportation makes it easy to get to Foley Square.

From New York City, you can get to the rally by subway, bus, or LIRR.

• Subway – Take the 4, 5, or 6 line to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
  Take the 1, 2,3, J, M, or Z line to Chambers Street.
  Take the R or W line to City Hall.
• Bus – Take the M1, M6, M15, M22, M103, or the B51 to City Hall.
• LIRR – Take the LIRR to 34th St. Penn Station. Transfer to the A Train Downtown and get off at Chambers St.

If you’re driving to Foley Square, please see the directions below. Click here for a list of available parking garages nearby. You can also use Mapquest by simply typing in the intersection of Duane Street, Lafayette Street, Centre Street and Pearl Street.

Click here for full info

You can never take your sobriety for granted as this one Mom so eloquently writes her powerful story about overcoming addiction, plunging headlong back into it after 10 years and having to relearn how to overcome it again.

Source: Momlogic.com

Recovering Alcoholic-Addict Mommy: There is so much on the blogosphere lately about moms and their wine intake. One popular mom writer published an article about how she made the decision to quit drinking wine, after spending years defending her right to drink in such memoirs as “Make Mine A Double” and “Naptime is the New Happy Hour.” Another writer from Momlogic wrote a post last week about how she had dared herself to go 30 days without drinking wine, then followed up this week by writing that the experiment failed miserably and she is back on the juice.

Enough deflecting by discussing everyone but myself… I am an alcoholic. And a drug addict. I have been in recovery for 15 years, since I was 20 years old. I currently have 17 months clean and sober.

Based on the above figures, it is obvious that my sobriety path has had some forks in the road. I was sober for ten solid years, during which time I got two master’s degrees, began a career as the clinical coordinator of a drug and alcohol treatment center, and got married. In my career, I helped create a nationally based drug and alcohol prevention program for Jewish teens. My entire identity was based on being sober. I had never even taken a legal drink, and my husband had no personal knowledge of my alcoholism. No matter how many stories I told him about the out of control girl running around New York City drunk and high as a kite, he had a hard time matching that image with the accomplished and seemingly well-balanced woman he had chosen to marry.

I spent my days working as a psychotherapist to low bottom alcoholics and drug addicts. People alternatively sentenced to treatment from prisons and jails. Young men and women who had lost everything and been forced by their families into rehab. Moms whose addiction had caused them to lose their children. 

 I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with my first child. My husband and I were elated, and I felt deeply rooted in my sobriety, career and life. As I walked through the doors at work after returning from my doctor’s appointment, the director of the treatment center grabbed me in the hall. “She’s back. Debbie is waiting in the lobby to talk to you. She is desperate for a bed. Can you deal with her?”

I muffled my sigh. Debbie had been in and out of our facility for the past few years. She was a petite young woman, with streaky blonde hair and hollow black eyes. She was a mother of three  young children and a speed freak. The most she could ever put together was a couple of months of sobriety, before some ex-boyfriend/pimp/drug-dealer eventually lured her back into the horrors of her addiction. When she was clean, she was sweet and willing. She listened attentively during groups and was honest and vulnerable. When she was caught in the web of her addiction, she became a rebellious, angry kid- a spoiled-brat punk-rocker who could give two fucks about her children. I wondered which Debbie I would be getting today.

I walked in the lobby, and tried to summon up the caring, non-judgmental social worker in me. There she sat, curled up in a ball in the corner of the sofa. She looked like a drowned rat- skinny, greasy, frightened. When she saw me, she leapt up from the couch and into my arms.

“I can’t do this anymore. I hate myself, I don’t want to die. I can’t do this to my children. Please get me a bed!” She sobbed in my arms.

She certainly knew how to say all the right things, but I had heard them all before.

I led her into my office and sat down next to her on the couch. “Debbie…why is this time different? You have been in and out of here at least 5 times over the past few years! Have you really had enough?”

Debbie looked straight at me, “I hate myself…please help me!”

I answered her truthfully, “I want to help you, but we don’t have any beds. We are completely full and we have a waiting list.”

Debbie begged, “I need to be a mother for my children…I can’t do this anymore!”

I took a deep breath and walked over to my desk and picked up my phone, “Debbie is checking back in. Put an extra bed in women’s lounge.”

As Debbie walked out of my office I looked down at my flat and pregnant body and I had only one thought. That could never be me. I could never drink or use drugs after I became a mother. I really believed that I had been cured of my alcoholic problem.

