Our addictions and mental health issues are sometimes so overwhelming and debilitating that we’re not able to see the deeper meanings within them, all of the lessons we’re meant to learn and spiritual tests we’re being challenged by. We feel so confused, so paralyzed by our sadness, our fear and shame, that we’re more focusedRead More
Sometimes throughout the course of our struggles with addiction, we have a hard time taking responsibility for ourselves, for the addictions themselves, and for our recovery. We’re afraid of the hard work it will take to heal ourselves, so we avoid taking responsibility for ourselves, or we try to shift the responsibility onto other people.Read More
When we relapse and default on our sobriety, we feel a variety of emotions, one of the most painful among them being fear. We can feel consumed by fear that can manifest as worry, self-doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, and even panic attacks. Sometimes we don’t associate our anxiety, depression and other mental health issues with beingRead More
We limit ourselves and hold ourselves back with all the ways in which we put ourselves down, mentally, verbally and emotionally, all the ways in which we self-harm and abuse ourselves, all the ways in which we allow ourselves to be mistreated. We give away our power, and we stop believing in ourselves. Learning howRead More
If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For many of us in recovery, the pain of relapse is something we’ve grown quite familiar with over the years. We may have successfully completed treatment and even maintained our sobriety for some time, only to find ourselves relapsingRead More
When we are suffering from our addictions and mental health issues, one of the most painful emotions we commonly feel is a sense of disconnection. We feel disconnected from our inner selves, from the people around us, from the people we love, and from the world. We feel isolated and alone. This is compounded byRead More
Many of us have a very hard time admitting our mistakes, especially the most shameful, regretful mistakes we’ve made due to our struggles with addiction. We’re embarrassed to admit the things we’ve done. It hurts to think of the pain we’ve caused people. We feel ashamed of ourselves and disappointed in ourselves. Learning to finallyRead More
When we’ve successfully gotten sober and are in recovery, we’d like to think we’re in the clear and that we won’t fall back into old patterns. We’re so committed to our sobriety that we think we would never do anything to jeopardize it. We don’t want to threaten the newfound peace and serenity we’ve finallyRead More
Throughout our struggles with addiction, many of us fall into patterns of trying to conceal our problem from as many people as possible. We might hide drugs in random parts of the house. We might stash bottles where we think no one will find them. We might keep entire parts of ourselves, our addictive behaviorsRead More