Answer Addiction

Tag: Abstinence

  • You Made It Through Sober October, What’s Next?

    You Made It Through Sober October, What’s Next?

    Recovery is not something we wear lightly; it is a lifelong challenge to recover our ability to regulate our bodies, heal from our trauma, and lead a healthy and fulfilling life.

    Sober October is a great way to gain awareness of your drinking — whether your goal is to get sober or just take a break from alcohol. As positive as that lifestyle change might be, however, it has caused some controversy in the recovery community. For many of us, sobriety isn’t a choice; it’s a necessity if we want to stay alive. So it feels somewhat tokenizing when people are trying on recovery for size. On the other hand, what if it is a doorway to change? What if it creates sufficient awareness to help someone make a few adjustments to lead a healthier and more fulfilling life?

    The challenge — initially called Go Sober for October — originated in the UK as an alcohol awareness campaign and a fundraiser for MacMillan Cancer Support. It is now gaining traction globally as more of a lifestyle change leading up to the holidays. In a recent Forbes article, Sober October was touted as a way to help reset your body and prepare it for the damage that inevitably takes place over the indulgent holiday season. They point out that a month off alcohol combined with other wellness-supporting measures such as a healthier diet and more exercise will lead to better sleep, increased energy, and a clearer mind. With those small lifestyle improvements, people who participate in a month of sobriety will no doubt mitigate the health damage of the party season should they return to drinking. And that’s a positive outcome no matter who you are — whether you’re seeking sobriety or just want to improve your health and wellness.</p

    But for people in recovery, the problem occurs when those trying Dry January or Sober October flippantly celebrate how easy it was, or alternatively reach out to recovery advocates to ask for support during their challenge. Writer and advocate Tawny Lara describes why this is annoying in her article, Why Trying On Sobriety is Offensive: “Strangers frequently reach out to me asking for suggestions on how to get through 30ish days without drinking,” she says. “I don’t think they realize that my sobriety doesn’t have an end point. It’s fine that someone who probably doesn’t have issues with substance abuse, is ‘trying on sobriety’ for a little while, but why are you asking me, someone who does struggle with substance abuse, for advice? I can’t be your cheerleader for 30 days just so you can celebrate day 31 by posting photos of mimosas on Instagram.”

    She continues, “If you really want to experience the lifestyle of us sober folks, try on recovery … not sobriety. Almost anyone can take a break from drinking. Try doing that, paired with the emotionally exhausting work of identifying why you drink and why you’re choosing to give it up temporarily.”

    I understand Tawny’s frustration. Recovery is not something we wear lightly; it is a lifelong challenge to recover our ability to regulate our bodies, heal from our trauma, and lead a healthy and fulfilling life. And I used to find these types of challenges as offensive as she does. Now though, as I have become more of an advocate for harm reduction, I see them as a gateway to change. I support anyone in their desire to lead a less harmful and destructive life, whether they have a problematic relationship with alcohol or just want to temporarily improve their health.

    So, to those of you who tried the challenge to improve your health and are ready to return to moderate drinking: I salute you. Even though I cannot drink normally, I respect those who can. It is also my hope that you’ll be able to recall how great you felt when you were sober for a month, and how you achieved it, should your relationship with alcohol change.

    And to those of you who entered into the challenge hoping to try sobriety on for size with that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that your drinking might be a little out of control, I’m here to tell you that life only continues to improve in sustained sobriety. Truly. I am not going to tell you that it’s easy because it’s not. But it sure as heck is worth it. As a woman who has been in recovery for over six and a half years, my life is immeasurably better: there is less drama, I have fun, I don’t have to sell my belongings to get four bottles of wine on the way home. I feel great most days, and I can’t imagine a life so painful that I have to numb myself every day. Today I want to be present and I want to show up.

    If you want to extend Sober October into November and beyond (or if you think you might want to try again sometime in the future), there are many resources to help you on your journey to recovery. As Tawny suggests, we need to examine a problematic relationship with alcohol and get to the heart of why we’re using it as a coping mechanism. There are many pathways of recovery and many supportive groups to help you with the process. Here are my top five tips:

    1. Find a pathway of recovery that works for you. Whether it’s AA, SMART Recovery, or a meditation community, there is something for everyone. Don’t give up until you find one that works.
    2. Work with a great therapist to help you through the process.
    3. Build social supports. Find a local recovery community in your area, like an Alano Club. The Meetup website is a great way to find sober groups to hang out with.
    4. Find an online supportive community. Reddit and Facebook groups (She Recovers Together, Sober SHAIR Group, HOMies, Life After 12-Step Recovery) are great supportive communities.
    5. Read recovery literature.

