In Memoriam: Bob Kaplan

I’m going to miss you.My sponsor Bob Kaplan passed away last week, on January 1st. He was my sponsor of 22 years, and I loved him terribly.Today would have been Bob’s 37th sober birthday. He lived 77 years, the same as my father. Bob was like a father to me, I was certainly closer to him than to my old man.***It took me three years of daily 12-step meetings to get 30 sober days in a row. I got 29 days three different times, but I just couldn’t get over the hump, and my eskimo Steve D. had all but had it with me. He and my sponsor at the time literally kicked me out of their 12-step group… And this was no ordinary group, there were legends there like Jack F. and Bob H., true old-time heroes to many in the 12-step community.I know what you’re thinking, how can you be kicked out of a 12-step group?But it was the most loving thing they could’ve done. They told me I needed to go to the Pacific Group because that’s where the sickest go to get help, but first I should go to AA Central Office and speak to the manager, a man named Harvey P. Harvey reminded me of an army general with a deep raspy voice. He was going to be my new sponsor.God bless Harvey’s soul, he took one look at me and marched me into a back office.“You’re not for me,” he said. “You’re for Bob.”A man who looked old enough to be my father was sitting behind a desk, leaning back in his chair with his feet up and talking on the phone. He held up his finger as if to say, I’ll just be another moment, take a seat.Then, out of nowhere, he started screaming at the person on the phone, and then hung up on him.Now you have to understand what the last three years had been like for me. I had a sponsor who told me I had to change everything about myself if I wanted to stay sober. And now here was this guy sitting across from me undressing someone the exact same way I would have if I was angry. I was in shock.After he hung up the phone, his face all red and a garden hose pumping generously through his forehead, he looked up at me. I spoke quickly before he could say anything.“Will you be my sponsor?”As excited as I’ve ever seen anyone, he stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs, “Oh yeah!”I don’t remember anything else from that day, but I left there with a sense of hope. I could still be me and be sober. I didn’t have to be some goody-good.A week later I got really sick and I called Bob in the morning to tell him I was going to the doctor.He was afraid I was going to “med seek,” so he told me to skip the doctor and go to the pet store instead and to call him when I got there.This is like 22 years ago so I hope I’m remembering this right, but when I called him, he told me to get something called amoxicillin. I grabbed a salesperson to help me and called Bob back when I had the medication.He told me to take two pills every four hours until they were gone.“You know, Bob, this is fish penicillin. For fish?” I said.“Yeah, I know what it is,” he said.“Bob, it’s got a skull and crossbones on the packaging and says ‘not for human consumption.’ I’m no genius, but doesn’t skull and crossbones mean poison?”“Son, I’ve got 12 and a half years sober,” Bob said. “Take it, don’t take it, I don’t give a shit. But if you want to stay sober, do what I told you to do.”Truth be told, I don’t know if I wanted to be sober for good back then, but I loved this guy already. He was nuts, but in the best possible way. I took the fish penicillin, and I got better right away, just like he said I would.One day shortly after that, I was so newly sober and so crazy, I drove around and around in a parking garage for 15 minutes, looking for the exit. I was lost and I just started crying. So I called Bob. He got me out of that garage in 60 seconds.We would speak every morning and meet up at meetings and then grab something to eat. Sometimes it was just the two of us, but most of the time my 12-step brothers and sisters joined us. Bob sponsored a ton of people, and his sponsees, old friends, and his magnificent wife Signe became our extended family.He taught me everything, everything that’s important.He taught me that when someone reaches out for help, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing or how you’re feeling… You just go!I got that from him!He would say, “there’s nothing to get, only to give.”I got that from him!One day I called Bob while he was at work and asked him to come see a house I wanted to buy. He left work to meet me and check out the house.Walking through the house, he says: “You got a lotta fireplaces in this place, kid, how many you got?”“Seven.”“This house is huge, how many square feet you got here?”I answered all his questions, giving him the details of this great house I’d found, speaking with pride and joy, the pride and joy you feel when somebody really gets you. Then he dropped the hammer.“Single guy, nine months sober. Do I have this right?” He asked. I nodded.“Get in the car, asshole, I’ll show you where you’re living. I can see you can’t be left unattended.”I got in his car and left my car behind. I did what I was told, his will was stronger than mine. It always was.We drove back to his condo in West Hollywood and he got on the phone with his real estate agent. I can still hear him saying, “Vita, come to my house and show my kid everything in the building… He needs a new place to live and can’t be left unattended.”I picked a unit on the same floor as his.Every night before bed, he came over in his pajamas, slippers, and bathrobe and hung out for an hour or so screaming at the game on television if we had sports on, and eating those super spicy vegetables in a jar that he loved.The four years I lived in Bob’s building I don’t think a day went by where we didn’t see each other. I loved him, and I miss him very much.In 2003 I had this crazy idea that I wanted to move to Malibu. The traffic and noise from the city were just too much for me.When I told Bob I was going to buy a house in Malibu, he told me to rent for three months before I bought anything to see if I liked it.“Bob, how is anybody going to not like living on the beach?” I remember saying to him.“You’re an animal, rent for three months and if you like it you can get it.”Again, he was right! I hated living on the beach. The wind and the noise, and whether your windows are open or closed, you always wake up in the morning with sand in your bed. (I still can’t figure out how that happens?)Instead, I bought a house about a half mile from the ocean with the most gorgeous white-water views. It was everything I loved about Malibu without the hassle of being on the beach.Bob was also right about being in a big house as a single guy. I was used to being in a small space and this new place was giant in comparison. I wasn’t comfortable there. It was too much for me, so I turned it into what would become a world-renowned treatment center and bought a two-bedroom cottage down the street that felt much better to me.I was not a clinician, I didn’t have any healthcare experience, and I didn’t have an MBA. I had never even been to rehab.But what I did have was very good training. Bob lived a life of service and he taught me how to do that -- in a joyful way!There are very few people who have actually been on a true 12-step call with their sponsor, where they visit someone they’ve never met before in hopes of helping them get sober. I was so lucky to have gotten to do this with Bob.Bob and I were sitting at Central Office together when a call came in. He picked up the phone.Now, the people who answer the phone at Central Office are supposed to find out where the caller is, then look in the directory and give them directions to the closest meeting.That’s not what Bob did.He looked at me and said, “Let’s go, Rich!” We got in his car and drove to the caller’s house.After we parked, Bob turned off the car and grabbed my arm.“I want you to find a chair and go to the corner of the room,” he said, serious as he’s ever been. “You’re not to draw any attention to yourself and you’re not to say a word. Do you understand?”“Yes,” I said.“I need him focusing on me and what I’m telling him. Not a word, okay?”“Okay.”I don’t remember exactly what he said but I was 110% present at the time and I hung on every word.What I noticed was his command over the room.I noticed the empathy.I noticed the honesty.I learned these things from Bob. Everything that truly matters, I learned from Bob.***Today, Bob’s doing just fine. Right now he’s eating breakfast with his wife Signe in heaven. She’s been gone 11 months and he hadn’t been the same since.And like any good father, he made certain that we would all be okay too. Mark, William, Big Rich, Fat Rich, and all my other 12-step brothers and sisters will be fine because our sponsor showed us how to live the right way.This man taught me everything, and although we’re all going to be okay, the world lost a genuine hero, a great man.Thank you, Bob. Make certain you come get me to take me to the other side when it’s time.I love you! To learn more about world renowned interventionist Richard Taite, click HERE.In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Bob’s memory to Three Square. Read Bob’s obituary here.

