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Addiction is often described as a family disease.

“Addiction is a family disease that stresses the family to the breaking point, impacts the stability of the home, the family’s unity, mental health, physical health, finances, and overall family dynamics,” warns the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) on their website. “Living with addiction can put family members under unusual stress. Normal routines are constantly being interrupted by unexpected or even frightening kinds of experiences that are part of living with alcohol and drug use.”

In a recent webinar for Harmony Foundation, Lindsey Chadwick, manager of the children’s program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Center, explained how addiction affects the children in the family of the addicted person and what therapists can do to help children heal from the trauma of addiction.

Addiction has a high probability of perpetuating itself: a troubling 75 percent of adults in treatment grew up with addiction in their families, explained Chadwick. Children living through abuse, violence, and other traumatic events such as parental substance misuse often suffer the ill effects of what are known as “adverse childhood experiences” for the rest of their lives.

An additional risk factor is a possible genetic disposition. According to NCADD, “genetics make up 50 percent of the risk for alcohol and drug dependence.”

Supporting children traumatized by addiction isn’t easy. They often find creative ways to suppress their trauma. Many of them internalize addiction expert Claudia Black’s family rules of addiction: don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel. One way of breaking through that wall of denial is drawing. Often it’s easier for children to draw what they cannot verbalize. Chadwick presented three examples during the webinar.

The first image, entitled “Fighting” showed a profoundly sad child with the parents arguing in the hallway. The prevailing colors are cobalt blue and gray. The second image, called “Broken Promises” depicted a child eagerly waiting for their dad to show up while the father is shown injecting drugs in another room. The third picture, showing awake, illustrated the attempt of a traumatized child to deal with the death of a parent. The drawings—harrowing examples of what children affected by substance misuse are going through—can serve as a starting point in therapy.

Another indicator can be observing the role the child has assumed in the family dynamic. According to addiction educator Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse, the co-founder of the National Association of Children of Alcoholics (NACOA), kids often try to manage the situation by assuming certain roles in the family, such as the “family hero” who is trying to make everyone in the family look good, the “caregiver” who tries to keep everyone in the family happy, the “mascot” or “jester” who uses humor to keep things on a superficial level to protect others and themselves from feeling the painful truth of the addiction, or the “lost child” who just checks out emotionally.

Unfortunately, these coping mechanisms do not help process the trauma but mainly suppress it in unhealthy ways. Therapists need to recognize these survival modes and turn them into the support that helps children thrive. Prevention research suggests that children in families with addiction need three critical things, explained Chadwick: age-appropriate information, skill-building, and attachments to safe adults.

They need to understand that addiction is a disease and that the situation in the family is not their fault. They need to understand that people with addiction are not bad people although they sometimes do bad things. Children need to realize that they are not alone and that it’s okay to talk about their feelings.

It’s equally important to listen to the children to find out how addiction has affected them and help them realize there are people who understand what they are going through. In this case, “listening” includes talking, drawing, playing, and the support of the group.

Finally, Chadwick emphasized the important function of playing. It’s how children do self-care and it helps create safety. Children impacted by addiction need to attach to safe people and a safe place to cope with the trauma. And as Chadwick put it, it’s a child’s number one job to have fun!

Harmony Foundation is one of the longest-running and most successful addiction treatment programs in the world. If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (866) 686-7867 to get the help needed as soon as possible. Our experienced staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A new movement was taking shape in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic:

health-conscious “sober curious” people in fashionable localities were increasingly asking for non-alcoholic craft beers and cocktails. That trend took a serious hit during the pandemic but many people are nevertheless aware of how unhealthy heavy drinking really is. “Many are abstaining for their health. But it can be harder to commit to swearing off pinot noir if you’re not quitting for a specific reason with a duration in mind. Enter: Sober October,” wrote Molly Longman last year.
 
Like its New Year’s resolution cousin Dry January, Sober October has participants commit to not drinking any alcohol for a month.
 
