In the Rooms is a global recovery community where alcoholics and addicts share their experience, strength, and hope with others from all over the world.

After signing up, members can fill out a profile with as much information as they are willing to share to help find people on the site from their local area, or with similar interests from across the planet. Like most online communities, you can add people as friends, post messages on their pages, and send them private messages.

In the Rooms has a ticker that tracks the total recovery time of members. Today, it’s over 77,938 years!

Members can join Twelve Step fellowships , listen to over 1,000 speaker tapes, and participate in discussion groups. They can also chat with other members.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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Family members and friends of alcoholics and addicts often desperately search for help and answers to their problems.

I worked as a family therapist at a private neuro-psychiatric hospital with the significant others of alcoholics, addicts, compulsive gamblers, and dual diagnosis patients.Like most treatment centers and rehabs, participation in our family program was mandatory for visitation.

Each Saturday, I presented an eight-hour educational workshop covering the disease process of addiction, enabling and detachment, family roles, what to expect in early recovery, and the family afterwards which reviewed available community recovery resources, both professional and Twelve Step meetings.

A common misconception among my patients was the belief that since their significant was in treatment, their problems were finally solved. It also gave them a false sense of relief.

It was stressed getting clean and sober, and staying that way, is the biggest challenge most alcoholics and addicts face in their lifetime and while detox, treatment, or rehab can play an important part in the process, no one was guaranteed continued recovery when they were discharged.

Ala-Non says:

Alcoholism is a family disease. The disease affects all those who have a relationship with a problem drinker. Those of us closest to the alcoholic suffer the most, and those who care the most can easily get caught up in the behavior of another person. We react to the alcoholic’s behavior. We focus on them, what they do, where they are, how much they drink. We try to control their drinking for them. We take on the blame, guilt, and shame that really belong to the drinker. We can become as addicted to the alcoholic, as the alcoholic is to alcohol. We, too, can become ill.”

At Ala-Non, you will:

“…meet others who share your feelings and frustrations, if not your exact situation. We come together to learn a better way of life, to find happiness whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not.”

Twelve 12-Step recovery programs for the family members of alcoholics and addicts:

1. Alanon Family Groups for friends and family members of alcoholics
2. Alateen for teens of alcoholics
3. Nar-Anon Family Group for relatives and friends who are concerned about the addiction or drug problem of another
4. COSLAA for the recovery of family, friends, and significant others whose lives have been affected by their relationship with someone addicted to sex and love
5. COSA for men and women whose lives have been affected by another person’s compulsive sexual behavior
6. Teen Anon for teens who drink or drug and all those who love them
7. Families Anonymous adults whose lives have been affected by a loved one’s drinking or drugging
8. Co-Dependents Anonymous for men and women whose common purpose is to develop healthy relationships
9. S-Anon for those who have been affected by another’s sexual behavior
10. Gam-Anon for the spouse, family or close friends of compulsive gamblers
11. Gam-A-Teen for children of compulsive gamblers
12. Adult Children of Alcoholics for women and men who grew up in alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional homes

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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Recovery from addiction is possible, including recovery from methamphetimine.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive psychostimulant. It comes in powder, “rocks” or “crystals”and ranges in color from white to brown, contingent on how it’s cooked. Methamphetamine tastes bitter, but easily dissolves in liquids. It can be odorless or have odors similar to sweet, bitter, ammonia or solvents when cooked.

Street Names for Methamphetamine:
meth, crystal meth, bitch, speed, crank, chalk, chicken feed, geep, scootie, crystal, ice, glass, nazi dope, motivation in a bag, noze candy, satan dust, pootananny, powder monkey, tweak, zoom, sugar bugger, booger, Tina (Teena), Pink Panther

Routes of administration for methamphetamine:
Oral administration is the common route for medical use of methamphetamine. For recreational use, methamphetamine can be:

• swallowed
• snorted
• smoked
• dissolved in water and injected
• injected without water (called a dry shot)
• dissolved in water and inserted anally
• inserted anally without dissolution in water (called a booty bump or shafting)
• inserted into the urethra

Possible consequences of methamphetamine use include:

