Image by iPocrates via Flickr News of the the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s (ASAM) new definition of “addiction” has taken the recovery world by storm. Some are calling it radical because they suggest the new definition essentially invalidates many common perceptions regarding what addiction means to recovering addicts. Critics also suggest this new meaning deflates the common belief that mental health issues, like mood or personality disorders could be the underlying cause of one’s addiction. In other words, self-medicating to treat an anxiety or a mood disorder is not an inherently addictive behavior according to this new definition. It’s definitely a …

Dear Coachella:     It’s been a year since I’ve seen you. I’m sober now, which means things are a lot different! My eyes are clearer and I’ve learned to treat myself so much better than I used to. I’ve been working really hard: working the steps and building new, healthy relationships with sober friends. I’ve learned that sobriety can be fun. I’ve discovered fellowship, which has shown me that laughter is a much better experience when I actually remember it. Being sober has taught me to deal with my fears head on. So, when I come to your desert, filled …

                   Image by Express Monorail via Flickr Hookah’s have been around for a while, but for some reason, they’ve escaped the same ridicule directed toward cigarettes. Something about smoking a Hookah may seem sophisticated, with its exotic tobaccos, pretty pipes, and low-lit lounges that lure customers in. If anything, they’re like cigar bars but for the younger set. The perception? Smoking a hookah is not as bad as smoking a cigarette.  Tracey Barnett, assistant professor of behavioral science and community health at the University of Florida has found the opposite to be true. In fact, Barnett and a group of …

(Image by Tim Green aka atoach via Flickr)     ‘Tis the season for proms and graduation, and that often means rite-of-passage drinking and partying. I wish I was being dramatic when I say this, but the truth is, events like these can breed tumultuously poor decision making. For many teens, prom and graduation symbolize growing up and moving into adulthood, where it’s presumed there’s no one to tell them what to do anymore, no parents breathing down their necks, no teachers calling home when they don’t pull their weight in class, and no one to report to. As an adult, …

                                     (Image via Wikipedia)     April is Alcohol Awareness Month! The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence sponsors this campaign, and their goal is to bring public awareness to alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. By providing alcohol-related information, they work to eliminate the varying stigmas associated with alcoholism: Their message states that alcoholism is, in fact, a treatable disease, not a moral weakness, and alcoholics are capable of recovery.  Their public service announcements provide a message of encouragement and hope rather than one of condemnation.     Alcohol is glamorized in commercials, print ads, and television shows like Skins, which targets …

                           Image via Wikipedia     The LA Times said it perfectly: “Hospital emergency rooms don’t have the same ambience as raves, but both locations are becoming associated with ecstasy use.” Granted, the ER isn’t a dark, alluring space, filled with electronic music and flashing lights, but all the same, attendance is on the rise, and more often than not, ecstasy is the main attraction. According to a new report released Thursday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHA), ER visits due to Ecstasy, or MDMA, have increased 75%. The actual numbers are astonishing, with the DAWN analysis …

(Image by James Marvin Phelps via Flickr)      We’ve come a long way since Bill and Bob founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. Back then, self-proclaimed hopelessness was the only requirement for entry. If you wanted to get sober, it meant finding your way to the rooms of AA and/or being dependent upon the 12-step calls of fellow alcoholics who knew that being of service was the mainline to sobriety.  Sometimes, that’s still the case, but in many ways, the world of recovery has changed.      According to the New York Times, “Addiction is big business.”  Over the years, we’ve seen …

                                                {Image via Wikipedia} Anxiety is among the most common psychiatric disorders as well as a contributing factor for major depression and substance abuse, affecting around 18% of the population (Adults 18 and older). Adolescents aren’t exempt from this, though. Anxiety in the teen years is quite common. For some, “anxiety often hums along like background noise,”  but for others, it can become a “chronic, high-pitched state, interfering with their ability to attend school and to perform up to their academic potential.” It can create difficulties with making and keeping friends, participating in activities, and even having positive relationships with …

{Image by lo.re.n.zo. via Flickr}       The trouble with designer drugs is how difficult they are to monitor from a parental as well as legal perspective. They pop up quickly, spread like wildfire, and only when someone dies or becomes violently ill do we tend to hear about them. That, in and of itself, is scary.      Recently, a spring-break party went awry when 11 party goers overdosed, leaving one dead. The drug they used is called 2C-E, a designer drug classified as a hallucinogen, because of its psychedelic similarities to LSD and ecstasy. Sometimes called “Europa,” this drug tends to …

Getting sober is just the beginning, and as I am constantly reminded by people around me, addiction is merely part of the problem. We are the problem: our efforts to fix what ails us by filling our minds and bodies with drugs and alcohol is merely the vehicle we use.          {Image by Deadclown via Flickr} What concerns me is what we do when the alcohol and drugs are gone and the only thing we can see is the steps of recovery looming overhead. Unfortunately, our minds are prone to drive us elsewhere because the desire to hide is still …