 At 8 months pregnant, my husband’s mom died suddenly, and it took much of his time and energy to process his shock and grief over this loss. After I had my son, my mom’s cancer (which had been in remission for several years) returned full force and she was given 2 years to live. I was flattened by postpartum depression and anxiety, which despite my clinical background, totally pulled the rug out from under me.

My return to alcoholism and addiction began slowly and insidiously. My anxiety was so severe that I found myself unable to eat or sleep for several days in a row. My OB prescribes a low dose of Ativan to help me. It worked beautifully.

I began to question whether I was ever really an alcoholic. After all, doesn’t every one party when they are in college? Granted, not everyone goes to Harlem in the middle of the night to score drugs off the street. Nor do normal college kids have take a medical leave from school because their drinking and drugging is so out of control. But I was convinced that as an adult and a mother, I could now handle drinking responsibly. I cleverly found a therapist to tell me that she didn’t think I was an alcoholic, and she even encouraged me to try drinking again. I hadn’t had a drink in so many years, I didn’t even know what to order. “What do you like to drink?” I asked her. 

“White wine,” she replied, with a small smile, “I love to have a glass of cold white wine at the end of the day.” My husband and I went to Vegas and I ordered my first glass of white wine in over ten years.

I wish I could say my story ended here- that I had somehow grown out of my alcoholism and could enjoy that ubiquitous glass of wine at the end of the day without consequence. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out so well for me. I spent the next few years battling alcoholism and addiction. I stayed sober during my second pregnancy and controlled my drinking while nursing. At 7 months pregnant my mom’s cancer took a major turn for the worse. She died exactly two weeks before my daughter was born. After I brought my baby girl home from the hospital, the grief, pain, sadness and anxiety I felt was indescribable.

I had all the rationalizations. I believed I was a better mom when I was under the influence of pills and alcohol. I was more relaxed, more able to deal with the stress of raising young children, more present, more in the moment, generally happier and able to function.  I prided myself on the fact that I was never abusive. I never screamed at my children or put my hands on them in anger. I took them to the park and made them organic, homemade baby food. I had the perfect image of peaceful “earth mama” down pat. I somehow believed that this persona mitigated my alcoholism and addiction, which was now spiraling out of control. 

I knew I needed to get sober again. When I wasn’t under the influence, my anxiety was off the charts. I literally felt like I was jumping out of my skin. I kept breaking my own rules: no drinking until they were asleep was quickly replaced by holding out until 6pm, then 5pm, then 4pm. I needed more and more of those little pills to simply get me through the day. My husband was terrified, but didn’t quite know what to do because he had never dealt with an addict before and I was such a brilliant liar and rationalizer (as all alcoholics and addicts must be to justify their using.)

Things got really bad. Without going in to all the gratuitous details, my husband came home on a Friday afternoon and told me the jig was up. Unless I could immediately get sober, he was sending me to a detox treatment center for 28 days the following Monday  Of course, I couldn’t stop drinking and using. I was in the middle of a run and my body was completely physically addicted. On Monday morning, he dropped me off kicking and screaming at a treatment facility. In that moment, Debbie and I were the same person: desperate, broken mothers who had come within millimeters of losing our children because of our addictions. I knew that I had to get sober or I would lose everything.

I never thought my alcoholism would progress enough to warrant me having to go into treatment. Being separated from my children during that time was the most painful experience of my life. I was dripping in shame. I felt like the worst mother in the world. It took me a long time to realize that my addiction didn’t care about my children. It didn’t care about my family, my accomplishments, my master’s degrees, or my career. It only cared about getting me drunk and high, isolated and alone. That is the very essence of the malady.

The guilt and shame that alcoholic and drug-addicted moms feel is overwhelming. We really believe that we are worthless as mothers if we can’t even stay sober for our children. What I learned in recovery the first time (and had to relearn the second time around) is that it is not my fault that I am an alcoholic, but I am responsible for treating it. Sobriety is the foundation of my life now. I truly understand that without my sobriety, I cannot function as a wife, a mother, a friend, a therapist and a writer. 

If you are reading this and finding yourself relating to parts of my story, please know that there is a way out of this destructive cycle. You are not alone.

An article in The Los Angeles Times discusses the importance of a parents role when it comes to enforcing rules about drug and alcohol use. I believe it is detrimental, especially so because of the fact that ” A child who starts drinking before age 15 has a 50% chance of becoming alcoholic; the risk falls to 9% for those who wait until they’re 21″.