What’s Existential Anxiety?

What’s the meaning of it all? That’s a question that many of us have been asking ourselves since the pandemic started. Of course, many people grappled with questions about meaning, significance, and happiness long before COVID-19 dominated headlines. But since the pandemic upended life as usual and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, the world is experiencing a global existential crisis.Here’s what that means, and what do to if it’s affecting your life, according to Geoff Thompson, PhD, program director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre in British Columbia. What’s existential angst?Existential anxiety or angst happens when you spend a lot of time thinking about your existence, and what it all means.“It’s trying to make sense of suffering,” Thompson says.It usually involves worry about the meaning of life and death. For many people, existential angst arises during transition periods that leave them aware of their mortality, like the death of a parent or a significant birthday.“It’s not any birthday, but those when the person feels their age is inevitably pushing them toward nothingness,” Thompson explains.At its root, existential worry is about wondering what life means, and feeling that something might threaten your life itself, or your very existence, Thompson says. In practice, existential anxiety can present as:DepressionAnxietyFear or worryThe pandemic and existential angstIt’s normal for existential angst to present during times of uncertainty, and right now we’re all experience unprecedented uncertainty. There’s fear over life and death: that we or people we love could catch COVID-19 and die. There’s also interruption of the normal routines that provide many of us with peace of mind.There’s no simple fix for existential worry, especially during a pandemic. However, there are ways that you can combat your worry and anxiety. Here’s what Thompson recommends:Embrace uncertainty. One of the biggest ways to let go of worry right now is to accept that we’re living in uncertain times. We simply can’t know the answers to the pressing questions, like when we’ll get the vaccine, or how the virus will affect the economy over the next few years.Of course, learning to live with uncertainty is easier said than done. However, you can take small steps to make yourself more comfortable. When you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed by the unpredictability, take deep, calming breaths. Recognize that this isn’t new. Remind yourself that life is never certain. Sure, that may be more obvious than ever at the moment, but not knowing the future is not a new condition. You’re already a pro at living with uncertainty, so there’s no need to worry about it now more than usual. Focus on what you can control. If you find comfort in being in control of things, you should direct your energy to efforts that are truly within your control. This is much more productive than worrying about things like a vaccine or the economy that you have no way of impacting.Take a moment to think about your worries and identify the core themes. For example, many people are currently worried about health and finances. Then, identify concrete steps that you can take to improve those areas of your life today. You can’t control the stock market, but you can implement a budget; you can’t entirely safeguard yourself against COVID-19, but you can mitigate your risk through steps like wearing a mask, minimizing trips in public, and following other CDC guidelines. Be of service. During a global reckoning, it’s easy to feel like life is meaningless. However, you can push back on that depressing narrative by doing meaningful acts for others. If you are passionate about social justice, you can volunteer to tutor Black, immigrant or LGBTQ+ youth. You can join organizations that provide meals or shopping for people who are unable to leave their homes or need help taking care of themselves. And you can always reach out to a friend in recovery, just to check in and say hello.These acts can be comforting. They remind us that even though we’re small in the grand scheme of the universe, we have the power to make a positive difference in another person’s life.At the end of the day, it’s also helpful to remember that you’re not the only person feeling existential angst right now. Millions of people around the world are questioning the meaning of their lives, careers and relationships. We may be apart, but we’re certainly not alone.Sunshine Coast Health Centre is a non 12-step drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in British Columbia. Learn more here.

5 Recovery Resolutions to Make for 2021

2020 was a year to remember, and not in a good way! The pandemic caused many people to start using drugs and alcohol to help manage stress. Even people who had been in recovery for a long time found themselves at risk for relapse. If you were lucky enough to make it through 2020 with your sobriety intact, you likely had some bumps and bruises along the way.Now that the new year is here, it’s the perfect time to reset and rejuvenate your recovery. Here are 5 new year’s resolution ideas for people in recovery. Which ones will you try?Start Recovery Check-insWhen things feel overwhelming, it’s easy to forget the immense amount of progress you’ve made. Keeping a record of your progress can help you see how far you’ve come, which can inspire you to keep on track even when things are challenging.Grab a journal and commit to spending 10 minutes on a monthly check-in. What’s going well for you? What’s challenging, or could be done better in the coming months? What are you proud of?Answering these questions monthly will help keep you on track, without needing a large time commitment.Be of ServiceFor most of us, 2020 was about survival. Which means you may have let go of volunteering or other ways of being of service. Although that’s understandable, giving back to the recovery community is an important way to stay focused.So, in the new year, commit to returning to your service work. If you have the bandwidth, look into ways to volunteer or mentor. If you’re still struggling, take small steps, like contributing to online groups that you benefit from. Even little actions can make a big difference in the connection you feel with your recovery community.Practice MindfulnessThe more that scientists and researchers look into the benefits of mindfulness, the more evidence they find that it’s a powerful tool. Practicing mindfulness can help people manage stress, reduce depression and handle anxiety. Since those are common issues for people with substance use disorder, lots of people find that mindfulness can keep them clear-headed enough to focus on their recovery.It’s okay to start really small. Even five minutes a day of meditation using an app like Headspace, Calm or Ten Percent Happier can help you establish a mindfulness practice that can have a great impact on your health.Get Your Financial House in OrderActive addiction can do real damage to your financials. So can living through a pandemic, where many people have lost their jobs; while others find comfort in treats like dining out or buying something new. The new year is the perfect time to take steps toward building financial security. Consider committing to a budget, or putting your bills on autopay so they’re never late. Cancel any subscriptions you no longer use so that you’re not wasting money on them. Update your résuméso that when the perfect job comes along, you’ll be ready to apply.If you’re feeling financially overwhelmed, reach out for help. Just like substance abuse, financial troubles rarely resolve on their own.Embrace Quiet TimeDuring 2020, it felt like there was always something to do. If you had a moment’s respite from dealing with your to-do list, you probably felt yourself sucked into the non-stop news cycle.Constantly being engaged can be taxing. It wears down your mental reserves. So, in 2021, be sure to schedule yourself some quiet time. Rather than watching the news endlessly or listening to a podcast all the time, go for a walk and just listen to nature. Draw, paint, or sculpt. Give yourself the chance to just be still, so your mind has the opportunity to rejuvenate before tackling the next item on the to-do list.This year, take the opportunity to start the year on the right foot, by refocusing your attention on your recovery.Learn more about Oceanside Malibu at http://oceansidemalibu.com/. Reach Oceanside Malibu by phone at (866) 738-6550. Find Oceanside Malibu on Facebook.