• heart damage
• memory loss
• paranoia
• psychosis
• hypertension
• insomnia
• body odor
• acne-type sores (called tweaker sores)
• irritability
• extreme weight loss
• hair loss
• discolored, rotten or missing teeth
• corneal ulcerations
• confusion
• tremors
• convulsions
• anxiety
• hyperthermia
• depression
• continuous picking at skin
• strokes
• respiratory problems
• irregular heartbeat
• cardiovascular collapse
• delusions of parasites or insects crawling under the skin
• mood swings
• teeth grinding
• malnutrition
• deficient immune system
• tachycardia or irregular heartbeat
• blood toxicity
• kidney damage
• liver damage
• blood clots
• cardiac arrest
• brain damage
• death

It’s not called Meth Madness for nothing
Methamphetamine mimics adrenaline and triggers the brain’s fight-or-flight mechanism and can make users aggressive and violent.

Acute lead poisoning is another potential risk for methamphetamine users due to a common method of production which uses lead acetate as a reagent. There have been documented cases of acute lead poisoning in intravenous methamphetamine users.

Methamphetamine may increases user’s sexual desire and stamina, but it ultimately decreases desire and ability to perform. Many methamphetamine users report the inability to reach an orgasm.

Selena Humphrey, 19, was burned when a meth lab exploded spewing molten plastic into her face.

For further research:

Montana Meth Project
Parents: The Anti-Drug
American Council for Drug Education
Got Meth
Anti-Meth.org

Help for Meth Madness:
Crystal Meth Anonymous
Meth Helpline 24 hours a day at 1.866.535.7922

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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If you are a practicing alcoholic or in recovery from alcoholism (or other addictions), your loved ones may recognize you in the Five Stages of Drunkenness.

It is, however, unlikely you will recognize yourself.

Stage One: SMART
You suddenly become an authority on every subject in the world. You know everything about everything, and are on a mission to share your vast knowledge with anyone willing to listen. As a self-appointed expert, you are always right, no exceptions, and no one can convince you otherwise. And of course, it’s a given, everyone else is wrong. The only thing more educational than basking in your brilliance is listening to you engage in verbal banter with another smart person, usually found sitting next to you at the bar.

Stage 2: GOOD LOOKING
Elvis has nothing on you, baby. You are suddenly the best looking person in the place and everyone knows it. Not only are you drop-dead gorgeous and can have anyone you want, you are still smart and can converse with anyone about everything.

Stage 3: RICH
You suddenly become the richest person on the planet. You buy rounds for the entire bar because you have an endless supply of money. You also make bets because you are still smart, so naturally, you will win.

Stage 4: BULLET PROOF
You suddenly pick fights with anyone and everyone, especially those bigger than you. Nothing they do can hurt you. You have no fear because, after all, you are smart, rich, a helluva lot better looking than they are.

Stage 5: INVISIBLE
You suddenly can do anything you want because no one can see you. You can dance naked on a table, pee in the corner, or take a nap in the street and no one will notice because you are invisible.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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To diagnose alcoholism and drug addiction, certified counselors in the chemical dependency field interview clients asking a series of questions to complete a biopsychsocial assessment and administer diagnostic screening tests.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fourth Edition, the symptoms of Alcohol Dependence include:

A maladaptive pattern of alcohol use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three or more of the following seven criteria, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:

1. Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
   • A need for markedly increased amounts of alcohol to achieve intoxication or desired effect.
   • Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of alcohol.
2. Withdrawal, as defined by either of the following:
   • The characteristic withdrawal syndrome for alcohol (refer to DSM-IV for further details).
   • Alcohol is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
3. Alcohol is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.
4. There is a persistent desire or there are unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use.
5. A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain alcohol, use alcohol or recover from its effects.
6. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of alcohol use.
7. Alcohol use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the alcohol (e.g., continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by alcohol consumption).

Keen Insight to the Obvious
Alcoholism is a disease of denial, and alcoholics are notoriously inaccurate historians.

Client: “Every now and then I might have a drink.”

Regardless of the results of an assessment by a clinician, or concerns expressed by physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, pastors, probation and parole officers, judges, employers, co-workers, wives, husbands, children or friends, recovery is an inside job which begins with self-diagnosis.

From the chapter More About Alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous , Fourth Edition affectionately called The Big Book:

We do not like to brand any individual as an alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It will be worth a bad case of jitters if you get thoroughly sold on the idea that you are a candidate for Alcoholics Anonymous!”

