THE ANSWERS WE SEEK
Let us say that you have been able to quit using what ever you have been abusing for a few months and sadly returned to the same abusive nature. Let us also surmise that the urge for your substance of choice was so strong that deep down you knew you would return to alcohol or drugs. You could not face the day to day challenges To cope, you thought you really needed the drugs or the drink to handle your personal problems. You really have the desire to quit for good but when you reach a certain point you just don't know what to do. You've looked for answers but you haven't been able to find the solution. You also know that each time you quit your return to the same situation will get worse. Past experiences have made you aware that each time you start using again it becomes harder to quit and you know that in some point of time you won't be able to quit. After making all these conclusions the question remains. "What am I going to do?
Well believe me! That's a good question? Because this is where a lot of abusers get stuck. And this is really what Total Recovery is all about.
Let us face the simple fact, quitting is the easiest part of recovery. Over a period of time you can become an expert on quitting. There are so many ways to quit that I could write a whole chapter on quitting. A few examples would be time spent in jail, time spent on a mental ward, time spent in detox or a recovery center. The people who still care about you might even tie you up and lock you in a room. These things will all get you off whatever you've been on at least for a short period of time. The solution is to keep you off. Again Total Recovery has the answers.
Addiction is so diverse that it effects all of us on different levels simultaneously. It really doesn't matter what substance or combination of substances you are taking. The chemicals that affected you are as unique as your thumbprint and as individual as your social security number.
The point is certain factors come into play, such as, Physical, Psychological and Spiritual. Your condition health wise has to be recognized and treated. Your mind has to be attended to by removing all negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts. Your spiritual attitude has to be re overhauled to except faith and the existence of God. What it all boils down to is a complete change of your thinking. Trust me, your mind can easily take care of all of the contributing factors.
The reason it is so complicated is because we as humans are complicate. That is why I treat the whole you, Body, Mind and Spirit. To attain Total Recovery you need a true desire to quit your substance abuse. Until you get serious about getting all of you fixed, you're likely to keep on having problems. You must be totally committed if my plan or any other plan will work.
As a total recovered alcoholic I can show you the way the rest is all up to you.
Alcohol research seeks to answer these questions: What are the genetic and molecular factors in the brain that determine these differences in how we respond to alcohol? How does alcohol change "hardwired" functions of the brain to cause physical dependence? What role do environmental factors play in alcohol dependence? Can we design interventions that disrupt these biologic and environmental pathways, to prevent alcohol's harmful effects? In each of these areas and others, we are making advances.
ALCOHOL IS UNIQUE
Submitted by the Counsel on National Alcohol Abuse
Among substances of abuse, alcohol is unique in a number of ways. It is a toxin that can cause damage to any tissue in the body. The resulting diseases range from certain kinds of cancer to liver and heart disease. Alcohol also is unique in the pervasiveness of its actions in the nervous system and the body's command center, through which alcohol exerts its behavioral effects. Rather than affecting only one or a few neurotransmitter systems - that is, the crucial chemical systems through which components of the nervous system communicate with each other and with the outside world - alcohol affects every neurotransmitter system that has been researched to date.
Alcohol also affects parts of the membrane that surrounds nerve cells, the "point of entry" for substances of abuse, that illegal drugs do not appear to affect. These factors greatly complicate the search for alcohol's sites of action in the nervous system
Another of the ways in which alcohol is unique among substances of abuse is that it is a food, since it has caloric value. The brain regulates appetite for food through (neuropathies), pieces of protein. Evidence suggests that, to some extent, craving for alcohol might be driven by the same or similar biochemical pathways that drive appetite.
BEHAVIORS OF ALCOHOLISM
Some people can drink lightly and occasionally and never develop problems with alcohol, while at the opposite end of the spectrum of alcohol use, it takes over people's lives and they become physically dependent on it. Between these two scenarios lie varying degrees of use and misuse. What accounts for these differences in how people respond to alcohol, differences that may decide whether or not it destroys their lives?
Environmental factors -- family and peers, for example -- play a role, but variations in our nervous systems constitute the largest part of the differences in our behaviors toward alcohol. It is here that alcohol affects a multitude of biologic events that determine our propensity for drinking and our vulnerability to the biologic process of becoming dependent on alcohol. Before we have taken our first drink, the genetic and molecular make-up of our brains influences, largely, how we will respond to alcohol once we are exposed to it.