I began drinking as a teen and so did many of the people I associated with. I can honestly say that most of those people including myself grew up seriously abusing alcohol and some are alcoholics. Drinking alcohol also leads to drug use and poor decision making skills in general. It also numbs the natural progression of adolescence and seriously interferes with ones personality. Drinking before 21 is just a no no in my book. If parents can not enforce a no drinking rule before 21 because of their own drinking habits then they only have themselves to blame for any problems that their child will encounter.

So much of the research these days is showing with absolute certainty that alcohol affects every one differently based on their brain chemistry, so it stands to reason that some of the teens who try alcohol will be more likely to enjoy the effects of alcohol but be unable to say no going forward. They will be more likely to use alcohol for the wrong reasons and have a harder time keeping their consumption under control. Parents should be mindful of the facts about the effects of alcohol on a young brain and therefore protect their child against it. Educating parents on teens and drinking is essential.

Here is the article from the Los Angeles Times – “Parents: Kill a buzz, save a life” by Valerie Ulene

Drug use among teens is pervasive. Nearly 45% of teenagers in grades 9 through 12 drink alcohol, and more than 25% of them binge drink, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Further, 1 in 3 teens has smoked marijuana, and 1 in 5 has abused prescription medication, according to a recent survey by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

Doctor’s Diary: Alcohol Binge Drinking Video is from the BBC News website.

The doctor speaks of the health issues he sees on a daily basis caused by alcohol binge drinking.

What is interesting is how he talks of the change in the type of person he sees in today’s world. It used to be mainly men in their fifties coming in with alcohol related health issues, now he is seeing an increase in younger adults, in particular a young woman who is only 27 years old and in need of a liver transplant. 

Take a look at this mini video about binge drinking in the U.K, It is scary stuff to listen to.

Click here to watch the video

Source; CNN by Madison Park

When rehab and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings didn’t work for Eddie Freas, he sought another way to kick his 20-year drug and alcohol addiction.

He swam 2.4 miles. He biked 112 miles. He ran 26.2 miles. The Pennsville, New Jersey, resident found relief in triathlons.

“I feel better when I’m working out,” said Freas, 33. “It does wonders for the mind. The reason I started running — it was a switch that went off in my head. I started feeling positive and feeling great about myself.”

Freas spent his youth in pursuit of drugs. At the age of 13, he snuck bottles of Amaretto and rum from his mother’s liquor cabinet. He also developed a taste for marijuana and cocaine. By his senior year of high school, Freas was kicked off the wrestling and football teams after failing a drug test.

Then in 2007, after a three-day binge, “I came home and was crying,” Freas said. “I was so depressed. I turned on the TV.” The set was tuned to ESPN, which was airing a story about a former drug addict who competed in triathlons.

The program’s subject was Todd Crandell, who had lost a college hockey scholarship because of a drug addiction. After 13 years of using drugs, Crandell started competing in Ironman races and championed finding positive ways to fight addiction through his program called Racing for Recovery.

Having an athletic background, I was drawn to getting back in shape,” Crandell said. “It makes you turn intellectually and spiritually fit. Exercise is essential. It decreases addiction, depression and you use it as part of the recovery.”

Freas was entranced by the parallels.

“His whole story seemed like mine,” Freas said. “That’s why it hit me so much. It was my story but it happened to somebody else. I knew I had to get back into fitness.”

He took a bus to Racing for Recovery’s office in Sylvania, Ohio. There, Freas said he learned to “stay clean and use other things — fitness, instead of drugs.” On his first day, Freas pushed himself to run 10 miles.

“It killed me,” Freas said. “I was just motivated. I was sore for a week and I gradually got into it. As soon as I started including fitness into my everyday lifestyle, it made it so much easier. It kept me busy and because of the physical fitness, it was making me feel better about myself.”

He pushed himself to run farther and raced in his first Ironman competition in 2008.

“It’s different when you use drugs, you temporarily feel good and afterwards, you feel like doing more drugs,” Freas said. “When you go for a long run and do physical fitness, you feel good doing it.”

Research in animals and humans show that exercise can be a mild antidepressant.

“It isn’t a huge surprise when you consider many positive effects exercise can have with regards to the brain chemistry: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, epinephrine — these are all associated with mood altering effects,” said Dr. Cedric Bryant, the chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. “If they’re able to get this natural high, through a natural endeavor such as exercise, it allows them to replace the means to achieve that high with a more positive approach.”

One study showed that women trying to quit smoking were more successful when they exercised. And the National Institute on Drug Abuse held a conference last year to explore the possible role of physical activity in substance abuse prevention.

