‘My drinking was out of control – but now I know I can recover’: Andrew

July 3, 2023 by

Here is an excellent article about recovery from addiction by Chris Clements, social affairs correspondent for BBC Scotland.

Andrew is in recovery after a decade of alcoholism.

Ten years ago, he suffered a mental breakdown and his drinking spiralled.

It led to the loss of a career in finance and the breakdown of family relationships.

But the 62-year-old told BBC Scotland that his darkest point came last year.

“In June, my partner died and my drinking just got totally out of control,” he said. “I couldn’t function as a human being. I had to be cared for.”

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‘The Street to Recovery’ by Kevin Kennedy

February 17, 2023 by

I first posted this blog about Kevin Kennedy’s book about his recovery on Christmas Day, 2013. It was taken from an article from the now defunct Addiction Today. Kevin will be 25 years in recovery this October!

‘Kevin Kennedy – Curly Watts from TV’s long-running Coronation Street, and so popular he drew in 22 million viewers for his TV wedding – has now been sober for 15 years. He shares his experience of alcoholism and rehab, strength of recovery and hope for the future with Addiction Today readers.

PROLOGUE: A FRIDAY IN AUGUST 1998
Sometime in the morning, I came round. I’d blacked out from the drink, with no memory of the night before. As soon as I opened my eyes, before I’d even focused on the room around me, I knew I had done it again. After all the promises, even swearing on the Bible and all the pleas for second chances, I’d still gone ahead and lost it. The four hideous horsemen—shame, remorse, self-disgust, and, worst of them all, fear—had found me, again.

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Ed Mitchell – Lost and Found

February 3, 2023 by

Almost two years on from his last drink in December 2007, former BBC and ITN broadcaster Ed Mitchell revisits the places that played an important part in his homelessness and subsequent recovery in this latest mini documentary. He explains his thoughts and feelings on what happened to him and what he has learnt that might be useful to others. Ed also chats with his son, Freddie, and to his partner, Mandy, who gave up alcohol on the same day as he did. 9 October 2009. [7’03”]

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What is Recovery from Addiction?: Beth Burgess

February 3, 2023 by

Recovery Coach Beth Burgess points out that a lot of people don’t realise that there is a difference between recovery from addiction and being clean and sober. She describes her experiences of when she first tried to get sober—it was horrible. Now she is in recovery, Beth doesn’t have those negative experiences, like intense cravings and obsessing about alcohol. She stresses that if you are to find recovery from addiction you need to change things, like your thinking patterns and outlook on life. Connecting to other recovering people is also very important. Beth introduces her book The Recovery Formula: An Addict’s Guide to Getting Clean and Sober Forever. 30 November 2012. [6’17”]

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Kevin Kennedy Opens Up About Beating His Alcohol Addiction: This Morning

February 3, 2023 by

Former Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy reveals how bad his alcoholism got, and what he did to overcome it. 5 January 2017. [5’46”]

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Michael’s Recovery Story: ‘The Power of Empathy and Compassion’

January 31, 2023 by

Michael followed both his parents into a life of dependent drinking, but he will be 45 years sober on 10 April 2023. He describes his recovery journey, his work as a drug and alcohol counsellor, and his part-time role in ‘retirement’. (7,316 words)

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Kevan’s Recovery Story: ‘He’s a Loser and Will Never Be Any Good’

January 31, 2023 by

After 25 years of problem drinking and eight years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, Kevan developed NERAF (Northern Engagement into Recovery from Addiction), which eventually had nearly 100 staff and volunteers. (11,945 words)

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Brad’s Recovery Story: ‘A Life Beyond My Wildest Dreams’

January 31, 2023 by

Following a life of crime, fighting and drinking, Brad started his recovery journey after being told that alcohol wasn’t his problem—it was him! He later had an experience that he could only describe as a spiritual awakening. (14,961 words)

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‘A Letter to Alcohol’ by Beth Burgess

January 24, 2023 by

One of the most powerful pieces of writing I have come across about a person’s relationship with alcohol was written by Beth Burgess, a UK Recovery Coach from Smyls. I first posted this letter on Recovery Stories in May 2013.

