addictions

When depression hits, what do you do? When your Life Partner is not good enough to chase away the anxiety, what do you do? When past, black predictions by parents or others of your future failure, haunt your thoughts, what do you do?

Well, of course, you blame your anxiety, depression, and self-hatred on a “chemical imbalance.” You claim that your present state is inherited and your only solution must be chemical.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION from the Florida Jewish News

Look,” I said to Lawrence a week after he decided to quit drugs for good, “this is going to be really, really hard because eventually, you’re going to be in pain and you won’t wanna stay there. That’s when you have to stick to your commitment to stay clean.”

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION from the Florida Jewish Journal, p. 14

“It’s your fault!” Robbie screamed. “Do you understand what you did? Do you understand what a terrible loss this means?” His screams filled the air with a sick, heaviness, a light and bright afternoon immediately transformed. Sarah felt weak at the knees, unable to breathe. And for what?

Step 1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

If you thought this one would be simple and obvious, you have another guess coming. This step is about nothing less than the meaning of life: Why are we here? What is our purpose? If there is free will, how do you reconcile that with turning our will over to God? And what does any of this have to do with happiness? Why did the Step-writers distinguish our Will from our Lives?

Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

The Twin Paths to Recovery Must Be Taken Simultaneously

I. Overcome Substance Abuse
II. Heal from Past Trauma

Substance abuse does not occur in a vacuum. It is not merely the result of vulnerable kids becoming involved with the wrong crowd. If only it were that simple. In fact, substance abuse is more a symptom of the real problem than "the" problem. The real problem falls in one of three categories: abuse, neglect, or failure to discipline.