Dr Gabor Mate defines addiction as “Addiction is manifested in any behaviour that a person craves, finds temporary relief or pleasure in but suffers negative consequences as a result of, and yet has difficulty giving up. In brief: craving, relief, pleasure, suffering, impaired control. Note that this definition is Continue Reading
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The cracks are where the light gets in.
“Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything” – Anthem by Leonard Cohen Often mentioned as an acceptance of imperfection, this sentiment lends itself perfectly to understanding recovery from addiction and learning to accept the past and our imperfections. Childhood Friends the poem by the Sufi Continue Reading
TO SOBRIETY AND BEYOND
As the (No)Buzz Lightyear”s that are the heroes of Dry January consider their missions into to sobriety and beyond (Parched March anyone?), we thought we would highlight some relatively new approaches in the recovery universe. The 12 Step fellowships work for a lot of people. They will continue working for Continue Reading
SUPPORT RECOVERY
The Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC) are at it again. One of our favourite recovery organisations in the world have announced yet another initiative to support recovery wherever you are. A free recovery workbook, free to everyone. Just click here and download the pdf. The SRC’s innovative ideas and practices deserve Continue Reading
MORE ABOUT SUCCESS IN RECOVERY
In our recent Success In Recovery post, we featured examples of individual entrepreneurs enjoying success in recovery. While we maintain the real success in recovery is staying sober or drug free, we also believe recovery can be a ‘mirror’ of addiction. We can take assets used to survive addiction and Continue Reading
SOBER AND SUCCESSFUL
What is “successful” anyway? The long time sober and successful writer James Lee Burke puts some words into character Dave Robicheaux’s mouth,”there is no possession more valuable than a sober sunrise”, and that is a pretty good mark of “success” to start from. Plenty of addicts and alcoholics achieve success Continue Reading
ALCOHOL FREE
You might not expect to find a piece on Dry January on an addiction recovery site, although you will certainly see it covered across all other traditional and social media. The first “official” campaign seems to have started in 2012 in the UK. Alcohol Concern, a leading UK charity encouraged Continue Reading
STAY SOBER AT CHRISTMAS
If you are new to recovery, the question of how to stay sober at Christmas can seem overwhelming. We all need help and support to at any time of the year. In the “party season” life can provide enough connection for the most committed extrovert and more than plenty for Continue Reading
CONSEQUENCES OF THE CREATIVE CURSE
A great many creatives fear recovery from addiction might mean an end to their artistic achievements. Alcoholism and addiction have been see by many as the creative curse. That said alcoholic writers probably write (or wrote) just as well sober as drunk, and as South African playwright Continue Reading
READING FOR RECOVERY (II)
In a previous post we wrote about the importance of reading in the recovery process, so when we saw the words reading for recovery in a New York Times book review headline we were intrigued. The review was for a collection of excerpts, poems and quotes gathered together in Out Continue Reading