Tag: sobriety
The Betrayal Brigade The first time I ever went into detox after spewing up bile for a week, as a welcome home present, my old friends treated me to a shandy down the local pub. “No more triple-brandies for you,” they tutted playfully, as the…
Do you hate sobriety, resent recovery, and loathe the fact that you’re free from drink and drugs? Here are some common grumbles and stumbling blocks of people new to sobriety and recovery, and five ways to see it all a bit differently. 1. Thinking Your…
Back in the day, I used alcohol whenever I was stressed. Quite frankly, I used alcohol for everything, but if life was difficult, my drinking definitely went up. If things felt like too much to cope with, the bottle would always seem to sort things…
Addiction is a self-rewarding cycle, which is why it often continues even when you despise it. Drinking and drugging makes your brain release dopamine, which leads to you craving more and more of the same substance. The good news is that although addiction is a…
So you’ve found yourself drinking or using drugs again? Or perhaps you haven’t reached that stage yet, but all the red flags are waving, and it seems to be only a matter of time before you pick up a drink or drug. Or maybe you’re…
And Not a Drop to Drink. It’s everywhere, alcohol, isn’t it? But what do you do if you want to stop drinking, or you’ve committed to sobriety, and yet booze is all around you? Maybe your friends and family are still drinking, your partner drinks…
In recovery from alcoholism, it’s common to have thoughts about drinking again. When problems arise or when your mood is low, it can be tempting to dull the pain with alcohol. Even when you’re happy, your sobriety can be at risk. Seeing others drink ‘normally’,…
Quitting drinking has a multitude of benefits, whether you’ve merely misused the booze or you’re a full-blown alcoholic. But putting down the bottle rarely pays off immediately. You’ll know this if you’ve ever had a hangover. However, in the longer-term, quitting alcohol may well be…
Cross-addiction is common in recovery. It’s very frustrating to have quit a substance or behaviour you were hopelessly addicted to, only to find another addiction takes its place. Understanding the role of dopamine in addiction, and learning to balance it, can help you stop cross-addiction…
Just like the song by the late, great Amy Winehouse, when I was told to go to rehab, I also said “No, no, no.” In fact, I used much stronger terms than that. Something more along the lines of “Not on your effin’ life!” I…
