"With the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back” – Hunter S. Thompson" Collection of 2000s recovery advocacy ephemera. (Credit: Illinois Addiction Studies Archive) This week I am attending the annual conference of the National Alliance on Recovery Residences (NARR). NARR is … Continue reading We Lack a United Voice in the Recovery Movement
Tag: Substance abuse
Follow the science . . .
I'm reposting this to supplement Monday's post on retiring the concept of "deaths of despair." Zeynep Tufecki's analysis of the damage to public trust from misleading public health messaging during the pandemic reminded me of this post. She describes problems of omission, misrepresentation of confidence levels in information, a desire to be a counterforce to … Continue reading Follow the science . . .
Time to retire “deaths of despair”?
Source: Data Behind Americans’ Waning Trust in Institutions. The Pew Charitable Trusts. Addiction recently posted an editorial suggesting that professionals and media stop using the term "deaths of despair" because it's inaccurate, it conflates different problems, and it contributes to misunderstandings about the causes and solutions. The term ‘deaths of despair’ collates deaths caused by substance poisoning, suicide … Continue reading Time to retire “deaths of despair”?
Response to Why Addiction is NOT a Brain Disease
This post was originally published in 2012 and is part of an ongoing review of past posts about the conceptual boundaries of addiction and its relationship to the disease model and recovery. In a thoughtful post, Marc Lewis questions the disease model of addiction. He doesn't dismiss it out of hand. He seems to look … Continue reading Response to Why Addiction is NOT a Brain Disease
Care that never quits
[This post was originally published in 2013.] I spent a little more time with Jim Contopulos' video memorial for his son and an interview he did will Bill White. There's a lot to all of this, but a couple of things stuck with me. In the interview, he discussed being a scared parent and seeking … Continue reading Care that never quits
Sentences to ponder
Mark Kleiman shares typically thoughtful and serious thoughts about legalizing cannabis. Too bad thoughtful and serious is so rare where cannabis policy is concerned. 2. Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Cannabis legalization will reduce criminal revenue, intrusive enforcement, arrest, incarceration, and disorder around illicit markets, and enhance personal liberty, consumer choice, and respect for the … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Tribes of the Recovering Community
Celebrate Recovery appears to be the most popular faith-based recovery group in the U.S. It's Christian and evangelical and it's not limited to people with drug and alcohol problems. Some members use it as a sole source of recovery support, others use it as an adjunct to 12 step recovery. Celebrate Recovery is a biblical … Continue reading Tribes of the Recovering Community
Pediatric use of buprenorphine
Drugfree.org has a piece advocating more use of buprenorphine with children. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid dependence is a science-based and proven-effective option for teens and young adults. It should be administered with age appropriate psychosocial therapy and drug testing. Unfortunately, it has been subject to controversy and stigma. Yet the neuroscience of addiction and … Continue reading Pediatric use of buprenorphine
Tribes of the Recovering Community
This week's tribe is Millati Islami: Millati Islami is a fellowship of men and women, joined together on the "Path of Peace". We share our experiences, strengths, and hopes while recovering from our active addiction to mind and mood altering substances. We have sought to integrate the treatment requirements of both Al-Islam and the Twelve Step … Continue reading Tribes of the Recovering Community
Precovery
Bill White introduces a new concept, precovery: Precovery involves several simultaneous processes: physical depletion of the drug's once esteemed value, cognitive disillusionment with the using lifestyle (a "crystallization of discontent" resulting from a pro/con analysis of "the life"), growing emotional distress and self-repugnance, spiritual hunger for greater meaning and purpose in life, breakthroughs in perception … Continue reading Precovery
Recovery Review 