English novelist Joseph Conrad once said, “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Addiction recovery is similar. When it comes to getting sober, everything else must take a backseat. Prioritizing recovery can help individuals with substance use disorders achieve […]
Dating experts advise that finding a suitable companion can take a lot of effort and easily be as time-consuming and involved as a career move, not to mention hard on your self-esteem. Dating is a numbers game; the more potential spouses you meet, the better your chance of finding a good one. Unfortunately, too many
Being an enabler of someone struggling with addiction means supporting the addiction rather than the person. You might think you’re helping the person you love, but you’re just helping them remain an addict and avoid making positive changes. Chief enablers in families are the ones who do the most damage, even when they mean to
Stop Enabling and Start Helping Your Loved One with Addiction Read More »
A sober new year can be an alien concept to people in the earliest stages of recovery. How do you start a sober new year after years of drinking? The best way to avoid temptation and the risk of a relapse is by planning out the events of your evening, month, and year ahead. Take
The common saying, “If you fail to plan, plan to fail,” applies perfectly to people in recovery, especially as they prepare to march through the holiday season. Sobriety and recovery don’t just happen; they result from intentional effort and planning. This can be a complex concept for people accustomed to living by the seat of
The holidays are a time of celebration. Families and friends gather together for meals, gifts, and festive drinks. Champagne toasts to the New Year, warm rum toddies near the fireplace, and glasses of red wine on the table often go hand-in-hand with the holidays. At the end of the evening, when guests make their way
Do Drunk Driving Incidents Surge over the Holidays? Read More »
An alcoholic’s excuses are legendary. All kinds of people who are addicted use excuses to deny that they have a problem. Still, with alcohol being a legal and socially acceptable substance of abuse, they can come up with many more believable excuses for indulging. If someone you love has a problem with drinking and constantly
There are many risks and dangers associated with substance abuse: brain damage, addiction, cancer, and others. What most people don’t consider when they first start using is the hidden risk of substance abuse—self-harm and suicide. If you knew that you might end your own life, would you have tried using drugs in the first place?
While it is true that most people can and do gamble responsibly, for some individuals, what may begin as just casual entertainment sometimes crosses over the line into problem gambling. Problem gambling includes compulsive or pathological gambling, also called gambling addiction. It is a highly disabling and progressive impulse control disorder that affects between one
How Do You Know If You Have a Problem with Gambling? Read More »
Women are twice as likely to develop PTSD as men are. This may occur because women are also more likely to have sexual trauma both as children and as adults. Sexual trauma is an extremely adverse and traumatic event whenever it occurs. Additionally, one in every three women will experience a sexual assault. Read on