The rules are pretty straightforward. Obviously, you don’t drink any alcohol. But many people also raise money for charities as they abstain—which can fortify their motivation not to give up before the month is up. Others are doing Sober October just for fun and their health, but not for charity. Some people expand the challenge beyond alcohol, giving up other psychoactive substances such as marijuana as well, or are committing to not using social media. Others stick to just alcohol.
 
Both campaigns may function as a kind of reflection on how important alcohol has become in one’s life. Can you actually go a month without alcohol? And if not, WHY? Dry January and Sober October let people “sample sobriety” without being overwhelmed by any notion of quitting alcohol for good.
 
Some people are so used to drinking on a daily basis that they may ask “What can I do instead of drinking?” Answer: there are lots of much healthier options. The British newspaper The Guardian offered “17 ways to unwind after a stressful day—without hitting the booze” for last year’s Sober October—among them reading, exercising, and taking up a hobby.
 
Even a short break from alcohol can make a difference for your well-being. A British study found that “abstaining from booze for a month – sees people regaining control of their drinking, having more energy, better skin and losing weight. They also report drinking less months later.” 80 percent of participants felt more in control of their drinking; 71 percent said they slept better, 58 percent lost weight, and 54 percent had better skin.
 
A sober period can be an opportunity for people to realize that there is too much focus on drinking alcohol in their lives and that alcohol use is having too much of a negative impact on their relationships and their self-growth.
 
If alcohol is often taken in larger amounts or over longer periods than was intended and if there have been unsuccessful efforts to cut back, Sober October can become the perfect opportunity to reflect on what that means in a person’s life. Alcohol addiction is a progressive disease that often starts with drinking more than was intended and repeatedly failing to cut back. The real reason for the continued alcohol use is frequently an attempt to self-medicate intense stress and emotional pain.
 
However, relieving any kind of stress with copious amounts of alcohol is a dangerous proposition. “Excessive alcohol use has immediate effects that increase the risk of many harmful health conditions,” warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems” including alcohol use disorder (AUD).
 
As we recently reported on this blog, new research showed that consuming alcohol increases the risk of getting more cancers than previously thought. A 2018 study published in the BMJ concluded that “abstinence from alcohol in moderate-heavy drinkers improves insulin resistance, weight, BP, and cancer-related growth factors. These data support an independent association of alcohol consumption with cancer risk and suggest an increased risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.”
 
And unhealthy alcohol use can lead to addiction, of course. A severe alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol misuse involving—among other criteria—being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it results in negative consequences, having to drink more to get the same effect, or experiencing withdrawal symptoms when not drinking.
 
Recovery from alcohol addiction is more than just giving up drinking, though. It is a comprehensive lifestyle change built on the solid foundation of a purposeful life free from addictive substances and behaviors.
 
Harmony Foundation is one of the longest-running and most successful addiction treatment centers in the world. Our holistic approach promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, empowering clients to embark upon a lifelong journey of recovery. If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (970) 432-8075 to get the help needed as soon as possible.

Recovery Month is a national observance held every September to educate Americans that substance misuse treatment and mental health services can enable those with a mental and/or substance use disorder to live a healthy and rewarding life.

Recovery Month celebrates the gains made by those in recovery, just as we celebrate health improvements made by those who are managing other health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease. This observance reinforces the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, prevention works, that evidence-based treatment is effective, and people can and do recover from addiction.

Each year, Recovery Month selects a new theme to spread the message and share success stories of treatment and recovery. Last year’s theme was “Celebrating Connections,” this year, the Recovery Month observance will work “to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the emergence of a strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and community members across the nation who make recovery in all its forms possible,” writes the National Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) on their Recovery Month page. 

This year’s Recovery Month theme, “Recovery is For Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community,” reminds people in recovery and those who support them that no one is alone in their recovery journey. Everyone’s journey is different, but we are all in this together. “Recovery Month will continue to educate others about substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders, the effectiveness of treatment and recovery services, and that recovery is possible,” writes NAADAC. “All of us, from celebrities and sports figures to our co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family members, throughout our lives have experienced peaks and valleys, both big and small. But with strength, support, and hope from the people we love, we are resilient.”

