How To Help Yourself Find Freedom from Alcoholism and/or Drug Addiction
By Carl-Peter Lehmann

What is the Secret Formula to recover and free yourself from alcoholism or drug addiction?

In fact it's not really a secret at all. You've simply forgotten. And that is to remember WHO YOU REALLY ARE.

And who might that be?

That you are first and foremost a spirit (soul, call it what you like) being who has chosen a human experience to further your spiritual development and evolution.

And as a spirit being, your essence is pure love, light and freedom. You just have to look at a newborn baby to get a sense of that.

Problem is, the human experience does everything but help you remember that. The collective consciousness of society as a whole breeds fear and doubt - and together with being conditioned to think and act like everyone around you; you therefore forget your true nature.

So what's this got to do with Alcoholism and Drug Addiction?

Living in a 3-dimensional reality, i.e. body, mind and spirit, all this fear and doubt which you inevitably adopt as your own, means that instead of these 3 dimensions of yourself combining to radiate wholeness, you begin to reflect dis-ease.

This dis-ease may begin to manifest subtly as a form of stress or disharmony, but pretty soon if these warning signs aren't addressed, it will turn into full blown illnesses, which can be anything from cancers to heart attacks to alcoholism, drug addiction, or even combinations of these.

So the secret to overcoming these isn't to look for the latest in medical technology as your saviour (of course this shouldn't be totally ignored and still has a very important role to play), but to remember your true nature, your very essence, and realign with that.

You read stories all the time from people who have overcome the worst illnesses like cancer, where they haven't been given a chance to live by those in the know in the medical profession, to having completely healed themselves totally naturally. (Two great and well-known books to read by people who have done this are You Can Heal Your Life – Louise Hay and The Journey – Brandon Bays.)

Because by again making whole what you've temporarily 'broken' and getting body, mind and spirit in alignment again, will mean that any form of dis-ease simply won't be able to survive in your body. You will radiate your essence – love, light and freedom – and alcoholism, drug addiction or any other form of dis-ease will be banished from your body forever.

(Now I know there are many of you who will reject what I'm saying because it has no scientific basis and it doesn't make sense to your rational, thinking mind. That's fine. I'm not trying to prove a point or win any arguments. Choose to believe what you will.)

I also don't buy into the belief that many alcoholics and addicts in recovery choose to adopt, which is you always will be an addict or alcoholic and are thus only ever in recovery from your addiction.

Look, if that's an attitude that works for you, that's fine. Because ultimately use what works.

But for me that's an attitude that comes from fear, and since I don't believe fear is our true nature, I choose to believe differently. I believe our true nature is love and thus our aim should be to free ourselves from all dis-ease, including alcoholism and drug addiction.

Of course that isn't easy, but that's the work we were put here to do. That's our purpose, to remember who we really are and reconnect with our true essence. There are many people who have done it in the past like Jesus and Buddha – and there are many less well-known people who continue to do so today. Should we not aspire to be like them? Jesus put it beautifully – 'What I can do, you can do – and more.'

So on a practical level how can you begin doing that?

See your body as a temple and stop polluting it with all the crap you consume on a daily basis – obviously drugs and alcohol is a good place to startJ, but you can take that much further to include processed, dead, non-natural/non-chemicalized foods.

Try eating mostly raw, live organic foods and liquids for a month. See how you feel? I promise you, you'll feel like a totally brand, new person. Sure, have an 'off' day once a week, but stick to eating that way for the rest of the month. You won't look back, I guarantee you. Oh, and some form of exercise once in a while like a brisk walk won't hurt either.

To harmonize your mind, revamp your thinking. Begin to train your mind and watch your thoughts rather than have them run around on you like scattered machine gun bullets. Is this easy? Absolutely not! But changing your thinking so that the majority of your thoughts begin to reflect peace and harmony rather than fear and doubt is probably the hardest, yet most rewarding job you'll have while you're alive. Remember, I've said this before – your outer world is simply a reflection of your inner world.

To make this easier and to harmonize mind and spirit, begin to practice meditation. Practising the art of meditation is the biggest gift you can ever give yourself and is the secret to lasting happiness, peace and harmony. It will help you break through years of negative conditioning, and lousy thinking habits, but more importantly help you get back and reconnect with your true, loving essence - and with a bit of luck you may even reach full enlightenment like a Jesus or Buddha J

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction aren't part of the real you. Dedicate yourself to leaving them behind you for good. For me, they were a blessing because they forced me to re-look at myself and helped me reconnect with my true nature. Maybe they can do the same for you.

