HALT: Hungry Angry Lonely Tired
Those in addiction recovery learn that taking care of your basic needs will aid in relapse prevention. There is even a catchy acronym for it. H.A.L.T. - Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Paying attention to these simple needs is a great start in recovery.
Merry Christmas
Well it seems that I have been neglecting my blog. I guess it happens right. Can't always be brimming with profound things to say 
I did want to take a moment and wish all my readers a safe and happy holiday. This can be an extremely difficult time for anyone but when you add in the stress of trying to stay sober during the holiday season it can become a little overwhelming.
My advice? Keep talking, keep listening, keep reading, and most importantly... keep identifying with others. When you boil down every type of recovery program they all seem to be made up of these key elements. So don't forget.
Happy Holidays
Happy Fourth Of July
I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe fourth of July. Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays ever since I was a young child. I spent some time this morning thinking of what my Independence Days used to be like when I was a child.
A Recovering Addict Watching An Active Addict… It’s Torture
When we were in active addiction we couldn't see ourselves for what we were until the very end when we finally surrendered and asked for help.
No matter what others would tell us about how we looked or acted we somehow rationalized it as them having a problem... not us.
Having an active addict in your family forces you to look close up at addiction but through an outside view. For this recovering addict, watching an active addict is torture.
When Drugs And Alcohol Are Your Top Priority…There’s Not Room For Much Else
It's never nice to think about but when you are an addict your top priority, and sometimes your only priority, is drugs. Finding them, affording them, doing them, feeling their effects, coming down off them...finding them again.
Once you are no longer in active addiction you're able to take a clear look at what the important things are in your life. A clear head and a better understanding of yourself will drastically change what you consider as your top priorities in life.
My suggestion is to rebuild what your priorities are in your recovery and...keep it simple.
Examining Yourself In Addiction Recovery
There was a time, even in early addiction recovery when self examination was a very scary thing for me. I avoided it, I ran from it, I feared it.
As my addiction recovery has chugged along, I have found it easier and easier to take a good look at myself. Not only is it easier, I feel that I couldn't live without doing this.
Instead of cowering from self examination I now seek it out. I am always looking for ways to look a little deeper inside so I can see what is going on with me. But it's not always easy.
Lifestyle Changes In Addiction Recovery: How I Went From Queen of The Jams To Suzie Homemaker
It seems that I have turned into Suzie Homemaker in the little over a year period of my addiction recovery.
This change did not come without huge resistance on my part. Going from Queen of the Jams (a jam = an oxycontin pill) to Suzie Homemaker was not a smooth transformation. Obviously there were lifestyle changes that needed to be made once I entered into addiction recovery but I never pictured this.
Last Post On Cymbalta Withdrawal Symptoms
Over the past couple of months I have been posting some articles dealing with my own experience of weening of Cymbalta and what Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms I have had. This will be the last Cymbalta related post...I swear.
Just Don’t Do It Doesn’t Work…How Do We Tell Young People About The Dangers Of Addiction?
After reading a post over at TDA about Lame PSA's Blamed For Drug Use, I got to thinking about how we tell young people about the dangers of addiction.
The answer...we don't really do that at all. We tell them that if they use too many drugs they will lose their personality. We tell them not to drink and drive. We tell them that Oxycontin ruined our lives.
We even go so far as to tell them that if they smoke pot while babysitting the child will drown in the pool (seriously, have you seen this one?).
What we don't do is explain the true reasons why for some people drinking and drugging becomes an addiction that can take over their entire life and sometimes lead them so far down that they never come back up.
But how do you explain the dangers and warning signs of addiction to young people?
Identifying Addictive Thinking
I have talked about addictive thinking in the past and surprise, surprise... here I go again.
The reason for me bringing up addictive thinking so often? The reason is that I still see that old addictive thinking trying to creep it's way back in from time to time.
So if addictive thinking never goes away... what's the point of all this? Well, even though it hasn't entirely disappeared from my brain, I am getting pretty good at identifying addictive thinking.
Recent Posts
- I’m a Drug Addict Not a Journalist
- Who Do Feelings Still Scare The Shit Out Of Me?
- Amy Winehouse In Rehab…Again
- Addiction Recovery: Where Are You Along Your Road Of Recovery?
- Report Cymbalta Withdrawal Symptoms To The FDA
- The First Year Of Recovery: Where I Came From…Where I’m Going
- Relapse:The Warning Signs Were There
- Riding Out the Ups and Downs of Life
- Reach Out and Touch Someone…Online
- Addiction Recovery: Building Your Self Confidence
Archives
- March 2010 (13)
- February 2010 (28)
- January 2010 (30)
- December 2009 (30)
- November 2009 (22)
- October 2009 (18)
- September 2009 (11)
- August 2009 (2)
- January 2009 (2)
- November 2008 (1)
- August 2008 (1)
- July 2008 (1)
- June 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (2)
- March 2008 (1)
- February 2008 (1)
- November 2007 (4)
- October 2007 (1)
- September 2007 (2)
- August 2007 (2)
- July 2007 (1)
- June 2007 (1)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (5)
Categories
- about the site (2)
- addiction (1)
- addiction recovery (97)
- addiction story (3)
- addictive thinking (27)
- depression (8)
- early recovery (13)
- just for fun (1)
- life skills (8)
- narcotics anonymous/alcoholics anonymous (3)
- random (3)
- relapse (8)
- relapse prevention (4)
- spirituality (3)
- suboxone (1)
- support (3)
Addiction Recovery Resources
Blogroll
- Bonsai Tree Help and Advice
- Diabetes Blog
- Dracut News
- Facebook Cheating
- How to Train Cats
- Scary Maze Game
- Suboxone Doctor Help Spot