I love this. There's a lot of dramatic, self-indulgent and sensational recovery stuff out there. AfterPartyChat has a new series it describes this way. In AA meetings, you’ll often hear that the newcomer is the most important person in the room. I tend to agree—and also to shudder when I hear stories about cranky old-timers … Continue reading What’s it like to be 73 days sober?

Bill White just announced the publication of the second edition of Slaying the Dragon, his history of addiction, treatment and recovery in the United States. It's an intimidating book but, as big and as dense as it is, it's a great and easy read. You can approach it the way you used to be able … Continue reading Slaying the Dragon, 2nd edition!

Howard Wetsman reacts to a study linking ADHD to tobacco addiction, suggesting that ADHD is a risk factor for tobacco addiction. What if ADHD, a disorder of low midbrain dopamine tone, wasn’t ADHD? What if it was a disorder in which a person with lowered dopamine tone and the accompanying symptoms (poor attention, poor motivation, … Continue reading ADHD and Addiction

That harm reduction post from a few days ago? DJ Mac blogged on the same article and did a much better job discussing the questions involved, particularly around client preferences, expectations and professional pessimism. However, when we, the professionals working with them, have not met significant numbers of recovering people, when we have not been to … Continue reading Professional Knows Best

For this week's Throwback Sunday Post, ignore the reference to acid. I selected it because it speaks to the dangers of a couple of recent developments: the spectrum approach to substance use disorders the recurring references to 23 million Americans being in recovery The danger of these developments is that they blur the lines between those … Continue reading New Recovery: Acid and Alcohol Don’t Mix – TBS

Bill White, on the lost story of the more than 14,000 volunteers counted in a 1976 addiction workforce survey. What that story would reveal if it were fully told would be six striking facts.  First, volunteers made up a significant portion (nearly a quarter) of the addiction treatment workforce of the early 1970s.  Second, many … Continue reading Back to the Future – Volunteer Edition

Drug and Alcohol Findings asks the big question about harm reduction and exposes the fault lines. What is a harm reduction service for? Just one issue for you to ponder, but a (the?) big one, because surely the first thing any organisation should be clear about, is what it is there to achieve. The answer … Continue reading Harm reduction is the goal – not a step along the road to recovery

DJ Mac posted some research on the relationships between social connection and wellness and recovery. When Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues published their gargantuan meta-analysis of mortality risks in 2010 they found a ’50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with stronger social relationships.’ In this paper it looked like this was a stronger predictor of long healthy life than stopping … Continue reading Social Connection, Wellness and Recovery

The New England Journal of Medicine posted an opinion piece calling for expanding use of medications to treat opioid addiction These alarming trends led the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to deem prescription-opioid overdose deaths an epidemic and prompted multiple federal, state, and local actions.2 The HHS efforts aim to simultaneously reduce opioid abuse … Continue reading Opioid treatment medications roundup