New Host This Year

Previously, Recovery Month was sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In June 2020, SAMHSA announced its decision to retire its annual convening of Recovery Month stakeholders as well as the development of future themes and assets, and the management of the events calendar.

Faces & Voices of Recovery has created a new Recovery Month website hosting all Recovery Month events and assets that make this celebration possible. You can download shareable graphics and more on that website. 

Finally, you, too, can be part of it: What’s happening for #recoverymonth in your community? Once an event takes place, share photos and event information for all to see! Once uploaded, all photos undergo a brief review and then could be published here!

Harmony Foundation has been part of the recovery community for decades. We are one of the longest-running and most successful addiction treatment centers in the world. If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (866) 686-7867 to get the help needed as soon as possible.

Some 16 million Americans are estimated to suffer from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Many of them don’t receive the help they need.

If left untreated, alcohol misuse can quickly spiral out of control. When alcohol use begins to have a negative impact on a person’s health and relationships, it may be diagnosed as an alcohol use disorder. Recognizing the warning signs of alcohol misuse and getting appropriate treatment can make a significant difference in someone’s recovery process.

A short questionnaire such as CAGE can help determine if you should be concerned about your alcohol consumption. CAGE is an acronym with each letter representing one of the four questionnaire questions:

Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?
Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover (eye-opener)?

Two or more ‘yes’ answers are considered clinically significant, indicating an alcohol problem.

The more traditional “Jellinek Curve,” created by E. Morton Jellinek in the 1950s is a parabola representing several stages of alcohol addiction and recovery. Jellinek coined the term “disease concept of alcoholism,” an important step toward the medicalization of alcohol misuse away from simply regarding it as moral turpitude. His research demonstrated that alcohol addiction is a pernicious disease progressing through several distinct phases.

In the initial “pre-alcoholic” stage people drink to feel better about themselves, to dull their pain, or to eliminate anxiety and depression. In stage 2, alcohol misuse escalates to blackout experiences, and efforts to hide the increasing alcohol consumption.

In the “middle alcoholic” third stage, family members and friends begin to worry about the alcohol misuse and may also notice physical signs such as facial redness, weight gain or loss, sluggishness, or stomach bloating. The person struggling with alcohol use may now skip work, forget or ignore important tasks, and become irritated easily.

Stage 4 corresponds to a severe alcohol use disorder. Drinking has become the total focus of all activities, even at the expense of the person’s livelihood, health, and relationships. Tolerance for large amounts of alcohol is considerable and abstaining from alcohol may result in withdrawal symptoms. Any attempt to stop using without help at this late stage may result in tremors or hallucinations (delirium tremens) and could induce seizures.

Since 2013, physicians and addiction professionals have also been using eleven criteria for alcohol use disorder listed in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5). The eleven symptoms also indicate a progression, starting with the perception of drinking too much and failed attempts to cut back (1–2), escalating to neglect, recklessness, and sickness (7–9), and culminating in (substance) tolerance and withdrawal symptoms (10–11).

The DSM-5 describes several levels of severity for alcohol misuse:
mild AUD – the presence of 2 to 3 symptoms
moderate AUD – the presence of 4 to 5 symptoms
severe ­AUD – the presence of 6 or more symptoms

At the vertex of the Jellinek parabola we find the vicious cycle of continuing “obsessive drinking,” but its right arm represents recovery from addiction, beginning with an “honest desire for help” and learning that “alcoholism is an illness.”

Recovery does not have to wait for this low point, though. The honest desire to change can begin at any level and many treatment providers—including Harmony—offer different levels of care for the respective degrees of severity.

While a severe alcohol use disorder may require medically supervised detoxification and residential treatment, earlier stages of the disease may well be reversed in an intensive outpatient program. Alcohol misuse is often driven by underlying mental health issues such as trauma, anxiety, and depression. Any such co-occurring conditions need to be addressed in a comprehensive treatment approach at any level.

Levels of care can also function in a step-down fashion. A severe AUD may first require around-the-clock residential treatment, followed by partial hospitalization, before eventually stepping down to an intensive outpatient program (IOP). There is also continuous 12-Step facilitation and alumni support. Delaying necessary treatment is never a good option. The earlier alcohol misuse is caught and halted, the better the chance of a full recovery.

