“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson The following brief anecdote illustrates one of the first “lessons” I learned in early recovery—the principle of practicing patience in my life. One evening after a recovery group meeting, a tall, thin woman—someone I respected and who I knew had decades of…
Whether you’ve just arrived at a treatment center for alcohol or drug issues, have been “working a program” of recovery for decades, or you’re somewhere in between, it’s probably clear to you that learning and adopting new ways of thinking and acting isn’t always easy. But in recovery, we’re quickly told by both addiction professionals…
“Be as committed to your recovery as you were to your drinking or using.” – Anonymous I clearly remember feeling overwhelmed early on in recovery, given the number of suggestions I was getting to assist me with healing my body, mind and spirit from the ravages of substance abuse and turning my life around. Indeed,…
Given the rising need for addiction treatment and mental health services due to the increased stress and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic—both on individuals and society as a whole—BoardPrep Recovery Center®, located in Tampa, Florida, is taking extra precautions and establishing solid safeguards at its residential treatment facility, as well as increasing use of outpatient…
Opioids are a class of drugs that are naturally found in the opium poppy plants. There are many different names used for opioids such as O.C, oxy, percs, vike, M, monkey, white stuff, lean, schoolboy, sizzurp, purple drank or loads, etc. Opioids are often used as prescription drugs. People consider them safe as they are…
A longtime physician with whom I’ve become good friends once told me he had a really hard time reconciling in his mind that he had a substance abuse disorder, i.e., identifying he was an addict. When I asked him why, he said something to the effect of, “I think it’s because I’d always thought an…
“It’s not stress that kills us; it’s our reaction to it.” – Hans Selye, Nobel Prize-nominated endocrinologist, coined the physiological term “stress” On February 29, 2020, the first COVID-19 death was reported in the U.S.[1] In the nine weeks since that date, the coronavirus has caused more than 68,000 deaths with over 1.17 million confirmed…
When we think of addiction, we automatically think about people with substance use disorders. The stereotypes often cloud our judgment. While drugs and alcohol can cause physical and psychological dependencies, there are also some common addictive behaviors. How does someone become addicted to a behavior? How Do Common Addictive Behaviors Develop? It is easier to…
Sure, the current coronavirus pandemic is nothing to sneeze at (pun intended). On March 5th, 2020, the CDC had reported there were 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with 11 deaths attributed to the disease. As of yesterday (4/27/20), just seven weeks later, there have been nearly 1 million confirmed cases and over…
In a recent report by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) updating how opioid use disorder (addiction to opiates) should be diagnosed, assessed and treated[1], a number of important guideline revisions, as well as new recommendations, have been put forward to the addictions professional community, taken together offering increased hope and encouragement for those…