Alcohol

            What is recovery anyway?  What’s the difference between sobriety and recovery?  Both concepts may seem equally undesirable during the first phases of   help-seeking for addiction, alcoholism or other behaviors that no longer serve us.

Increasingly horses are becoming trauma healers through the fast growing profession of equine assisted therapy. Trauma responses are the human mind’s attempt to cope with the unimaginable. In some survivors, trauma can produce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with symptoms ranging from depression, anxiety, and drug and alcohol abuse to rage, dissociation and thoughts of suicide. These occur because the stress accompanying traumatic events demands coping strategies of the individual that far exceed their capabilities. Equine assisted therapy offers hope and encouragement for trauma survivors.

Addiction affects one in five people in the United States, putting families through a heartbreaking cycle of recovery and relapse. In his book, Free from Addiction, Creative Care’s founder Dr. Morteza Khaleghi empowers you to take positive steps toward recovery. Drawing on over 20 years of experience healing patients, Dr. Khaleghi’s insightful, nurturing and – above all – breakthrough book is geared to anyone looking for help with dependency. Dr. Khaleghi’s book also provides direction for spouses, parents, children, and friends, who bear the brunt of the damaging disease of addiction.

One of the hardest things in the world is watching a loved one destroy their lives with drug and alcohol addiction, which is why intervention is necessary. The addict does not realize, or refuses to realize that there is a problem. These individuals often lose the ability to ask for help and live with the delusion they can stop on their own and do not need help. The truth is that addicts and alcoholics are trapped in a powerful, chronic, progressive and often fatal illness that left untreated has serious consequences.

Arrests for driving under the influence during the holiday season don’t just happen to people with a drinking problem. As we inch closer to the start of a new calendar year, state and local law enforcement will begin to ratchet up the emphasis on DUI patrol and enforcement. For many years, law enforcement has allocated extra resources to patrolling the streets and highways in an attempt to crack down on holiday drunk driving. This year will be no different.

Individuals who drink excessive amounts of alcohol can experience a blackout, a period during which the drinker literally does not remember what has happened in the recent past. Blackouts can range from being mildly annoying to life threateningly dangerous. I found this out first hand on the day of my 23rd Birthday when I came out of an alcohol induced blackout and found myself in jail. I remember talking my sixth or seventh “birthday shot” but that’s the last thing that I can recall about that night.