Resentments: A Major Threat to Addiction Recovery RecoveryBy Promises AustinDecember 6, 2014One of the biggest threats to recovery from addiction is getting caught up in negative emotions. Resentments are among the most powerful of these emotions, and for many recovering alcoholics and addicts, resentments can trigger the urge to use and are a threat to addiction recovery. A resentment is defined as a feeling of persistent…
Depression Affects More Than Mood DepressionBy Promises AustinDecember 4, 2014Depression is a mood disorder, but it never affects a person’s mood alone. Depression is characterized by chronic sadness, low motivation and energy, trouble sleeping and a distinct loss of enjoyment in life. In some instances, depression becomes so severe that a person despairs of life itself and suicide is considered a viable option. But…
Mindfulness Helps Reduce Long-Term Relapse Rates Relapse PreventionBy Promises AustinDecember 4, 2014Mindfulness is a mental state characterized by heightened awareness of changes in your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, as well as in your surroundings. Current evidence indicates the training in basic mindfulness principles can improve substance treatment participants’ ability to establish a pattern of drug or alcohol abstinence. In a study published in August 2014…
The Art of Asking for Help in Addiction Recovery RecoveryBy Promises AustinDecember 2, 2014Recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction is a personal journey. Along the way, people with more experience at addiction recovery than you have will make suggestions to you on how to stay away from a drink or a drug for a day. Most people will not try to dictate to you what you need to…
Learning to Trust Your Adult Child in Recovery RecoveryBy Promises AustinDecember 2, 2014By Heather Rolland, LCSW Can you imagine applying to become a parent as if it were a competitive job? Imagine the job description: physical care, emotional care, financial support … and then all the potential contingencies. Navigating the first 18 or so years is hard enough, but for some parents, the next few steps—the letting…
Nasal Spray Helps Prevent Heroin Overdose HeroinBy Promises AustinNovember 29, 2014In the U.S., the rate of death from heroin overdoses has been increasing fairly steadily for a number of years. Health professionals and some private citizens can treat a heroin overdose with a medication called naloxone. However, naloxone typically comes in an injectable form, and circumstances don’t always allow for the easy injection of affected…
Online Gamer Tells His Story of Addiction and Recovery RecoveryBy Promises AustinNovember 27, 2014Video game addiction may not be an officially recognized condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM), but most addiction experts wouldn’t deny its existence. The DSM-5 lists Internet gaming addiction as a condition that warrants more evidence before it can be formally recognized, but it’s widely expected to be fully included…
Step Four: Minding My Own Business Personal ResourcesBy Promises AustinNovember 25, 2014Mindfulness is the heart of my recovery. I’ve said it in AA meetings, I’ve said it in NA meetings, I’ve said it to my sponsor and I’ve said it to my friends. I’ve also written about it here, in many different contexts: from mindfulness and exercise to mindful walking, mindful cooking or describing a mindful…
The Grief of Losing an Addiction Drug Addiction InfoBy Promises AustinNovember 25, 2014Addicts fear many things and these fears are what keep them in denial and prevent them from getting help for far too long. One common fear is simply being sober—losing the addiction that has dictated their lives for so long. It may seem counterintuitive, but when an addict goes through recovery and gets sober, he…
Fatal Heroin Overdoses Have Doubled HeroinBy Promises AustinNovember 22, 2014Heroin and prescription opioid medications have common origins in naturally occurring substances found in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). Among other things, this means that both heroin and prescription opioids are capable of producing fatal opioid overdoses. In a report issued in October 2014 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from the federal…
