What is the best way to stay abstinent from drugs or alcohol? The research is clear that the longer an individual remains in treatment, for example, addictions counseling and attendance of 12 Step Programs, the better the outcome. Attendance of 12 Step meetings, and involvement in the Program, such as working with a sponsor, having a home group, and being of service to others, are factors that support long term recovery. Daily reminders, such as reading material that supports recovery, can also be helpful. See http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com/GetHelp.asp#RecoveryTips for the opportunity to get recovery messages in your email every morning from a recovering addictions counselor with 32 years of sobriety.

Alcoholism and Depression

Here are my ideas on dual diagnosis, also called comorbidity. 85 to 90 percent of alcoholics, depending on the population, do NOT have a coexisting (or pre-existing) mental health disorder such as depression. Often any depression or anxiety is due to the CNS depressant effects of chronic excessive alcohol use, which will dissipate with a substantial period of abstinence. If an individual has both depression and alcoholism, obviously, if the depression is severe enough to endanger the person through suicide or self-harm, then the depression will need to be stabilized immediately. However, talk therapy or even antidepressant medications for the depression will often NOT be very effective if the alcoholic continues to drink. So, generally, absent danger-to-life issues, the alcoholism should be treated first, that is, the drinking stopped and alcoholism treatment completed. Usually, if the depression is related to the alcoholism, it will not be a problem after 30 days of sobriety and treatment. Check out my website for more information and professional help.
Jan Edward Williams, MS, JD, LCADC
alcoholdrugsos.com
jwilliams@alcoholdrugsos.com
443-610-3569

How do you treat alcoholism? First the alcoholic needs to decide, based on failed attempts to control use and avoid consequences, that he/she can no longer drink successfully. The next step is to find support and treatment. Often the best approach is to seek help from a professional addictions counselor or tretament program and begin attending meetings of the 12 Step Programs, namely Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcohol addiction is very powerful and most individuals need treatment and the support of others who have learned how to stay sober. Check out my website for more information, http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com.

Just for today: this phrase is a powerful one to keep in mind for anyone seeking recovery from addiction, or the effects of addiction in a loved one. Just for today I can handle life's challenges without doing anything harmful to me such as picking up a drink or a drug, or trying to focus on controlling another's behavior. Breaking down my problems to those I must address today, means I need not waste too much of my precious energy looking at the past or future.

Sometimes people are turned off by recovery in the Twelve Step Programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous because of issues they may have with organized religion. The strength of 12 Step Programs is that they urge each individual to develop his/her own understanding of a source of spiritual strength. Perhaps the best place to start, I think, is with the willingness to be open to the support of others in recovery who have learned how to not drink by using AA principles. The strength of the group can be the foundation of spiritual growth.

Courage to Change the Things I Can

The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. How does an individual in recovery find the courage mentioned in this prayer? As with most aspects of recovery, developing the "courage to change the things I can" is an ongoing process. The progress that you can achieve will most often come from improving and strengthening your relationship with your source of spiritual strength, your Higher Power. Ways to improve and strengthen that relationship include use of daily spiritual disciplines (morning and nightly prayer, spiritual readings and reflections), helping others, and asking for help from others, in recovery, attending 12 Step meetings and listening and sharing. Fear is normally a huge issue in early recovery. Ask in morning prayers and throughout the day for the strength to take risks and do what you are supposed to do. Over time, you will reach the point where fear, though present (fear seems to be part of being human), rarely will prevent you from doing "the next right thing."

Is there a cure for addiction?
Most persons knowledgeable about addictions would simply answer: "no." Addiction to alcohol or other drugs is not cured by time abstinent from use of the addictive substance. There is no therapy that can teach an addict or alcoholic to use without problems over any significant period of time. Because of changes in brain chemistry and other psychological habituation factors, few, if any, individuals once addicted can return to normal, non-harmful use. The answer to addiction is abstinence from the addictive substance. Long term abstinence usually can be maintained only through comprehensive treatment that addresses the physical-medical, emotional-mental, and spiritual issues that are particular to each individual.

Spirituality is an important component of the Twelve Steps of Recovery. Step 11 says: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Here is what NA's Basic Text says about prayer and meditation: "Prayer is communicating our concerns to a Power greater than ourselves. Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens; we find the means, the ways and the energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities. We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily prayer and surrender so long as we keep faith and renew it.
For some, prayer is asking for God's help, and meditation is listening for God's answer. We learn to be careful of praying for specific things. We pray that God will show us His will and that He will help us carry that out. In some cases He makes His will so obvious to us that we have little difficulty seeing it. In others, our egos are so self-centered that we won't accept God's will for us without another struggle and surrender. If we pray for God to remove any distracting influences, the quality of our prayers usually improves and we feel the difference. Prayer takes practice and it may be well to remind ourselves that skilled people were not born with their skills. It took lots of effort on their part to develop them. Through prayer we seek conscious contact with our God. In meditation we achieve this contact and the Eleventh Step helps us to maintain it."