The Current Status of Addiction Recovery in Pennsylvania

It’s holiday season, 2020. Undoubtedly, a different kind of festive season than normal for many Americans, but… it’s still the holidays, nonetheless.However, for many families, there’ll be empty places at the dinner table this year - loved ones missing not because of the dreaded and awful coronavirus pandemic that continues to tragically affect the U.S., but from fatal opioid drug overdoses, part of a national epidemic that was here long before COVID-19 ever became part of our vocabulary.Take a few moments out of this day to look back at the statistical data for the U.S. opioid epidemic, and you’ll see the highest peak in opioid-related fatal overdoses was during the first half of 2017 - in virtually every state across the nation. Only 3 short years ago, U.S. citizens were dying at a rate of around 130 every single day.It’s difficult to fully comprehend, but it happened - surely, we’d never see such death rates again (we’ll get to the dreaded “corona” shortly, which is now, more tragically, taking many more lives per day).Back to the opioid epidemic.A range of pain-killing medications, arguably misbranded by Big Pharma, were being prescribed freely across the U.S. in a practice that went on for over 20 years, leaving thousands upon thousands unknowingly dependent on powerful narcotics, and with a chronic medical condition - opioid use disorder (OUD).Like the layered tragedy of a Shakespeare play, just when you thought things were actually looking up (as the national rate of opioid-related deaths began to noticeably fall), along came a global accident-waiting-to-happen - the COVID-19 pandemic.Take a further few moments to access everyone’s favorite search engine, type in “US Covid Latest 2020,” and you’ll see the latest statistics about how badly the nation has been hit by the pandemic. Over 335,000 deaths, and still rising.However, the pandemic continues to affect virtually every aspect of American life, and that, sadly, also includes those suffering with an addiction - including opioids.In Beaver County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney David Lozier recently spoke about how his region is being affected by the virus in terms of the detrimental impact on people’s mental wellbeing, including rates of opioid use and addiction:“COVID has sucked the wind out of every other issue. Now this year, the [drug overdose] numbers are going up like 2016 and the first half of 2017. We're seeing an increase in domestic violence, Childline and child abuse calls, a worsening mental health picture, and worsening drug and alcohol pictures. The people who need support services or who are in treatment... It’s all been by phone. They haven’t had the in-person contact they need.”So it begs the question - what exactly is the current status of addiction recovery in Pennsylvania?To answer this, we first need to look at how Pennsylvania stood last year (2019 seems a remarkably long time ago now, doesn’t it?) with respect to substance addiction rates and addiction treatment levels, and how the state stands now, after around half a year of severe socio-economic disruption, including mandatory lockdowns and long periods of social isolation for its residents.How COVID-19 Has Radically Altered Addiction Recovery2019:According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2019, Pennsylvania rehab centers saw more than 19,000 admissions. There’s little doubt, the fight against the opioid epidemic was still being fought (a situation destined to last many years). However, many thousands of Pennsylvania residents were still becoming addicted to the prescriptions written out by their family doctor.According to a research study by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, it was found that excessive, high-dose opioid prescriptions were still being routinely prescribed following common, minor day-patient surgeries - at a strength strictly advised against by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), for the purpose of reducing the number of opioid-related fatal overdoses.So how was the level of access to opioid addiction treatment at this time?In short - increasing. For example, under the Blue Guardian program in Lehigh County, PA, police and other first responders would notify the program when they had responded to an opioid overdose. Later, an officer and a certified recovery specialist would visit the person to follow up and discuss their treatment options.This hands-on approach was highly successful, as confirmed by Layne Turner, Lehigh County’s drug and alcohol administrator. She stated that, “Of the 52 individual face-to-face meetings, 34 individuals entered treatment. The lesson learned is when the face-to-face contacts are made, 65% of the time individuals enter treatment.”Clearly, the state of Pennsylvania was moving in the right direction when it came to accessing and providing opioid addiction treatment for opioid abusers and addicts. In fact, a rate of 65% is far, far higher than the national average for the numbers of drug addicts who make it into such treatment. In 2019, that national rate stood at a lowly 10-13%.When you consider that recent estimates say one-fifth of U.S. citizens who have clinical depression or an anxiety disorder will also have a substance use disorder (SUD), like OUD, you quickly understand that the very last thing the nation needed in fighting addiction was the soon-to-arrive COVID-19 pandemic, with its resulting lockdowns and isolation.“The concerns we have are related to the big challenges people are facing right now with COVID: isolation and uncertainty resulting in very high levels of stress.”  Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse2020:The (first) year of the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, leading to the “isolation and uncertainty” and “very high levels of stress” quoted above. Fatal drug overdoses - not just from opioids, but now including cocaine and methamphetamine - are spiking alarmingly across the nation.Just like any other U.S. industry, the addiction treatment field has been hit hard, with many rehab centers, including those in Pennsylvania, facing financial collapse if things don’t improve soon. Many treatment centers report clients not making their scheduled treatment appointments - either the simple fear of coronavirus infection, or, worryingly, because more and more of those in recovery are experiencing overdoses and relapses.In an effort to meet the changing conditions, addiction treatment centers have also had to invest in new “telemedicine” technology to be able to provide services, where clients receive counseling and other treatment via their computer screens.Nonprofits have struggled to treat their clients. In a recent survey, 44% of members from the National Council for Behavioral Health say they will easily run out of money in the next 6 months.Interestingly, if you look at the 2019-related paragraphs above, you’ll see words like “admissions,” “individual face-to-face meetings,” “right direction, “access” and “contact.” All of these are being heard less and less, if at all, for many recovering addicts in 2020.The sad proof of this lies in the national rise in fatal drug overdoses, as described by the American Medical Association in its updated Issue Brief (October, 2020), which reports that more than 40 states have “reported increases [around 18% - nearly a fifth] in opioid-related mortality, as well as ongoing concerns for those with a mental illness or substance use disorder.”And, lo and behold, guess what? Yes, sadly, Pennsylvania is again one of those 40.Addiction Recovery = HopeHowever gloomy-sounding this article may appear at first glance, there is a distinctly positive and hopeful side.The sphere of addiction treatment, providing long-term, sustainable recovery for OUD sufferers and those with other SUDs, is recovering itself, and this is happening in a number of essential ways:More and more of Pennsylvania’s facilities and clinics are becoming accustomed to the necessary COVID-19 protocols and regulations required in running their treatment options, from residential care, to Partial-Hospitalization Programs (PHPs), Outpatient Programs, and their own counseling sessions and group support meetings.Telemedicine technology, with the addiction experts looking on, is growing, expanding and even researching its own effectiveness as a method of healthcare provision for those with SUDs and mental health issues.As for the telemedicine “patient,” they are becoming more accustomed to accessing their treatment, care and support online, just like the vast numbers of those in AA and NA when virtually “attending” their own 12-Step meetings.If you’re looking for Pennsylvania’s online 12-Step meetings, the links for these are provided here:Alcoholics AnonymousNarcotics AnonymousAl-Anon Family GroupsFinally, the use of Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT), such as the provision of methadone and other MAT drugs for opioid replacement, has had its own regulations relaxed, thus increasing its range of access to those who need it.Dr. Mark Fuller, the Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Center of Inclusion Health, part of the Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburg, PA, recently stated, “Some folks say that the opposite of addiction is connection - connecting with a therapist, or other friends in recovery, or your 12-step meeting. Those connections are a really powerful part of recovery and really a key step in helping people stay clean and sober.”How many of Pennsylvania’s reported 800 licensed drug abuse and addiction treatment centers, both nonprofit and for-profit, will survive 2021 remains to be seen. Without the vital professional connections these treatment centers provide, and without the social “recovery community” connections referred to by Dr. Mark Fuller in the quote above, there will clearly be fewer inspiring stories of real addiction recovery happening across the state during this year of coronavirus.However, for now, with the excellent strategies listed above, the vast field of addiction treatment - just like the rest of us - is starting to get to grips with the strong and undeniable challenges that lie ahead.