Addiction to alcohol is a serious condition that requires comprehensive treatment. If the AUD is severe and the alcohol misuse has been going on for a long time, withdrawal symptoms—such as delirium tremens—can become life-threatening. Substance addiction is a chronic disease that will not simply go away and relapse is not uncommon, simply requiring further treatment.

Harmony Foundation is one of the longest-running and most successful addiction treatment centers in the world. If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (970) 432-8075 to get the help needed as soon as possible. Our experienced staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The month of June saw a bleak anniversary. June 17 marked exactly 50 years since President Nixon designated drugs as “America’s public enemy number one” in a special message to Congress, launching the so-called “war on drugs,” now widely perceived as an ineffective if not counterproductive weapon in the battle against addiction.

The war on drugs was and still is a US-led global campaign of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade. The initiative considers substance misuse primarily a criminal activity and consequently focuses on interdiction with tactics that are meant to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal psychoactive drugs—with little regard for the actual reasons why Americans misuse drugs and alcohol in the first place.

As this harsh military and law enforcement approach to substance misuse and addiction hit the half-century milestone, a growing number of lawmakers, public health experts, and community leaders in the US were asking what it has really achieved.

In many parts of the US, some of the more drastic policies implemented during the war on drugs are scaled back or scrapped altogether. Last year, Oregon voters decriminalized possession of small amounts of almost all illicit drugs, taking a major step away from the arrest, charge, and jail model for possession that has been a centerpiece of the war on drugs.>

Decriminalization has been tried overseas—with great success. In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the consumption of all drugs.  As TIME magazine reported in 2018, the drug-related death rate in Portugal plummeted to “five times lower than the EU average and stands at one-fiftieth of the United States. Its rate of HIV infection dropped from 104.2 new cases per million in 2000 to 4.2 cases per million in 2015.”

Most importantly, drug use declined overall among the 15–24-year-old population, the cohort most at risk of initiating dangerous drug misuse. Before decriminalization, an estimated one percent of the entire Portuguese population was addicted to heroin and the country had the highest rate of HIV infection in the European Union. In Latin America, Uruguay has also pursued a very liberal policy on drug use in recent years.

US Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO) along with the Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit organization seeking to advance policies that “reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition” are now seeking a similar approach for the United States.

The Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA) introduced by Coleman and Bush in June, calls for the federal government “to refocus its strategies for addressing substance use” as a health issue, not a criminal issue. The DPRA would end criminal penalties for drug possession at the federal level, shift the regulatory authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), expunge records and provide for resentencing, and reinvest in alternative health-centered approaches. The bill would also eliminate many of the life-long consequences associated with drug convictions, including the denial of employment, public benefits, immigration status, drivers’ licenses, and voting rights.

“Every 23 seconds, a person’s life is ruined for simply possessing drugs. Drug possession remains the most arrested offense in the United States despite the well-known fact that drug criminalization does nothing to help communities, it ruins them. It tears families apart and causes trauma that can be felt for generations,” said Queen Adesuyi, Policy Manager for the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance.

Most experts no longer regard addiction to alcohol and drugs as criminal behavior based on character flaws but as a serious chronic disease. For example, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.”

The threat of punishment is ineffective because, by definition, people with addiction are compelled to repeat the harmful behavior despite serious negative consequences. Most people with a severe substance use disorder (SUD) are desperately trying to numb emotional pain—caused by trauma, depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions—by engaging in substance misuse and then are trapped in an addiction cycle that only makes that pain worse.

A severe SUD requires holistic treatment on multiple levels, not incarceration. Recovering from this disease involves patients giving up their maladaptive coping mechanisms—drugs and alcohol—and substitute them with healthy coping skills.

Harmony Foundation is a nonprofit alcohol and drug addiction recovery program that promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual healing, empowering our clients to embark upon the lifelong journey of recovery.

If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (866) 686-7867 to get the help needed as soon as possible. Our experienced staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.