A Brief Primer on Recovery

Last week I wrapped up my anniversary post with this simple list of observations about addiction and mental health:

It’s very complicated.

Hopefully, we have moved past the simplistic idea that addiction is just a choice, it is, but it is so much more than that. At some point, it rewires the brain in ways that show up as chronic disease. It’s a habit. It’s an act of worship. It’s an effort to self-correct and survive. It’s an attempt at self-repair that fails. I can keep going on.

There are two great definitions of addiction. One is more clinical, “Addiction is a bio-psycho-social disorder which demonstrates itself in any behavior that a person enjoys or finds relief in and therefore craves in the short term. This behavior results in negative consequences in the long term, yet the individual doesn’t give up the behavior despite those negative consequences.”

The other is more practical, “Addiction happens when a specific need collides with a certain experience.” See the next observation to learn why we can have hope.

It can be overcome.

The Brain is an amazing organ and can overcome even the most adverse circumstances. Relating to addiction a characteristic of the brain called “Neuroplasticity” is a God send. Re-Wire | We Chose Love explains how you can maximize this characteristic in your recovery.

Two great books about how the brain learns and un learns are Hijacked Brains: The Experience and Science of Chronic Addiction by Henrietta Robin Barnes. Another is by Maia Szalavitz called “Unbroken Brain”.

You will need the help of people who really care.

Your addicted loved one needs to know you care.

I have never seen this more dramatically revealed than in a mini documentary called “Alli and Johnny” by CNN.

Two books that are very insightful about addiction are by Johann Hari. The first is “Chasing the Scream”. The Second is Lost Connections.

It gets easier the further down the road you go.

We can verify this because there are people all around us who are winning the fight to recovery. You can too. A big part of this is retraining the brain, thanks to neuroplasticity, and building healthy and better-coping skills to navigate life. The post “Snap-back” explains this process well.

 

Recovery is better than whatever you think you have now.

It is shocking how far addiction can take people, and sadly, how much abuse a human being can inflict on their own bodies, Few books capture this more clearly than “Chasing the Scream” by Johann Hari and the heart wrenching book by Gabor Mate:  “In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts”

Losing you is hard on the ones that matter. The ones that love you!

I do not think any statement better demonstrates this than a quote from the book “Terry:: My Daughter’s Life-and-Death Struggle with Alcoholism”.  I read the book shortly after Lauren passed away. I was profound, very helpful, and for me, painful and healing at the same time.

Two powerful quotes from the book are:

“Eleanor and I took off for the University of Innsbruck, Austria, where I was a guest lecturer for the next six weeks. Terry returned to Madison with her daughters. We had very little contact with her during the summer and early fall. Indeed, we had decided—with the encouragement of a counselor—that it might be best for both Terry and for us not to be deeply involved for a time. There has not been a day since Terry’s death that I have not anguished over our decision. I regret every phone call not made, every letter not written, every missed opportunity to be with her and to share her pain.”  I am grateful we made the choice to work at supporting LaLa while doing the best we could to not enable her.

The second quotes speaks to what I said above, I am reminded of it every day: “Alcoholics and Drug addicts are hard to live with, but they are much harder to live without.”

Recovery is a winnable battle that is worth the investment to get well. Below is a longer list of some very helpful books.

 

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Several Books that will expand your thinking about addiction:

Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice – Kent Dunnington

Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave – Edward T. Welch

Beautiful Boy: A Fathers Journey Through His Sons Addiction – David Sheff

Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change – Jeffrey Foote

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs – Johann Hari

Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending Americas Greatest Tragedy – David Sheff

Darkness Is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness – Kathryn Greene-McCreight

Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening – Robert Meyer

Highjacked Brains: The Experience and Science of Chronic Addiction – Henrietta Robin Barnes

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction – Gabor Mate

Inside Rehab: The Surprising Truth About Addiction Treatment and How to Get Help That Works – Anne Fletcher

Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Anything Fast – Michael Pantelon

Lost Connections – Johann Hari                                                       

Safety in Numbers: From 56 to 221 Pounds, My Battle With Eating Disorders – Brittany Burgunder

The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves – Curt Thompson

Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores – Diane Langburg

Terry: My Daughters Life and Death Struggle with Alcoholism – George McGovern

Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Churches Mission – Amy Simpson

Unbroken Brain: The Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction – Maia Szalavitz