Busting Addiction and Its Myths

One of the things we talk about in our recovery is the idea of “one day at a time”.  This is a greater challenge for many in early recovery than it appears. While in treatment, we were kept very busy, and we were super-focused on what we needed to do that day.

1. Once treatment is over, or for those who just came in the from the cold without treatment, you need to be conscious of the importance of the “daily reprieve” because that ...

I asked a wise man in my program his definition of his life's purpose, and he said: “My goal is to stay sober every day of my life, taking one day at a time, and that’s how I’ll make my sobriety permanent.”  There’s magic in living one day, one moment at a time.

1. Your anxiety evaporates when you understand that the future does not really exist, that it’s just an idea in your mind, and you do not have to live there. "Fea...

One of the most difficult things to do is to resist peer pressure to drink or use. Here are some thoughts on how to neutralise that threat.

1. Chances are that the people you thought were your true friends were maybe not. They hung around with you or you with them when the real attraction was the opportunity to drink and abuse drugs, and often both.
2. So, the first order of business is to jettison those people who are a danger to your...

In this podcast, we discuss what to do just in case you slip and have yourself a relapse.

1. It is a well-known fact that relapse is characteristic of the disease of addiction and alcoholism. A lucky few make it long term on the first try, and I hope you are one of them.
2. The vast majority usually need to get to the next lower rung on the ladder to Hell before they wake up and ask for help. But don’t let the fact that you can come ba...

Let’s talk about emotions – how to identify what they are and the importance to your recovery of honestly sharing how you feel.

1. I was taught in treatment that there six primary emotions, and of course, countless nuances of these emotions. Think of them as the primary colours of your emotional rainbow.  In truth, you could feel all of them at the same time, but in varying degrees of intensity. When you feel something, but can’t i...

Let’s talk about some of the ways your thinking will change as you get exposed to ideas that may be foreign to you but start to make a lot more sense when you experience the miracle of recovery.

1. You thought you could do this alone and discover that your own puny willpower is of no use whatsoever in fighting this disease. In fact, alcoholics and addicts are some of the most wilful people who have ever walked the earth, but then t...

As I alluded to earlier, every person in early recovery needs a toolbox to which he or she can turn and use a tool that could save their sobriety and perhaps even their very lives.

In addition to the basics, I’ve already mentioned which are: attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics Anonymous (the two major groups for recovering people), get a sponsor who will guide you through the 12 steps, and work the Ste...

1. The right way to talk about addiction and/or alcoholism is in the context of: what it was like (how awful was it, really?), what happened (you got so desperate that you finally asked for help) and what it’s like now (you're in recovery and getting better, saner, healthier physically, mentally and for the first time, have gotten in touch with a power greater than your little self).
2. An unhelpful way to talk about addiction an...

It is well said and true that resentments are the #1 killer of addicts and alcoholics. If we lead a life of deceit, manipulation and the direct pursuit of pleasure to the exclusion of everything else, we will find ourselves resenting those who get in the way of our pursuits. None of these resentments are justified, yet we carry them around like a bag of rocks, weighing our spirit down. It is not until we work the 4th and 5th steps ...

There are some aspects of addiction and alcoholism, which are not readily apparent until you see how these diseases infiltrate the thinking of those who are affected. It’s no wonder that the Big Book of AA says this: “Remember we deal with alcohol (or drugs), cunning, baffling and powerful. Without help, it is too much for us.” This is as true today as it was in April 1939 when the Big Book was published.  So here are a few things ...

There are four pillars to recovery, and they are: don’t drink or use (between meetings), go to those meetings (several times a week, at least at first) get a sponsor (and follow his or her advice) and work the 12 steps.

1. “Don’t drink or use between meetings.”  This is harder than it sounds, but it became easier for an ex-drunk like me to understand when it was pointed out that the more frequently, I attended meetings, the less ti...

Let’s talk about the many aspects of relapse prevention. This is incredibly important if you’re just starting out on your journey of recovery.  This is when you’re most vulnerable to going back “out there”.

1. Just as iPhones have proven to be incredibly useful tools for navigating our way through our personal, academic and work lives, so too, can they be put to practical use in helping us prevent a relapse, or come back from one i...

Here's our final special episode that we have relaunched as requested by many of our followers.

Welcome back to Busting Addiction and its Myths, and we have called this episode Treatment Doesn’t Work, Or Does It?

Here’s what we cover:

• My guest Tony and I bust the myth that some people believe in, and that is that treatment doesn’t work. That is true if you don’t do the work and if you aren’t honest with yo...

Here's one more special episode that has been requested by many of our followers.

Let’s talk about enabling

In this episode, we discuss how enabling can inhibit the chances of an addict’s recovery by shielding them from the realities of a grown-up life.

The truths we reveal in this episode:

• The enabling of loved ones makes it easy or possible to keep the addict’s addiction alive and progressing.
• Many people ...

Here we go again with yet another special episode that we have relaunched as requested by many of our followers.

It’s a disease, stupid!
Paraphrasing a famous political slogan from the US, this episode offers slam-dunk proof that addiction and alcoholism are disease states and that the addict has lost his power of choice when the disease compels him to inflict harm on himself and others.

We cover these topics:

• Addict...

This week we have another special episode that we have again relaunched as requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we reveal that addiction must be treated as the primary disorder, that families need to retain a trained professional, and that the addict’s crazy decisions are made by a damaged brain. Does that get your attention?

We cover these topics:

• Addiction must be treated as the primary disorder, as the...

Here is another special episode that we have relaunched as it is a subject matter that has been requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we reveal more truths about addiction, in that it makes the whole family unit dysfunctional. We also discuss the deadly opioid epidemic and the truth behind the deadliest street drug: Fentanyl.

We cover these topics:

• Addiction doesn’t just affect the family, it makes the who...

We have relaunched this special episode as it is a subject matter that has been requested by many of our followers.

In this podcast, we bust the myth that an addict who doesn’t get it the first time is a loser, when in fact he is on his way to success. He will, however, duck the issue every chance he gets.

 We cover these topics:

• The facts about relapse.
• What commitment looks like.
• How love is not the issue.
• The games addic...

Q: Why does addiction have such a powerful ripple effect on the family?

A: It turns out that the whole family becomes sick as a consequence of alcoholism or drug addiction striking any one individual in the family. Family members carry shame and guilt over their loved one’s disorder. At first, they deny the problem exists. Then they try to control the uncontrollable. They lie to the neighbours, cast blame on each other and...