“The thought centers around the release of mood-altering brain chemical, mainly endorphins,” Bryant said. “It gives you euphoria or what you call ‘runner’s high.’ ”

Crandell said some people who battle drug addiction “want something more than sitting in support groups filled with smoke, complaining about drinking.”

“I’ve had some of my naysayers from other programs who say you’ve taken one addiction and replaced it for another,” Crandell said. “I’ve taken addiction and put into a new focus that includes exercise. Exercise for me is essential to my recovery and well-being.”

The purpose of Racing for Recovery is not to turn everyone into an athlete, but to focus on positive pursuits in a person’s life.

“Whatever you lost during your addiction, that should be your Ironman, not just running,” Crandell said. “If your goal is to become a teacher, let that be your Ironman.”

Click here for full article

I came across the ‘One Sober Alcoholic’ blog a while ago, then again today, it must be a sign! Either way, I enjoy the writings of this author. Today’s post is about her first year of sobriety which is an interesting read.

You can read the post titled “What it was like: Year One” at One Sober Alcoholic

Enjoy!

Another reason to quit drinking alcohol!

Source; The George Institute

A new global study has found that lifestyle risk factors such as alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are important risk factors for bowel cancer. Researchers have shown that people who consume the largest quantities of alcohol (equivalent to > 7 drinks per week) have 60% greater risk of developing the cancer, compared with non-drinkers.

Smoking, obesity and diabetes were also associated with a 20% greater risk of developing bowel cancer – the same risk linked with consuming high intakes of red and processed meat.

Approximately one million new cases of bowel (colorectal) cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year, and more than half a million people die from this type of cancer. In Australia alone, it is the most commonly occurring cancer with more than 12,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

According to lead researcher Associate Professor Rachel Huxley at The George Institute, the most startling finding of this study was, “The strong, and largely, unknown association between high intakes of alcoholic beverages with risk of colorectal cancer. Most people probably know that being overweight and having poor dietary habits are risk factors for the disease, but most are probably unaware that other lifestyle risk factors such as alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and diabetes are also important culprits.”

Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council recommend individuals shouldn’t be drinking more than two standard drinks per day.

On a positive note, researchers also demonstrated that physical activity lowered an individual’s risk of the disease but surprisingly, there was little evidence to indicate that high intakes of fruit and vegetables were protective against bowel cancer.

“These findings strongly suggest that a large proportion of colorectal cancer cases could potentially be avoided by making relatively modest lifestyle adjustments such as drinking less, quitting smoking, eating healthily and being a little more active”, said Associate Professor Huxley. “Such changes would also have huge benefits in terms of reducing an individuals’ risk of developing other major forms of illness including cardiovascular disease.”

The study reviewed more than 100 published studies that had reported on the association between major and modifiable risk factors for colorectal cancer including alcohol, smoking, diabetes, physical activity and various dietary components.

This is a great alcohol Recovery Success Story titled ‘Back From The Bottle’. Very encouraging and inspiring.

Source: (AbbyNews) By Vikki Hopes

Roger Hoekstra gazed out the window on a dark snowy night, grabbed his beer from the table next to him and made the decision to leave his family.

“Their life will get better without me. At least they’ll have a chance,” he thought.

He held the beer in his hand, but didn’t drink it. He thought about the pain in his wife’s eyes just a few minutes ago, when they had another terrible fight.

She had been in tears again.

He thought about his parents and the moral lessons they had tried to teach him.

As he sat there, Hoekstra’s thinking began to change. Would his family really be better off if he left, or would it be even better if the booze left?

He uttered four words: “God, please help me.”

Hoekstra grew up in a stable home in Chatham, Ont. His Dutch parents were solid Christians with strong moral convictions they tried to pass on to their five children. The family attended church regularly.

Hoekstra was the oldest, and he was a shy, quiet child who often felt out of place with others. One night, at the age of 13, he was hanging out with a friend whose parents were the caretakers of an adjacent synagogue. The two boys snuck some wine out of the synagogue, and they drank it with abandon.

Hoekstra liked how it loosened him up. He wasn’t that shy little kid anymore.

He arrived at school the next morning, still on the tipsy side and was sent home for the day.

Hoekstra didn’t drink again until he was almost 16 and began going to parties. Within a few months, he knew something was wrong. Whenever he started drinking, it was rare that he could stop before he was plastered.

He’d leave a party and drive around with a case of beer in his vehicle. He wouldn’t go home until it was all gone.

At the age of 17, Hoekstra got a job plowing fields. His cooler packed with beer was almost always by his side. He had his first brush with the law when he got caught stealing parts out of a car, and spent the night in jail.

