Tag: Features

Eddie Pepitone: From Falling Down Drunk to Sober Stand Up

Comedy is totally addictive! It hits the part of the brain that drugs do. The love me love me I’m home I’m home part (that is when it goes well). You feel exhilarated because you are the center of attention. I was a few months out of my second rehab facility when a friend and… Continue reading Eddie Pepitone: From Falling Down Drunk to Sober Stand Up

How Facebook Helped Me Overcome My Anxiety

More than the actual anxiety was the anxiety about the anxiety. I felt tremendous shame for having negative feelings at all. It was 3pm on a Tuesday, and I was sitting at my desk with my head on my keyboard; I was too revved up to sit still, much less concentrate on work. I was… Continue reading How Facebook Helped Me Overcome My Anxiety

The Newly Sober and Recently Incarcerated Find Purpose at DV8 Kitchen

People want to look into the eye of someone they’re helping by eating there, and our staff wants to see people enjoying what they’ve made. Whatever our experience with life is, was, or will be, there’s one thing we all have in common: food. It’s one of the things we need to survive, along with… Continue reading The Newly Sober and Recently Incarcerated Find Purpose at DV8 Kitchen

Language Matters: A Recovery Scientist Explains the Impact of Our Words

If a person has internalized the negative stereotypes associated with being “an addict,” are they more likely to have a fixed mindset and believe they cannot improve or change? Over 21 million Americans have substance use disorder and fewer than 3.8 million individuals receive treatment each year. 28 percent of the individuals who need treatment,… Continue reading Language Matters: A Recovery Scientist Explains the Impact of Our Words

How Sponsoring Fellow Alcoholics Is Teaching Me How To Parent My Son

How do I, an alcoholic with a dysfunctional childhood who didn’t even begin maturing until his early 30s, go about the daunting duty of raising a son to manhood? Recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous has helped me build an incredible life. A restored marriage, a promising career, and a comfortable suburban home highlight the tangibles; the… Continue reading How Sponsoring Fellow Alcoholics Is Teaching Me How To Parent My Son

Harm Reduction: How to Engage Parent Advocates Effectively

I’ve had to correct parents whose first line to any policymaker is “my kid was from a good family, not just some homeless person.” “I never thought I would end up here, but here I am. I choose to create beauty in the space left in this world that my daughter used to occupy” –… Continue reading Harm Reduction: How to Engage Parent Advocates Effectively

Men… I’ve Always Been Obsessed With Them

It’s not him, it’s the version of him I’d chosen to focus on, ignoring all the bad behavior which followed, as I have way too many times. “Addicted to Love” is a great song––it’s also a not-so-great running theme in my life. Last week, at 62 ½, it dawned on me that there’s never been… Continue reading Men… I’ve Always Been Obsessed With Them

When Teens Hurt Themselves…Online

“You should just kill yourself.” I thought that if people thought the messages I was saying to myself were coming from other people, they would be more willing to help me out. Trigger warning: The following story discusses self-harm. What happens when social media becomes the weapon of choice for self-harm; when the cyberbully is… Continue reading When Teens Hurt Themselves…Online

Embracing Pride and the LGBT+ Community in Recovery

“The sense of having two selves was the root of my addiction, especially in the beginning. It was exhausting to play a role I didn’t want.” Ten years ago, I was both terrified and ecstatic to go to my first ever LGBT Pride Parade. I knew that I was attracted to both men and women,… Continue reading Embracing Pride and the LGBT+ Community in Recovery

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