September is National Recovery Month, a time for us at the Department of Human Services (DHS) to celebrate people’s journey to recovery from substance use disorder and mental illness. There’s a lot for us to celebrate. Most people who enter chemical dependency treatment complete it and show considerable improvement, according to the National Institute on …
When I was ten years old, my mother gave birth to my youngest sister. Afterwards, she was dead for about eight minutes until the doctors brought her back to life. I was there for my sister’s birth and there afterwards, through all the pain and frantic decisions my parents made following that day. When I …
Living with an emotionally distant, rageful father left Deanna Broaddus hungry for attention and solace. Men – lots of men – were her first recourse, and then alcohol and drugs. Except for a suicide attempt at age 18, Broaddus did well, working and pursuing a master’s degree so that she could follow her passion to …
Hope is often found in the unlikeliest of places or presents itself at the unlikeliest of moments. It doesn’t usually come with a fanfare or grand entrance, shouting “I am here! All is not lost! Make way, make way…” It is more likely to make its appearance when we truly believe we have nowhere else …
“Hope is passion for what is possible”. Søren Kierkegaard I am looking into the New Year with a hopeful gaze. As a glass-half-full person, I grab for ribbons of hope rather than entangle myself in webs of despair. Moving into a new year and a new decade I ask myself, what gives me hope? Greta Thunburg, …
It’s hard to imagine myself drinking or using again. It’s been so long since the last time I got drunk or high that it seems like an alternate life. The old me is a far away, distant memory. No more hangover headaches punishing me for the previous night. That past life of alcohol and drugs …
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, is announcing an initiative to support children and families affected by parental addiction. The initiative features Karli, a 6 ½-year-old Sesame Street Muppet whose mom is dealing with addiction. In new videos and other content, favorite Sesame Street characters like Elmo and Abby Cadabby learn what …
It’s all very simple. You set a goal for yourself; you determine how you’ll meet that goal, and then you follow some tried-and-true strategies that will help you reach it. Will power! That’s all you need. Determination. Discipline. Ah, if the road to recovery were only that easy. Anyone reading this article, anyone recovering from …
Hi, my name is John Tolo. Here is my recovery story. I grew up in the toughest ghetto in New England outside of New York City. My family was the only white family in a neighborhood that was mostly Black and Hispanic. We moved there in 1972, at a time when racial tensions were high. …
Addiction — of any kind — is often difficult for many people to understand. But gambling disorder, a compulsion in which no chemicals are actually ingested into the body, can be particularly confounding. Gambling disorder refers to the uncontrollable urge to gamble, despite serious personal consequences. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 grouped …