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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The Sober Café Podcast proves you don’t have to be stoned to make great music.

Established in 2006 to increase support for independent recording artists, the Sober Cafe Podcast focuses exclusively on music from clean and sober musicians.

They also offer “Three Cups of Coffee & the Truth” interviews with artists in long-term recovery from addiction in all its forms. The title of their interview series comes from Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame Member Harlan Howard who often said, “Country music is three chords and the truth.”

SoberCafePodcast.com received an Entertainment Industries Council PRISM Award for Interactive Media in 2008. Their focus in 2009 is to continue creating music shows, and expand their interviews to also include recovering authors, actors, and artists.

The Sober Café Podcast is sponsored by Sunlight of the Spirit Music, sellers of the largest selection of 12-step and recovery music CDs available on the planet.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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In Twelve Step recovery programs for alcoholism, addiction, eating disorders, and co-dependency we learn to live a balanced life of wellness and wholeness.Recovery, like a three-legged stool, focuses on the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of living.

Once our drug-of-choice is removed, we come face-to-face with the underlying causes and conditions we masked when we drank, drugged, binged, purged, starved, or obsessed on others.

Carrie at This Crazy Idea describes herself as an “intelligent woman who delights in her friends, family, and journey living with clinical depression with a twist of bi-polar disorder.”

Her faith is very important to her. So is helping others:
“I want to open a retreat. My current vision is an eco-friendly resort located in the midwest, where guests can enjoy peace and tranquility in an open learning environment, surrounded by nature, featuring healthy food and classes to assist in the journey. The focus would be on wellness and whole living. Those who are experiencing a divorce, new moms, on a personal journey, seeking creative opportunity, grieving a loss, alleviating chronic mild mental illness, or seeking quiet haven would benefit from this space.”

An interview with Carrie:

Why did you choose SoulScape as the name for your wellness resort? What does the name mean to you?

Our souls describe the essence of who we are - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual…and the experiences we have and share shape our souls. On occasion we are confronted with difficult challenges - be they situations, people, illnesses - and we need to care for our soul and escape from “the grind” to heal. SoulScape can mean either shaping our souls in a desired fashion or giving our souls the space to change.

What progress has been made towards SoulScape’s grand opening? What is SoulScape’s current status?

Sadly, the progress toward brick and mortar has been thwarted by the negative energy of professionals in the area (”that will never work!”), the economy as the retreat would be paid by guests not insurance, and to some extent the limits of my energy and funding. Thankfully I am actively reaching out to people and remain dedicated to reading, developing my skills to make the retreat work, and sharing the idea with as many folks as possible.

You talk about the KISS Principle on your blog (Keep it Simple Stupid). How do you use simplicity be used as a tool for wellness and wholeness?

The level of illness drives the level of KISS that is necessary. As an example, when I have been hospitalized, the focus is on getting regular rest, eating, and turning off the racing mind. When I am well, I can add things such as reaching out and helping others, deep personal reflection to prevent future relapses, exercising, meditation, more church involvement and strengthening relationships.

Time management can be challenging in early recovery from alcoholism, addiction, and eating disorders. Not only do we work on balancing relationships with family, friends, work, and play, we need time to attend meetings, aftercare, therapy, talk with our sponsor, and alone time to pray, meditate, and work on the Twelve Steps. Your blog post Doing The Math lays out the time you need to maintain wellness and wholeness. Can you offer time management suggestions for people in recovery to meet their responsibilities and obligations, yet also take care of themselves?

I’m still learning to balance it all, so I’m no expert! But what seems to be key is getting a support system set up first. A quick, non-descriptive conversation with my boss to cover my behind at work; asking my sister to check in on me every few days; requesting prayers at work are the top three. Then I work with my therapist to “rank” my tasks. Number 1 is holding my appointments with the doctor. Number 2 is allotting 30 minutes each day minimum for “me” time. That time can be spent journaling, meditating, praying, watching a Disney movie, whatever is feeling good that day. Number 3 is work so that I can maintain insurance and funding for my journey to wellness. I suppose that ranking would change if I had a significant other.

