Whether you're on it, off it, or somewhere in between
When I was in active addiction, I thought the TV show Intervention was the best thing ever. Not because I identified with or cared about any of the people I saw on the screen. Rather, it served as a wonderfully effective way to justify my drinking.
God, I love smoking. I thoroughly enjoy it, and I don’t want to quit. But I have to – for future Laura. It’s Halloween, 2023, and the eve of my quit date. I’m nervous. I just bought my last pack. A single pack of Marlboro Lights costs $16.00 on Long Island. […]
Jackass was a huge TV show in the early 2000’s — HUGE. Everyone watched it and I enjoyed it too. Bam Margera was my favorite. He was the best-looking of the bunch with a handsome face, edgy style, and a nice smile. When people would talk about who they […]
It’s funny, I once heard someone say how there are literally hundreds of words for the term “drunk” (smashed, sloshed, over-served, sauced, wasted, tipsy, tanked — you get the idea), but only one word for not being drunk — sober. And that kind of sucks, because the word “sober” doesn’t imply fun and frivolity.
Amy Carlson was a 45-year-old, mentally ill alcoholic who thought she was God. This shocking three-part MAX Documentary “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God” follows a delusional new-age hippie and her worshiping lackeys as they enable her into an early grave.
Marijuana has a reputation as being a chilled-out, mellow drug that results in goofy laughter and eating lots of snacks. But for some people, being too high can be anything but chill. I once got so high, I thought I was dead — no joke. Amidst my dazed and confused panic, I started searching for […]
Until I got sober, it seemed that socializing always revolved around drinking for me. I’d plan to meet friends at the bar on weekends, or I’d go for a boozy brunch on Sundays. Even things like paint night with friends, my kickball league, or simply going to the beach had alcohol programmed into it. And […]
Early sobriety is tough for so many reasons. Not only did I have to adjust to a new life without alcohol, I also had to heal from two decades of heavy drinking. However, after my withdrawal from alcohol subsided, I was faced with an unexpected contingency I was not prepared for: boredom. Amongst other symptoms […]
The first time someone said I was acting like a dry drunk, I almost fell out of my chair. “How dare they, my recovery is perfect!” I thought. But then I realized that they weren’t insulting me — they were simply calling my attention to the fact that I was relying on old coping mechanisms and behaviors.
As a latchkey kid in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, I grew up in front of a television set. Sitcoms and after-school specials informed my understanding of many adult “real world” topics, including addiction. So when I first came to the realization that I might have a drinking problem (all the way back in […]
If you’ve been fortunate enough to catch a pink cloud, ride it as long as you can. It’s a phenomenon that happens to some people in early recovery that makes them feel exhilarated, euphoric, and full of optimism about their sobriety. There’s no real scientific study on the pink cloud, so we don’t know why […]