Dr. Neill Neill
"Alcoholism and Alcohol Rehab" is a new resource I’m creating in response to reader requests. You have made frequent pleas for help for your functioning alcoholic spouses who want to stop alcohol abuse, but can’t seem to quit drinking.
Alcohol abuse is one of the toughest and most pervasive issues confronting family life in North America and beyond. It affects both men and women and it cuts across all income levels.
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Dr Neill Neill
We meet people everyday who have recovered or are in recovery from a major life changing event. Some deem themselves as survivors, and some just positively live their lives looking forward to the future (a thriver). What are the differences between a thriver, a survivor and a person in recovery?
A thriver is someone who grows vigorously, flourishes, or realizes goals despite circumstances. Thrivers are active agents in creating their futures. They look forward to an ever better future. They have a knowing that when setbacks come, they will land on their feet.
A "survivor," in contrast, is someone whose identity incorporates a past wound such as sexual abuse, torture, cancer or some other horrible condition.
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Filed under Addiction Recovery, Addiction Rehab by Dr. Neill Neill
Dr. Neill Neill
Mutual support can be a double-edged sword. Joining a support group can lead to renewal, likening it to pressing the REFRESH button on life. However, a support group can also keep you stuck pressing the REPLAY button and hearing the same thing over and over. The picture of your life can get out of focus.
Human beings are social creatures. We need to support one another and we need support. Barak Obama is right when he says we need to work together. Businesses are failing. People are losing jobs and even homes. There is a lot of pain out there; and wherever there is pain, you will find support groups…
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Dr. Neill Neill
For the past year I have been working as consulting psychologist to an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center for men. This is not my first experience in dealing with addiction; I had earlier worked five years in a coed treatment center. I have worked with a lot of functioning alcoholics and drug addicts in my private practice as well.
Although the reasons for substance abuse and subsequent seeking help for addiction are as varied as any human population can be, there is a pattern of sameness in among those men voluntarily going into rehab.
The seven characteristics presented below relate to what is going on at the point men seek help, not to the years when usage turned to habitual substance abuse and then to addiction. Some of the characteristics, but not all, apply to women as well as men. I have become aware that certain things emerge in a group of men that did not surface when men were in a coed group.
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