Talking to children about addiction and recovery may put recovering parents in a tough spot. Parents in early addiction recovery often struggle with explaining their drug or alcohol addiction to their children. Depending on their ages, some details of addiction are too graphic or complicated for children to understand. It’s important for the recovering parent to carefully consider the needs of the child. However, the parent's need for privacy during such a challenging and tumultuous process must be respected, too. Here are some suggestions to navigate talking to your kids about addiction and recovery.

It's important to learn how to avoid feeling overwhelmed in addiction recovery. (Overwhelmed by Stress and Anxiety? How to Deal with It). Feeling overwhelmed was one of my major triggers while in my addiction. Whether I felt overwhelming sadness, fear, or worry, these feelings were often a trigger for addictive behavior. Feeling overwhelmed is an almost universal addiction trigger; here's how to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stop triggering your addiction.

Caffeine is a drug and it creates dependency, but are caffeine addiction and dependency real disorders? Caffeine intoxication and caffeine withdrawal syndrome are included in the new Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association. However, caffeine-related disorders is treated separately from substance abuse disorders. Should it be? Should caffeine addiction and dependency be separate from substance abuse disorders? 

Over-prescription of opioid painkillers is contributing to America's increasing abuse of opiate prescription drugs and heroin. A 2013 report by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)1 found that people who abuse or are dependent on prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to abuse or be dependent on heroin. So what can we do about opioid painkiller over-prescription?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) both emphasize clean (or sober) dates and time: but does this focus of addiction recovery programs harm or help  group members? This question necessarily wanders into the perennial debate around abstinence versus moderation in addiction recovery. So, is clean time in alcoholics and narcotics anonymous helpful or harmful?

Amy Winehouse, an alcoholic, lacked a social support system near the end of her life, according to a recent documentary about the ill-fated singer and songwriter. After watching the revealing and very sad, Amy, last week, I am reminded how critical it is for struggling alcoholics and addicts like Amy Winehouse, to surround themselves with a quality support system (Importance of Drug Addiction Support).

Combined drug intoxication, also known as mixed drug intoxication, is a potentially fatal condition characterized by simultaneous action of more than one psychoactive drug, including alcohol. Combined drug intoxication differs from overdose, in that overdose generally refers to a lethal amount of a specific drug, whereas combined drug intoxication often involves smaller amounts of multiple drugs. Often, the amount of any given drug present in a person who dies from mixed drug intoxication is not lethal by itself, but the combination of multiple drugs leads to fatality.

Substance abuse fuels risky behavior. As someone who has lived through my own addiction and that of many loved ones, here are my thoughts on minimizing risky behavior brought on by substance abuse.

Taking personal inventory in addiction and alcohol recovery on a regular basis is critical. Working through a situation by taking inventory in addiction and alcohol recovery is an empowering process.

A Recovering Alcoholic Reacts to Marijuana Legalization My state just legalized recreational marijuana. What does this mean for me as a person in addiction recovery? My initial thought is, it doesn't mean much. As a rule, I practice abstinence from drugs that are mind-altering. For me, this includes alcohol, marijuana, all illegal substances, benzodiazepines and prescription painkillers.