A year later, he spent another night in jail after getting in a drunken brawl.

“Don’t tell your mother,” his father instructed him the next day.

Hoekstra decided to move away from the bad influences in his life, and he fled to B.C. to work in construction. He was able to limit his drinking to weekends, and reasoned that his previous experiences were just a phase he had outgrown.

He met Betty at a college party and the two were engaged within a few weeks. They married the following year. Hoekstra was 21.

His drinking returned with a vengeance – heralding the start of a 16-year battle.

He became a welder, and it was a routine for him to stop at a beer and wine store once his shift ended to grab a couple of beers for the 20-minute ride home.

Once home, Hoekstra would drink throughout the evening. His beverage of choice was beer because he didn’t like the way that hard booze made him verbally vicious.

But even the beer made him obnoxious and miserable. Everything else in his life – including his wife and five children – came second to alcohol.

He would wake up in the morning with a severe case of the “shakes,” and would down pain medication to counteract his hangover headaches.

He repeated this process every day and didn’t get his first look at sobriety until about 1990 when he attended 12-step meetings for three weeks to support a friend. Much of the information he heard made sense to him. He stopped drinking during those weeks, and then convinced himself he could handle alcohol just on the weekends.

That lasted for one weekend before he was back into the cycle for another five years.

It was Jan. 23, 1995 at the age of 37 when he pondered whether to leave his family.

Instead, he quit drinking, attended 12-step meetings every day, and learned how to leave alcohol behind, permanently.

Click here to read full story

When I was growing up, I don’t ever remember being told of the risk of alcoholism. It was just an accepted fact that people drank and some could handle it while others could not.

I find it encouraging that we see headlines such as these in today’s world. Here is an article from Health Day about sensitivity to alcohol.

Source; HealthDay.com

Study in rats finds that even one injection leads to dependent behavior

THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) — A naturally occurring protein plays a role in the disrupted functioning of the brain’s reward circuitry seen in people with drug and alcohol dependence, says a new study.

“If we can understand how the brain’s circuitry changes in association with drug abuse, it could potentially suggest ways to medically counteract the effects of dependency,” Scott Steffensen, a study co-author and a neuroscientist at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, said in a news release.

Previous studies found that chronic drug users can experience an increase of a protein known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brain’s reward circuitry. In the new study, the researchers found that a single injection of BDNF made rats behave as if they were dependent on opiates, even though they’d never been given the drugs.

The BDNF injections caused the rats to leave their usual area — with its comforting smells, lighting and texture — in search of a fix. The researchers also found that the BDNF injections in the rats caused certain chemicals that normally inhibit neurons in the brain’s reward circuitry to excite neurons, which is what happens when people become dependent on drugs.

The finding suggests that BDNF plays a major role in inducing drug dependency, one important aspect of drug addiction, Steffensen said.

The study is published in the May 29 issue of the journal Science.

Read article at HealthDay.com

Everyone in addiction recovery needs some kind of support. Luckily for Eminem he had the master of celebrity recovery to turn to for advice…

Source; (Vibe.com)

While battling his addiction to pills, Eminem turned to another celebrity who’d been down the same road—62-year-old singer-songwriter Sir Elton John. In an out-take from his first-person cover story in VIBE’s June 2009 Real Rap Issue, Eminem reveals that he and Elton have been close friends since their surprise performance of “Stan” at the 2001 Grammys.

“When I came home from the hospital the second time and I realized that I was giving up drugs forever I reached out to Elton cause I knew he had a problem before,” Eminem explains. “I knew he was in recovery and I just wanted to reach out to somebody who was on the same level as far as fame and shit like that go, and just asked him how in the hell he did it. He was really supportive, and still is to this day.”

When Elton John first performed with Eminem back in 2001, the openly gay rock legend was criticized for co-signing a rapper whose lyrics had been labeled homophobic. But John was adamant in his support. “From the start, I’ve always admired Eminem’s thinking,” he said in a 2005 interview. “That’s the reason I wanted to appear on the Grammys with him when I was asked, despite all the nonsense talked about his being homophobic. Let the Boy Georges and the George Michaels of the world get up in a twist about it if they don’t have the intelligence to see his intelligence.”

Eminem and Elton kept in touch ever since that Grammy performance. “We’d call each other up every now and then,” Eminem reveals. “I went to a concert of his when he came to town—me and Kid Rock went.”

