We’ve now been in a pandemic for over a year. It’s been a hard time for a lot of people. Still, there are things to take from this experience—not to brush aside what we’ve been through, but to provide a blueprint for the future. When I think back to my early sobriety in 2015, I…
Musician Eric Clapton has been sober for over three decades. He went into addiction treatment for the second time in 1987, ten years after releasing a cover of the song “Cocaine” and a year after his son Conor was born. He’s been sober ever since. Clapton’s addiction was to cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. At one…
In our society, we tend to brush over nuances and keep up appearances. You may feel like your life was a mess in active addiction, and you should make up for it by being buttoned-up in sobriety. But recovery is a process of healing, and healing isn’t neat and tidy. There are ups and downs,…
We are fortunate to live in a world in which medical advances have resulted in the prevention and cure of numerous diseases, the ability to alleviate crippling symptoms through medication, and a greater understanding of the human body and mind than at any other time in history. Millions of Americans responsibly take medications that their…
You might have heard that addiction changes the brain—but can the brain recover after you remove substances? The rate and level at which it recovers depends on the substance you used, the severity of your use, the length of time you were in active addiction, your age, and a number of other factors. However, the…
“Can people really change?” is a common question—and that “really” seems to imply we can’t. Sayings like “a zebra never changes its stripes” or “a leopard never changes its spots” reinforce this idea. But people often come at this question from a narrow angle: can this person change in the way I want them to?…
To some, an addiction treatment center can be a lifeline. Others may call it their doorway to recovery. For the family and friends of people suffering from a substance use disorder such as alcoholism or addiction to prescription drugs, an addiction treatment center is where they have hope to get their loved one back. Simply…
In March, the actor Tim Allen—best known for his role on the show Home Improvement—reached 23 years sober. Allen has seen lots of success in his career, but it didn’t always seem like his life would take this path. Before he became famous, Allen spent two and a half years in federal prison for cocaine…
When looking for addiction treatment centers to get help with an alcohol or drug use disorder, it can feel genuinely overwhelming. You are already feeling stressed. Whether you are looking on your own behalf or for someone you care about, the most pressing issue is to find the right alcohol or drug treatment center for…
What led you to get sober? The Drug Enforcement Administration, basically. I’d been drinking and drugging for about 30 years. The last two years, I was using crystal meth heavily. I had a $500 a day habit, and to keep that going I had to sell a lot of drugs. Eventually the DEA put me…