‘Dear Alcohol,

Well it’s been a while now, and although you are a bad influence, I do miss you sometimes. I miss our secret relationship, the way that no-one else was part of it and could never get in on it. I miss the way you comfort me when I’m down. It sometimes creeps up on me unexpectedly how much I miss you. And other times I am glad you are gone.

Of course you have changed – and I know that. You’re not fun any more. But I seem to forget that when we’re not together. I don’t know why my memory is so short and why I always remember the good times with such intensity. It hasn’t been that way for a while.

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Marion’s Film Story, Part 2

September 20, 2021 by

I continue the series of films made by Mike Liu and I when we spent a day with Professor Marion Kickett, former Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University, in York in September 2103. Marion is a Noongar from the Balardong language group. On this day, I learnt a good deal about Aboriginal culture, the experiences of an Aboriginal person in a white dominated society, and about the healing of trauma.

Marion talked about her strong sense of belonging she feels for her country, the Western Australian town of York and its surroundings, and the strong connection she has for the Native Reserve where she was brought up. She describes the racism she experienced as she grew up, and how she overcame her various adversities and challenges. She talks about the shocking events experienced by Aboriginal people which have impacted on health and wellbeing. Over time, Marion came to realise that she had to forgive non-Aboriginal people for the terrible things they had done in the past. Forgiveness is a key element of healing. You can find the first six films of this series here.

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Alcohol Dependence

July 3, 2021 by

Here is an article I first wrote as a Background Briefing for Drink and Drugs News (DDN), the leading UK magazine focused on drug and alcohol treatment, in February 2005.

‘There has been a considerable scientific effort over the past four decades in to identifying and understanding the core features of alcohol and drug dependence. This work really began in 1976 when the British psychiatrist Griffith Edwards and his American colleague Milton M. Gross collaborated to produce a formulation of what had previously been understood as ‘alcoholism’ – the alcohol dependence syndrome.

The alcohol dependence syndrome was seen as a cluster of seven elements that concur. It was argued that not all elements may be present in every case, but the picture is sufficiently regular and coherent to permit clinical recognition.

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Learning About Addiction Treatment, Part 6

July 1, 2021 by

I earlier began a series of blog posts (starting here) describing what I learnt about addiction, addiction recovery and addiction treatment after I had closed down my neuroscience laboratory in the early 2000s. I started visiting a local treatment agency, local treatment agency West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (WGCADA), in Swansea, South Wales. At the same time, I was conducting an evaluation of projects supported by the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Fund in Wales.

I continue this series of blog posts by describing what happened, and what I learnt, after I first visited the treatment agency BAC O’Connor in 2004. Here is the start of a new story, one where I saw recovery literally oozing out of the walls of a building.

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‘Ruby’s Story’: Marion Kickett

March 30, 2021 by

It’s hard to believe that it is over seven years ago since I launched Sharing Culture, an educational initiative to facilitate the healing of intergenerational trauma. It is also over seven years since Michael Liu and I went out with Professor Marion Kickett to her home country in York to film her describing her life, country, culture, spirituality, family, education and resilience. Marion is a Noongar leader from the Balardong language group, who is Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University in Perth.

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Alcohol Dependence

March 8, 2021 by

Looks at the cluster of seven elements that make up the template for which the degree of alcohol dependence is judged. (900 words)

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‘Why I drank’ by Veronica Valli

January 13, 2015 by

Unknown-4Here is some powerful writing from Veronica Valli, recently posted on her blog and taken from her book Why you drink and How to stop: journey to freedom.

‘I tried to drink like ‘other people’ because they looked ‘normal’ to me. Other people drank and they were fine; I could tell. I would judge them by how they looked on the outside and I wanted to be like that.

Something inside me was different and it wasn’t fine. Which is why I had to lie to myself – a big fat lie that ate me up and that I had to keep telling myself, because it kept a lid on the horror. I had to lie about what I was doing to myself. I had to lie about how I really felt. I had to lie about who I was. I had to lie because I was terrified of the horror inside me being exposed.