    If you’re still unsure and want to ponder the idea of continued sobriety, why not follow Joe Rogan’s Sober October thread? Or you can continue to read recovery publications to see if this is a lifestyle you want now that you’ve had a taste of it. I can recommend staying alcohol-free indefinitely, but you have to do what is right for you when you’re ready. If Sober October opens the doorway to that challenge, then I wholeheartedly support you!

    Note: heavy drinkers should not stop drinking alcohol suddenly without medical supervision. Going “cold turkey” can cause serious and even life-threatening complications.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Do You Define "Recovery"?

    How Do You Define "Recovery"?

    Our time would be better spent trying to help people recover in whatever way is most effective for them rather than pushing and shaming everyone into one particular recovery pathway.

    I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone say that a person might be sober, but that they’re not in recovery, or describe them as a “dry drunk,” because the person doesn’t attend some defined program of recovery. I find that attitude divisive, dogmatic, and unhelpful, particularly because it shames others to believe in only one gold standard of recovery. This simply isn’t true. And it’s harmful; we have too many people dying of substance use disorder. Our time would be better spent trying to help people recover in whatever way is most effective for them rather than pushing and shaming everyone into one particular recovery pathway.

    This kind of mindset originates from 12-step fellowships — where members often believe that these programs, combined with abstinence, are the only effective way to recover — and from the outdated professional definition of recovery provided by organizations like the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). However, with the emergence of recovery science, this outlook is beginning to change. Leading researchers are painting a much broader, more inclusive picture of recovery. Instead of accepting dogmatic perspectives, we can now turn to science, which shows us how people recover, the impact of the language we use, the complexities we face as people in recovery such as trauma and co-occurring disorders, and offers more cohesive definition of recovery.

    In 2005, according to ASAM: “A patient is in ‘a state of recovery’ when he or she has reached a state of physical and psychological health such that his/her abstinence from dependence-producing drugs in complete and comfortable.” Over the years, this definition has evolved. Other thought and policy leaders in addiction recovery have also updated their definitions, including the Betty Ford Institute (2006), William L. White (2007), the UK Drug Policy Commission (2008), the Scottish government (2008), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2011), researchers John Francis Kelly and Bettina Hoeppner (2014), and the Recovery Research Institute (2017).

    One of the most popular definitions, and one I’ve favored as a writer in this field, is SAMHSA’s: “Recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.” What I like particularly is that SAMHSA doesn’t define how someone should recover and they have no opinion on abstinence or the use of medication in the process of recovery.

    Cognizant of the varying definitions and the lack of general consensus among experts in the field, recovery scientists and professionals from across the country came together to formulate a new concept. The Recovery Science Research Collaborative (RSRC) met in December 2017, evaluated various definitions of recovery, and reviewed essential components of recovery in order to more clearly define the process.

    I spoke with Robert Ashford, one of the recovery scientists in the collaborative, about the process of formulating a new definition.

    The Fix: What would you say were the main limitations of previous definitions that led to your aim to define a new concept of recovery?

    Robert: We were hoping to bring together our understanding of recovery with the real-world empirical and practical evidence. Our desire for inclusivity was due to the high prevalence of co-occurring disorders (mental health and substance use disorder (SUD)) and the lack of inclusion of non-prominent recovery pathways (e.g. medication alongside abstinence modalities). We wanted to give the individual autonomy in self-directing their recovery process, both with and without clinical and other professional or peer recovery supports.

    In reaching a consensus for a new definition, what were the main components that were critical to include?

