During their ugliest, most severe, and worst stage of their addiction, the start of their recovery is invisible to everyone else.  The nascent recovery within them (perhaps nothing more than a simple moment of clarity) seems to have its own voice and is already speaking to them.  Later, that suffering person speaks to others about … Continue reading Recovery Orphans

In their 2020 Commentary published in The Journal of Addiction Medicine (a journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine aka ASAM), Kelly and Bergman state that: “Individuals with regular and increasing very heavy alcohol consumption cannot be considered as maintaining ‘recovery’ due to toxicity and intoxication-related risks”.  Why did they publish a commentary about … Continue reading Continuing “Very Heavy Drinking” and Also Meeting An Improved Definition of Recovery?

It seems that during recent years, within the substance use disorder arena, there has been a trend toward changing views about: substance use, sobriety, abstinence, the harms of use, harm reduction, recovery, pathways of personal improvement, problematic use, and addiction illness itself.  While advancements, improvements, and innovations are welcome, what should be preserved?  And how … Continue reading The Four Pests: recovery, sobriety/abstinence, addiction illness, and treatment

This post will consist of an overview of one particular research report, and some of my thoughts about it.  Here is the citation of the paper I’ll be discussing: Yovell, Y., Bar, G., Mashiah, M., Baruch, Y., Briskman, I., Asherov, J., Lotan, A., Rigbi, A. & Panksepp, J.  (2016).  Ultra-Low-Dose Buprenorphine as a Time-Limited Treatment … Continue reading Research Article Review: Buprenorphine for Severe Suicidal Ideation

Can the presence of recovery, or the level of recovery function, be somehow detectable when it is unspoken and not overtly displayed? Can recovery be intuitively recognized or somehow felt in another person? Can recovery be intuitively recognized within an interpersonal space? Can recovery be present and sensed in the atmosphere? Sixth-sense, Spidey-sense, Radar When you walk into a room, do you ever pick up on any … Continue reading “Throw Flour On the Invisible Man”: Toward locating recovery function and assessing recovery quality

Beyond one’s personal recovery, what could the general idea of recovery be good for? To explore what the idea of recovery could be good for, I would like to separate the word “recovery” from its normal use (about people making personal changes in the face of addiction illness), and highlight some other benefits that could be found in the idea of … Continue reading Recovery: What Is It Good For?

You might not be aware of a podcast called myRecoveryCast. The episode titled, "NA in Iran Part 1: Visitors" is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. It tells the story of the unprecedented growth of the NA fellowship there, and includes fascinating information and insights. Aside from the information it contains, I've … Continue reading Narcotics Anonymous in Iran

Here is an audio/video upload of a presentation called "Narcotics Anonymous: The Early Story." I've listened to it time and again. This fascinating talk has been given at NA World, and on various continents and regions of the globe. My other favorite is this bit of writing titled "Narcotics Anonymous: Its History and Culture."   … Continue reading My favorite resources on the history of Narcotics Anonymous

Earlier today Jason Schwartz posted on the notion that the word “relapse” is stigmatizing, that the preferred term is “recurrence of use”, and the lack of empirical evidence addressing this topic. I will add a little more. "Relapse" is currently my preferred term rather than “recurrence of use". Why? In clinical work focused on relapse … Continue reading Stigma, humanizing terms, and taking on hostility: A little more

Negative Space and Art In visual art, the area outside or around the main object is called “negative space”. For example, if one draws a deer and places the deer on an abstract background, the abstract background is termed “negative space”. In art, negative space is important. What should the negative space be made of? … Continue reading Negative space