And when Eminem was caught up in a fight for his life, he turned to Elton for support and advice. “Especially in the beginning, there was a couple of things he talked me out of doing,” Eminem admits in an out-take from his June 2009 VIBE cover story “Can I Kick It?” which details his nearly fatal overdose, relapses, recovery, and triumphant return to hip hop. “There was a Nelson Mandela thing that I was rumored to go to and I had just got out of the hospital. He was like ‘Don’t do it. Do not do it.’ I was actually considering it. I didn’t want to disappoint anybody. He talked me out of doing it. He was like, ‘I’m telling you’re gonna get over there and you’re gonna wanna use. Don’t do it, it’s too early. You don’t even have enough clean time under your belt.” He called a lot. A few times a week. Checked in to see how I was doing and shit. He knew how hard it was in the beginning for him to quit.”

Eminem’s new album Relapse(Shady / Aftermath / Interscope) drops next week.

Read article at Vibe.com

I love reading alcohol and addiction recovery stories like this one, it helps to know that there are others out there making enormous changes in their lives and beating alcoholism and other addictions.

The Sophia Recovery Center is in Canada;

Source; Telegraph Journal Canada East

In February 2008, the Sophia Recovery Centre opened its doors at 83 Hazen Street in Saint John. This is the story of its first year.

The Sophia Recovery Centre is a non-residential facility for female youth and women recovering from addiction. Adult women in N.B. do not have access to a long-term treatment program for addictions, a situation which prompted the establishment of the Sophia Recovery Centre. It is the only one of its kind in the province. Women tend to feel safe in women’s only programs; this is particularly true of women who are vulnerable or who have suffered abuse.

During the first 12 months of operation, 80 women walked into the Sophia Recovery Centre, making 668 visits over the year. These numbers do not include contact and counselling through email and telephone. The women’s ages range from teens to seniors, and they represent all walks of life.

“When I pushed the doorbell for the first time, I was afraid and desperate. I was worried I wouldn’t be wanted, but I was instantly welcomed and felt comfortable and safe.” Molly (names have been changed) is a mid-30s employed, married woman in recovery from alcohol addiction, and was living in an abusive alcohol-filled environment.

“They gave me a soft place to land. Here, I could sit alone and enjoy a peaceful atmosphere, or sit with others and have an uplifting conversation. I learned that my thoughts, feelings, fears, regrets and shames were very common among addicted women. These were things I couldn’t say in a mixed group at AA. Here, I received compassion and advice. I learned to respect myself and to trust other women. Not only have I received support, but I have been able to give support to others. The serenity I experienced here I knew I wanted in all parts of my life, and I have made changes to get that.”

Molly has had over two years in recovery and credits Sophia Recovery Centre as being a major tool in her growth, and in her decisions to move on to a better life.

Pat is her mid-40s, a mother and grandmother. She began abusing alcohol in her early teens, and later became addicted to medication prescribed for injuries from an accident. “I was at the end of my rope. I started emailing the centre, and they convinced me to go to detox. This wasn’t my first time in detox, but none of it worked before. When I got out I didn’t know how to apply the program to my life, or how to deal with certain situations. Being clean and sober doesn’t give you the life skills you never had. Because of Sophia Recovery Centre, I now have the tools to make the right decisions. The women I meet here have had an addiction and they understand what is needed – oh, the wisdom in these walls! I would not be alive today if it were not for this place. I never knew there was a world like this. I am happy for the first time in my life.”

Read the full story here

The mega star Eminem has made a comeback with a new album titled ‘Relapse’. He has been sober since April 20th 2008. Although Eminem does not specifically talk about alcohol abuse in his interview with The New York Times, he does speak of sobriety. He speaks openly in both his interview and his album about his battle with addiction.
Since Eminem’s decision to get sober, he has been through rehab and a full 12 Step recovery program, he has done this with the aid of a sponsor and a therapist.

Some of his quotes were easy to relate to;

Source;  NewYorkTimes

“I don’t know if I am exposing myself , I’m kind of just coming clean and exhaling”

“I was the worse kind of addict, a functioning addict”

” I was so into my addiction at one point that I couldn’t picture myself being able to do anything without some kind of drug”

“The deeper I got into my addiction, the tighter the lid got on my creativity”

“When I got sober the lid just came off. In seven months I accomplished more than I could accomplish in three or four years doing drugs”

“I’m blessed enough to be able to have an outlet”

I think we can all relate to his words.

Alcohol problems are everywhere; I came across this article about alcohol related hospital admissions in the United Kingdom. Scary stuff!

Source; (healthcarerepublic) 

Alcohol-related hospital admissions up 70%

The annual number of alcohol-related admissions to hospital in England rose by nearly 70% in five years to 863,000 in 2007/8, according to NHS Information Centre figures.

