Last year was turbulent, to put it mildly. Ongoing issues with a family member's addiction; my illness and near-death experience. A thousand false starts and promises to get back to work, and write on a regular basis, etc. etc.
In brief, many of the ingredients of addiction, operating in the life of someone with many years of recovery, and suffering now from another chronic illness: COPD. Denial, rationalization, obsession, alibis, broken promises.
But I guess I shouldn't be so surprised.
As we addiction counselors like to tell our clients, over and over again, there is so much more to the disease of addiction than the presence or absence of drugs, or booze, or gambling and so forth. The disease is a complicated cluster of distorted thinking, inappropriate emotion and dysfunctional coping skills.
And, as this old man can attest, that does not change overnight.
In brief, many of the ingredients of addiction, operating in the life of someone with many years of recovery, and suffering now from another chronic illness: COPD. Denial, rationalization, obsession, alibis, broken promises.
But I guess I shouldn't be so surprised.
As we addiction counselors like to tell our clients, over and over again, there is so much more to the disease of addiction than the presence or absence of drugs, or booze, or gambling and so forth. The disease is a complicated cluster of distorted thinking, inappropriate emotion and dysfunctional coping skills.
And, as this old man can attest, that does not change overnight.
Your right Ken, The disease will manifest itself in many ways, but of course many will focus on the most obvious symptoms, "being high and/or drunk"and it will nly get worse over time if not treated.. we must get to know how our disease affects us on a personal level.. thank you for your posts.. Brenda A. recovering addict since 03/02/1991.. thanx for paving the way and helping me Ken
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