Addiction Blog. Insight and Advice
from Our Austin Area Addiction Recovery Experts.

Sex Addiction and the Dissociated Self

Sex Addiction and the Dissociated Self

Modern research suggests that when you act out on your sex addiction, you dissociate your central personality from the part of yourself which craves the release that your actions will bring. You do not have a multiple personality or bipolar disorder. Instead, you temporarily create a separate and dissociated self to satisfy the inner desires…
Shame - Addiction Treatment Articles

Shame

Shame. When thinking of the word shame, most often the words “toxic” and “dangerous” don’t accompany it. Shame, however, is much more than passing embarrassment. Shame sticks. It changes the way we think about ourselves, sneaking its way into our internal mental programming and making permanent adjustments. If left untreated, shame becomes a major risk…
Sharing at Group Meetings - The Last Resort Recovery Center

Sharing at Group Meetings

Group meetings are one of the best ways to maintain sobriety. They act as a safety net, giving us support and guidance at all times.There are no concrete rules for what you should share at a group meeting, or how you should share it. The reality is, at least at first, sharing may be difficult….
Should I Consider Intermittent Fasting in Recovery?

Should I Consider Intermittent Fasting in Recovery?

One of the best things you can do in recovery is to take care of your health. Intermittent fasting may sound intense but it is something to consider if you are sober and ready for a challenge. Daily fasting takes place while we sleep. By taking control of periods of ‘fasting,’ we are better able…
Should I Tell An Alcoholic That He’s In Denial?

Should I Tell An Alcoholic That He’s In Denial?

An alcoholic’s denial of his problem often goes hand-in-hand with the problem itself. In many cases, an alcoholic will be the last person who admits that he has a problem. The people in his life recognize the problem, but take the easier routes of either ignoring or enabling it out of fear of confrontations or…
Should You Mix Alcohol with Xanax?

Should You Mix Alcohol with Xanax?

Xanax is a central nervous system depressant, and alcohol is a metabolic depressant. Taken together, these two depressants enhance each other’s effects to potentially dangerous levels. Because of this, physicians always want their patients not to mix Xanax and alcohol. Regrettably, these warnings are frequently honored in the breach, with potentially dangerous side effects for…
Should You Quit Xanax on a Cold Turkey Basis?

Should You Quit Xanax on a Cold Turkey Basis?

Xanax is both habit-forming and addictive. If you are using Xanax under a physician’s care and treatment, he or she will likely tell you not to stop taking Xanax cold turkey due to risks of seizure and other physical and psychological effects. If you are using Xanax recreationally and you have depleted your Xanax supply,…
Signs and Symptoms of Meth Abuse

Signs and Symptoms of Meth Abuse

Methamphetamine is one of the most dangerous drugs on the market, creating addiction in as little as one or two uses. The drug appearance ranges from white to brown crystalline powder. It can also be clear, chunky crystals shaped like small pieces of ice or shards of broken glass. Meth can also come in liquid…
Signs of Ambien Addiction

Signs of Ambien Addiction

Individuals who place an excessive reliance on Ambien to help them sleep are exposing themselves to developing an Ambien dependence or addiction. Any regular use of Ambien for more than four weeks will put an Ambien user on a path to addiction. If you rely on Ambien to help you sleep, you and the physician…
Signs of Addiction: 10 Common Signs of Drug or Alcohol Addiction

Signs of Addiction: 10 Common Signs of Drug or Alcohol Addiction

No parent wants to think that their child has a problem with addiction, but it’s important to know the signs to help your son get the help he needs. There are ten signs of addiction that you may notice if your child struggles with substance abuse. It’s important to recognize these signs as soon as…
Signs Of Prescription Drug Abuse

Signs Of Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is on the rise not only in the United States but also in Asia and Europe. Addiction numbers are rising and with them overdose deaths as well. By the end of 2008, opioid addictions increased 400%. Commonly abused drugs include Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Methadone, among others. These are prescription drugs which means…
Simplifying the 12 Steps

Simplifying the 12 Steps

The famous 12 Step addiction recovery program was made popular by Alcoholics Anonymous, a group designed to help alcoholics into recovery. It has indeed helped thousands of people worldwide and continues to do so with the following process: Step 1 Admitting the Problem- The most difficult step for most addicts, admitting that you have an…
Skittle Parties: Dangerous Young Adult Socials

Skittle Parties: Dangerous Young Adult Socials

What are skittle parties, and are they dangerous for my son? You might have heard of the latest drug craze that’s sweeping through the teens of America. It’s called a skittles party, and it’s not just a harmless candy-fest. Rather, “skittle parties” are when teens and young people (including college students) get together and raid…
So, what do you do?

So, what do you do?

How often do we hear So, what do you do in a social setting? A seemingly harmless question, often used as a social ice breaker, but that holds so much weight in how we are defined, both personally and socially. I used to struggle with this question, because If you asked me 6 years ago,…
Top 10 : Tips For a Sober New Year's Eve

Top 10 : Tips For a Sober New Year’s Eve

You’re sober. You should be proud of yourself. But today is New Year’s Eve. You want to go out and have a good time but you’ve never had a sober New Year’s before. This can be stressful but there is no need to stay home and watch Carson Daly or Pitbull count backwards from ten…
Sobriety Tip: Make it till Midnight

Sobriety Tip: Make it til Midnight

Addiction recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. Successful marathon runners know that focusing on the entire distance in front of them can foster fears and concerns about whether they can endure through the entire race. Rather than focusing on that distance, they break the race into smaller parts and complete each part in turn….
Is Your Son Addicted? Here’s How to Tell

Is Your Son Addicted? Here’s How to Tell

How can I know if my son is addicted to drugs? Millions of parents in America are confronting the reality of this question each day, as drug addiction rates rise nationwide. Teen drug abuse is reaching epidemic levels in America, particularly for popular drugs like marijuana, heroin, and prescription pills (such as OxyContin, Percocet, and…
How to Be More Spiritual to Expand Your Spiritual Health

How to Be More Spiritual to Expand Your Spiritual Health

The program of Alcoholics Anonymous is a program of spiritual growth. While it is imperative that all A.A.’s enlarge their own spiritual lives, there are benefits for anyone in increasing their spirituality. Here are a few simple ways to expand your spiritual health. How to Be More Spiritual Improving your spiritual health is a mental…
Spiritual Toolkit

Spiritual Toolkit

“When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.” Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 25The truth is that when I came in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, I was…
Standing and Weeping over Sacred Ground

Standing and Weeping over Sacred Ground

For twenty years I kept something in my home that I secretly treasured. It was an old brick from Detroit, a memory from the treatment center where I’d sobered up in 1972. The place was known as Sacred Heart Center, but I never knew how sacred it really was for me until the bulldozers arrived…
Staying Sober In The Face Of Holiday Stress

Staying Sober In The Face Of Holiday Stress

Holiday celebrations can be wonderful opportunities to reconnect with family members that you have not seen for many months. Full of joy, cheer, gratitude and delicious food, these get togethers can also be stressful and very triggering for someone in recovery from drugs and alcohol. Family stressors can create a lot of uncomfortable tension, such…