recovery — Page 19 — Recovery Stories

Roland Lamb interview: “The Struggle Continues, The Victory is Certain”

July 12, 2013

Last year, I blogged about Bill White’s interview with Roland Lamb, one of the key players in helping transform the behavioural healhcare system in Philadelphia to a system based on recovery. This system is concerned with both mental health and addiction, and is a $1 billion system caring for over 100,000 people.

I’ve combined my four blogs into one, which highlights key parts of this very interesting interview. There is a lot we can learn from the Philadelphia in transforming our own behavioural health are systems.

‘What a surprise. I don’t know everything!’ by Peapod

July 9, 2013

Life got a bit easier for me in early recovery when I let go of my need-to-know-and-understand-everything mentality.

My background and training before I came to work in addiction treatment was scientific. I had to break the world down into understandable components and had a fairly rigid and cognitive world view. In many ways I was trapped in my head. Science can explain everything and if it can’t be explained, I’m not interested.

Well, science didn’t help me particularly with my addiction when it arrived and I certainly tried to understand it. Do you know there are over 40 theories of addiction? It’s likely when there are so many that we won’t really ever agree completely on what’s going on. The funny thing is that I’m okay with that today.

Arthur C. Evans Honored for Addiction Recovery Work

July 9, 2013

Found this excellent article in the Philadelphia Tribune. Well done Arthur and and his colleagues who have helped make his Award possible. What they have achieved in Philadelphia in terms of developing a recovery-based care system is an example to us all.

‘Arthur C. Evans, Ph.D. Philadelphia Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS) has been recognized for his strides in promoting recovery from addiction.

Faces & Voices of Recovery honored Evans with the Lisa Mojer-Torres Award at the America Honors Recovery event held on June 26 in Washington, D.C. America Honors Recovery highlights the extraordinary contributions of the country’s most influential recovery community leaders and organizations and is sponsored with Caron Treatment Centers.

‘Opiate detox: methadone or suboxone’ by Peapod

July 8, 2013

This is the third part of Peapod’s Guide to Recovery, a series of articles written by Wired In To Recovery’s most visited blogger.

‘I don’t like stand alone detoxes, mostly because they almost always fail to deliver. Relapse is the norm if all you are offered is detoxification. I’ve written about this before in Detoxification: the nuts and the bolts so won’t go over old ground, but I will say again that success depends on the stuff that goes on around the detox and in the days, weeks and months afterwards.

This rough guide is written for those of you (or your clients) who might be thinking about detoxification.

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Category: Blog, Recovery Guide Tags: detox, guide, methadone, NICE, peapod, recovery, suboxone, withdrawal

Kevan’s Story (Short version): ‘He’s a loser and will never be any good’

July 5, 2013

Here’s a short version of Kevan’s Recovery Story. Please feel free to circulate.

‘I developed a fascination for alcohol at an early age (nine), but didn’t realise that it would rule my life for over twenty years. I drank throughout my teenage years as if it was a normal thing to do, often with building site work mates or colleagues from my judo squad. Sadly, the promise I showed in judo was never realised because I shattered my right knee. Whilst I gave up the sport, I continued drinking.

My first wife and I separated because she didn’t like my drinking. After the divorce, I spent most of the money I made from the house sale on booze. Some guys at work said that I needed help for a drinking problem, but I told them to get stuffed with their job. I was doing what all men were entitled to do. I now spent most of my time in the pub.

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Category: Blog Tags: addiction, alcoholism, antabuse, family, recovery, story, support group, thinking

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 4)

July 3, 2013

In my last blog focusing on Stephanie Brown’s book A Place Called Self, I described two myths about recovery. In this blog, we look at the second myth: dependence is bad and recovery means you are no longer dependent.

‘… many women think recovery is moving from dependence to self-sufficiency. But there is no such thing as total self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is a partial condition.’

So what does Stephanie mean by this? She is emphasising that all of us are dependent in some way or other. We need other other people on whom we can depend. ‘No man (or woman) is an island.’

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Category: Blog Tags: AA, balance, dependence, human, myth, recovery, stephanie brown

‘Reflections on my AA experiences’ by Maddie

July 2, 2013

At my very first AA meeting, I was carried in by strangers who found me crying, shaking and rocking in the doorway. And I promise I am not exaggerating. Gosh, I had forgotten about that, an event that took place four or five years ago.

I would pop in and out of AA for years before I was really desperate enough to let the rooms help me. I used to have to have a drink to get in the door, and I used to go with vodka in my bag. However, I just keep going back.

It’s hard to explain, but you are carried and held when you are in the rooms in those early days. Without AA and the people I have met there I would have busted on Friday night on my nine months birthday. I have been experiencing incredible stress because of the very long hours I have been working, the intensity of a new project, and a boss who is trying to make my project fail! At times, it’s been too much.

