The stigmatization of addition is still rife. Not just in the general public domain but also with individuals who have an addiction. The misconception of addiction which carries huge amounts of shame often is a barrier to becoming better. A large part of addiction...

Addiction robs one of many things, tangible and material things and intangible like our morality, value boundaries, hope and purpose. I have heard many individuals in active addiction saying that they do not know who they are. Their identity has been slowly eroded by...

One of the criteria for addiction is to continue to use a drug/behaviour of choice despite negative consequences. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of addiction for a family member/loved ones to witness. It defies logic and intrinsic survival instincts. Even...

The denial component of the disease of addiction is primarily regarding the amount of control over the consumption of the substance or behaviour of choice. An example of this is someone who understands that they do not have control over the amount and frequency of...

There is a theory that for one to be truly open for recovery from an addiction, one needs to hit rock bottom first. There has also been a concerted effort made into raising the awareness of the trajectory of addiction. Addiction is a progressive disease which means...

Loss of control/impaired control over the consumption of mind and mood-altering substances or behaviours are at the root of the addiction. This suggests that the choice to use is removed. This distinguishes individuals with the disease of addiction from...

At the core of addiction is the phenomena of loss of/ impaired control over the consumption of mind and mood-altering substances or mind and mind-altering behaviour. No one would like to admit that some aspect of their behaviour is out of control. Thus the process of...

Addiction is described as a chronic relapsing condition and we see this in the majority of people who are attempting abstinence from their drug of choice. Although relapse is not inevitable when attempting abstinence, it is very common. Like anything, this reality can...

I am reminded daily about the misconceptions out there with regards to addiction. Firstly the preconceived ideas about what addiction is and then what the solution is for addiction. Today ill focus on some of the misconceptions about the solution. There seems to be a...

Addiction is a progressive and degenerative disease. It becomes worst over time. I have observed this progression in individuals who have remained in active addiction for many years, and I have come into contact with, at different times. They often express that their...

Families and loved-ones of addicts and alcoholics are shocked when they become aware of the extent of the addicts using and the adverse consequences thereof. This is usually due to the addict concealing of the using and consequences, from those around them. An...

The majority of people who use alcohol and mood or mind-altering substances are what we call recreational users. They are capable of using these substances with control. There is another cohort of people who use substances, who are referred to as heavy user's. There...

I have heard many reasons why people started using mind-and-mood-altering substances. They range from escaping reality, coping with trauma, social lubricant, managing anxiety, managing stress, suppressing or expressing emotions, excitement, etc. These reasons are all...

It is one of the most painful experiences to watch a loved one, child, sibling or parent slowly kill themselves through there addiction to drugs and alcohol. One cannot help but think whether I have caused this or whether I'm doing enough to stop it. These thoughts...

Ambivalence is the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something. During this state, it is impossible to make a decision. We find that addicts in active addiction are in a state of ambivalence. The ambivalence is about whether they have a...

In this day and age, the stigmatization of mental illness is still prevalent. This includes the illness of addiction. Some of the attitudes towards addiction e.g. Addicts are weak, lazy, have no morals, criminals and are fundamentally bad people to name a few. To add...

Addiction is a progressive disease with different degrees of severity. The trajectory of severity depends on various factors, e.g. the substance and comorbid disorders etc. Often people with a moderate level of severity of a substance use disorder, experience adverse...

Behavioural (Process) additions are as destructive as an addiction to a substance. Examples of the behavioural addictions are Gambling, Gaming, Pornography, Sex and Love, Codependency, Shopping and Social Media. The behavioural addictions are complex and sometimes...

The general public has their perception of what addiction looks like. People with addiction who are in denial also have a misconception what addiction looks like, usually not like them. Some of these misconceptions are, people who have lost everything, homeless, the...

One of the methods addicts use to manipulate their significant others is though splitting the alliance these people are making against the addict's addiction. The strategy involves turning the significant others against each other to take the focus off the addict and...

We all have core beliefs formulated from our past experiences, passed on to us by our family system, and other factors from the past. Most of the time these beliefs are part of our value system and result in effective behaviour with positive results. However,...

Addiction has been described as a disease which tells you that you do not have the disease. This means that part of having the disease is believing that you do not have it. This is referred to as denial or in 12 step philosophy as "insanity". The reference to insanity...

More and more we experiencing individuals who have concurrent addictions. This means that they have several drug of choices, often the substances and or behaviours interact with each other. E.g a sex addiction will interact with certain substance like cocaine of...

As mentioned in my previous post, people close to the addict often do not have access to the support and help which the addict has when they enter into recovery. They often have to deal with unresolved trauma, hurt, fear, anger etc on their own. Loved ones developed...

Living in active addiction distorts our perception of reality. Being in denial of our addiction for years entrenches our denial system. Our thinking is geared to rationalizing our inappropriate behaviour and addiction. As we enter recovery and we develop a more...

We are more familiar with the denial system of the addict, which served to protect addicts against the painful reality of their lives. But we are less familiar with the denial which exists in the system the addict exists in e.g. the family. This is where the family...