For several years, I’ve been writing and speaking about what happens to the loved ones of people with addictions, and the roller-coaster chaos they often experience while desperately trying to ‘help’ the addicts in their lives. While there is now a lot of help out there for the addicts themselves – in the form of treatment centres, detoxes, and outpatient counselling—there is still, to date, little assistance offered to those who suffer right along with them. LOVED ONES OF ADDICTS STRUGGLE … [Read more...] about Addiction in the Family: Is Someone You Love Affected by Another Person’s Addiction?
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From Fantasy to Reality on Valentine’s Day: Loving Yourself with Healthy Self-Care
Ah, Valentine's Day, the fantasy-filled holiday that comes right after we've managed to get ourselves through another year of Christmas and New Year's Eve! Have you ever wondered whose bright idea it was to have those three holidays in a row? For many people, the 3-month period of December through February can be the most difficult and depressing time of the year, and this is especially true for those whose significant relationships are problematic. For people with addictive behaviours, as well … [Read more...] about From Fantasy to Reality on Valentine’s Day: Loving Yourself with Healthy Self-Care
Newtown, Connecticut: Let’s Stop the Insanity
I am outraged. We elect our political officials to work for us, don’t we? And yet – we basically just let them do whatever they want, in so many ways. WHY DOES THIS MADNESS CONTINUE? I’m not even talking about the fact that they bemoan this ‘fiscal cliff’ as the latest buzzword tells us – while they receive gigantic salaries that they absolutely DO NOT deserve. Or the fact that they hire limos and private planes and drink $25 glasses of orange juice on the dime of the rest of us, the … [Read more...] about Newtown, Connecticut: Let’s Stop the Insanity
Addicted to Christmas Chaos? Taming the Madness this Holiday Season
Has anyone else noticed how early the Christmas Chaos began this year? Here in Vancouver, a number of people became so disgruntled by the early onset of Christmas music in some of the stores—in the middle of October—that they took to Facebook en masse and complained. One store in particular, Shoppers Drug Mart, appeased the naysayers by stopping that music, but only after they drew their line in the sand, assuring us that the carols would resume again at the end of October. And they … [Read more...] about Addicted to Christmas Chaos? Taming the Madness this Holiday Season
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year–or is it…?
Ah, Christmas! The very thought of it brings to mind warm, loving families, cozy fireplaces, sugar plum fairies, and the very gifts you’ve been secretly hoping for. Definitely the most wonderful time of the year… Unless… Unless you are the loved one of someone with an addiction—and then that beautiful snapshot can look completely different. In truth, the Christmas season is the most difficult time of the year for people who love someone struggling with addiction. The anxiety that … [Read more...] about It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year–or is it…?
