Addict inches his way toward recovery
-- Lost Man
Dear Lost: I give you credit for kicking your long-standing drug habit, but as long as you are addicted to a mood-altering substance, you will likely continue to be stuck, swimming in your emotional turmoil. Alcohol may lubricate your social interactions in the moment, but you still have to wake up each morning and face the day, being the man you are and carrying your own particular and unique burdens. Waking up hung over and with the depressive substance still in your system makes everything harder for you.
Get yourself to an AA meeting. Alcoholics Anonymous is available to anyone at no cost. Twelve-step programs may not work for every addict, but it is a positive start. You just have to show up.
Likely due to its position as the party capital of the world, Las Vegas has many treatment centers for addicts. Some advertise free, sliding-scale, or low-cost treatment. Las Vegas also has a substantial community of people in recovery. You should join them.
I agree that you would benefit from therapy, and in my experience, when people commit to and value the experience of therapy, they find a way to pay for it. It has to do with putting your mental and physical health first -- before trips to the bar, the gym, or the mall. You would also benefit from mindfulness activities like exercise and meditation.
I'm genuinely sorry you are experiencing your life in this way. I encourage you to commit to your own recovery. You deserve it.
Dear Amy: Our son is divorced and living with us temporarily.
Our granddaughter is 7 years old, and has never slept alone or in her own bed.
Our son has her here on weekends and she insists on sleeping in his (king-sized) bed.
The mother says her daughter will decide when she is ready to sleep in her own bed.
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