It’s not difficult to understand why someone, who is actively using drugs, may feel bored when he/she is not high. It is more difficult to understand why that person may continue to have difficulty enjoying activities once the drug is stopped. But this is not uncommon. People who quit using drugs often report that they are bored, uninspired, and have a hard time enjoying everyday living. Why does this happen? It has to do with the brain chemical (neurotransmitter) called dopamine.

We are programmed from birth to seek pleasure, and when dopamine is released into the brain, we experience it as pleasure. Pleasurable activities release dopamine into the brain, and our choice to engage in activities often has a direct relationship to the amount of dopamine released.

Drugs of abuse release rapid and large amounts of dopamine directly into the brain. In essence, they hijack the normal pleasure/reward pathway of the brain, directly stimulating it with readily available dopamine. Such a massive and easily obtained source of dopamine dwarfs our ability to obtain dopamine from smaller, but more sustainable sources, such as what we would get from reading a good book, taking a walk with friends, or reaching a goal at work.

When the memory of drugs is strong, it may be difficult to find pleasure in everyday activities. The memory of how drugs activate the reward center remains even after an individual stops using the drug. With time, and as one begins to engage in everyday activities, the memory of the drug as a ready source of dopamine fades, and simple activities take on more meaning and pleasure. The brain relearns ways to obtain pleasure from smaller, more sustainable sources of dopamine.

Does this mean that someone must simply wait for the brain to reprogram itself? No! You can change your brain! As with any learning, the more you practice, the faster the skill is learned. You may have to push yourself, engaging in pleasurable everyday activities. You won’t feel a huge surge of dopamine like you used to with drugs, but you will obtain some pleasure and you will be retraining your brain. So try to remember some of the activities you used to do before you started using drugs, imagine yourself doing these things, and do them now. Start getting engaged with life and find meaningful and enduring satisfactions that will reward your brain. It’s up to you!

Reprinted with permission from SMART Recovery San Diego
Copyright ( 2012) Julie Myers, PysD: Psychologist in San Diego. All Rights Reserved.

SMART Recovery is about actively managing your self and directing your actions. What do you intend to actively do today… or ‘NOW’… to manage your addiction recovery?

We have the power of choice, but in order to realize this power, forming intentions and doing the work of changing our thinking and behaviors is required for success… so…

… what’s your intention for self-management today?

Here are some examples (different addiction examples are included here.)

• Study in my SMART Recovery handbook for 15 minutes
• Attend a meeting
• Take my vitamins
• Work on an item I’ve put off
• Eat sensibly
• Respect myself by examining and rating my thoughts and behaviors… instead of self-rating and self-downing
• Drive home a different way to avoid my old patterns
• Exercise for 10-15 minutes
• Drink water instead of soda at lunch
• Create an urge log
• Practice unconditional acceptance with myself and others
• Set a new boundary
• Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis worksheet
• Spend 10 minutes reading in the online library, and then practicing what I’ve learned
• Stay in the NOW, rather than letting my mind drift to the past or the future
• Make a journal of the ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) I have each day, and work to dispute them
• Spend 15 minutes cleaning the kitchen

………… and so forth.

Chart out your intentions in your journal or on an index card. Re-visiting them frequently during the day can help keep you focused on what it is you want to actually DO to realize successful self-management with your recovery. Work to make these the non-negotiable items of your daily activities… the items that will enhance your recovery… and then Push Your *** to make them happen.

So, what are your intentions today?

We have a limited number of spots available in our new online web course.

More Info: http://tinyurl.com/3ua4x5n .

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, to be held on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Data Shows that Friends and Family Are A Primary Source of Abused Painkillers

From the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP):

The ONDCP has released a new data analysis revealing that the majority of first-time or occasional prescription drug abusers are most likely to get their drugs from a friend or family member– for free, or without permission. Prescription drugs are the second-most abused category of drugs in the United States, following marijuana. When taken as directed for legitimate medical purposes, prescription drugs are safe and effective. However, they are just as dangerous and deadly as illegal drugs when used for non-medical reasons. This new analysis found that:

Among new abusers of pain relievers (those who began misuse of pain relievers in the past year), 68 percent obtained the pills from a friend or relative for free or took them without asking, 17 percent got them through prescription by one or more doctors, and 9 percent purchased them from a friend, dealer, or the Internet.

