Alcoholics Anonymous has become quite a buzz in the recovery world. The group-like nature of the meetings, the team bonding, and the anonymity all seem to be talked about often. Some treatment programs swear by Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12 Step Program. Others question the power the program has to inspire addicts to live sober…
Socializing becomes rather difficult for some of us when we enter recovery. Perhaps we once excelled at making friends. But as substance abuse gradually took control over our lives, many of us lost touch with this particular skill set. We didn’t know how to meet people outside of bars. We shunned those in our lives…
Addiction sometimes feels like a dirty secret. We fear that, if we tell anyone about our disease, our peers will judge and ostracize us for something we cannot control. As such, our negative emotions build upon each other. Instead of others judging us, we decide to judge ourselves. Our fear, anger, depression and isolation leave…
Many say that the first month of sobriety is the hardest. Others say that things get easier after the first ninety days. Then, there are those who say that you must make it through at least six months, or even up to a year. In truth, however, people relapse at various stages in life. You…
Quitting is easy. The actual process of deciding not to abuse drugs and alcohol requires very little effort. In fact, it’s so easy that some addicts and alcoholics have become experts at it. At some point toward the end of our active addiction, we might quit upwards of two or three times a week. We…
Every so often, you will see us make mention of a spiritual experience, or spiritual awakening. This is a phrase that you hear a lot in recovery. It shows up multiple times in AA literature, as well as in several of our articles. But while we have discussed its meaning on occasion (such as when…
Nobody can go through addiction recovery alone. If we are to remain sober, we need a healthy support network upon whom we can lean when we need help. But for some people, this will be difficult to attain. Some of us have found that our social skills were lacking while in active addiction. Maybe we…
Of the many things addicts and alcoholics have in common with those who have enabled them, the tendency to engage in numerous unhealthy habits is near the top of the list. When addiction turns into a family disease, everyone affected will develop this tendency to an almost frightening extent. And while it may be clear…
Each month this year, we have been covering one of the Twelve Steps in addition to one of the Twelve Traditions. Now that it is May and we have already covered Step Five, it is time to take a look at the Fifth Tradition. Like many of the traditions we have already covered, Tradition Five…
“No life skills.” This is a common insult you may occasionally hear thrown around—often behind a person’s back—when they have trouble cooking, cleaning up after themselves, or even socializing with other people. But while people are often judged quite harshly for these shortcomings, the fact of the matter is that many people have never been…