You define unobtainium as “a rare element that cannot be achieved in most environments.” The examples you offer are a sumo wrestler wearing size 32 waist pants, winning a Nobel Prize in Physics when you are a dog trainer, or losing 30 pounds in a day. How do you approach setting personal and professional goals? What suggestions can you offer to help people in recovery set realistic goals for themselves?

I am a “Type A” personality (my opinion and others). It is VERY hard for me to let go during recovery and allow others to care for and guide me until I’m back on the path. I have been forced to learn the lesson that holding myself to the highest of standings at all times is simply self-deprecating. Goals are important to help us move beyond our comfort zone, but they should not be set so high that we move beyond the comfort zone, past the stretch zone, and into the unhealthy zone. I believe that we can hold to our long term goals if we are flexible enough to accept changes to how we get there. Goals can provide vision, strength, and drive. But they are never more important than living in the moment and making healthy decisions.

You blogged about Zero Tasking. What is it, and how does it help you on your journey?

Those who meditate would tell you that zero tasking is when you’ve achieve complete connection with your breath. I read somewhere that it is like sitting on a hill overlooking the highway. When you can be aware that cars are zooming along but not see each one (the color, the maker, etc), you have achieved zero tasking. It’s being an observer of our own minds, rather than an active participant. The beauty of this state is that healing and stress reduction occur naturally. Some folks get there by running and hitting “the zone”, others by prayer, and others by sitting near a tranquil pool of water.

Is there anything else you would like to add about SoulScape, wellness or wholeness that might help people in recovery on their journey?

I recommend being open minded to experiences and treatments, watching carefully for things that God is putting in your path as a learning tool, and listening to your gut (which comes just before the rational brain kicks in).

Thank you Carrie for sharing about experiences along your journey with clinical depression with a twist of bi-polar disorder. All the best with your SoulScape project.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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I worked at a private neuro-psychristric hospital with dual-diagnosis patients who not only sought help to recover from addiction, they had psychiatric disorders. During individual sessions I sat behind a big desk with a panic button on the bottom of the middle drawer. If a patient became violent or threatened violence, without pause or hesitation, I pushed the button.

A series of chimes sounded on the first two floors of the hospital disclosing the location and of the incident, but not the third floor where my office was located to avoid escalating the patient’s behavior. Staff trained in crisis intervention and management rushed up two flights of stairs (this was much faster than taking the elevator), bolted down the hallway, and burst into my office.

Thank God for big burly men.

Sometimes, we talked the patient down. Sometimes, chemical restraint was administered by nursing staff. And sometimes, patients were hauled off spread-eagle and face down  by four staff members who placed them in a secluded room commonly called a “rubber room” where hopefully they could not harm themselves or anyone else.
I have stood in the room with a patient that was Viet Nam veteran who believed we were in Saigon.

“I ought to rip your fucking, slanted, black eyes right out of their sockets.”

Spittle spewed in my face as he spoke.

It’s worth noting I have green eyes, and am a non-Asian who is Native American, Irish and German.

I was the supervisor at a free-standing social-model detox center where we (the staff on duty) were left with only our own resources to deal with combative clients. We had no back-up security staff. No emergency room. No psych unit. No standing doctor’s orders for a calm-your-ass-down shot. If we needed help, we called 911. We did the best we could with what we had to work with until they arrived.

A distraught mother brought her 14-year-old daughter in for an assessment who was high on PCP and believed she was locked in a closet. She weighed 95-pounds and knocked me half-way down a hallway with one punch when I asked her to stop clawing  her face. At that time, I weighed around 140 pounds. It took four guys to hold her down until the paramedics arrived, strapped her to a gurney, and transported her to a hospital where she received the medical intervention necessary to stabilize her before we could provide treatment services.

Then there was the time when “Jesus” and “satan” were both patients at the same time on a locked psych unit where I worked.

These same patients, once stabilized, attended Alcoholics and Narcotics meetings.

Initially, they went our in-house Hospital and Institutions meetings. In the later stages of their treatment, we transported them to Twelve Step meetings in the local community.

It was not uncommon for someone who was my client or patient during the day to sit across the table from me at an evening meeting, or attend the same AA and NA dances, or anniversary dinners.

In the Twelve Step arena, we were both just alcoholics and addicts.

