End Stigma | Shame Surrounding Addiction

End Stigma | Shame Surrounding Addiction

Not until we end the stigma | shame surrounding addiction can we take the first steps to effectively treat it. Why? It is the stigma and shame that causes the people who suffer with this chronic, often relapsing brain disease (and those who love them) to believe they just don’t want recovery badly enough. And…

Read More

How Do You Know if Someone is an Alcoholic

I often get this question, “How do you know if someone is an alcoholic?” [aka “How do you know if someone has a severe alcohol use disorder?“] Generally, the person asking continues with something like, “I mean, my husband (or wife or sister or…) drinks about a six pack a night – more on the…

Read More

How Do You Trust an Addict | Alcoholic

Lisa Frederiksen shares simplified brain research to explain addiction, treatment, recovery

So how do you learn to trust an addict | alcoholic? [And by the way, there is new language to talk about a person with a severe alcohol or other drug use disorder (what we used to refer to as an addict | alcoholic), as well as alcoholism or drug addiction. Please click here to…

Read More

5 Reasons People Relapse After Years of Sobriety

Addiction relapse explained by Lisa Frederiksen

This post was first written in 2014, but the 5 reasons people relapse after years of sobriety are still important to understand. So I updated with current information in 2020. I was driven to write this post after receiving phone calls and emails following the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death and an outpouring of…

Read More

Loving Someone Who Drinks Too Much

drinking more during Covid-19

Loving someone who drinks too much is not fully understood by most people. As a result, nearly 80 million Americans (not including the millions more worldwide) grapple with secondhand drinking. And the consequences of that can be significant. So what should a person who loves someone who drinks too much do? The short answer, “Help…

Read More

Someone’s Drinking Ruined the Holidays?

Someone’s drinking ruined the holidays? Perhaps you’re anticipating it will. “They’ve ruined just about every birthday, wedding, anniversary, Thanksgiving, graduation…need I go on? And yet they promise – PROMISE – this time it will be different. This time they’ll keep it to one or two or only drink beer or wine – ‘no hard stuff.’”…

Read More

National Recovery Month – Resources to Help Your Employees Anonymously Find Treatment

National Recovery Month

September is National Recovery Month. It is sponsored by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency) “to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders and celebrate the people who recover.” Celebrating National Recovery Month – Sharing Resources to Help Employees Anonymously Find Treatment for an Alcohol Use Disorder Employees view information…

Read More