Just for today is a concept of great importance to anyone seeking to recover from addictive disease. I can abstain from picking up a drink or a drug today, but may find staying abstinent for the rest of the week, month, year, or a lifetime to be overwhelming.

"I can't, God can, I think I'll let him/her": This statement is a short translation of Steps 1-3 of the Twelve Steps of Recovery in AA or NA, meaning, I admit I am powerless over alcohol/drugs, I've come to believe that there is a source of spiritual strength that can restore me to sanity, and I've made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of that source of spiritual strength. It's a nice shorthand way to think about the first three Steps.

Why Complete Abstinence?

Let's begin a discussion of reasons for complete abstinence for recovering persons. If a recovering addict or alcoholic uses a substance of abuse other than his/her drug of choice, the resulting high or feeling will not be the one he/she is used to or desires (from drug of choice). That being the case, and adding to this factor impaired judgment that always occurs with drug use, there will be a high risk of relapse into use of the drug of choice.

Self Pity

"Poor me, poor me, pour me another drink": Self-centered, negative thoughts breed negative feelings which can result in picking up a drink or a drug. Allowing yourself to dwell on areas of your life that are not as you want them and feeling sorry for yourself, can cause you to feel so miserable that you may revert to old ways of dealing with pain, namely, use of alcohol or other drugs. You are in charge of your thoughts and can refuse to obsess on negatives. Go to a meeting, talk to a fellow recovering person; just do not stay fixated on negatives and the painful situation will pass.

A New Year's Resolution
Why not think about adopting the following resolution if it fits for you? I will try to be honest about how my drug or alcohol use is causing problems in important areas of my life, such as relationships, employment, my health, legally, and if my use is causing such problems, I will explore how to get some help. Check out this site for help: http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com

The First Drink Gets You Drunk

"Think the first drink or drug through": Rather than focusing on the feeling, high, relief, escape, or whatever the short term result of using may be, think about the consequences of relapse. When a thought or craving hits you resulting in a desire to use, think the first drink or drug through, meaning, before picking up, recall the past negatives in your history from picking up the first drink or drug. Then, make a call to someone in recovery, go to a meeting, pray, do anything except using.

Grow or Go

"Grow or Go": By not picking up a drink or a drug in the face of stress and pain, the recovering person can grow emotionally and learn positive self-enhancing ways to handle reality. The person who avoids growth by using drugs or alcohol or some other method of escape (for example, sex, sleep, food), will "Go", meaning he/she will inevitably relapse into use.

Work through Situations

"Nothing is so bad that a drink won't make it worse": Here is another way to look at this saying. Taking a drink or a drug may temporarily give relief from the stress and pain of reality, but for the alcoholic or addict, using just postpones the need to deal with the situation and usually makes it worse. The only way out of a situation or problem is through it, that is, facing it clean and sober, trying to resolve it, and learning from it.

Act As If

"Act as if" is a useful slogan for persons new to recovery. It suggests that one need not reach full understanding of, or belief in, the principles of spiritual recovery before taking action. Even if you do not think that the Steps of AA or NA will work for you, go ahead and act as if they will. Follow the suggestions of members who have discovered that the Program works, don't drink or drug, and go to meetings, and you will come to your own belief in the power of the Twelve Step Programs.

H.A.L.T.

A final entry about using the mini-program H.A.L.T.: In early recovery especially, but at any time, take care of your physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual needs. Be gentle with yourself when you make mistakes, but tough on yourself also, meaning, regardless of how you feel, don't pick up the first drink or drug.

Don't Get Too Tired

Continuing with the explanation of the recovery slogan H.A.L.T.: "Don't get too Tired" refers to the danger to emotional balance in early recovery of allowing yourself to become overextended physically by not getting enough rest. Fatigue causes even trivial problems to become overwhelming, the mole hill-into-a-mountain idea. A good night's sleep will restore one's ability to use tools of recovery to deal with issues that may seem insurmountable.

Loneliness

Continuing with the explanation of the recovery slogan H.A.L.T.: "Don't get too Lonely" is in my view perhaps the most important of the four dangers to avoid in recovery. Isolation and loneliness are the hallmark of addiction. Most addicts and alcoholics feel alone and alienated, "on the outside looking in", "alone in a crowd", just not fitting in even with loved ones or friends. These feelings can be blunted or avoided somewhat by using. When those feelings crowd in on a person in early recovery, they can be devastating. So, going to meetings, sharing, finding a sponsor, developing a relationship with a source of spritual strength, are all ways to deal with loneliness, without picking up a drink or a drug.