Carl-Peter has been free from his addictions for the last 5 years. He is author of the book – Addiction Uncovered – in which he shares his experiences and knowledge to help others free themselves from the shackles of alcoholism and drug addiction. More on this, as well as a Free 10-part educational course and eBook can be found at his website, http://www.addiction-uncovered.com/index.html He also contributes regular articles to his blog, http://www.addiction-uncovered.com/blog

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Drug Addiction or Eating Disorder: Which Came First?
By Jonathan Huttner

When a person enters drug rehab or an addiction treatment facility and is diagnosed with a drug addiction and eating disorder, the question arises which addiction developed first and how do you treat two addictions?

First, let us define an eating disorder as the quality of one’s thinking as it relates to food and weight and not how much someone weighs. Then, we may take a look at various behaviors and address other criteria. In most cases, one’s thinking regarding food and weight became distorted way before they ever began using drugs or alcohol. It is not uncommon that after a period of time of trying to achieve certain self determined goals through binging, purging or restricting and not achieving those goals, that the person would turn to drugs as a means to accelerate the process or deal with the emotional whirlwind of depression, shame or self hatred. At this point we have an eating disorder and drug addiction going full throttle in an attempt to by the person to gain control. It rarely happens and is described as the “great illusion” by most treatment professionals.

How To Treat Drug Addiction And Eating Disorders

When entering a drug rehab or addiction treatment program with an accompanying eating disorder, the goal should always be patient safety. If the patient is not in a life threatening situation due to their disordered eating, then the individual usually enters detox for their drug addiction. After detox is completed, the person’s behavior as it relates to their eating disorder will be addressed. Whether it is binging, purging or restricting, the patient must be willing to address the behavior to achieve recovery. Realizing that abstaining from the eating disorder behavior will initiate cravings for drugs, the clinical staff at the addiction treatment facility must be acutely aware of the possibility of relapse. During this process, the addiction treatment facility must also address the issue of whether they are the appropriate setting for the patient and if not make a referral to another drug rehab or eating disorder facility.

You can find useful information regarding drug addiction, addiction treatment or eating disorders at www.recoveryconnection.org.

Jonathan Huttner is one of the the principals at Lakeview Health Systems, an addiction treatment,

alcohol and drug rehab facility.

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Relapse Prevention and the Pink Cloud
By Jonathan Huttner

The “pink cloud” is best described as a period of time where the addict or alcoholic experiences a reprieve from the struggles associated with early recovery. These struggles are generally associated with the feelings of depression, anger, resentment, self pity and the realization of where their drug addiction or alcoholism has taken them.

Upon experiencing this phenomenon for the first time, the addict or alcoholic is understandably excited. They begin to believe they now “hold the key” to their recovery. This is where the seed for relapse is planted. They begin to believe more in themselves than in the process they have been following. Without the pain as a daily reminder, they tend to forget about what it took for them to embrace recovery. Denial rears its ugly head and they minimize how devastating their drug addiction and alcoholism really was and that they have a disease of drug addiction and alcoholism that requires attention on a daily basis. Relapse prevention becomes an afterthought as the person becomes defiant and rebellious regarding suggestions contrary to their desires. Without resorting to drugs or alcohol, the individual in recovery is one step away from relapse. Remember, relapse is not an event, it is a process.

Relapse Prevention versus the “Pink Cloud”


The relapse prevention plan that is designed while in addiction treatment or drug rehab is a plan for recovery when a person is feeling elated, depressed or anywhere in between... The relapse prevention plan is comprised of recognizing one’s triggers, unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors with recommendations on how to best address them. The addict and alcoholic are not used to feeling good about themselves. While most individuals would cherish high self esteem, the addict / alcoholic relishes self pity and low self worth. When there is no shame, they create it. So, when a recovering person starts feeling good about themselves, they need to work harder and practice what has been working for them. This will provide them the opportunity to break an old pattern of self sabotage and establish a new pattern of developing self worth. No matter how one is feeling, rely on the relapse prevention plan that has been developed for you.

For further information on relapse prevention, addiction treatment, drug addiction or alcoholism, you can visit RecoveryConnection.org – a web site dedicated to helping people overcome alcohol and drug addiction.

Jonathan Huttner is one of the the principals at Lakeview Health Systems, an addiction treatment,

alcohol and drug rehab facility.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Huttner