About the Terms Alcohol Abuse | Alcoholism | Alcohol Use Disorder
Confusion about the terms alcohol abuse | alcoholism | alcohol use disorder often gets in the way of a person seeking the help they need or causes family members, friends, co-workers, and society-at-large to excuse, rationalize, deny, blame and/or shame that person in their misguided attempts to avoid labeling them an alcoholic or alcohol abuser.…
Read MoreChildren of Addiction Awareness Week | February 11 – 17, 2018
Children of Addiction Awareness Week is an annual event celebrated around the world during the week of Valentine’s Day. It is sponsored by the National Association for Children of Addiction, NACoA.org. NACoA’s mission is to eliminate the adverse impact of alcohol and other drug use on children and families, and the theme for this year’s…
Read MorePediatricians Screening for ACEs Can Change Lives
Pediatricians screening for ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) can change a child’s life. And yet, according to the Academic Pediatrics [Journal] 2016;16:154–160 article, Do Pediatricians Ask About Adverse Childhood Experiences, “Only 2% of pediatricians reported that they were very familiar with the ACEs study, 9% were somewhat familiar, 13% were vaguely familiar, and 76% were not at…
Read MoreFinding Help for a Drinking Problem
Time and again, the calls, emails and blog post comments I receive are centered around the difficulty the person has experienced in finding help for a drinking problem, whether it’s their own or a loved one’s. And it is often this time of year, after a holiday season filled with work, social and family gatherings…
Read MoreYogic Tools for Recovery – New Book by Kyczy Hawk
Yogic Tools for Recovery is Kyczy Hawk’s latest book (November 2017), and it is powerful on so many levels. Not only for its significant contribution as a tool to help those recovering from addiction*, but also for Kyczy’s ability to paint a picture – a feeling – with words. And it is in the latter,…
Read MoreAddiction Relapse Triggers
Many readers may be surprised to know that addiction relapse is common — something I discussed in my post, “5 Reasons People Relapse After Years of Sobriety.” As David Sack, MD, explained in his October 19, 2102 article,” Why Relapse Isn’t a Sign of Failure, As with chemical addiction, patients with chronic illnesses such as…
Read MoreHealing Trauma Takes Time
Like the brain impacts of substance use disorders (aka substance abuse or addiction), most people do not understand the brain impacts of trauma. Trauma takes many forms: neglect, sexual assault, physical abuse, emotional abuse, parental divorce, and growing up with a parent who has an untreated substance use disorder or mental illness, to name a…
Read MoreWhat to Say to Someone Who Drinks Too Much
If you’re reading this post, likely you’ve been hurt, frustrated, concerned, angered, and/or scared by a loved one’s drinking. You’ve likely tried talking, yelling, cajoling, negotiating, looking the other way, believing their promise(s) to stop or cut down, but so far, nothing’s worked. I receive numerous emails and phone calls every week from people in this…
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