There are many factors that contribute to maintaining abstinence from drugs and alcohol.  If you have been in addiction treatment or around 12-Step meetings, then undoubtedly you have heard many of these already.  But they bear repeating. In fact, you can't hear them enough.

In recovery there are two different camps, so to speak. There are those individuals who say that they are recovering addicts, while others say they are recovered addicts.  At first glance you might think there is no difference but I disagree.

Have you ever wondered if you are an alcoholic? Do you continue to drink despite one or more negative consequences associated with drinking? Do you look forward to drinking? Do you drink alone, and not just socially? Do you sometimes drink to control some emotion? Is your drinking causing suffering for you or a loved one?

Stress is an everyday part of life. In active addiction we may have dealt with stress in unhealthy ways. This video will provide simple ways to deal with stress in more productive ways.

Addiction, as the saying goes, is a feelings disease. Whenever I used to find myself feeling a certain way, say depressed, angry, upset, etc., I would find a way to use some kind of chemical to alter my emotion. In the end, it didn’t matter how uncomfortable I felt. I knew that all I had to do was to get high, and voila, that would do the trick. Addiction, a feelings disease, begins in part by being uncomfortable with what you're feeling.

No one ever says, "When I grow up I want to be a drug addict." As for myself, I recall my mother using that term and I had not a clue as to what she was talking about. I could not conceive of the idea that a person could not control his behavior. Becoming an addict was the furthest thing from my mind.

The addiction culture, the addiction lifestyle, can make it very difficult for an addict to get clean or stay drug-free. As they say on the street: “it’s not the drug that will kill you – it’s the addiction lifestyle.” One of the main causes of relapse has to do with the old way of living.

If you have ever dealt with addiction then you know how devastating it can be. It has the ability to strip a person of any sense of decency, reducing one to an animalistic level. When I look back on all of the despicable things I did to fuel my addiction it filled me (initially) with a sense of guilt, shame, and self-loathing. It got me to a place where I did not know where to turn or what to do. But….I did pray.

I am an addict.  Yes, I am in recovery (24 years and counting) but that doesn’t mean that my addictive qualities do not rear their ugly heads from time to time. This is most commonly exhibited in the form of obsession and compulsion. 

This weekend marks the start of the summer holiday season. Events like picnics and parties can be a dangerous place for people in addiction recovery.