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Category: Blog Tags: AA, acceptance, listening, love, recovery, stress, support, understanding

‘Natural Highs’ by Anthony Nevens

July 1, 2013

Where do I start? At the beginning, middle or end, who knows? It all ties in with itself in some twisted tangled ball, but I will try and unravel some of it!

I am just like most other Brits who feel uncomfortable talking about themselves! However, here is a quick summery of the Natural Highs project and how it has tied in with my own recovery.

Natural Highs was born out of the frustrations of government and professionals stating that to recover from substance use problems we must end up in education or employment. This expectation for me personally, someone who has suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and lost the use of my legs, and experienced memory problems, was clearly unrealistic, to say the least.

‘Standing on the outside: Looking in’ by Aurelius

June 30, 2013

‘Firstly, I want to thank all of the site [Wired In To Recovery] members who have taken the time to comment on my wife’s posts/queries (Whiplashgirlchild). Your perspective (and objectivity) have really seemed to help her on days when everything just stacks up and turns bad.

I met my partner just as she was working her way off subutex. She had a decade of hardcore use under her belt and almost another decade on MMT/Subutex.

I had (have) a lot to learn about the nature of addiction and the meandering paths of recovery. I have had a steep learning curve, trying to understand the stigma and prejudice that she has had to endure during the years of struggle to get free of ‘the fog’ as she likes call it.

‘Life is an amazing gift’ by Wee Willie Winkie

June 29, 2013

‘Life is such an amazing gift. I wake up every single morning with a huge smile on my face. I open my door as I put the kettle on and take a deep breath of air. This feeling never gets old and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

I’m not waking up with the immediate thoughts of heroin, or having to go to work to do a job I didn’t choose because I liked it – it was all about flexible hours and good money. My thoughts are my own and not influenced by drugs.

Life is so simple for me now, it doesn’t matter what happens. I look back on my past – the homelessness, the overdosing, my attempted suicide and think, “If I can survive that, I can survive anything.” So I never get depressed or down about things. It’s fantastic.

‘A Personal Story’ by Wee Willie Winkie

June 29, 2013

‘I’m 33 years old. I started taking drugs from ten years old and, apart from a three and a half year stint in the army, took them continuously right up to the age of 30. This included 11 years as a heroin addict.

During this time, I felt totally isolated and alone in the world, and completely worthless. After a few years I was desperate. I’d overdosed a couple of times and, at this point in my life, I’d have welcomed death with open arms. It never came, so I decided to help it along a bit.

Luckily, it didn’t work but at the time I just didn’t know what to do. Eventually, I decided that this was my life and to try make the best of it I could. I ended up living in the woods for a year. I could never see myself living in shop doorways.

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Category: Blog Tags: education, heroin addiction, isolation, methadone, prison, recovery, smart

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 3)

June 28, 2013

In A Place Called Self, Stephanie Brown emphasises that in recovery a woman transforms the way she thinks about herself, as well as the way she thinks about life itself. She points out two common myths about recovery, the first of which I’ll discuss here: ‘Recovery is moving from bad to good.’

Many women think that being addicted is evidence of ‘shameful neediness, of deep and lasting failures.’ Many addicted women are trying to do their best, to be a good mother, wife and friend, yet they feel bad. They believe themselves to be a bad person.

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Category: Blog Tags: addict, defense, guilt, real, recovery, self, stephanie brown, women

‘Sue: A Personal Story’ by Sue Murphy

June 28, 2013

“I was, what you were once described as in the 70s, ‘a problem child’. So to me, looking back, it was inevitable I ended up an addict.

My first love was LSD after postnatal depression. Not an excuse, just how it was. LSD was the only thing that made me feel alive. Until ecstasy. Wow, good days and they were until all the garbage arrived.

Skip many years, many tablets, many lines later and I found heroin. Or should I say it found me? It kept me enslaved for 15 years along with crack.

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Category: Blog Tags: award, crack, hepatitis C, heroin, miscarriage, pregnancy, recovery, treatment

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 2)

June 27, 2013

In an earlier blog, I referred to Stephanie Brown’s book A Place Called Self, in which she describes recovery as radical change in personal identity, or the self. Stephanie goes on to emphasise a number of myths about recovery.

Firstly, the dictionary definition of recovery states ‘a return to a normal condition.’ This would suggest that in addiction recovery the person goes back to where they were before they became addicted. In fact, this is rarely the case. Stephanie emphasises that recovery is more like a starting over than a restoration of what was lost during addiction. This is because for many people the real self was never really developed.

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Category: Blog Tags: change, development, growth, identity, recovery, self, stephanie brown, women

‘Recovery: what matters?’ by David McCartney

June 27, 2013

Here’s an interesting Wired In To Recovery blog from David McCartney from September 2013 about the importance of social relationships.

‘If you wanted to live a long and healthy life, what measures could you take to achieve your goals? Stop smoking? Lose weight? Exercise? Drop your blood pressure? We have evidence that all of these make a difference, but a recent analysis of 148 studies on the subject found two things that made more of a difference to mortality than anything else. What were they?

