Addiction Recovery News

It’s the time of year when parties seem to be springing up everywhere and if you’re in recovery, you may be wondering where you and parties stand. First of all, you need to evaluate your own recovery progress, preferably along with your addiction counselor, to decide if you’re ready to attend a party where drugs or alcohol might be present. Chances are if you're in your first year of recovery, a party isn’t a safe place for you.

If you’re more of an addiction veteran and you’re thinking you’re ready to hit the party scene, you still need to protect your recovery. You may be more vulnerable than you know and you need to be prepared to manage triggers and cravings. Setting up and sticking to a few simple party rules will ensure that you have a fun and safe time this holiday season.

You want to help a loved one who is struggling with alcoholism, but maybe you don’t know how. You can be a real asset to your loved one as they enter and work through addiction recovery, but only if you know how to be properly supportive. Sticking with some basic dos and don’ts will steer you in the right direction.

Approximately 50% of those suffering from an eating disorder are also abusing drugs or alcohol, which is a rate five times higher than the general population, The relationship between eating disorders and substance addictions is a complicated one and very often these two issues need to be addressed concurrently. Sometimes the eating disorder is caused by the addiction, or vice versa, but in every case the two end up fueling one another, making each problem worse.

Thanks to the internet and advancements in addiction research, there’s a lot of information about the disease floating around out there. While having open access to addiction education is great in most cases, getting a hold of the wrong information can be damaging to recovery. Debunking common addiction myths is a necessary part of addiction education.

Although addiction is an isolating disease for the addict, it affects everyone close to them as well. Addiction becomes a disease of the family unit as it progresses, harming everyone in its path. We can better understand how addiction harms families if we picture the addict as a person stuck in quicksand. They are being pulled down by their disease and they can’t find a way out. Family members who try to help them are often caught by the quicksand too, and soon find themselves sinking down with their loved one. Families need a lifeline of help to pull them out and to give everyone some stable footing again!