Addiction — a Disease with Privileges?
If addiction is a disease, does a person still have a choice? A reflection on craving, consequences, responsibility, and how families may unintentionally weaken the link between actions and their cost.
Articles about addictions, anxiety, panic attacks, codependency, psychological trauma, and recovery.
If addiction is a disease, does a person still have a choice? A reflection on craving, consequences, responsibility, and how families may unintentionally weaken the link between actions and their cost.
After a gambling relapse, shame can make a person hide what happened, avoid loved ones, and stop seeking help. Why isolation increases the risk of continued gambling and what matters after a relapse.
After a Relapse, You Want to Disappear: How Shame Makes It Harder to Ask for Help Again Read More »
How cargo-cult thinking appears in modern life: copying the symbols of success without understanding the habits, skills, and responsibility that actually create it.
Why unpleasant emotions create an urge to act immediately, how quick relief can reinforce avoidance, and what helps build a greater capacity to tolerate difficult feelings.
Why We Want to Get Rid of Unpleasant Feelings Immediately Read More »
Why checking can briefly calm a loved one affected by addiction, but over time increase anxiety and make uncertainty harder to tolerate.
Why Control Temporarily Calms a Loved One — and Then Increases Anxiety Read More »
Why people often want to stop therapy after the first improvements, how relief differs from lasting change, and how to know whether you are ready to continue on your own.
Addiction recovery is more than simply stopping substance use. This article explains the main stages of recovery, from recognizing the problem and detox to rehabilitation, resocialization, and long-term remission.
Recovery — What Is It? Stages of the Journey from Addiction to Sobriety Read More »
Codependency and control often go hand in hand. Why loved ones try to manage the addicted person’s life, how this affects both sides, and what can help loosen the grip of control.
Codependency and Control: Why You Feel the Need to Keep Everything in Your Hands Read More »
Fourteen signs of codependency described by Melody Beattie, including control, self-neglect, fear of anger, denial, dependence on relationships, and difficulties with intimacy.
Signs of Codependency: 14 Characteristics by Melody Beattie Read More »