Addiction Recovery Tools For Drug Abuse Control

A very important factor for addiction recovery is being able to have tools for dealing with difficult situations, rather than going into an escape route such as taking drugs. Initially it is hard to use new tools rather than old habits but as time goes on, the old habits appear to offer no solution and the new tools give one a sense of accomplishment and enrichment. It is similar to the feeling one might have where someone might have chosen to jog for 20 minutes for relief instead of running out to buy chocolate and ice cream to deal with an argument they just had with someone.

How do you get the energy to combat an old pattern in your addiction recovery? It is helpful to write out or sit meditatively and ask yourself where the former pattern takes you and how you feel afterward. How do you feel after having a few chocolate bars or calling someone back to scream at them? Compare that to how you feel after taking a run, doing some journal writing or something that increases your energy and awareness.

Addiction Recovery, The Best Kept Secret

Do you remember when you first heard about AIDS? No one really knew enough about it to understand the difference between HIV and AIDS or realize that you can't contract it through casual contact? There was little research, little education, little funding, and the thought of AIDS meant a death sentence. People made rude comments about the disease. Having the disease was the punch line to jokes. It was acceptable to associate AIDS to the homosexual community. In fact, it was even acceptable to assume one homosexual if they were diagnosed positive.

Do you recall the time in American history when cancer was something we didn't talk about when someone was diagnosed? Or even, perhaps, a time when the use of racial slurs was completely accepted in the workplace and schools?