Category: Micah Robbins

“We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” –The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 4 “Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself” is often thought

“We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” –The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 3 Besides

“We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” –The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 2 When Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935,

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” –The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 1 The idea of admitting you’re powerless over an addiction sounds

One common symptom of addiction disorder is becoming “dis-ordered”: missing work, forgetting appointments, neglecting personal grooming. An important part of detox is reorganizing life for new self-understanding, new goals and

If perfectionism had any role in your developing an addiction disorder, you’ve probably harbored fear of learning new skills you weren’t sure you could get “right.” And if you’ve been

“I’m so stupid” can be easy for many people to say, especially in the wake of addiction-related damage. But if you dwell on the thought (or on any other negative

An active support network, comprising both formal support groups and informal friendships, can make the difference between relapse and long-term recovery. But as with any tool or program, a support

Any life transition—getting married, moving, starting college and of course attaining sobriety—comes with inherent strain on the nerves. Even “regular” transitions such as a change of seasons can catch you

If you think you’ll be happy when you find the right job/retire/have enough money— you’ll not only miss a lot of fun along the way, you’ll sink into apathy if

If you’re a member of any 12-Step group, you’ve heard many of your fellow members announce: “Tonight I’m celebrating one year of sobriety”—or six months, five years or ten years.

Prevention still beats cure for maximum simplicity and minimum pain: so if you’ve escaped addiction so far (or if you want to help others avoid repeating your mistakes), here are

While it’s not a good idea to get involved in a new relationship during your first few months of sobriety—you have enough life transitions and adjustments to cope with right

Although “living one day at a time” is a basic tenet of sobriety, you may well ask: Yes, but how do I do it? Here are a few ideas. 1.

The “reform school” approach to romance is a disaster waiting to happen. It’s one thing if you’re already married to the person with the addiction—which commits you to dealing with

It takes about three months to get a chemical addiction out of your system—one week physically and twelve weeks psychologically. Even after that, the danger of relapse remains strong for

Chemical dependence is always a family problem. If you have an addiction disorder, chances are other members of your household have unconsciously encouraged it, usually in one or more of

Even with the best medical care, physical drug detox is typically a miserable experience. Depending on the substance involved, you may develop flu-like physical illness that saps your strength, turns

Beer at a Memorial Day picnic, red wine at a college-graduation party, champagne at a wedding—there are occasions where “social drinking” is considered ubiquitous, at least in certain extended families

Getting away from everyday routine can be the perfect tool for reducing relapse dangers by reducing stress—or it can be a minefield of temptations with drinks on every corner, the

If there’s anything more frightening than suspecting you’re addicted to drugs, it’s suspecting that someone you love—especially your child—is the addicted one. Some parents worry so much about this possibility

When temperatures start to rise, so do tempers: many a scientific study confirms that people are more irritable, pessimistic and sleep-deprived when the weather gets hot enough to increase heart

As noted in the classic Twelve Steps, making amends to everybody one has hurt is an important part of addiction recovery. When the injured party is someone you have a

If you’re familiar with the Bible, perhaps you remember the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18–19. He publicly bested 450 enemies by calling down God’s fire and rain from

For all the progress against prejudice, most of the world still tends to pass quick judgment on whatever—or whoever—makes it uncomfortable. If you’re in addiction recovery, and especially if you