Topic: barriers to recovery

She had to relearn truthfulness, a day at a time, much the way the victim of a serious stroke might have to relearn speech.

When they get sick with diseases related to substance use, they’ll avoid going to the doctor or hospital, until their illness is advanced and more extensive and expensive care is involved.

I can’t help seeing that as a moral argument, not a medical one. And not very practical, either.

So if… the real problem at this late stage isn’t the lack of a plan but the absence of motivation to implement it– then what’s in the way?

Shame always plays a role. Not just the shame of discovery, but the shame of having a problem in the first place.

There’s no shortage of stories among nurses and doctors about a friend or family member who went through treatment and relapsed, perhaps many times.

Clinicians… feel as if they’re always missing at least one extremely important tool that would make all the difference.

If by chance the patient didn’t fit the physician’s preconception of an addict– he or she was a respected member of the community, for example– then the doctor often fell into the enabler role.

Insomnia is at the top of the list of common problems for both active addicts and the newly recovering, and sleeping meds can pose risks.

There’s hope. Partly because the effects of repeated treatments tend to be cumulative — most patients are learning something important from each.