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Oct 12, 2013

The Emotional Iceberg | Psychology Today

These are your icebergs. And, in order to understand this, you need to visualize the TITANIC coasting along without a care in the world until it hits the iceberg. But has it really hit the iceberg? No, it has not. What it hit was the TIP of the Iceberg -- the exposed part that is visible above the surface of the water. Everyone learns in grade school that, in the dark below, there is actually a ginormous mass of ice that isn't visible to the naked eye. Our first grouping of patients is like this. They present themselves as "okay" and "fine" because they haven't learned to communicate what is going on below the surface with their feelings. And this is where the treatment center professional's real work begins, because they have to help the patient identify the feelings they're experiencing and then teach them how to verbalize them (because the only thing feelings need you to do is express them).
The Emotional Iceberg | Psychology Today

Whatever happened to something else? | Memoirs of an Addicted Brain



How do you overcome that ultimate challenge? How do you cross that gulf? I guess the answer is to start building up other networks of meaning and value, before you’re able to quit, maybe even before you can seriously try. Or at least at the same time. (For me, returning to graduate school was a big deal.)Whatever happened to something else? | Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

Five Ways Introverts Can Be Annoying | Psychology Today

Five Ways Introverts Can Be Annoying | Psychology Today

Is Addiction a Rational Choice? A New Study Says Maybe So | Psychology Today

But all who work with addicts will tell you the same story—that those who are addicted, while they can remain sober for periods, will almost always relapse without some sort of help to change the way they live. Is Addiction a Rational Choice? A New Study Says Maybe So | Psychology Today


Turns out you can… | A Mom's Serious Blunder...

Turns out you can… | A Mom's Serious Blunder...

Oct 6, 2013

How Addictions Affect Family Members

by Linda L. Simmons, Psy.D.

Damaged Family Bonds Telling the addict what he has to do, where he can go, and with whom he can associate typically leads to angry shouting matches. The intent to redirect the addict away from his addiction is good, but ineffective. When it seems that every attempt to help their addicted loved one has failed, family members may withdraw in despair.http://www.netplaces.com/addiction-recovery/how-addictions-affect-family-members/damaged-family-bonds.htm

Dealing with Difficult Emotions
When painful emotions seem to dominate one's life, it's time to take action. Family members also need support, encouragement, and, many times, professional help. Recovery is not only the desired result for the addict, but also for families. Once family members recognize their own need for recovery, the process may begin.

In dealing with difficult emotions, family members must be able to separate their own emotions from those of the addict. As hard as it may be to accept, family members have no power to control what the addict feels or what she does. http://www.netplaces.com/addiction-recovery/how-addictions-affect-family-members/dealing-with-difficult-emotions.htm




The Rational Choices of Crack Addicts Published: September 16, 2013

“He’s not saying that drug abuse isn’t harmful, but he’s showing that drugs don’t turn people into lunatics. They can stop using drugs when provided with alternative reinforcers.”http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/science/the-rational-choices-of-crack-addicts.html?pagewanted=2&tntemail0=y&_r=1&emc=edit_tnt_20130917

Addicted for Life?

“The knowledge that some neural changes associated with addiction persist despite long periods of abstinence is important because it supports clinical wisdom that recovery from addiction is a lifelong process,” says Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/09/24/addicted-for-life/59862.html


Oct 5, 2013

A Contradiction to My Choice

Ever since I started this Life, my mom would always ask me if I'm still using or when was my last time.  Now, how does one, in my position answer this question?  If it were just up to me, I would really want to tell the truth Everyone expects to be told the truth, but "Can They Handle the Truth?"  How does 1 distinguish an addict? Addicts certainly don't ask other people IF they USE or are still using. It's simply just not done.

Why Addictions Are So Hard To Break

Peeling back another layer of the addiction onion
Published on August 15, 2012 by Jennifer Kunst, Ph.D. in A Headshrinker's Guide to the Galaxy


Using an addiction to deal with upset feelings creates the very problems it was intended to solve. Addictions backfire. The painful feelings that were to be avoided actually increase a thousand-fold. The deeper you get into it, the MORE you feel depressed, anxious, angry, and hopeless, not less. You LOSE control rather than gain it. In order to break the addiction, you must come to see that it does not deliver what it promises. If you can see it for what it really is rather than what you imagine it to be, then you have the chance to let it go.