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Interesting article about alcohol use among pregnant and non pregnant women, United States 1991 – 2005;

Source; (cdc.gov)

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a risk factor for poor birth outcomes, including fetal alcohol syndrome, birth defects, and low birth weight (1). In the United States, the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome is estimated at 0.5–2.0 cases per 1,000 births, but other fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)* are believed to occur approximately three times as often as fetal alcohol syndrome (2). The 2005 U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy, advises women who are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant to abstain from using alcohol (2). Binge drinking is particularly harmful to fetal brain development (2,3). Healthy People 2010 objectives include increasing the percentage of pregnant women who report abstinence from alcohol use to 95% and increasing the percentage who report abstinence from binge drinking to 100% (4). To examine the prevalence of any alcohol use and binge drinking among pregnant women and nonpregnant women of childbearing age in the United States and to characterize the women with these alcohol use behaviors, CDC analyzed 1991–2005 data from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys. The findings indicated that the prevalence of any alcohol use and binge drinking among pregnant and nonpregnant women of childbearing age did not change substantially from 1991 to 2005. During 2001–2005, the highest percentages of pregnant women reporting any alcohol use were aged 35–44 years (17.7%), college graduates (14.4%), employed (13.7%), and unmarried (13.4%). Health-care providers should ask women of childbearing age about alcohol use routinely, inform them of the risks from drinking alcohol while pregnant, and advise them not to drink alcohol while pregnant or if they might become pregnant (2,5).

BRFSS conducts state-based, random-digit–dialed telephone surveys of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population aged ≥18 years, collecting data on health conditions and health risk behaviors. For this report, CDC analyzed BRFSS data from 1991 to 2005 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia for women aged 18–44 years. The median response rate among states, based on Council of American Survey and Research Organizations (CASRO) guidelines, ranged from 71.4% in 1993 to 51.1% in 2005. This report focuses on two drinking behaviors: any use, defined as having at least one drink of any alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days, and binge drinking, defined as having five or more drinks on at least one occasion in the past 30 days.† The wording of the question regarding any alcohol use was changed in 1993, 2001, and 2005,§ the wording of the question regarding binge drinking was changed in 1993 and 2001.¶ BRFSS questionnaires are available at http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/questionnaires/questionnaires.htm.

Percentage estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated each year for the two drinking behaviors among pregnant and nonpregnant women. Logistic regression was used to examine the association of age, race/ethnicity, education, employment, and marital status with the two drinking behaviors for pregnant and nonpregnant women with the behaviors as the dependent variables and sociodemographic characteristics as the independent variables in the models. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were calculated to describe significant differences by characteristic category. Data from 2001–2005 were aggregated to provide stable estimates to assess the association of these characteristics with the drinking behaviors. Data were weighted to state population estimates and aggregated to represent a nationwide estimate.

Click here to read full article

I came across this press release and thought, about time too! 

Treating substance abuse and mental issues at the same time makes so much sense.   I have  never been offered both,  This seems like the way to go forward…

SEYMOUR, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At least half of the 2 million Americans with severe mental illness also abuse illicit drugs or alcohol, compared to 15 percent of the general population, according to the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration. Unfortunately the vast majority of treatment centers are unable to treat both the disorder and the addiction, critically reducing the effectiveness of rehabilitation, which leaves patients vulnerable to relapse. Given May is Mental Health and Awareness Month, Jacqueline Dawes, owner and founder of Brookhaven Retreat, a multidisciplinary treatment facility, is working to shed light on the need for dual diagnosis licensing.

“People suffering from a mental health issue as well as a substance abuse problem cannot be treated in a facility that is not equipped to deal with both issues at the same time,” said Dawes. “Often times, one disorder is acting as a shield for another. Without complete treatment of both issues simultaneously, the patient cannot recover. It is that simple.”

A hurdle to effectively addressing the nation’s growing substance abuse problem is in licensing treatment providers. Most states currently designate each bed for a specific purpose, either substance abuse or mental health. According to Dawes, a true dual-diagnosis license is needed nationally so that both issues can be treated concurrently, accurately and effectively.

As the first dual-diagnosis facility in Tennessee, Dawes is urging state legislators to change their treatment center laws and regulations so providers may be licensed to offer substance abuse and mental health services at the same time, in the same location. Leaders in the industry agree that the issues of substance abuse and mental health have been falsely deemed to be two separate and distinct issues, divided by policy, protocol and regulations. In order to achieve better results and provide better care to Americans suffering from addiction and mental illness, dual diagnosis must be made more available to treatment centers and widely incorporated into diagnosis programs.

