Help for Families | Secondhand Drinking | Codependency
Helping the Alcoholic in Recovery, Understanding the Brain
Perhaps the most important thing for helping the alcoholic in recovery is to understand the brain disease of addiction. Why is this important? Often when an alcoholic begins recovery (whether that be entering a treatment program, attending AA meetings, engaging in therapy or …), the tendency is for the family members to carry on in…
Read MoreWhy You Can’t Change the Way an Alcoholic Thinks
Why You Can’t Change the Way an Alcoholic Thinks has a lot to do with understanding the “wishful thinking” that goes on as the result of the brain changes caused by alcohol abuse and the brain disease of alcoholism / addiction. Understanding this can help those who love an alcoholic or someone who drinks too…
Read MoreRethinking Drinking
Rethinking drinking is an important concept to talk about. Why? Because we often think of drinking as either normal or alcoholic, yet there is a middle stage stage not fully understand, and it’s alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is what causes the chemical and structural changes in the brain that in turn make a person more…
Read MoreMake Time to Worry (and NOT) – Help for Families of Alcoholics | Addicts
Help for families of alcoholics | addicts – make time to worry (and NOT) – because we Worry. Worry. Worry. So much so that we can’t seem not to worry! At least that was true for me. Over the past decades of loving and living with various loved ones’ alcohol abuse and alcoholism, I was…
Read MoreSo What Is Codependency?
So what is codependency? This is a question often asked and often passed over as not applicable to me. It certainly was a very difficult concept for me to grasp. And for the longest time (like almost 4 decades at the time), I didn’t even try because I didn’t think it had anything to do…
Read MoreIs Addiction a Disease?
Is addiction a disease? “No way,” claim most people. “Cancer is a disease. All they need to do is put down the bottle or stop taking the drugs they’re abuse.” I was participating in a forum discussion recently on this question, “Is addiction a disease?” I was moved to comment because so many of the…
Read MoreSo What is a Dual Diagnosis?
Dual diagnosis – what is it? One of the terms I’ve frequently heard in the various “recovery” circles I’ve encountered over the past five years is “dual diagnosis.” People would talk of their loved one or themselves as having a “dual diagnosis.” I was curious what that was about and learned that a person who…
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