Every September is National Recovery Month, a time when we celebrate healing from drug and alcohol addiction. Each National Recovery Month has a theme. The theme for September 2019, Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger, points to an extremely useful tool for healing and recovery: social support.   How Can Others Help [...] The post Using National Recovery Month to Connect appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

Labor Day and other summer events are a good way to celebrate summer, friends, and good times. Many people choose to celebrate Labor Day by gathering and participating in many activities. Eating and drinking are often two of these activities. Not everyone may welcome the holiday. People recovering from alcohol addiction may worry about eating [...] The post Labor Day: No Alcohol, No Problem appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

If you’re homeless, mentally ill, and addicted to drugs in San Francisco, you may receive treatment, whether you want to receive it or not. Is this an example of compassion or a violation of civil rights? In June, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to approve a pilot program that would place [...] The post Homelessness, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

How much alcohol is safe? It depends on who you ask. According to some scientists, alcohol may be very dangerous to one’s long-term health. One study tracked the drinking habits of almost 600,000 people in nineteen countries. It found that people who drank ten to eighteen pints of beer or glasses of beer a week [...] The post Is Alcohol Safe? appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

Modern conveniences have made life more pleasant, if not better, for many of us. But sometimes, modern conveniences may not be such a good thing in the long term. New options for purchasing alcohol may be one of those things. These days, we don’t even have to travel anywhere to buy alcohol. It’s possible to [...] The post Delivering Alcohol on Demand appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

While alcohol or drug addiction may devastate every aspect of people’s lives, many people are afraid to seek much-needed treatment to fight such addiction. They may be afraid of the treatment themselves, afraid of what it costs, and afraid of what others will say about them. They may afraid be afraid of giving up their [...] The post Technology and Treatment appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

Young people, drugs, and alcohol don’t mix. While we already knew this, an increasing number of studies have produced even more evidence about the dangers of introducing substances to the young. For example, scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that exposing newborn mice to nicotine changed the reward circuitry [...] The post Nicotine and Young People appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

Because they aren’t brand-name drugs, generic drugs are supposed to save money while they save lives. But some people claim that generic drug manufacturers aren’t allowing people to save money, which could take lives, not save them. That’s what Connecticut attorney general William Tong and others say. In May, 2019, Connecticut and over forty states [...] The post Generic Drugs, Unusual Activities appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

Weightlifters use spotters, writers use editors, and factories use quality control inspectors. Clearly, utilizing more people and more processes often creates improvements. So, why shouldn’t people seeking help for addiction utilize more than one type of treatment? Multiple treatment approaches are evident in Narcotics Anonymous groups (NA) for people using medication-assisted treatment (MAT). These groups [...] The post Fighting Addiction with Everything We Have appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more

There’s no magic tool that cures drug and alcohol addiction for everyone, say experts. Actually, there’s no cure for drug and alcohol addiction, but there are many different tools that may aid in sobriety and produce long-lasting recovery. Barry Grant is the director of outpatient services at Hope House Treatment Centers and a program manager [...] The post Uniqueness in Addiction appeared first on Willow Springs Addiction Recovery ..read more