GUIDE TO SOBRIETY DURING THE HOLIDAYS
If you think you are at risk for substance misuse, be realistic about how the holidays can increase your anxiety and stress and lead to dangerous behavior
SOBRIETY, DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE
Depression doesn’t care if you’re rich or famous, poor or homeless.
It doesn’t care if you’re young or old, ordinary or superlatively gifted. Depression cuts across...
LIVING BEYOND – WHY STAY SOBER?
WHY STAY SOBER?
The struggle of an addict is like non other. For the addict and those intimately involved with the addict, the angst that comes...
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ALCOHOL AND THE DEVELOPING TEENAGE BRAIN
Studies at McLean Hospital and elsewhere have shown that alcohol affects the brains of adolescents in profound and dangerous ways. During the teenage and early adult years, the brain is still...
MY FIRST ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS MEETING
I went to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting long before I was an alcoholic. On a summer evening, when I was in my 30’s, after dinner with my parents at their...
DEFYING THE SOFT BIGOTRY OF LOW EXPECTATIONS
My name is Andrew Burki and I’m a person in long term recovery who hasn’t found it necessary to take drugs or drink alcohol since December 5, 2001. I’m the product...
ADDICTED AND PREGNANT
ADDICTED AND PREGNANT: Sarah wasn’t like most girls when she was growing up in a middleclass home located in suburbia USA. She was a bit shy and didn’t have a vast...
The Crooked Road Of Recovery: Rethinking Relapses And Success In Addiction Treatment And Research
It’s Friday night in West Los Angeles. As Angelenos flock with their entourages to trendy restaurants and night clubs, an eclectic group of recovering addicts attend Shabbat services at Beit T’Shuvah...
Recover At Home – A New solution To An Old Problem
In today’s world, we are all too familiar with the drug crisis running rampant in the US. The CDC reported 63,632 overdose deaths from all substances in 2016, and multiple states...
SHELVE IT: TOOLS OF THE SOBER TRADE
Recently, I was engaged in a sobriety conversation with a random stranger while waiting for an elevator at the doctor’s office. I can’t remember how the conversation started, but she asked...