Helping People Change

What Families Can Do to Make or Break Denial

The Dilemma for Families Affected by Addiction

Martin was a 22-year-old son who lived with his parents. They loved him, but were equally frustrated with him. Martin would borrow the family car to “run out briefly” for cigarettes. However, he would end up on a cocaine binge with the car for three days inconveniencing and worrying his family. To add insult to injury, he would sneak back in the house and sell the family silverware to buy drugs. Finally, so fed up, they set a limit: if it happened again, they would change the door locks, and he would not be able to live at home any longer.

Martin was “good” for a month, and the parents were hopeful. Then it happened…again. True to their limit, they changed the locks while he was away. Two days later, Martin banged on the door and wanted to get in.

SuperHealth - A System of Yogic Therapeutic Technology for Breaking Habits and Addictive Behavior

Most of our lives are spent doing things out of habit — how we walk, talk, dress, eat, and especially how we think! Some habits are beneficial, but many are not. They weaken us and only give temporary pleasure. These are called self-defeating habits. When they get out of control, they become addictions.

The problem of addictive behaviors and an unhealthy lifestyle spans all cultures and is becoming increasingly acute as globalization spreads.

In 1969, Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga, came from India to the United States. He found young people taking drugs to escape the emptiness and isolation of their cultural environment. Middle class housewives were taking pills with a distorted hope of numbing themselves from an inner unhappiness. Businessmen used alcohol to deal with stress and to help them to relax.

The Parity Act at a Glance

In 2010 there will be something quite extraordinary affecting our healthcare system. The United States Congress passed HR 1424 – the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act – otherwise known as The Parity Act. There is a long and storied history behind the development of this model of equity in healthcare. For many years, managed care has restricted coverage for Americans who sought treatment for mental health and addictive disorders.

increased costs and ignorance of the nature of mental illnesses. Quite simply, studies have demonstrated the effects of parity increase costs by approximately 1% only; and the science behind mental illness and addictive disorders as diseases is rock solid. The days of blaming schizophrenia on bad parenting or addictive disorders on poor character are gone. Furthermore, due to inadequate care, those with serious mental illnesses can expect to live 25 years less than the general population.

Sobriety = Optimism

Rev. Leo Booth
Unity minister, published author and conference speaker

Over the years I’ve said that it is important to know that sobriety is a development from a spiritual foundation and it involves seeing the world the way it is, rather than how we want it to be. Spirituality is reality.

With this in mind we need to realize that the world is in a recession, businesses are going into bankruptcy, people are losing their jobs, the stock market is crazy, banks are wobberly. It all sounds terrible. Anybody could be excused for being pessimistic, indeed depressed. But I am wanting to claim and affirm optimism; indeed opportunities abound in the darkest of times and being sober gives us an added advantage. Spiritual sobriety gives us a creative edge!

So, allowing for the fact that America and the world is going through a difficult time, what are the things that we can do to affirm our optimism, creating an amazing and successful sobriety?