5 Resolutions for a New Year and Renewed Recovery

If you’re in recovery, you’ve already checked the toughest item off of your to-do list—getting help—but there’s more you can do to reboot your recovery in 2021. Once you’ve established a decent amount of time since your last drink or drug, it can be challenging to avoid a plateau in recovery, and going to meetings can become routine and just another task to complete. It’s important to keep evolving in recovery, so I’ve put together a list of five New Year’s resolutions to keep you on track for a happy, healthy, and sober 2021.1. Get an Active HobbyMaintaining your physical health is a great way to get out of the house and do something good for the body and the mind. A healthy hobby keeps the mind and body busy and provides an excellent replacement for our old behaviors. If you’ve never heard of The Phoenix, you should! The Phoenix is a sober active community with more than 42,000 members all around the country. From community fitness to rock climbing and camping, The Phoenix offers in-person and virtual fitness programming daily, introducing you to a new community of people in recovery choosing an active lifestyle. The cost of membership is 48 hours of recovery, so it’s great for newcomers and people with a lot of sober time under their belt.2. Check Out a New MeetingMeetings are easy to attend in the COVID era. You can turn on your laptop or smartphone and be connected to a group of recovery people literally anywhere in the world. So, take advantage of it! Don’t abandon your homegroup, because that’s your home base of support and service, but broaden your horizons to new locations and new people for a fresh perspective on recovery. If you’ve moved from your hometown, why not check out the recovery scene there? Maybe you loved your Italy trip, so Zoom on over to Rome and see how people stay sober in a culture where they serve wine at virtually every meal. There are many voices and outlooks on recovery that you haven’t heard, so use the new year to expand your horizons.3. Meditation and Mindfulness ActivitiesFor many of us, mediation is a critical part of our recovery and a great tool to relieve stress. If you haven’t fully committed to the practice, check out one of the guided mediation apps such as Calm or Headspace. I’m a huge advocate of Transcendental Meditation and its effortless, mantra-based method. The TM organization is nonprofit, so they aren’t making money to teach the technique. There’s no one-size-fits-all practice, find one that you like! If you’re already meditating regularly, check out some online yoga classes. Both yoga and meditation are great for getting you outside of your head and reducing depression and anxiety–conditions known to contribute to relapse. There are even some mindfulness yoga programs that focus on substance use recovery.4. Read Some New Recovery ResourcesThe 12-step programs frown upon bringing unapproved literature to meetings, but there’s a ton of books out there with advice and harrowing personal tales of recovery. As an almost militant atheist, I struggled with the higher power aspect of 12-step recovery. I found Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life by Joe C. to be a fantastic tool. The book offers secular daily reflections with interesting and thought-provoking questions at the end of each entry. It’s also indexed by topic, so it’s an excellent resource when looking for a new way to discuss the steps with sponsees. There are several best recovery book lists online, so you can find one that looks interesting to you.5. Be of ServiceIf you’ve read any of the 12-step literature, you know how helping others was instrumental in the founders’ recovery journey. When you give some of your time to others, you’re not only helping them, you’re helping yourself, and it feels terrific. Remember where you once were and who helped get you where you are now and dedicate yourself to making somebody else just as successful. Pick up another sponsee or just stay after a meeting to talk to the shy newcomer. Those extra five minutes can determine if someone comes back.For those who have yet to enter a treatment program, it’s time to make a plan. The New Year is a great time to start over and get the help you need and deserve. If you or a loved one needs help with substance abuse and mental health problems, check out AspenRidge REACH’s online addiction program. We also have in-person treatment centers across Colorado. 

