As the year draws to a close and the holiday season rapidly approaches, it's easy to feel like time has slipped through our fingers. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were welcoming September?
Now, everywhere we turn, we're reminded of the joy and warmth that the holiday season is supposed to bring. Advertisements paint a picture of perfect families, generous giving, and festive cheer. But the reality is often far from this idealized image.
This year, like the last, and the one before, has been … [Read more...] about Navigating Addiction
During the Festive Season
Addiction
Navigating Addiction
The Vicious Cycle of Low Self-Respect
Self-respect is an ‘inside job’ – we develop it by doing the next right thing for ourselves and then the next right thing after that. I can’t give you your self-respect and you can’t give me mine. But we can encourage each other to take the best care of ourselves that we can, because active addiction and self-respect cannot coexist. I know which one I choose today – how about you? … [Read more...] about The Vicious Cycle of Low Self-Respect
Overdosing on the Job? Naloxone to the Rescue! Part Two
Enabling vs. Helping My simple definition of enabling is when we do for others what they can – and indeed should – be doing for themselves. In my view, what’s happening on some of these worksites is enabling at its worst. At a deeper level, addicts know exactly what they’re doing – they know they’re crippling their own lives and continually hurting the people who love them. Show me an addict who doesn’t know that they now risk dying every time they use because of the toxic supply, and I’ll show … [Read more...] about Overdosing on the Job? Naloxone to the Rescue! Part Two
Overdosing on the Job? Naloxone to the Rescue! Part One
In the last few months, I have been posting articles about addiction that have come straight from the news. I am deeply worried about some of the things we’ve been hearing about, and most of them have had a harm-reduction slant, rather than a full-recovery perspective. There are many approaches to addiction counselling and recovery – many different viewpoints about what might create the best results. I’m going to share mine here. My perspective is one that comes from lived experience. As an … [Read more...] about Overdosing on the Job? Naloxone to the Rescue! Part One
Covid, Addiction – and You: You’re Not Alone
Just like most of us these days, I’ve been getting email after email – from all the lists I’ve ever been a part of and from many I never signed up for – all about the coronavirus – complete with reminders to wash our hands and maintain social distancing. This article will not tell you to wash your hands – because you already know that. It will not tell you to self-isolate or to stay 6’ from each other – because you know that too. What I do want to talk about today is what it’s like to have an … [Read more...] about Covid, Addiction – and You: You’re Not Alone