After years of taking opiates whilst working as a medical doctor, Paul has become a new person through residential treatment, the 12-step programme, and a good deal of work on himself. (11,760 words)
Learning About Me: Paul
May 10, 2021 by
In a previous series of blogs starting here, I have emphasised that the effects of a psychoactive drug are not just dependent on its biochemical actions in the brain. They are related to the drug, set (person) and setting (social context). The problems that arise from drug-taking, such as addiction and dependence, are not just related to the drug—it’s drug, set and setting. And the same is true of recovery.
In an earlier blog, I revealed how Brad had been told by a colleague that his drinking problem was not just due to alcohol. It was about him. In this blog, I’ll use the words of Paul to describe how he learnt the same truth in relation to his drug problem, a drug problem that was a ‘little’ different to what most people experience.
Some Magical Words About Recovery: Tim
April 12, 2021 by
I’d like you to ‘meet’ Tim, a medical doctor who found recovery from addiction. He is one of the Storytellers in my new book Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction. In the seven-year update to his original Story, ‘Doctor in Recovery’, Tim wrote some magical words about recovery that I include below. But first, a brief summary of Tim’s original story, using some of his sentences.
‘Growing up in an alcoholic home is a challenge for any child and I was no different. I found school a haven from the unpredictability of my home life. I started to drink to deal with the stresses of work after medical school. Over time, my drinking became worse and worse.’
One morning, as I took the cornflakes and a bottle of whiskey off a shelf together, I thought, ‘This isn’t quite right.’ My first experience of treatment was medical-based—it had prescriptions, but lacked hope! I experienced terrible anxiety and cravings. After relapsing, I made the ‘discovery’ that opiates abolish craving for alcohol… and developed an opiate addiction as well.
‘Why Don’t They Know? A Letter to My Doctor’ by Lisa D.
October 2, 2014 by
Western societies today are drugging large numbers of people into illness. And I don’t mean street drugs you get from dealers.
I mean the prescription drugs you get from your doctor, the ones promoted and pushed by drug companies. The ones you think are going to help you overcome your problems. Instead, many people find they cause them problems, problems they take years overcoming.
If you want to know more about this, then you must visit Mad In America. I’ve been using some of the stories and articles on this website on Recovery Stories. And they make fascinating – and concerning – reading.
Here’s a letter that Lisa D. wrote to her doctor about her prescription-drug induced problems (please note that I have shortened the length of some of the paragraphs, without altering the content).