    It was a direct reflection of previous work describing the contention in recovery definitions, both real and perceived, by those in different “recovery” camps and between mental health and substance use disorder. Personally, I don’t believe recovery is reserved for the most severe and symptomatic individuals. If we conceptualize recovery as a series of interpersonal growth stages over time and in different settings or contexts, then recovery is a broad phenomenon that can apply to a range of issues. Our definition allows this to exist as a self-directed and intentional process that frames recovery as different in approach, style, and intensity depending on the range of diagnosis. Perhaps a good way to frame this, within the context of a continuum of SUD, is that recovery is also possible along a continuum that is proportional to the severity and type of SUD (mild, moderate, or severe), with most not needing to ascend along that continuum completely.

    Our definition: “Recovery is an individualized, intentional, dynamic, and relational process involving sustained efforts to improve wellness.”

    One of the main disputes within the recovery community is the belief that “true” recovery means complete abstinence. How did this belief factor into your discussions? And what would you consider to be the challenges of such a point of view?

    I think the field at large stands to benefit, at least from an empirical perspective, because not having the focus solely on abstinence allows us to capture, estimate, and perhaps even predict, recovery in different pathologies, different severities, and at different life stages. This recovery typology is only possible with an inclusive definition in mind. The advocacy community also stands to benefit. Inclusive definitions allow the size of the population, or the prevalence of recovery, to increase — which is a good talking point and a strong policy lever for behavioral health. There is a potential for the “watering down” of recovery for the most severe of cases and for those traditionally following an abstinence modality, but this potential is moderated in my mind through the potential benefits.

    At the end of the day, abstinence shouldn’t be excluded from the idea of recovery, but it should be situated where it best fits — as a potential outcome for a person who needs it. The definition of recovery can expand without diminishing those who are in abstinence-based recovery, and the expansion doesn’t negate anyone. If anything, not doing it negates the reality of millions of people seeking wellness.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • A Modern Approach To Drug Education

    A Modern Approach To Drug Education

    A California-based nonprofit’s modern approach to drug and alcohol education is garnering positive feedback from students and parents alike. 

    NPR profiled Being Adept, a non-profit, research- and science-based organization that provides alcohol and drug prevention education to more than 3,000 students in California.

    Adept’s approach is markedly different from drug education campaigns of the past, which emphasized total abstinence through “scare” tactics; the organization’s curriculum focuses on scientific findings that provide students with facts about the long-term health risks of drug use, and allows them to make informed decisions about their own future.

    As NPR notes, Adept’s strategy has been met with positive response from students and parents alike.

    As an example of Adept’s focus, the NPR piece covers an instructor’s presentation for a class of eighth-graders in Larkspur, California. Instructor Ashley Brady opens the session by informing the students that she “is not here to tell you what to do today.”

    From there, she provides a wealth of information that focuses on the impact of marijuana use on brain and body chemistry. Warnings about the side effects of edibles and concentrates on developing brains as well as the strength of THC levels in newer strains of cannabis and the possibility for dependency issues, are offered as fact-based information—modern cannabis is “not the same drug” as the marijuana consumed in the 1970s, Brady said—and without caveat.

    Other classes provide students with strategies to real-world scenarios in which they might encounter marijuana or other drugs—what to do at a party, or ways to cope with stress or emotion without drugs.

    The approach lacks the authoritarian tone that many previous prevention programs embraced; if there’s a key component to how Being Adept talks about drugs, it’s “delay, delay, delay,” said founder and psychotherapist Jennifer Grellman.

    “The way to handle that with your kids is to say: ‘you know, you don’t have to do this now. Maybe you want to use it someday, but not today, not now. It will always be there.’ Just tell them to wait,” she explained. 

    Parents are also included in Being Adept’s curriculum through a special “Parents Night” presentation, where responses like Grellman’s are offered as guidance for those who have expressed concerns over the right way to talk about drugs with children. The program also emphasizes honesty in words and actions—drinking responsibly in front of children, and being honest about their own drug and alcohol use as teenagers.

    “You don’t have to tell the full story,” noted Grellman. “You could say, ‘I did smoke, or I did drink, when I was 13. And you know, frankly? It was too early for me. I made some stupid decisions and I got in trouble.’ You can give them the consequences of it.”

    Students at the Larkspur presentation appeared to appreciate the program’s approach. “It made you feel more mature,” said 13-year-old Devon Soofer. “This class was actually telling you the long-term effects and what it can actually do to you. So it actually made you feel like, ‘Wow, this actually really bad,’ and not just being forced not to do it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com