This may only make sense to someone who has had a problem with drink or any other mood or mind-altering substance. Or it may make sense to you if you have lived a life of desperate compromise and unfulfilled promise.

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‘Are you recovered or recovering?’ by Veronica Valli

July 8, 2014 by

Unknown-1Here’s a great piece from one of my favourite bloggers.

‘It’s time to address a somewhat contentious issue in recovery circles. The matter of being either a ‘Recovered alcoholic/addict’ or a ‘Recovering alcoholic/addict.’

I am a recovered alcoholic and have considered myself one for many years. Let me explain why.

If you have read my book or read any of the posts on my blog, you will know that I predominantly believe that alcoholism is a manifestation of a spiritual condition. Alcoholism is not caused by external factors although they most definitely contribute.

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‘What to expect in early recovery’ by Veronica Valli

June 18, 2014 by

Unknown-1I like Veronica’s website. Here’s a recent blog.

‘The following is meant as a guide to support you in your early weeks of recovery from alcoholism. The first few days and weeks without alcohol can be frightening and confusing; you have, of course, put down your security blanket, your crutch, your way of coping with the world. It can be very challenging initially to go about your daily life without it.

The following are simple suggestions that when applied will greatly enhance your chances of a successful recovery; it’s the small things that can sometimes make the biggest difference.

Be good to yourself. Making the decision to ask for help is an act of courage and self-love. Don’t beat yourself up about the past. This will get sorted out in time.

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‘Emotional Unmanageability’ by Veronica Valli

May 26, 2014 by

A nice short blog from Veronica Valli to reflect upon at the start of the week.

ID-10084481-300x198‘Unmangagbility and alcoholism are talked about a lot in recovery circles. When unmanageability was explained to me, it was described an outside occurrence; unpaid bills, DUI’s, divorce, car crashes, damaged furniture, broken bones etc.

That wasn’t something I related to, my life was a little chaotic but by no means unmanageable. My inner life was another story, that was then I realized in relation to alcoholism it is emotional unmanageability that causes the real problems.

To some degree, the alcoholic may be able to create some sense of order in their outside world. They may be able to work and pay their mortgage, for instance. This is how some alcoholics can convince themselves they don’t have a problem; because they have a job and a car they believe things can’t be that bad.

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‘How does alcoholism develop?’ by Veronica Valli

May 13, 2014 by

Unknown-1Here’s an interesting and important blog from Veronica Valli which she has take from her book Why You Drink and How to Stop: A Journey to Freedom. I like Veronica’s sentence: “Alcoholism develops because it has an internal environment to grow in.”

‘In order to overcome alcoholism, stopping the drinking of alcohol simply isn’t enough.

Alcoholism develops because it has an internal environment to grow in. Although external conditions enable drinking, it is the internal conditions that allow alcoholism to control someone’s life. There is a need for a greater understanding of this.

  • Alcoholism is an internal (spiritual) illness. Drinking is only a symptom.
  • Alcoholism’s key motivator is about changing how you feel.
  • Alcoholism grows out of a faulty system of thinking and emotional responses.

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‘Brain Surgery as Addiction Treatment?’ by Bill White

May 11, 2014 by

Lobotomy‘In 1935 – the founding year of Alcoholics Anonymous, Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure into psychiatry that came to be known as the prefrontal lobotomy (recall One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).   Drs. Walter Freeman and James Watts pioneered the use of this technique in the United States in 1936. 

By 1960, 100,000 psychosurgery procedures had been performed in the U.S.  Patients targeted for this procedure included those judged to have “compulsive hedonias” – alcoholism, drug addiction, excessive eating and sexual deviations.  

The prefrontal lobotomy procedure severed the connecting nerves between the thalamus and the prefrontal and frontal lobes of the brain.  Its intent was to induce significant changes in thinking and personality that could alter the course of intractable psychiatric illness.

The total number of people with substance use disorders who underwent this procedure is unknown.  One could assume that the prefrontal lobotomy is one more chapter of “harm in the name of help” long ago cast into the dustbin of addiction treatment history in the U.S., but when exactly did use of this procedure stop?  The following story suggests it may have gone on much longer than once thought.

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