Substances ultimately stimulate the same major reward pathways of the brain. However, various substances first stimulate other, different biochemical pathways before they "light up" these major reward pathways. Thus, substances differ in the mechanisms, and in the complexity of those mechanisms, that lead to reward. The routes of alcohol's actions appear to be particularly pervasive.
Alcohol's effects on the nervous system vary throughout the life-span, from the uniquely devastating damage it causes in the fetus, to disruptions in development of the adolescent brain, to the patterns of biologic risk and damage we see in adults. Among substances of abuse, alcohol is, by far, the greatest inducer of neuralgic and other birth defects.
THE ANSWER IS IN THE WAY YOU THINK
I suggest that you buy your own print copy of "Think and Grow Rich", a classic by Napoleon Hill, and constantly refer back to it. Believe me, it will change you're your life forever. As you read through it, you will start altering your perceptions and radically change the view you have about yourself, your abilities and your potential.
The book teaches "The thirteen steps to riches" according to Napoleon Hill.
It offers many questionnaires and practical exercises in addition to all the text. It gives you clear guide lines in how to set goals, reach them and how to make clear plans to follow. You are shown how you can realize your highest potential, and succeed in anything you set your mind to.
It also teaches you not to give up, and see all your mistakes as learning opportunities.
Napoleon Hill teaches that successful people never consider temporary failure as a permanent defeat.
Think And Grow Rich was first published in 1937,Since that time it has been used as a roadmap to achievement by countless individuals. I use Think And Grow Rich as a bible for my clients. It has helped to fulfill my goal to help people move out of the gray world and into the real world.
Hundreds of my clients using the steps in this book as a guide line have found peace and serenity and have returned to a normal alcohol and drug free life. Some of them have even grown rich. As a matter of fact, over 95% of my clients are enjoying success with no fear of a relapse.
Faith Can Move Mountains
Our mountains are our circumstances. We can change any circumstance in our lives. All we have to do is have enough faith to believe when we pray, God will move that mountain away.
We live in a world where the majority of the people don't except things by faith alone. You might say we are a society of "I'll believe it when I see it" kind of people. The "show me and I'll believe" attitude is for all intents and purposes a flaw because no creation is ever manifested before it's beginning. However this attitude is defended by many as being realistic. Which I believe is the exact opposite of faith. Faith sees the possibility of all things,. The world we live in depends on positive belief, hope, and faith to continue. Negativity breeds destruction. If we depended on cynicism and negative thought, we would self destruct and cease to exist. Vision and belief come first and action follows.
It is my belief that there is a quiescent (inactive or dormant) part of your brain that when aroused will give you the potential to achieve heights beyond your imagination . All we have to do is use the right key to unlock that power. I have several keys that we can use. However first I want you to consider the primary purpose for which you are, presumably, reading Total Sobriety. Naturally, it must be to acquire the ability to cure yourself and stay free of those monsters that have invaded your life. By following my instructions on auto suggestion and the subconscious mind, as I have laid out for you in the section titled Auto Suggestion, you can convince your mind to receive that for which you ask. It will act upon your suggestion which your subconscious mind passes back to you in the form of faith.
Faith is the state of mind which you may develop at will, after you have mastered all the steps in my text. . Because it is a state of mind which develops voluntarily, through applying and using these steps.
If Jimmy Carter did nothing else for us as a president, his statement on faith was quite profound.
Jimmy Carter:
I have one life and one chance to make it count for something . . . I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands -- this is not optional -- my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.
The hopeful truth remains that there is an eternal flame of the spirit in all of us and if we tend to it and give it nourishment we have the ability to create and change the world in a positive way
FAITH, LOVE and SEX, The most powerful of all human emotions. When faith is mixed with the vibration of thought the subconscious mind picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in prayer. (To allow wisdom to flow in freely from God's infinite intelligence is wise. Wisdom is the inflowing of the divine spirit itself.)
"I conceive prayer as the practice of the presence of God. The place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the act of admitting our need, adopting humility and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the believer. Prayer is my exercise for faith and hope. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the God. A prayer asking for God's healing power
Is it natural to be frightened when I'm all alone and my sickness has taken control of my mind, body and soul. I know I'm vulnerable to all the devils false promises. I wonder and worry; knowing that my power is gone that drugs and alcohol now have complete control. I feel so all alone, even with love ones near by. My addiction lies deep inside me, and no one knows how I feel. I forsook you, God, a long time ago and now I need you to help transform my fear into faith. Everything I am, body and soul, I'd gladly turn over to your hand, God. Oh please God forgive me and come back here by my side. I know I'll find the strength to confront all my fears. If only you will trust me and take me back into your care. AMEN
God is ALL, a power much greater than ours.