Ethically, I can not establish personal relationships with patients or clients. I can not sponsor them, give them my address or phone number, go with them for coffee after meetings, give them money, accept presents from them, give them a ride, date them, have sex with them, or even take them to church. Prohibitive professional boundaries protect them, and protect me.

Chronic late-stage alcoholics with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a history of flashbacks, adolescents who love PCP the way fat girls love cake, and paranoid schizophrenics with psychotic episodes who refuse to take their medication, once stabilized and compliant, can blend in at Twelve Step meetings and functions.

Before I got clean and sober, if you drank, drugged, and shared– I was your girl. I wanted to be your best friend. Sometimes, I wanted to be your only friend so there’d be more for me. And when your money, liquor, and dope was gone, so was I.

“If you are smart, you are gonna use me the way I’m gonna use you.”

~ Anonymous

I developed a high-tolerance for people who acted like I did: crazy, chaotic, irresponsible, unpredictable, inconsistent, and unhealthy.

In recovery, I hook-up with people in the program at meetings, AA clubs, and coffee shops and invest the time to get to know who I am associating with before I invite them to my home, and into my life. I put forth the effort to keep crazy out of my front room, and keep my home a safe place for my daughter and me.

One of the recovery slogan says: “Stick with the winners.”

I had to figure out how to identify a winner before I could stick with them.

• Winners don’t thrive on chaos and adrenaline.
• Winners don’t have ulterior motives.
• Winners don’t take emotional hostages.
• Winners don’t manipulate with guilt to get what they want.
• Winners aren’t players.
• Winners don’t forget where they came from.
• Winners don’t collect followers. They don’t sponsor 453 people by name, yet help no one because they are too busy to even take care of themselves.
• Winners know how to keep their mouths shut. They won’t put your business in the street.
• Winners have the courage to say, “No.”
• Winners walk the talk.
• Winners work the Twelve Steps.
• When winners say they are clean and sober, they really are.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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Women with stressorexia strive to be sexy for their husbands, good mothers, and successful in their careers. The drive to have it all often leaves them stressed out, anxious, and too exhausted to take care of themselves. They neglect proper eating, and can experience dramatic weight loss.

While not yet an Eating Disorder categorized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a text published by the American Psychiatric Association that provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders, symptoms of stressorexia are prevalent among modern women in their late 20s to 40s with overwhelming, demanding workloads.

Stressorexia can start with a few missed lunches to meet deadlines, but its origins may not be limited to time constraints.

When anxious, the brain releases Corticotropin-releasing hormone which regulates the nervous system’s response to stress. This can cause loss of appetite. Additionally, the release of adrenaline accelerates metabolism which burns additional calories.

Stressorexics can also experience depression, extreme fatigue, irritability, and headaches.

Prioritizing self-care, planning and eating healthy meals, and noshing are positive suggestions for dealing with stressorexia, though some sufferers may require professional help to make permanent changes in their thinking and eating patterns.

Further research is needed to determine if stressorexia is indeed an Eating Disorder.

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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Smiling Addiction is a short fiction award-winning video in the surreal genre about “the pursuit of happiness, and self-medication.” It shows the dark side of antidepressants, and the smiley-face veneer produced by “happy pills.”

Antidepressants are psychiatric drugs used to treat the symptoms of depression including weight loss or gain, difficulty falling sleeping and staying asleep, sleeping too much, loss of appetite, lack of energy, and agitation by altering the chemical processes of the brain.

Smiling Addiction was directed by Brandon McCormick at Whitestone Motion Pictures with the support of Crossroads Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

The music was created and performed by The Wright Brothers: Nick Kirk and Billy Wilkerson.

Smiling Addiction Lyrics

happiness is the absence of common sense
a smoking gun
everything will be just fine
just bite your lip and close your eyes
where there are no wars there is no hope
drink to forget what you’ve seen
this life is just a dream with candy all around
got a smiling addiction
smiling addiction
treat your smiling addiction today
today

say goodbye to all your pain
and feel alive
the feeling is gone
had your feel of the heart in mind
it’s but a gift for the leading blind
why should we change
when we’ve got no will
drink to ward off what you’ve seen
this life is just a dream with candy all around
got a smiling addiction
smiling addiction
got a smiling addiction
treat your smiling addiction today
today
smile today

~end

Recovery Rocks!

Roxie

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