Doctors and mental health professionals tried to tell me for a long time that I had a substance abuse problem. I knew I didn’t drink like normal people did. But I made it to work on time, did work I was proud of, and didn’t get in legal trouble. Obviously I had the situation well… Continue reading This Is Not Normal
I’ve written before about patterns of thought that stand in people’s way as they consider whether to give up addictive substances. There are ways of looking at the problem that stand in your way, but below are some patterns of thought that I have actually found very helpful as I moved from addiction into sober… Continue reading 3 Thought Patterns that Help Release Us from Addiction
In my early drinking days, it was a source of praise and pride that I was able to binge drink with the guys and hold my own. It helps to carry hundreds of extra pounds to absorb and modulate the poison you’re pounding. Whether you were an indie Elliott Smith or a frat brother, I… Continue reading Hanging with the Boys
A dear friend shared with me a description of quitting drinking that I absolutely love (sorry, she said she read it somewhere, and I don’t remember where – if you know the origin of this concept, can you drop it in comments?). Drinking is like going to a house party where the house is starting… Continue reading The Party House
My partner Dan went from near-total abstinence, to an enthusiastic social drinker, to a bottle-of-vodka a day secret drinker in the 10 years we were together in the first leg of our relationship. In his younger years, he was extremely cautious around alcohol, with some hard precedents in his family. But because I drank, he… Continue reading Selfishness and the Alcoholic Other
I have an addictive personality – I can turn just about anything into too much of a good thing. I think meditation is about the only thing I’ve found that I can obsess about and it doesn’t do me harm somehow. I have a lifelong addiction to TV. I’m kind of strung out on the… Continue reading The Addiction that Pays YOU
See, I thought I was so clever borrowing this concept from natural history to describe the human condition, and just last month came across a delightful Meditative Story, “Writing the Main Character” by Franklin Leonard, using “punctuated equilibrium” in exactly the same way. Great minds, I guess. Still, I thought I was so clever. To… Continue reading Punctuated Equilibrium