Among occasional abusers of pain relievers (less than once a week on average in the past year), 66 percent obtained the pills from a friend or relative for free or took them without asking, 17 percent got them through prescription from one or more doctors, and 13 percent purchased them from a friend or relative, dealer, or the Internet.

Among chronic abusers of pain relievers, 41 percent obtained the pills from a friend or relative for free or without asking, 26 percent got them through prescription from one or more doctors, and 28 percent purchased them from a friend or relative, dealer, or the Internet.

These findings underscore the importance of the proper disposal of unused medications. To help Americans dispose of any unneeded medications in their homes, the Drug Enforcement Administration will host its fourth National Take Back Day on Saturday, April 28th, at over 5,000 collection sites across the United States.

This is a great opportunity for those who missed the previous events, or who have subsequently accumulated unwanted, unused prescription drugs, to dispose of those medications easily and safely. Americans who participated in the DEA’s third take-back event last fall turned in more than 188 tons of unwanted or expired medications at 5,327 take-back sites for proper disposal.

According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, each day approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time. A majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from the home medicine cabinets of family and friends.

For more information, including a Collection Site Locator and a Partnership Toolbox, visit DEA’s website.

SMART Recovery provides its members with tools and support that they can use to help them recover from addictions to drugs or other addictive substances and negative behaviors.
[ More Information ]

We experience different states of consciousness every day. At work, we must stay “on,” stay focused, respond carefully, etc. At home, we like to “zone out,” to not be “on,” to relax. We also all enjoy a different state of consciousness: sleep.

But at other times, many of us also like something very different from either our “on,” focused, responsible state or our relaxed, “zoned out” state. Some chemicals and activities help us achieve these different states, e.g., alcohol, skiing, sex, internet gaming, dancing, etc. For many people, these result in wonderful states of consciousness, and they manage not to overdo them or get addicted to them. But supposing you are not so lucky and become dependent or addicted.

The dopamine rush
Modern neuroscience suggests that we all need a certain level of dopamine to feel okay. With dopamine, we act; without it, we don’t. Too much or too little can be a problem. Novelty, challenge, alcohol, sex, cocaine, chocolate…all lead to a spritz of dopamine (or a tsunami). Even just thinking about doing something that has led to pleasing feelings in the past will cause dopamine to be released…and then action may follow, but not always good action. And if you blitz your dopamine system too often, only that drug or activity you used may “ring your bell” in the future.  This is why vitamins for drug detox  include C vitamins, which can stimulate the production of dopamine, often un-naturally low after prolonged substance use.

Alternatives to addictive behaviors are required for successful addiction recovery.

Steps to living healthy

1. Accept the gap.

If you continually get in trouble with a particular chemical or activity, you will have to accept the “gap.” There is a gap between what you want to do in the short-run and what you can do, without messing up your life. And you can make things worse by demanding that that gap go away or not exist.

2. Set goals.

You won’t give up a favorite state of consciousness – something you like very, very much – without having a larger or more important goal that you want even more…or perhaps many goals, for example, good relationships, meaningful work, and the ability to have fun doing other things like fishing or cooking.

3. Do what is good for you.

What “rings your bell” or “lifts your spirits” but does not wreck your life? Those are the things you should do more of. Some, like music,  give an immediate lift. Others, like relationships, yield their lift at various times and places. The lift is not so immediate and apparent but it’s no less important. You can sense what lifts your spirits. Initially, partly because you have whacked your dopamine system and it will take time to repair itself, nothing may ring your bell. But, given some time, you can watch which activities lead to a richer, more enjoyable life and which lead to more chaos and misery.

