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The way the “interven-ee” feels about the intervention changes a lot, from the beginning of the intervention, by the end of the intervention, during treatment and after, and years into recovery.

As a judge once put it: it was clear to him that psychiatrists got together and defined various disorders, and a few years afterwards, they got together and redefined them.

In urban areas, in fact, it may be easier for a high schooler to get marijuana than alcohol.

We’re brought up to view a pattern of problems with alcohol or drugs as the result of a variety of other factors— psychological issues, or lack of willpower, or moral weakness, or some terrible past experience. That makes it difficult for most of us to switch over to the view of addiction as a chronic illness.

Repeated problems related to drinking or drug use force even the person in denial to acknowledge something is wrong–eventually.

It took a while to develop effective guidelines for use of psychiatric meds with a population that was already addicted.

The key to treatment success is an integrated approach: One treatment team treats both illnesses using an integrated treatment plan.

Once the support of the treatment program no longer surrounds you, dealing with life’s challenges can be overwhelming. That’s when tools for recovery count.

If we could reach them now, the process might well be interrupted. Preventing a host of more serious problems — some of them fatal to other people, or the user himself.

It may help in understanding how the problems that plague some of us throughout life may have come about. And hopefully, in doing so, remove a bit the shame and stigma that often accompanies such problems.