Well, having strong social relationships and being integrated socially seem to protect against death. This analysis was not specifically about addiction, but suffering from addiction is strongly associated with increased death rates and it seems very likely that if we could promote strong social links in those seeking help it will reduce the risk of relapse and ultimately of early death.

‘An old cynic now believes in Recovery’ by Maggie Messenger

June 26, 2013

P1010935 I really liked this blog on Wired In To Recovery, which appeared in June 2010.

‘I have just returned from a visit to the SHARP Recovery service in Liverpool. Having worked within the drug and alcohol field for almost 20 years I had heard the word “Recovery” tossed about here and there and, like a revival of the “midi”, come back into fashion again!

So I took my old cynical head and was prepared to look and see what this “new and improved Recovery” looked like.

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Category: Blog Tags: commitment, hope, Liverpool, passion, recovery, SHARP, staff, Wired In To Recovery

‘What is Recovery?’ according to Stephanie Brown (Part 1)

June 26, 2013

book-a-place-called-self ‘Recovery has held so many surprises for me. Some good. Some bad. I didn’t know I could hurt so much. But I also didn’t know I could love so much and be so loved. I had no idea that recovery was also learning how to be in intimate relationships, learning how to have close, wonderful friends. Then there’s my marriage. My husband and I have developed a rich life together. And get this – I really like myself now. Learning about who I am and accepting me, that’s been the hardest part of recovery – and the best. I wouldn’t trade this path for anything in the world.’ Anne, Recoveree

This quote comes from the most wonderful book, A Place Called Self: Women, Sobriety, and Radical Transformation. Stephanie Brown’s book talks about what happens to women in recovery, how they think, how they feel, their problems, the good things, etc. (And before you ask, the book is relevant to men as well!)

Stephanie Brown describes recovery as a journey, a process. It is a radical change in personal identity (or the self). See the words drugs and alcohol there. Nup! You can recover from all sorts of things, like mental mental health problems, loss of a loved one, trauma, etc.

‘A bright light in a dark world’ by Maddie

June 25, 2013

I’m almost nine months into my recovery journey, during which time I have not had a drop of alcohol. I’ve been reflecting back to my past, the time that I was drinking very heavily. Today, I can’t imagine drinking every day as I did, waking up with a hangover every morning. My mind just can’t seem to go back there.

It’s almost as if I have forgotten my past, but at the same time so much of it is very fresh. But the past ‘me’ is so different to the person I am today. My past does not hurt me anymore. I can walk past a pub or bottle shop and not even think about alcohol.

‘Solving addiction lies in empowerment, not shame’ by Beth Burgess

June 23, 2013

P1011013 Found this article by Beth Burgess in the New Statesman in October 2012. Beth is certainly getting her writing in a number of important places. Well done, Beth.

‘Brighton’s Recovery Walk is an important sign that stigma about addiction isn’t acceptable.
What springs to mind when you envisage thousands of excited alcoholics and drug addicts gathered on the streets of Brighton? The casting queue for The Jeremy Kyle Show? Early opening at the dole office? A new Wetherspoons opening up on the seafront?

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Category: Blog Tags: addiction, empowerment, hope, illness, recovery, recovery walk, shame, society, stigma

‘Let me introduce you to the acronym, RKRTS’ by Wynford Ellis Owen

June 21, 2013

testimonials_05 I’ve had a pretty busy social week including a couple of special birthday gatherings, so I’ve not had time to upload content to the website. I’m also going to be a little busy with a planned surprise, so during this week I will focus on uploading some of my favourite content from WITR rather than write new material.

We’ll start with a past blog from a close friend of mine, Wynford Ellis Owen.

‘I’ve been asked how I recovered from drug and alcohol and other addictive behaviours. Well, one way I did it is captured in the acronym, RKRTS:

Roland Lamb interview: “The Struggle Continues, The Victory is Certain”

‘What a surprise. I don’t know everything!’ by Peapod

Arthur C. Evans Honored for Addiction Recovery Work

‘Opiate detox: methadone or suboxone’ by Peapod

Kevan’s Story (Short version): ‘He’s a loser and will never be any good’

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 4)

‘Reflections on my AA experiences’ by Maddie

‘Natural Highs’ by Anthony Nevens

‘Standing on the outside: Looking in’ by Aurelius

‘Life is an amazing gift’ by Wee Willie Winkie

‘A Personal Story’ by Wee Willie Winkie

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 3)

‘Sue: A Personal Story’ by Sue Murphy

“What is Recovery?” according to Stephanie Brown (Part 2)

‘An old cynic now believes in Recovery’ by Maggie Messenger

‘What is Recovery?’ according to Stephanie Brown (Part 1)

‘A bright light in a dark world’ by Maddie

‘Solving addiction lies in empowerment, not shame’ by Beth Burgess

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