22 Years of Successful Medical Opioid Detoxification

Waismann Treatment™ has always been ahead of its time. Waismann Method® team has been a trailblazer in medical opioid detox right from the beginning. After more than two decades and thousands of patients treated, numbers show the successful results—nearly 98% of patients undergoing the Waismann Treatment™ achieve complete opioid detoxification. These success rates are unheard of. The reason for this unparalleled success is treating "the patient" (based on their unique health needs) instead of focusing on the effects of an untreated condition.Waismann Method team views and treats opioid use disorder as a medical condition that can successfully be treated with effective medical detoxification assistance. Although the group is world-renowned as the #1 rapid detox center, rapid detox is not all they do. The length of stay and medical protocol used is primarily based on each patient's unique health needs. Rapid detox, the leader in opioid detoxification, is celebrating twenty-two years of service this month. During that time, the organization has helped thousands of people obtain freedom from opioid dependence and addiction. Since the beginning, Waismann Method has focused on helping people dependent on opioids find a dignified solution that empowers them to live free from opioids. They operate on the premise that everyone should have the right to live free of opioids — life without opioids shouldn't be a privilege. The organization also believes that detox — a barrier to seeking treatment for many people — should be humane, safe, and effective. With that approach, Waismann Method has successfully helped thousands of people live safer, healthier lives without the burden of opioids. Here's what sets Waismann Method apart:Rapid Detox — the Flagship ServiceMany people dependent on opioids fear going through the painful withdrawal symptoms that come with quitting opioids. While other recovery programs have embraced detox's discomfort as an essential part of recovery, the Waismann Method staff reject the idea that a person must go through physical pain and suffering to live without opioids. Just the opposite, fear of withdrawal and judgment keeps people from seeking the treatment they desperately need.Rapid detox is a dignified medical procedure to help patients get through a withdrawal from opioid drugs, especially long-acting ones such as Methadone and Suboxone. The procedure is extremely safe and effective when performed responsibly and with the necessary parameters. Some of the most important parameters are:A board-certified anesthesiologist should perform rapid detox in a private room in an accredited hospital.Patients need to be admitted at least a day before detoxification for a comprehensive medical evaluation, hydration, and adequate understanding of the patient's unique medical status and needs.Rapid detox can be accomplished with sedation in 1 to 2 hours. Protocols that place patients under general anesthesia for up to four hours (or more) are archaic and tend to pose unnecessary risk factors to the patient.There should be no limitation of inpatient stay. Predetermined allowance of time often leads to premature discharges.A few days of inpatient care at a specialized recovery center are crucial to the patient's success and safety. After rapid detox, the whole system works hard, trying to find a new baseline. This transition can lead to a period of emotional and physical instability. Although loved ones may desire to help, they do not have appropriate training to assess or assist with this crucial and fragile phase.Waismann Method® staff does not support programs that overpromise or claim to overnight "fix everything." However, the program offers the chance for someone to become opioid-free. Being free from the effects of opiates allows people to be emotionally present to pursue whatever emotional support is indicated for their specific case.What is the Waismann Method®?Waismann Method is named after its founder, Clare Waismann SUDCC/ RAS. The program's primary goal is to provide those struggling with opioid use disorder the safest, most effective, and most straightforward solution to a dangerous condition. Every patient is different, and so are their health needs. Thus, Waismann Method® provides several different treatment modalities that utilize the protocol that best fits the patients' unique needs.Together with a team of health care providers, Dr. Michael H. Lowenstein treats and oversees the care of Waismann Method patients. Dr. Lowenstein is a quadruple board-certified anesthesiologist and the most experienced licensed physician in the United States in anesthesia assisted opioid detox. His commitment, credentials, and unparalleled experience make him globally one of the top experts in opioid use disorder treatment. Thousands of patients from all over the world have flown to Southern California (Waismann Method’s only location) in the last two decades to receive treatment.Mrs. Waismann is also the founder of Domus Retreat Recovery Center, a place that provides individuals much-needed support after hospital detoxification. Domus Retreat is a facility where people can regain their strength while receiving a health care team's professional support and begin planning for their life free from opioids. An Individualized ApproachWaismann Method® is best known for medically-assisted rapid detox. However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to overcoming opioid dependence, so Waismann Method offers multiple treatment approaches. Each patient works with the doctor to understand their unique circumstances — their history of opioid use, any underlying medical conditions, and their desires and concerns for the future. With that information, the doctor and patient create an individualized treatment protocol with no preset limits or ideas. One that may involve rapid detox, but it doesn't always. The main focus is on finding the best treatment that ensures the specific patient's safety and success.This individualized approach used in the hospital is carried through to Domus Retreat. At Domus, there are no required meetings, chores, or sharing your story with strangers. Instead, each person works within their unique abilities and needs. The guest works individually with the professional staff to address the immediate health needs, physical and emotional stability, and plan for the best way to maintain a healthy path. After 22 years of helping people overcome opioid use, Waismann Method staff have become more passionate about helping people access safe, quality, and effective treatment. With the pandemic highlighting the need to maintain health, Waismann Method is eager to evolve and develop more ways to help people find the health and happiness they seek. 

