Mindfulness Helps Reduce Long-Term Relapse RatesRelapse 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… Details
The Art of Asking for Help in Addiction RecoveryRecoveryBy 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… Details
Learning to Trust Your Adult Child in RecoveryRecoveryBy 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… Details
Nasal Spray Helps Prevent Heroin OverdoseHeroinBy 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… Details
Online Gamer Tells His Story of Addiction and RecoveryRecoveryBy 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… Details
Step Four: Minding My Own BusinessPersonal 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… Details
The Grief of Losing an AddictionDrug 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… Details
Fatal Heroin Overdoses Have DoubledHeroinBy 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… Details
Cultivating Resilience in Addiction RecoveryRecoveryBy Promises AustinNovember 21, 2014Think of the word “resilience” and consider what you know. Children are often called resilient, and indeed many are. Despite falls, scrapes, breaks or a lack of “good enough parenting,” many children continue to develop normally—eventually entering adulthood without incident. In fact, they may even thrive. But what about children (and adults) for whom life… Details
The Decision Every Codependent Needs to MakePersonal ResourcesBy Promises AustinNovember 20, 2014When you love an addict, the disease of addiction has a big impact on your life. It may happen quickly or it may happen slowly, but you ultimately develop a problem of your own. It’s called codependence. When you have this problem, your life revolves around someone else’s decisions. Life has become unpredictable and upsetting.… Details