4. Expect down times.

Nothing will work all of the time. Why do Americans think they should be happy all or most of the time? Our moods are like the weather. There are gray days and stormy days, as well as sunny days. So find other ways to lift your spirits, spritz your spritzer and lift your dopamine levels. At the same time, resist your demand to close the gap. Where is the evidence that you can’t stand it?! And why is it so horrible that your mood is gray in the first place?

Change and acceptance
And, paraphrasing a prayer by Neibuhr for those who do not believe in a “Higher Power”:

May we learn how to change the things we can change, how to accept the things that we cannot change and how to cultivate the wisdom to know the difference.

This is the challenge. When we accept it, we will feel better – not always, but often.

Source: AddictionBlog.org

Read on for five (5) practical ideas on how to cope with urges and cravings after you have decided to abstain from drugs and alcohol.

Cravings are normal

Everyone who’s engaged in addictive behavior will experience uncomfortable cravings (“I want it badly”) and urges (“I have to do it now”). They are normal. And fortunately, they always pass with time. At the outset of recovery, they can be pretty intense, but each one will subside if you can wait it out and have a plan for relapse prevention. Cravings and urges will decrease in strength and frequency over time. You can make this happen by adopting some coping strategies that work best for you.

Learning to resist cravings

For many people, urges and cravings to use drugs or alcohol trigger automatic responses. They are without conscious thought: I want [fill in the blank]. = I get it. Learning to say NO to these intense, ingrained desires is one of the biggest challenges in recovery. The good news is that you can understand these desires and learn to resist them.

In fact, “Coping with Urges and Cravings” is Point 2 of the SMART Recovery 4-Point Program®. The SMART Recovery Handbook has collected nearly two dozen strategies for dealing with them. Some of the approaches that work best for many are summarized with the easy-to-remember acronym DEADS – as in “Combat Urges DEADS.” Each letter stands for a useful approach:

D = Delay. The mental activities of cravings and urges disappear over time unless you actively maintain them with your attention. Given time, they will run their course and disappear. If they aren’t gone in 10-15 minutes, then chances are you are still exposed to the stimulus that cued the urge in the first place. Just don’t give in no matter how bad the urge is and it will pass. All the urges you have ever had have passed. Once you have denied an urge, you know you can do it again and again. And after a short time, there will be fewer cravings and the ones you have will diminish in intensity. Waiting them out is a great step to recovery.

E = Escape. Just leave or get away from the urge provoking situation. Run away from it. Leave the pub so that you can stop staring at the beer taps. Leave the supermarket where all the bottles of wine are so nicely displayed. If there’s an alcohol ad on TV, switch the channel. Just the act of escaping the trigger will focus your mind on something new – which will quickly lessen the urge.

A = Accept. Put your urges and cravings into perspective by understanding that they are normal and will pass. It’s important in the recovery process to learn to accept discomfort. It won’t “kill” you and will be gone pretty quickly. You’ll feel good about what you’re learning and achieving.

D = Dispute. If you’ve worked through the ABC or DISARM exercises, you may have developed a rational “Effective new belief” or counter statement to help you attack your (irrational) urges and cravings. These exercises help you productively diagnose past addictive situations and develop useful tactics for disputing them when they occur again – which will help them pass much more quickly.

S = Substitute. When you get an urge, quickly substitute a thought or activity that’s more beneficial or fun. Take a walk or any other form of exercise. Pick up something new to read or turn on something to listen to. The possibilities to substitute (and lessen the craving more quickly) are endless. Think about and write down some possibilities to  have a list on hand when an urge occurs. Then just pick one to employ an effective response.

Thanks to our colleagues at SMART Recovery UK for some of these ideas for addiction recovery. I hope they help you to find ways to say NO to your urges and cravings.

Download: Printable Flyer

If you are new to SMART Recovery, this study may be of interest.

