Anyone who has attended a 12 Step meeting has heard popular slogans such as One Day at a Time and Let Go and Let God. These catchy slogans serve as inspiration. There is often wisdom to be found in these phrases that someone struggling with an addiction can learn from. Whether you are a 12 Step member or not, you can apply the wisdom of these slogans to your recovery. Listen in to a group of opiate addicts discuss various slogans.

Discussion Guide:

Do you know of any recovery slogans?

What do these slogans mean?

Are there any particular slogans that have been meaningful to you?

Do you post the slogans in a visible place for quick and easy reference?

Supplemental Reading:

252 AA Slogans, Sober Recovery http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/alcoholism-12-step-support/1546-252-aa-slogans.html

Many people think of those who abuse substances as “bad people”.  But are they bad? Or, is the drug environment transforming them from a good person into a person who makes bad decisions and choices with poor outcomes? Listen to a group of recovering addicts talk about their opinions.

Discussion Guide:

Do you believe that people who are addicted to illegal drugs are bad?

How does one become good or bad?

When you were actively abusing drugs, did your choices and environment cause you to do bad deeds, have a bad attitude, bad works, bad results, bad reputation, and bad vibes?

Now in your recovery are you doing good deeds,  and have a good attitude, good results, good reputation, and good vibes?

What changes have you made to support a healthy recovery and feel good about yourself as a valuable and worthy person?

Note:

Credit and appreciation is given to author, Jason M. S. for his article “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. However, his identification is withheld for purposes of confidentiality.

Although there is an epidemic of prescription drug abuse in the United States, many other countries cannot get them and their populations suffer extreme pain. These drugs are restricted or unavailable in poor and middle-income countries, even in such cases as terminal cancer and AIDS, where there is no pain relief. The U.S. opioid drug epidemic is partly to blame, where misuse is a cause of addiction and overdose death. In some countries, it is easier to purchase morphine products on the street than being prescribed them by a doctor. Listen in to this podcast of a group of people who are recovering from opiate addiction, as they discuss this two sided issue.

Discussion Guide:

Did you become addicted to opiates following a medical problem in which you were prescribed pain killers?

Is your personal physician overly cautious about prescribing opiate pain killers?

Have you been abruptly cut off opiates by your physician, causing withdrawal symptoms?

If you still suffer chronic medical pain, how do you manage it without opiate pain killers?

Have you tried alternative types of pain control (to opiates)?

Supplementary Reading:

Much of World Suffers Not From Abuse of Painkillers, but Absence of Them, by Rick Gladstone, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/world/much-of-world-suffers-not-from-abuse-of-painkillers-but-absence-of-them.html?_r=0

In hindsight, people who have been addicted to substances regret their poor judgment. If only someone had told them of the dangers, or if only they had heeded the advise. Listen to a group of people who have been addicted to opiates discuss what they wish they had been told.

Discussion Guide:

Were you told about the dangers of drug use?

If you were told about the dangers of drug use, was it effective to some degree?

How would you explain the dangers of drug use to a child?

What are the protective tools that will decrease the chances that a child will turn to illicit drugs?

Supplemental Reading:

How To Talk To Kids About Alcohol & Drugs, Child Development Institute http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/teenager-adolescent-development-parenting/talk-to-kids-alcohol-drugs/

 

Heroin is deceptive. It starts off feeling so good, but quickly turns ugly. Jason M. S. wrote “Though heroin took me to places within myself more peaceful than anywhere else I had ever been, it would always abandon me in a place of suffering and desperation.” Listen to a group of people who were addicted to opiates discuss their experiences.

Discussion Guide:

How long did it take your addiction to move from opiate use to addiction?

How long was the process of moving from enjoyment to despair?

Most people who have experienced late stage opiate addiction have done things they deeply regret. Would you describe your late stage addiction as hell’s waiting room?

How have you taken your life back from the hell of heroin?

Note:

Credit and appreciation is given to author, Jason M. S. for his article “What I thought was Heaven, was actually Hell’s waiting room”. However, his identification is withheld for purposes of confidentiality.

