Staying Sober

Drug Abuse Help: Five Warning Signs that Could Lead to Addiction

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Drug Abuse Help | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comSometimes, it’s helpful for family members to know what to look for in someone who might be using drugs. It’s helpful to have pieces of information in order to connect the dots and ultimately decide whether that person needs drug detox or drug withdrawal treatment.

Below are the typical warning signs that might lead someone to use drugs or drink. They are listed here to point out that there are characteristic behaviors that people participate in, which put them at risk for an addiction. However, this list is not exhaustive, nor is it predictive. In other words, there are many who might exhibit these behaviors and yet they don’t develop an addiction, and they won’t ever need drug addiction treatment.

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Drug Addiction Therapy: Breaking Through Shame For Full Recovery

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Drug Addiction Treatment | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comShame is a common emotional response in adult children of alcoholic parents. When children grow up in a home filled with an unspoken addiction, it often creates a strong sense of vulnerability, helplessness, and feelings of inadequacy. Other homes in which shame can easily develop are when children grow up with depressed parents, abuse, oppression, or a death in the family.

Having to hide anything is the quintessential element of shame. Whether it’s your thoughts, feelings, mood, or the very essence of who you are, if you’re hiding a part of yourself, you’re likely experiencing shame. According to Marilyn Sorenson, PhD, author of “Breaking the Chain of Low Self-Esteem” and clinical psychologist, guilt is a feeling of having done something wrong while shame is the feeling of being something wrong. Shame penetrates down the very core of who you are.

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Drug Addiction Treatment: Healing Distorted Thought Patterns – Part Two

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Drug Addiction Treatment | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comThis article is the second in a two part series on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), often used in drug addiction treatment. The first part of this series provided an overview of this treatment method. This article will explore CBT’s Thought Diary, a tool that individuals use to monitor their thoughts in order to be able to change them, which is necessary in healing.

A Thought Diary is a documentation tool for monitoring feelings of anxiety, fear, hurt, anger, shame, guilt, or sadness. Along with noting when and where these feelings were experienced, a recovering addict would also write down the associated thought he or she had with that feeling, in a particular situation.  Doing this can create lasting change. For instance, reflecting on the self-talk one had during a specific situation can lead to finding those thoughts that are harmful and self-defeating.

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Going from Active Drug Addiction Into a Life of Fun Recovery

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A story of how he went from full-blown active drug addiction to a loving & valued life of sobriety through the recovery process… A year ago if you had told me that I would not only be sober but be working in recovery I would have burst out laughing. I was drinking a fifth of whiskey a day and basically …

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