Return to Sender: What an Unsent Postcard Taught Me About Addiction

Summer, 2020The Unsent PostcardI have a stack of unwritten postcards, collected from my travels, purchased with the intent of sending them to those back home. In recent months, I have taken to writing out these postcards to friends and family, both to cheer them with sunny images as they shelter in, and to support the United States Postal System.Not long ago, I came across a card featuring a hand-colored photograph of a windmill in East Hampton, New York. To my surprise, it was not blank. Tightly scrawled sentences, in rudimentary French, it was meant for a friend in Paris.No postage, never mailed.17 Septembre, 1991Chère Delphine,Salut! I am at the beach with my mother. My God! My poor back! I am ready for a big change in my life. We must talk. I’m going to write you a real letter soon.Ton Amie, Maria.Here I was, standing at the edge of big change, poised to plunge into some grand announcement, too large for the 4” x 6” space given. These words never crossed the Atlantic. Instead, I held them now, between my fingertips, twenty-nine years later.What are the chances of this? I thought. Of all these blank cards, only one has writing, and not just any writing, but words that speak to my alcoholic “bottom” — the physical, mental and spiritual low-point of my young life.My back hasn’t bothered me for years, thank heaven. I take it for granted. I walk with ease everywhere today. Until this moment, I’d forgotten just how bad things were with my lower lumbar at age twenty-four, that hell year when I couldn’t stand up straight without sciatica shackling my ankles, seizing my spine, and clamping down hard at the cervical vertebrae. This physical agony — an exclamation point to my mental and spiritual state — had literally brought me to my knees.I spent weeks in bed self-medicating on whiskey sours and muscle relaxants. Somehow I’d convinced the corner pharmacist to dispense refills beyond the legal limit.I‘m skeptical when people make meaning from random events. It feels self-indulgent to interpret every rainbow as a reference to my personal recovery. Yet finding this card, all these years later, didn’t feel like coincidence. It felt intentionally planted to remind me of why I’d sobered up.It also felt like something I had to share with others.September, 1991Watching wavesIn those mellow days following Labor Day, when the water is warmer than the salt air, I was with my mother in a rented bungalow at the tip of Long Island, now emptied of humans. I was twenty-five, unemployed, and reeling from a bad break-up.I remember the lunch mom served on or about the day I’d written that postcard: linguine with shrimp and mussels, and flutes of rosé wine. Mom was a faithful clipper of the Wednesday food section of The New York Times. Maybe she’d sourced this seafood pasta recipe there, or maybe she’d been inspired by one of the influencers of Hamptons entertaining at the time: Martha Stewart or The Barefoot Contessa.However it came to be, it was a memorable meal presented with panache, from a bare-bones rental kitchen. And it was a meal where my mother enjoyed alcohol as she always did, in moderation. More often than not in my childhood home, there was an appropriate wine, served in stemware, to compliment every dish.My mother drank the way Jacques Pépin did on public television, and the way I always wanted to, but never could — with class. At the end of an episode of making something like, say, classic Beef Bourguignon, he would raise his glass of Cabernet Sauvignon in a toast: “Aah-pee Coo-keeeng!” and tilt it lightly to his lips.But that’s not the way I drank this glass of blush wine. I downed it.Plagued by sciatica, a still larger pain loomed; it had been moving in slowly for years, like a cold front, now dipping as an arctic depression over this lovely lunch.I remember craving more flutes of Zinfandel than that one bottle held, but I was checked at two because mom was watching. Two drinks were the limit if you were female, and raised right — and you cared about appearances — which we did. But I couldn’t comply.I found myself watching the waves from that deck all afternoon. I watched them crest and crash, one after the other, in rhythmic indifference to my pain. Then it hit me. It felt big. Big like the feeling I get reading an inspirational poem from an anthology with a daffodil or seagull on the cover. Though the feeling was big I, myself, suddenly felt small. And weirdly enough, I was okay with that.It was a relief. The waves kept rolling in, oblivious to my situation. It was freeing to see that my pain — sharp and ugly — couldn’t stand up to the beauty of light and dark scattering the water’s surface.Scared, self-involved me was no match for the folding waves. For hours I watched them flatten at the shore and return to the sea, gradually eroding the moat I’d dug around myself. Yes, my experience of this landscape could be captured in a bad sonnet in a book with a hokey cover — the kind you’d find in a hospital gift shop.It was neither subtle nor original, my “white light” oceanfront awakening, but it was genuine.The next day, a masseuse with strong hands and a soft voice got me to open up about my drinking on a massage table in Amagansett. A recovering alcoholic himself, Sean R. is much of the reason I made it to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when I returned to Brooklyn that next week.1991–2013A Bridge Back to a Good Life, Then Some Slippery TurnsAs the postcard predicted, big change followed. “A.A. is a bridge back to life.” That’s true. I did cross over to a full life with marriage, kids, and a semi-detached house. But it was a life further into Brooklyn, and further from my home group, the A.A. group where I had first gotten sober and stayed that way.Yes, I was still not drinking, but I can’t claim I was emotionally sober. Somewhere along the way I stopped going to meetings. Lost touch with my sponsor. Quit working with other recovering alcoholics. You know where this is going. Eventually, I drank.It started small: communion wine on Sundays, the occasional “non-alcoholic” beer, and the argument with my dentist. He wanted to give me local anesthesia for minor dental work, but I pushed for hit after hit of nitrous oxide on top of that. I wanted to numb my brain, not just my molar.“The idea that somehow, someday he(she/they) will control and enjoy his (her/their) drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker.” — from Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 3, ‘More About Alcoholism’I went along like this for years, skating on the edge of my sobriety, doing figure-eights on April ice, until seven years ago I found myself sitting in the sun porch of my friend Samantha’s historic, center hall colonial home.Our kids were playing together somewhere on the periphery. I always found my way here, to this snug room off the parlor, with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and a loveseat. I’d marked it as my space, where I could step away, sink into the cushions and watch the cardinal at the feeder.On this day I was thinking about my marriage. It had been a good run, but after fourteen years, two sons and a poodle, it was over. During the past months, this reality had settled over me like snowfall hitting pavement at the freezing mark, melting first, before catching hold, white landing on grey, gradually building, til nothing remained of the sidewalk below. I was scared as hell now.Samantha stood over me with finger sandwiches and two flutes filled with golden bubbles on a silver tray. It had been so long since I’d been to a meeting, so long since I’d said out loud to a roomful of people: “I’m an alcoholic.” So long that I had a new circle of friends that never knew I had a problem and older friends who had forgotten that I didn’t drink.In that moment, I forgot I didn’t drink.Alcohol, catching sunlight, was presented to me on a slender stem, the way it had been twenty-two years earlier at the beach.Why not? If ever I deserved a mimosa, it’s now.I took a sip.Holy shit, what the hell am I doing?I ran to the powder room and poured the rest down a sink with a swan head faucet.“The alcoholic, at certain times, has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he (she/they) nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His (her/their) defense must come from a Higher Power.” — from Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter 3, “More About Alcoholism”It had happened —I had drunk again. I never thought I would. It had been more than two decades since my last real drunk, and I had good reason never to drink again — actually two very good reasons, their names were Leo and Liam. Sure I could rationalize the Sunday morning communion wine and the occasional hit of laughing gas — after all, I was accountable to no one for my behavior now— but when I let that bubbly pass my teeth and slide down my throat, I recognized that for what it was —a slip.I remember the taste of it clearly — that citrus effervescence in my mouth — and I remember my conscious decision to swallow. Like countless alcoholics before me, I had now proven what the Big Book drives home in the conclusion of Chapter 3.I had had “no effective mental defense against the first drink.”September, 2013The Room Above the Fish StoreThankfully, at the same moment, I realized my problem when I took that sip of spiked o.j. , I also remembered the solution.Alcoholics Anonymous had worked for me, for as long as I had shown up for myself and others. What became obvious to me with this slip was that I’d do well to return to a community of recovering alcoholics if I wanted to get sober again, and stay that way. I needed to plug back into a sober support network.So on the heels of my slip in late September, 2013, I climbed a staircase to a room above a fish store filled with retired seniors and flies circling overhead. I’d stepped into an A.A. Big Book meeting, already in progress. They were reading one of the personal stories from the back of the book, round-robin style. Right away I could see myself in ‘The Housewife Who Drank at Home.’ When she described herself as a ‘Jekyll-and-Hyde’ PTA mom, I lost it. That was me. Someone passed me a box of Kleenex. I will never forget that kindness.September, 2020TodayWillpower and the passage of time are no guarantees against the first drink. I was humbled by this realization when I slipped.I like my life today; some days I love it. I don’t live in unreasonable fear, but I accept this fact: on any ordinary day, my alcoholic mind could observe the oven clock turn five and think: A snifter of eighteen-year-old single malt whiskey, served neat, alongside a bowl of salted cashews, would be a fine idea!And today I understand, right down to the jelly marrow of my bones, that this is typical alcoholic wishful thinking.I also recognize — and appreciate — other approaches to solving problem drinking, or at least to blunting the devastating effects of alcohol and other addictive substances and habits. Some of these solutions have developed in my lifetime, and some have been there all along.I have a friend who threw herself back into her childhood faith in earnest, and another who found help in Buddhist-inspired Refuge Recovery. I am happy for these friends, and for everyone who finds lasting recovery, however and whenever. And for those who have chosen the A.A. path, I am especially gratified to welcome back those like me — humbled humans who have returned to the fellowship later in life.On the last day of this month, I’ll have seven years back in the rooms. Once again, Alcoholics Anonymous has been a bridge back to a good life. I’ve got a sunny apartment, two sturdy teens, and an Australian lizard. The ex and I have each other’s back in the co-parenting game. I’ve got a day job where I feel purposeful, and my writing at night, which lights a votive in my soul.I was lucky to find my way back to A.A. at forty-seven, and lucky to turn up this picture-postcard now — this four-by-six inch card stock talisman, a reminder of who I was at twenty-five, and who I am now, twenty-nine years later — sandwiched between sunbathers on the Jersey shore and Niagara Falls at night. To me this is no coincidence: this postcard, lost then miraculously recovered, does parallel my own recovery, lost for twenty-two years, then found again in a new group, above an Italian fishmonger.And so, my dear friend Delphine, here is the full story, the real letter I promised you, delivered now, almost thirty years later. You are not an alcoholic, but maybe some of this makes sense. I hope so. We must talk soon.  This piece originally appeared on Medium on September 13, 2020.