 

Most people would think that the addict needs willpower to achieve drug abstinence. But is it enough? Listen in to a group of people in recovery as they discuss their opinions on what it takes to make lasting change.

Discussion Guide:

Would you agree that drug abstinence is achieved through willpower?

Is your willpower stronger at certain times of the day, or in certain circumstances?

What steps are necessary to create the conditions for abstinence?

What steps have you taken to ensure success?

Supplemental Reading:

How To Overcome Addiction and Make Lasting Changes In Your Life, Benjamin Hardy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/benjamin-hardy/how-to-overcome-addiction_b_9868026.html

Author, Jason M. S. wrote “Addicts are individuals that simply cannot process emotions properly (due to brain damage in the frontal lobe). Without healthy brain function, we cannot process information properly, navigate our senses, or even interpret our perceptions of the world correctly.” Addicts just don’t know what to do with emotions. Emotion is a powerful force that can be damaging to ourselves and others. But it can also be helpful if utilized properly. Jason M.S. believes that anger can play a helpful role in recovery. It may be useful to get angry at your addiction and use it as motivation for recovery.  Let is fuel your determination to be drug free.

Discussion Guide:

Did drug abuse cause uncharacteristic mood swings and irritability for you?

And conversely, did mood swings or emotional distress lead to drug abuse as a means of coping?

What have you learned through recovery about handling emotions in a healthy manner?

What coping skills do you use?

Note:

Credit and appreciation is given to author, Jason M. S. for his article “Get Mad at Drugs and Make Love to Your Life!”. However, his identification is withheld for purposes of confidentiality.

Complete and total abstinence from all mood altering substances allows a period of healing. The brain needs time to rest, habits are extinguished over time, and time transforms a person psychologically and physically. But not everyone in recovery from opiates believes that you have to be free from all substances. They may think it is sufficient to be free from their drug of choice, such as heroin or pain pills, while continuing to use alcohol or other drugs. Is total abstinence really necessary in recovery? Listen to people in this recovery group discuss their opinions on abstinence.

Discussion Guide:

Have you found that the use of other drugs, including alcohol, put you at risk of relapsing to opiates?

Do you choose to be free from all substances, or just opiates?  Which substances are you hanging on to? Why?

Do you still rely on drugs or alcohol to get through life’s hardships?

Do you have sufficient recovery tools to get through difficulties?

Supplemental Reading:

The University of New Mexico, Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) Readiness Ruler, http://casaa.unm.edu/inst/Readiness%20Ruler.pdf

Note:

Credit and appreciation is given to author, Jason M. S. for his article “Complete Abstinence”. However, his identification is withheld for purposes of confidentiality.

 

As much as we would like to help every opiate addict, not everyone is appropriate for medication assisted treatment . Some people are not allowed admission and others are administratively discharged.  Who do you think is not appropriate for MMT? Listen to a recovery group discuss who is not suitable for treatment.

Discussion Guide:

Who should not be in a medication assisted treatment program?

What is the criteria for admission to MMT?

Are there some medical conditions that would preclude someone from admission? Examples?

Are there some mental health issues that would keep someone from treatment? Examples?

Are there certain behaviors that are not allowed in MMT?

Supplemental Reading:

Who Should NOT Be in Medication-Assisted Therapy with either Methadone or Buprenorphine?

Drug use does not exist in a vacuum. Drug abuse occurs within a community. That community can be hurtful in some ways, but can also become a source of renewal. Author Jason M. S. wrote that addicts are vulnerable people in certain communities of people. It is wise for the recovering addict to seek out a community of other individuals in recovery with common intent. One must ‘find their tribe’ in a sense. Listen to a group of people in recovery talk about their struggles and their successes.

Discussion Guide:

Prior to your recovery, did you use substances with others, or alone?

Did you change your circle of friends and social activities in order to refrain from drug use?

How did you cope with the judgment of community members who knew of your addiction?

Now that you are in recovery, have you established healthy friendships and activities?

If not, how do you cope with loneliness and boredom?

Have you found your tribe, so to speak, in your recovery community?

Note:

Credit and appreciation is given to author, Jason M. S. for his article “The Importance of Community in Recovery”. However, his identification is withheld for purposes of confidentiality.