New SMART Recovery members are eligible to participate in a randomized clinical trial of a new addiction recovery program, Overcoming Addictions.

You may benefit in two ways:

1. You may learn how to achieve and maintain abstinence from drinking and

2. You may get support from others in SMART Recovery that could help with your recovery.

You may also be reimbursed up to $120 for your time to collect outcome data for the study.

More information

Personal accounts of struggles with addiction abound–Hank Hayes’ book is a bit different because it emphasizes a new, solution oriented approach, rather than focusing on the problem of alcohol abuse.

Hayes lets the reader know from the start that his experience with 12-step recovery was ultimately not successful, although I must say he seems to have given it his very best effort. The 12-step approach to overcoming addiction is the one most mainstream Americans are familiar with, and an approach that works for many, but not for all.

In clear, plain language, Hayes critiques the 12-step method from his perspective. Many people will relate to his story and his frustrations.
Happily, he found an alternative recovery approach that did work for him and he not only shares it (SMART Recovery, a program based on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy–REBT) but he also presents his own set of guidelines for achieving addiction-free health and lifestyle balance during recovery and in post addiction life.

Arguing that people need to “take 100% responsibility for the life you want,” he gently guides the reader through the development of a plan for overcoming one’s addiction by replacing the addiction with clarity of thought and responsible choices. Based on his experience as a contractor with the military, Hayes shines his personal light on effective strategies for building, achieving, and maintaining physical, emotional and relationship health. His ideas on diet and exercise are specific and helpful. The questions he raises allow the readers to develop their own answers, and in so doing are empowering.

This book offers an honest, realistic, man on the street success story. Instead of accepting defeat because the widely accepted 12-step methods didn’t work for him, Hayes continued to diligently work on finding a solution that did work for him and may work for you or your loved one.

This is worth a read–and his chapter on alternative resources is great!

Some people may choose to focus on Hayes’ disenchantment with AA. There are many terrific resources about how to work a 12-step program if that is what you are looking for.

This book offers new solutions to an audience of people and families who are struggling with addiction. I found this down to earth, free wheeling personal account inspiring and I recommend it.

Each April, SMART Recovery celebrates Volunteer Month as a way to not only recognize the efforts of our many dedicated volunteers, but also to encourage others to help meet the demand to bring SMART Recovery to others and to share in the rewarding experience of volunteering.

This year, through the generous donation of an anonymous supporter of SMART Recovery, a number of Volunteer Training Grants are available during Volunteer Month to provide training for those who qualify for financial assistance to cover the cost of the SMART Recovery Facilitator and Support Team Distance Training (FAST).

Volunteer Training Grants are available for local and online facilitators, message board volunteers, chat volunteers, and other volunteers that may benefit from the SMART Recovery FAST training.*

Applications for Volunteer Training Grants will be accepted for the entire month of April. If you’ve been considering volunteering at SMART Recovery, now may be your best time to get trained, get involved, and experience the rewards of helping others make a difference in their own lives.

Application Process

Face-to-Face Volunteers as well as Online Volunteers are eligible to apply for Volunteer Training Grants during Volunteer Month. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

With your Volunteer Training Grant approval, and upon the successful completion of the training and the receipt of your Volunteer Registration Form (containing your meeting information) by the Central Office, you will receive a Meeting Starter Kit (a $45 value) consisting of 4 DVDs, a SMART Recovery® Handbook, and a SMART Recovery® hat to use when “passing the hat” at your local meeting. The SMART Recovery® Facilitator’s Manual is available through Volunteer Month as a free downloadable PDF when you register for training.

Recovery Month Volunteer Training Grant – Apply Here

Online Volunteer Descriptions

For the participants interested in volunteering for our online community, you can read the volunteer descriptions.

Handout for Local Facilitators

Local Facilitators: Please hand out Volunteer Month flyers to your participants.

Thank You for your participation!

* Please note: Additional training may be required for some volunteer positions.

Australian and UK volunteers, contact your local office for details.