If you are in early recovery, you might think that celebrating the holidays is going to look quite different than in recent years. Attending alcohol or drug rehab means you are already aware that relapse is something you must always guard against. Yet the holidays, especially during early recovery, can be a time of great...
How many times have you thought about starting a diet or quitting nicotine or caffeine without doing anything about it? Or lapsed back into bad habits after hitting a speed bump on the road to lifelong addiction recovery? Understanding the stages of change can help you in achieving your goals, particularly when overcoming your destructive...
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is a global event held on August 31st each year and aims to raise awareness of substance overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have met with death or permanent injury as a result of...
On September 11th, 2001, the world was shaken by the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. If you were old enough to remember 9/11, it is one of those days that will be forever engrained in your memory. It was heavily televised – live for the most part – so whether...
If you’re struggling with a drug or alcohol problem, you may also be dealing with feelings of depression, mood swings or anxiety. When you suffer from both a psychiatric condition and a substance abuse problem, you’re said to have co-occurring disorders or a dual diagnosis disorder. It’s common for people with a mental health disorder to...
Any time disease strikes someone, that person’s family and friends are profoundly affected as well. Addiction is a disease that wreaks havoc on a person’s own life as well as the lives of their family members and friends. The addict, of course, does not mean for their loved ones to experience pain or worry, but...
Your loved one is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol and you are an emotional wreck. You feel a mix of guilt and shame and anger about their addiction, but at the same time, you are terrified that they will hurt themselves or someone else or even die. You notice jewelry or money is missing. The...
Growing up as the famous son of George Hamilton and Alana Stewart wasn’t easy for Ashley Hamilton. The 40-year-old has survived his two failed marriages, a heroin addiction and struggles with anorexia and bulimia. Today, Ashley is eight years sober, an addiction coach, and living a different life, as seen on the new E! reality...
There are some addiction rehab centers that insist they can cure alcohol and drug addiction. Is this claim realistic? Can drug and/or alcohol addiction be permanently cured? Extensive research attributes addiction largely to changes in brain structure and function. Because these changes make it much harder for the addict to control substance use, health experts...
