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Dr. Barbara Sinor knows that stories are powerful. They can inspire hope in people who might otherwise give up. Nowhere is this truer than with people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

“Barbara Sinor has created a ‘Big Book’ for the twenty-first century with twenty true stories of people dealing with addiction, undergoing recovery, and dealing with relapses. While pain and frustration fill many of these pages, so does enough hope to inspire any reader.” [Source: PR Web]

Interspersed with real-life stories are Dr. Sinor’s bits of advice and guidance for readers struggling with addiction themselves. Titled “Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery,” the book was published by Modern History Press and is available through most bookstores.

Labels: addiction, recovery

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Steven Adler is best known for a career that ended almost as quickly as it began. As one of the original members of the rock band Guns N’ Roses, Adler was just beginning to enjoy his band’s fame and fortune when drug and alcohol addictions got him fired.

For nearly 20 years, Adler sank deeper into his addictions, suffering multiple overdoses, jail time and even a stroke.

“It’s a struggle he graphically recounts in the recently released memoir My Appetite for Destruction. ‘I wore my heart on my sleeve with this book,’ Adler says. ‘I’m here to show all the underdogs that you can survive and you can succeed.’” [Source: Postmedia News]

Adler admits he spent most of the past 20 years blaming his former band mates – believing they let him down, betrayed him, when they fired him. He’s just beginning to realize that he was the one who let them down.

His addictions prevented him from playing – he couldn’t do his job, so there was no reason he should have been allowed to keep it. Adler is now clean and sober, and has started his own band – Adler’s Appetite – which has embarked on a 50-city tour.

Labels: addiction, recovery

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 1 Comment

Recovering alcoholics with high levels of stress hormones are more likely to drink again, according to a British study from the University of Liverpool.

Dr. Abi Rose and colleagues found that both chronic and recovering alcoholics have high levels of cortisol, a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands when a person is under stress. This in turn can result in impaired memory, and difficulty in paying attention and making decisions.

"Both drinking and withdrawal from alcohol can affect cortisol function in humans," said Dr. Rose. "Cortisol dysfunction, including the high levels of cortisol observed during alcohol withdrawal, may contribute to the high rates of relapse reported in alcohol dependency, even after many months of abstinence."

Dr. Rose said the study may indicate that recovering alcoholics should take drugs that mitigate the effects of cortisol.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: recovery, relapse

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments