Breakingthecycles.com – Changing the Conversations

by Lisa Frederiksen

Be on the lookout for a New Can In Town — the 12 ounce can of scotch. Learning of its arrival prompted me to want to share information that can help a person stay in control of their drinking and avoid the regrettable behaviors that can happen when they unintentionally have too much. This became the basis of the 1st 10 minute Breaking The Cycles show now appearing on Peninsula Television (PenTV), a nonprofit, member-supported community television station.

Breaking The Cycles 01 – The New Can In Town from Peninsula TV on Vimeo.

I want to thank Warren Slocum, CEO of Peninsula Television (PenTV), for taking a chance on me and my 10 minute show, Breaking The Cycles. And, I want to thank Nimbus Design for the introduction to Warren and partially funding the show, as well as Rocky Robinson, PenTV’s Engineer and Editor, for a great job pulling it all together.

And, as you will hear at the end of the program, my objective with these 10 minutes shows is to encourage important “conversations” through viewer and reader comments on this Blog. So please feel free to add your thoughts and/or pass it along…

by Lisa Frederiksen

This sentence in Abigail Sullivan Moore’s January 20, 2012, article, “A Bridge to Recovery on Campus,” appearing on NewYorkTimes.com, really grabbed my attention:

“….Until recently, public policy focused on prevention and treatment. “We never talked about recovery as a kind of separate entity — it was almost like treatment was the end in and by itself,” says R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is joining with the Department of Education to urge colleges to consider recovery programs.” [A Bridge to Recovery on Campus]

The common perception is that finally getting a loved one with a drug or alcohol addiction into a 28-day residential treatment program will take care of the “problem” and that all will return to “normal” as soon as treatment is done. Unfortunately, ALL is not well, nor does it return to “normal” for some time.

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), effective addiction treatment should follow a disease management approach and include: 1) detox/stabilization, 2) rehabilitation (rehab) [what the majority think of as "treatment"], and 3) continuing care. Often, people engage in a combination of treatment options during rehab, but it is important they continue these in order to “re-wire” / heal their brain. In other words, engage in “continuing care,” aka after care. This is referred to as “being in recovery.”

Why?

Because addiction – whether it’s an addiction to illegal or prescription drugs or to alcohol — is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. The very nature of this disease is that it causes chemical and structural changes in areas of the brain that are vital to a person’s ability to think straight, behave normally and act responsibility. Of course the addict/alcoholic can make great progress in a 28-day residential treatment program — no doubt about it. Additionally, 28-day programs, also known as rehab,  are but one of the ways a person goes about beginning their recovery, which is defined as abstinence AND an enjoyable life. Other options include: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), medications to curb cravings, a 12-step program such as AA or NA, mindfulness programs (for example, yoga), spiritual and/or religious programs or activities, healthy nutrition, exercise, group meetings, counseling, intensive outpatient (the person does not live at the treatment center but attends treatment programs at the center during the day and/or evening), and others. [And, please know, that if there is a dual diagnosis, treatment must also include treatment of the mental illness.]

However, healing the brain takes time, which is why continuing care – the 3^rd phase in the disease management approach — is so equally important to recovery.  21st century brain and addiction-related research now shows that treating addiction must follow the same treatment protocols as treating other diseases, such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

Just as a person with diabetes, heart disease or cancer has a continuing care program/plan to help them continue their recovery once the acute care/rehab treatment (e.g., surgery, radiation, chemo) is complete, so too must the alcoholic / addict.

Now back to the article, “A Bridge to Recovery on Campus” — it was marvelous to read there are such comprehensive continuing care kinds of programs on college campuses for students wishing to continue their education after detox and rehab. Again, quoting from Ms. Moore’s article, “But students at Rutgers, Texas Tech and Augsburg have been breathtakingly clean, with abstinent rates averaging in the mid- to high 90s.” Those are HUGE, SIGNIFICANT abstinent rates and point to the importance and of having on-going, long-term support programs and activities to carry treatment into long-term recovery — in other words, continuing care.

So please, pass this article along!

[And, for more information on the importance of continuing care, please read “28-Day Residential Treatment – What More Could You Want?” and/or visit Continuing Care | Recovery Coaching on this website.]

by Lisa Frederiksen

I’ve been in a number of situations lately where my heart went out to the wives, husbands, children and parents of alcoholics and drug addicts who were brand new to this journey called “recovery.” Their deep, deep pain, anger, desperation, confusion, isolation, longing for it to be better, sadness — and in some cases, numbed silence — waxed and waned as terms swirled through conversations.

Terms like codependent, enabler, SLE, IOP, in-patient, intensive out-patient, AlAnon, NarNon, powerless over alcohol, dual diagnosis and co-addictions were batted about as if they were words in conversations people had everyday with that nice check-out lady at the grocery store. Terms that made no sense, nor could they be viewed as applying to them because they were just trying to get their loved one to stop!

And, then, of course, there were the concepts of “detachment” and “detach with love.” What the heck does that mean? Who’s going to make sure their loved one is safe; doesn’t substance; succeeds in recovery if they “detach?” For some, the idea of “detaching with love” after “all they’ve been through” was just too much.

And when you think about it, it is all too much. It feels like being told you have to learn to read, speak and write German and Chinese [assuming your first language is English] within the next month (the time-period it generally takes for a typical addiction treatment program) or YOU will have failed.

So, for all of you who are new to this, take it slowly. And, by slowly, I mean take it just for today, and in some cases, just for just the next 5 minutes. You do not, nor can you, have all (or even 2) of the answers to what happens next.

To give you a hand, perhaps, here are some previous posts that may help you stay in just for today. Believe it or not, there really will come a time when you can detach with love. For now, however, focus on trying to “detach.” And when all else fails (which it will because this is all so new), focus on your breath and simply breathe. Breathe in; breathe out; breathe in; breathe out. For those brief moments, your mind will detach and give you the moments of much-needed peace you need.

Why All Does Not Seem Better When Your Loved One Stops Drinking

Powerless Over Alcohol

About Letting Go

Choosing to Forgive an Alcoholic

P.S. For more information,  check out the “Brain Scans | Neuroscience Research” and the “Help for Families | Codependency ” categories listed in the right column.