“I am confident that without the dual diagnosis license waiver that was awarded to Brookhaven Retreat, I would not be able to see the amount of success I have seen from my patients. I can delve deeper and treat each patient more comprehensively,” said Dawes.

As an industry leader, Dawes is now supported by new research studies that are beginning to help identify the need for facilities that are licensed to treat more than one aspect of mental health and addiction. The National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University is surveying alumni from Brookhaven Retreat to document her results and examine why the program has such a high success rate.

People who are diagnosed with primarily substance abuse are often directed to a treatment center that provides therapy for that specific, isolated issue. The downfall of this methodology is that when a mental health issue is uncovered in the healing process, it can result in “the revolving door” of substance abuse treatment. People fail to get well in the facilities because the substance abuse is simply a numbing-out tool, covering up the deeply-rooted mental health issue that isn’t being treated. Unfortunately, neglecting one issue, whether it is the addiction or the mental health issue, often leads to a damaging cycle of relapse.

For more information on Brookhaven Retreat and dual-diagnosis licensing, visit www.brookhavenretreat.com.

About Brookhaven Retreat

Brookhaven Retreat is a unique, voluntary residential treatment facility specially designed to help women overcome emotional trauma or addiction challenges. The fully accredited and certified dual-diagnosis center is America’s premier treatment center for emotional trauma and addiction and offers female-specific treatment. Located on 48 beautiful acres in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, it offers modern, holistic care with compassion and respect from a highly trained expert staff of licensed therapists, physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses. Visit www.brookhavenretreat.com for more information.

(OzarksFirst.com)
Springfield, MO — Here’s a scary statistic. A recent survey of local colleges found that more than one third of kids under 21 have engaged in binge drinking in the past two weeks.

Recently, a 16 year old teen who died from alcohol poisoning. Other teens say underage drinking is an issue for every student.

“I’ve had friends that have gotten in trouble for it, even I’ve gotten in trouble for it, ” said High School Senior David Knight. Knight said underage drinking is an issue students are facing at a younger age than parents might think.

Knight said he was 13 when he was first offered a drink. He says the problems start because kids get pressure from their friends.

Click here to read more….

(The Sydney Morning Herald)
TEENAGERS who drink heavily can associate bad experiences such as vomiting and car accidents with pleasure, according to a US expert on alcohol abuse.

Aaron White, a health administrator with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said neurological processes, that were originally designed to ensure human survival, were put off course by alcohol.

Dr White, a psychologist, was speaking yesterday at a conference organised by Drinkwise, a research group funded by the Australian Government and the liquor industry.

Alcohol, along with other drugs, induced the release of the neuro-transmitter dopamine. The younger the consumer of alcohol, the more likely the habit of drinking would become entrenched, he said.

Experiences while drinking, such as vomiting and car accidents, can be associated with the pleasurable feeling that dopamine induced. “The brain is tricked into thinking those things are positive because it felt good … Pleasure increases the odds that this rewarded behaviour will be repeated.”

Click here for more….

CNN have advertised a two night show called ‘Addiction: Life on the edge’ on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of April 2009.  The show will follow a writer, a mother and a husband, all are addicts on a journey through addiction and relapse. The show looks at if the brain holds the key to their addiction.

I believe that this has got to be the best time in history for anyone who is trying to get sober, stay sober or maintain sobriety.

There is a wealth of information available to the majority of us and we don’t even need to leave our homes, there is no excuse for not giving sobriety a chance, it can work and it does work. Watch everything you can, read everything you can, build allies with those who have been in your shoes at one time or another and start taking action. 

I am living a sober life now. I have said this before but I will say it again, I don’t think anyone who knows me can truly believe that I am doing this, I often can not believe it myself.

I have to say that a large part of this has happened for me because there is so much information available. I can read about others, I can interact with others who are just like me and now I can turn on the TV and watch about others who are suffering or succeeding. It is a great time to learn about sobriety if you are interested.

Enjoy the show and be sure to let us know your thoughts about it!

Get sober and stay sober!
Thank you for visiting “Recovery Princess – Quit Drinking and Enjoy Sobriety”.
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I have just seen a very interesting article on CNN about Anti-Addiction pills for alcoholics.

Check it out on CNN: Anti-Addiction Pill for Alcoholics

I hope you find this interesting! Let me know your opinion on Anti-Addiction drugs and if you think they work or not. Have you tried them? Share your success stories about beating addiction.