Recovery Stories is committed to helping individuals and families recover from addiction and mental health problems

“Creating hope, understanding and a sense of belonging”

David's Latest Blog Posts

New Recovery Voices: Tim Leighton & Gary Rutherford (April 15, 2024)
My Forthcoming UK Trip (April 11, 2024)
My Journey: From Brain Chemicals to Human Connection (March 2, 2024)
Ten Most Viewed Posts, 2023 (December 31, 2023)
Reflections on, and Quotes from, Noreen Oliver MBE (RIP) (December 30, 2023)
An Extraordinary Recovery Champion: Noreen Oliver RIP (December 20, 2023)
My Apologies (December 20, 2023)
Recovery Voices: Our First Two Weeks (October 9, 2023)
The Recovery Walk in Hull 2023: Carl’s Story (October 2, 2023)
Huseyin Djemil, Part 2 (September 26, 2023)
Recovery Voices Launched Today (September 25, 2023)
Apology and What’s Coming Next Month (August 13, 2023)
Powerlessness: Wendy Dossett (August 1, 2023)
Inspired by Natalie’s Story (July 31, 2023)
Gifts of Knowledge That Recovering People Can Bestow: Bill White (July 29, 2023)
An Exciting 24 Hours, Recovery-Wise (July 28, 2023)
My Second Recovery Voices Interview With Wulf Livingston (July 27, 2023)
My Second Interview With James Deakin of North Wales Recovery Communities (July 11, 2023)

Random Content Selection

Random Story

Prologue

Describes the author’s story, and his development of the grassroots initiative Wired In; the eBook Our Recovery Stories; the nature of substance use problems; changing behaviour and recovery, and the nature of addiction treatment. (4,024 words)

Random Article

Should Recreational Drug Use Be Criminalised?

Douglas Husack provides a cogent analysis of the drug laws debate, focusing on the various reasons that prohibitionists posit for criminalising drug use, as well as the various disadvantages of prohibition. (1,992 words)

Random Film

How Childhood Trauma Can Make You A Sick Adult | Big Think | Big Think

Dr. Vincent Felitti, the co-founder of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, details the connection between childhood trauma and negative health outcomes in adulthood. Big Think. [7’15”]

Random Resource

Trauma and Healing

Links to 12 blog posts from The Carrolup Story website that I developed with John Stanton. These blog posts consider work by world-leading experts, including Gabor Maté, Vincent Felitti, Judith Herman, Bessel van Der Kolk, James Gordon and Judy Atkinson. Bruce Perry’s work is considered in another Resource.

Random Healing

Addiction and Psychological Pain

During the many years I spent working in the addiction and mental health field, first as a neuroscientist and later helping empower people to facilitate their recovery (healing), I rarely heard the word ‘trauma’ being used. Few practitioners I met mentioned that the person with the substance use problem might be self-medicating to ameliorate psychological […]