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Stigma and the Language we Use
Here’s an interesting article about stigma and the language often used when talking about addiction. Gil Kerlikowske is the U.S. “Drug Czar” (director of the office of National Drug Control Policy). He has generally been seen as a breath of fresh air in that role, dispensing with the “War on Drugs” outlook, viewing addictive behavior…
Predicting the Chances of Relapse
Dick Sprague, a Colorado LifeRinger, forwards an interesting article that deals with predicting relapse. The academic article stems from the distressing fact that more than one-third of liver transplant recipients — most of whom, presumably, need the transplant because of damage from drinking — relapse after the transplant. Pause and think about that — you’ve…
Dr. B.J. Davis Talk on “What is Recovery?”
A few years ago, Dr. B.J. Davis, clinical director of Strategies for Change, a Sacramento, CA, treatment facility, gave a talk to a LifeRing gathering. Davis is a fine motivational speaker among other accomplishments and has some important things to say about recovery. I’ve placed the talk on our video page, but thought I’d share…
Choice in Recovery — Two Articles From Opposite Directions; Similar Conclusions
We often think of AA as being monolithic, speaking in one voice. In fact, AA has members who deviate sharply from the “established” principles. There are “Agnostic” AA groups which try to shed the religious element from the program. Since “religious elements” are central to much of AA’s approach, this is a difficult task, to…
Court Mandated Referrals to Support Groups Highlighted in Two Articles
Here are a couple of links to articles dealing with “choice in recovery” and court-mandated attendance at support meetings. One deals with a LifeRing member’s effort to ensure that people referred to treatment by the courts and other public agencies in Sonoma County, California, are told of all recovery support groups available on an equal…
Revealing Story of Pain Medication Addiction
Here is a harrowing story about pain pill addiction and how easily and savagely it occurs. It’s a story from the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah. It illustrates exceptionally well how easily good people can stumble into addiction, even with their eyes wide open to the dangers. An accomplished, intelligent, award-winning writer becomes addicted not…
LifeRing and Other 12-Step Alternatives Featured in Professional Journal
A recent magazine article on Alternatives to 12-Step Addiction Recovery in “Social Work Today” magazine not only is the lead story for that issue, but features LifeRing as an organization and quotes Executive Director Robert Stump. The article deals with the current situation faced by nearly everyone who seeks treatment for addiction: “there is something that…
The Role of Abstinence in Treating Addiction
LifeRing believes strongly that abstinence from all alcohol and other non-medically indicated drugs is the only acceptable goal once addiction has occurred. All of our members accept that as the goal of our approach, and many of our members have years of successful abstinence to point to along with a vastly improved quality of life.…
Addiction: Is It a Disease, or … Something Else
The question of whether addiction constitutes a “disease” is a perennial source of disagreement among the “experts’ and among addicts themselves. Much depends on the definition of “disease.” Used casually, the term implies some sort of breakdown in the body, stemming from bacteria, or viruses or things like cancer which have a clear and negative…