Father, I pray that what so ever is needed by the reader of this page that it might be granted... Thank you Lord for listening to me.
Amen...
Repetition, affirming instructions to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary developing faith. I'm sure you have heard the statement; "Faith can move mountains". Well, put your trust in me and faith will help set you free.
Denial
Emotional denial in the short term is a way to avoid hurting our self and people we care about. However it also keeps people from taking action when the overall happiness of their life calls for it. Denial is a reason people keep themselves trapped in unhappy relationships or life situations. They know the situation is not good, but not bad enough to force them into action.
Facing the brutal facts is important to eliminating unhappiness. Facing the truth means acknowledging that you pay an emotional price every day you don't take action. It also at worst hurts, and at best, keeps your family and friends in limbo every day nothing is done to make a change. This isn't a very high price when you're living for the moment. But each day adds up and in a short time you will be avoiding the issue from one moment in time to another. Each moment is a moment of slow dying death to your self and your relationships. Your opportunity for happiness will be squandered away in a series of moments struggling to find a solutions but still in denial. The pathway to real happiness has to include a means to deal with and eliminate unhappiness that shows up in our real life situations. Eliminating unhappiness means taking action. It is only by tackling the real issues of unhappiness that we have a chance to build a new and better life. Real honesty to face the brutal facts is more than putting on a happy face and acting happy. You have to overhaul your attitude and change your way of thinking.
Denial in addiction is chiefly difficult because the problem of the substance abuse plus denial and driving can be fatal for the abuser and others. In addiction, some of the health risks associated with denial include heart disease, lung and liver disease, overdosing and brain damage. Denial is an unconscious defense mechanism which is necessary for survival. None of us can survive without a certain amount of denial to keep us in balance. However denial in regards to addiction is taken to an extreme and becomes unhealthy in that it becomes an obstacle to recovery.
People have a tendency to go into denial when they need help. One reason for denial is that people generally do not like to feel helpless and out-of-control and for the most part this is true for the abuser. The addict will blame everything and everyone except their own substance abuse for their problems. Another reason is that the addict may be using drugs or alcohol to cover up or numb unpleasant feelings and by stripping away the denial the unpleasant feelings will come to the surface.
While not all substance abusers have suffered past traumas in their lives, an inordinate amount have. Child abuse or physical abuse is as ordinary in the abusive population as are other kinds of trauma such as those suffered in wartime, rape or victims of violent crimes. Substance abusers may be using and abusing to numb their uncomfortable feelings. All of these things will eventually need to be dealt with in order for full recovery to occur.
But, no matter what the cause is of the denial, the important part is that the addict confront the defense mechanism head on.. Many times an abuser will lose a job, friends or family relationships because of their addiction and start to face the denial because their lives truly have become unmanageable. The addict may be in denial at some times, and facing reality at others, so addiction in denial may be fluid especially in the beginning stages of recovery.
Imagine for a moment, that you could be well forever, not for just one miserable day after another. Imagine no more therapy, group counseling sessions or daily twelve step meetings. No more loneliness and depression. These are not idle dreams; they can be reality.
I have researched many so called miracle and magical treatment programs to insure my recovery and success. I have found that most all of them are good to a point, unfortunately, at least to my knowledge none that I researched offered total recovery. Alcoholism is a treatable disease and the most successful treatment is a strong desire to quit and the courage and willingness to endeavor where others have failed. It would be nice if there were a pill you could take to cure this disease, but no medical cure is available. Regardless of how someone is diagnosed as alcohol dependent or how they came to realize they have a serious drinking problem, the first step to treatment is a sincere desire to quit. Alcoholics who are pressured into treatment by social pressure or forced to quit by circumstances rarely succeed. It takes pure guts and determination as well as the power of positive thinking and a complete change of mental behavior to find success in any endeavor. Most alcoholics who seek help on their own volition have several relapses before they obtain long-term or total sobriety. Very few alcohol and drug abusers ever stay clean and free for ever.