A Pandemic of Loneliness

As we head into the winter months with a second wave of the coronavirus in full swing, many people are once again thinking about loneliness and isolation.“The pandemic seems to have intensified the discrepancy between relationships they would like to have and those they do have,” says Geoff Thompson, PhD, program director for Sunshine Coast Health Centre in British Columbia.While loneliness can have many health impacts, all loneliness is not created equal. Understanding the causes of loneliness can help people address it.Situational LonelinessMost of the attention on loneliness during the pandemic has been focused on situational loneliness, Thompson says. If you are unable to see your family during this holiday, or you are missing your friends from school or work, you are experiencing situational loneliness — you have meaningful relationships, but your in-person visitation is limited because of social distancing.Situational loneliness is relatively easy to address, even if it’s sometimes frustrating.“This sort of loneliness can be eased by keeping in contact with loved ones and friends, even if it means over the internet or keeping [6 feet] from each other,” Thompson says.If you’re experiencing situational loneliness, remind yourself that you’re lucky to have meaningful relationships, and soon you’ll be able to experience them in a more normal way.Chronic LonelinessThe most concerning condition is chronic loneliness. This is also more pervasive, and has been an issue in western societies well before the pandemic, Thompson says. People who are experiencing chronic loneliness don’t have meaningful connections and relationships in their lives.If you are suffering from chronic loneliness, there’s not a quick and easy fix.“An easing of social distancing won’t do much to help these people, whose loneliness is chronic,” Thompson says.Just becoming more socially active won’t solve chronic loneliness, he added.“Research suggests that merely increasing social contact—encouraging young people to join the dragon-boat club or arranging card games for the elderly—may not be enough,” Thompson says.Steps to Address LonelinessHowever, there are steps you can take to address chronic loneliness and begin building more fulfilling relationships in your life, even after the pandemic ends. Here’s what Thompson recommends:Seek therapy. A therapist can help chronically lonely individuals to evaluate their patterns and their beliefs about relationships. Some people experience social interaction as a threat, which the pandemic can make worse, so therapy can be more important now than ever. “The best approach is to gain some perspective of the pandemic and not reduce human contact to a potentially deadly encounter,” Thompson says.Develop an individual approach. The key to combating chronic loneliness is to focus on relationships that are personally meaningful to you. “Realize that one-size-fits-all interventions don’t work very well,” Thompson says. For some people, joining a club or volunteering might provide fulfillment, while for others those activities will fall flat.Look at how you self-identify. Oftentimes, people will isolate themselves from the people around them, because they believe those people can’t understand them. This often happens with veterans, who feel that people without military experience just can’t relate to them. Thompson recommends taking an honest look at your identity, and reflecting on whether it is contributing to your loneliness. “Working with veterans for more than a decade, I’ve learned that helping them live personally meaningful lives demands that they see themselves as human beings, rather than just soldiers,” he says.Give your time or expertise. Finding ways to bring others meaning and joy, through volunteering, mentoring or similar, can help reduce loneliness for many people.In addition, Thompson says it’s important that people talk about their loneliness and normalize the experience. That in and of itself can help build connection. Although chronic loneliness might not be induced by the pandemic, the discussions of loneliness during COVID can help people recognize when they need to change.“The pangs of loneliness are a warning that we need to do something to change our behaviors and way of making sense of self and the world,” Thompson says.Sunshine Coast Health Centre is a non-12-step drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in British Columbia. Learn more here.

