Face of Recovery – please meet Sarah-Pink Welch! There is a great deal of confusion, stigma, shame and discrimination surrounding addiction, addiction treatment and addiction recovery. Yet those who have the disease of addiction (whether to illegal or prescription drugs or alcohol) and are in recovery live healthy, productive, engaged lives — the same kinds… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: addiction as a brain disease
21st Century Brain Research – Empowering!
21st Century Brain Research – you won’t believe it! I had the incredible opportunity to attend a roundtable, titled: “GRAY MATTERS, Your brain, your life, and brain science in the 21st century,” at Stanford University on October 6, 2012. I’ve included the link to the taped show below – the discussion starts at 9:02. But… Continue Reading
Addiction a Brain Disease? But How?
Addiction a brain disease? “No way,” or some variation thereof, is the typical reaction, I hear. Followed by something along the lines of, “Cancer is a disease. All they have to do is put down the bottle [or stop using the drug]!” Recent Research Identifies Why/How Addiction is a Brain Disease Thanks in large part… Continue Reading
Addiction Treatment – What to Look For
Making sense of addiction treatment (whether its for drugs or alcohol or both or for a co-occurring disorder), which is having both an addiction and a mental illness, is daunting to say the least. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has created a terrific resource to help people determine what they should look for… Continue Reading
Addiction – Understanding the Illness
Addiction is often a misunderstood disease which can also make treatment difficult. The following is a guest post by Ian Koch, MS, LADC, and Operations Manager of North East Addiction Consultants, established to help families of drug addicts and alcoholics guide their loved one into recovery. Though they specialize in the northeast, their network spreads across the… Continue Reading
“The Dance” — Addiction is a Family Disease
Codependency and addiction – they go hand-in-hand and eventually become something of a dance. Let me explain… Addiction (whether to drugs or alcohol) affects everyone in the family, which is why it’s commonly referred to as a “family disease.” It causes members of a family to develop coping methods that help them interact with one… Continue Reading
How Alcohol and Other Drugs of Addiction Hijack the Brain
How alcohol and other drugs of addiction hijack the brain is confusing and generally not given much thought in the ongoing debate about whether a persons substance abuse is “just” abuse or an addiction. Yet it’s a concept that once understood – especially as it relates to the fact that addiction is a chronic, often… Continue Reading
BreakingTheCycles.com Celebrates 3 Years!
by Lisa Frederiksen I wrote my first blog post for BreakingTheCycles.com three years ago, today! Since then, I have expanded my work to include workshops and presentations, consulting services, books, and collaborative efforts focused on 21st century brain and addiction-related research in an attempt to help all concerned better understand that addiction, its causes (aka… Continue Reading