The Benefits of Rehab Center Staff Working Their Own Recovery

The addiction recovery community thrives on the ethos of “giving back."Just like the slightly cheesy movie “Pay It Forward,” which promotes the idea of paying forward the good that someone else has done for you to another, many recovering addicts and alcoholics get to the point in their new, sober lives where they feel an often undeniable desire to do something positive for someone who is right at the beginning of their own recovery.Fortunately, those who do “give back” don’t consider it cheesy at all.In fact, so universally acknowledged is the concept of “giving back” within the recovery community, it’s the very reason why Alcoholics Anonymous (and, later, Narcotics Anonymous) continues to be a consistently present and active part of so many people’s addiction recoveries.These groups continue to provide and develop their own profound sense of fellowship and community, primarily through their universal “sponsoring system,” where a newly-sober AA or NA participant is taken under the proverbial wing of a more longer-term recovering addict - “the sponsor.”The same concept, taken a little further, motivates and inspires recovering addicts and alcoholics to literally hit the books and go back to school, and learn all they can about the chronic disease of addiction itself, the various therapies for its treatments, and even how to counsel another recovering addict.Taken even further still, the idea of “giving back” inspires and motivates some of those who are in long-term recovery from substance addiction to first imagine, and then to actually realize an addiction rehab center of their very own, or another, similar source of treatment, to be run exactly how they perceive it would work best.They write the business plans, they source, and then secure, the necessary finance, and they start to build their business, with the sole aim of getting active drug addicts and alcoholics, from a side of life they knew so well themselves, into an addiction treatment facility that will save them, just as these entrepreneurial original founders were once saved.It prompts the question.Are there any real, tangible benefits to the staff at a drug and alcohol rehab center - the founders and executives, the in-house counsellors and therapists, the nursing staff, or the administrators in the “office” - being in, and actively working on, their own longer-term recovery from substance addiction?If you consider that the recovery from drugs and/or alcohol is simply a process, and not the “life experience” many choose to view it as, then your recovery journey is then a case of following a set of well-considered directions, one that actively pushes you towards abstinence and sobriety.Who better, then, to provide those directions than someone who has traveled the same route, and successfully, too?The Power of the Shared ExperienceThe drug rehab executive, with 12 years of sobriety from a previous cocaine addiction, glances out of his office window, and watches as a meth addict, just being dropped off at the same executive’s rehab by a mixture of paramedics and police officers, stumbles through the rehab’s main entrance...These two people - the exec and the meth guy - may not seem to have much in common at all to the casual onlooker. In reality, however, they share the very personal and powerful experience of substance addiction; thus, they also share the humble beginnings of the same sense of brotherhood seen at any local AA meeting.They both know what it is to plead, beg and deceive to satisfy their drug dependency - even if one of them wears a suit now. Sit them down together, let them compare notes, and many of those notes, however unique, will emanate from the same place, and be strikingly similar.The only real difference between them in this setting of an addiction rehab is simple - 12 years of recovery, compared to less than 12 minutes.The “Refreshingly Human” Rehab CenterAt Springboard Recovery, located in Scottsdale, Arizona (a short drive from the city of Phoenix), many of the staff members are long-term recovering addicts, with a huge number of clean and sober years accumulated between them. For example, you’ll find:Jason Bordonaro, a former drug addict and alcoholic, with nearly 20 years of sobriety, and a co-founder of Springboard RecoveryLaura Nuss, a former opioid prescription addict who transitioned to heroin before finding recovery, and a co-founder of Springboard RecoveryAlexa Morgenroth, a former heroin addict, now with an MA in Developmental Psychology, and Springboard Recovery’s Executive Director, andJosh Lemieux, a former heroin and crack cocaine addict, an alumni who found his long-term recovery with Springboard Recovery, and who is now the Director of AdmissionsSteve Laats, a former addict and alcoholic, with over 20 years clean, and the Director of Marketing and Operations with SpringBoard RecoveryThroughout the center, several more staff are in addiction recovery themselves, but is this an advantage to those who arrive here as new patients? The answer is a clear and resounding “Yes.”As Josh, the center’s Admissions guy, explains, his poly-use addiction was so powerful it “brought me to my knees, 140 pounds, no fight left in me.” He cites the “love, compassion and empathy” provided by Springboard the moment when he arrived at the rehab as a new patient as equally powerful.Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers...It’s an important aspect of the Springboard Recovery’s holistic approach to treatment, one that Josh actively uses with first-time callers to the center, saying that it often builds an instant rapport with people who are desperately struggling in exactly the same way as he once did himself.Springboard Recovery’s motto, appropriately, is “Refreshingly Human.” All incoming patients are treated like family - as mothers, as fathers, as sisters, and as brothers. As Alexa Morgenroth explains, we “treat everybody like they were our own.”The center is seen as a “community of recovery” - considered vital to both a new patient’s mental wellbeing, and the chances of a sustainable, long-term recovery. As many of those who work with new patients here know first-hand the range of negative, often devastating effects of substance addiction, the level of understanding, trust and confidence built between counselor and patient is a fairly rapid process.Clearly, all the levels of staff at Springboard Recovery - from its founders to its part-time admin - are exceptionally grateful for their own recovery, and they have made a life-long commitment to “give back” to the recovery community themselves. Helping others in a both a highly professional and sincerely practical way to find their own recovery both inspires and motivates the center’s staff.There are many more examples all over the U.S. of recovering addicts working in the professional field of addiction - from volunteer workers to new rehab center founders, and from “recovery app”-builders to clinical ward cleaners.Giving ThanksJust like the concept of “giving back,” simple gratitude is an integral part of addiction recovery. Recovering addicts are always grateful for having received the education, the knowledge, and the coping skills and mechanisms from the process of being in rehab, an outpatient program, or a support group, to help them to stay clean and sober.Honestly, exactly how would you feel if someone gave you a real, tangible second chance at life?Understandably, many want to share this.From either their local church hall that holds an AA meeting every Tuesday evening (6pm - tea and coffee served), from the psychotherapist’s office that counsels a seemingly endless line of trauma-filled addicts and alcoholics, or from the offices, meeting rooms and Recovery Housing accommodation of Springboard Recovery, this simple idea of “giving back” inspires, motivates and propels new addiction recoveries every single day.Learn more about Springboard Recovery, Scottsdale (nr. Phoenix), AZ at https://www.springboardrecovery.com/. Alternatively, reach Springboard Recovery by phone at (888) 672-2120, or find Springboard Recovery on Facebook.

What Is Problem Drinking?

The pandemic has left many people reaching for the bottle more often than not. And while not everyone who drinks to cope with stress will experience addiction, Craig Beck sees a big increase in problem drinking, a serious condition in and of itself.Beck understands problem drinking well. For twenty years, he was a problem drinker, using alcohol too much, but not to the point that the label “alcoholic” resonated with him. Despite his reluctance to see the trouble that drinking was bringing him, the impact was real, he now says: his family relationships, health, and career were all being negatively impacted by his drinking.That’s why he’s now dedicated to helping other problem drinkers recognize when their drinking patterns have become unhealthy, and regain control over their alcohol use.What Are Problem Drinkers?Today, Beck makes a simple distinction between problem drinkers and alcoholics.“Problem drinkers are people who are psychologically addicted to alcohol. They are using it to cope with stress, anxiety, and the pressure of life. They are entirely functional in life, holding down jobs and having families, but they are drinking to excess on a daily basis,” he explains.The parent who is having a drink after the kids go to bed every night is a problem drinker, as is the employee who needs alcohol to unwind after work. The pandemic is making more and more people into problem drinkers. In fact, alcohol use has increased among all Americans during the pandemic, with heavy drinking among women up nearly 40% between 2019 and 2020.While there’s no doubt that this habit of using alcohol to cope with the pandemic is unhealthy, most people who are problem drinkers wouldn’t consider themselves alcoholics, Beck says.“Alcoholics are physically addicted to the drug,” he explains. “They have drank so much and for so long that their bodies have become used to the presence of alcohol in the blood. If they stop drinking suddenly, they will suffer severe withdrawal.”Overcoming Problem DrinkingFor most people, the solution to problem drinking is to abstain from alcohol completely, Beck says. That’s not because — as AA teaches — people are powerless over their use of alcohol, but rather because after examining their relationship with alcohol many people realize that they don’t want it in their lives. That’s what happened to Beck, who says he realized with time that alcohol was “attractively packaged poison.”“People often want to cut down rather than quit. But I explain that moderation is a miserable existence,” he says. “You are constantly trying to work out when you can drink and how much you are allowed. Quitting is so much easier.”Today, Beck, the author of Alcohol Lied to Me, teaches courses on how to overcome problem drinking without willpower and recognize the truth about alcohol.“The course works by disassembling your belief structure around the drug. Rather than forcing you to use willpower to avoid drinking, it uses a logical process to change the way you see alcohol,” Beck explains. “You slowly stop seeing it as a treat and instead start to see it for what it really is… attractively packaged poison.”One of the most difficult pieces for problem drinkers is knowing where to turn when they feel that their relationship with alcohol has become troublesome. While Beck wasn’t ready to sit in an AA meeting, he did reach out to various people for guidance when he decided to get sober. Now, he wants his experience to help other people who are suffering from the consequences of alcohol.“Problems with alcohol never get better on their own,” he says. “This is a drug that kills 3,000,000 people every year. Don’t assume you can deal with this later. The longer you leave it the deeper into the trap you will fall. Take action today!”