Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Among all the substance abuse, alcohol is the most common legal drug and is affecting millions of people every year. The great majority of drinkers are able to control their intake, to drink to a point where they feel they have had enough, and then to stop, A small percentage of drinkers, however become dependent on alcohol and are unable to do this. They use alcohol to obtain relief from feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, loneliness, depression. Others look to alcohol for escape from unbearable pressures, stress and personal problems. These people have a need to drink and to keep drinking is compulsive.

Alcoholism may therefore be defined as a condition in which the individual drinks compulsively to the point of intoxication, over and over again and continues to do so.

Whatever the reason, substance abuse starts with the choice to try the substance and to use them. One thing for sure if people don’t try or experience with drugs or alcohol, then they will not become addicted. If at a young age they don’t get into drugs, they will be less likely to do so as an adult. If the circumstances are right, anyone at any age can get hooked on drugs!

There is nothing new about the problem with addiction. Since the beginning of recorded history a certain percentage of people has had serious trouble with drugs whenever or wherever they have been used.

In some cultures certain drugs have been a problem, like opium and marijuana. In the Western societies “hard drugs” like heroin or cocaine has been a problem. But the most common addictive drug of all has been alcohol.

Dr. George A. Mann, Medical Director of the Johnson Institute in Minneapolis stated that drugs can be placed on a scale raging from those with highest potential for addiction to those with lowest potential:

1. Heroin, Morphine, Demerol, Cocaine, Barbiturates, Amphetamines,

2. Alcohol, Tranquilizers — minor (sleeping pills), Codeine, Bromides,

3. Nicotine, Marijuana, Caffeine.

Almost any person can become psychologically and physically dependent on these drugs if that person is exposed to a high dosage for a long enough period of time. With a drug like heroin the time need not be long and the effects is both fast and very dangerous; with caffeine the time is longer and the effects are almost negligible.

Seven Factors That Lead To Drug Abuse:

1. The disordered family

2. Lack of self-esteem

3. Peer pressure

4. Experimentation (curiosity)

5. Culture influence

6. Parental drug abuse

7. Lack of moral and spiritual values

 

Although most of these factors involve family; however this does not mean that parents are to blame for their children’s addiction. These factors are not the causes of drug abuse, it is the unfortunate choice to try drugs and then to continue using them. If the persons’ chemistry likes the drug, then they are on the downhill road – The disease process of addiction overrides the ability to make choices. Just because the factors are present does not mean that the person will become a drug user.

Early in life children become well acquainted with medicines that take away pain and make one feel better. Teenagers watch parents consume aspirin, cold tablets, sleeping medications and a host of other drugs. Little wonders that our young people follow this adult example and in turn, perpetuate the idea that drugs are the first line of defense against physical and psychological pain.

Drug Abuse is not an over night process. It begins with the first use of the drug or alcohol and insidiously continues through a series of steps:

 

1. Experimentation

2. Progression from occasional use to regular use

3. Dependence / Addiction

Perhaps, the worst thing of all is the fact that everything good in the drug abusers’ life — family, friends, education, job, talents, are being destroyed. The road back is long and difficult and some never make it back.

Since drugs make us feel so good, it is hard to say no once we have tasted of them. Drug abuse has been called, “disease of our feelings.” Four phases through which substance users progress on their way to full blown addiction are:

1. Learning the mood swing (this is the experimentation steep)

•  Learns that the drug can provide a temporary mood swing of euphoria.

•  The drug will provide this euphoria every time.

•  Learn to trust the drug and its effects.

•  Learn to control euphoria by regulating the amount of the drug intake.

 

2. Seeking the mood swing (this is the occasional use step)

• Uses the drug at the appropriate times and places.

• Develops self-imposed rules about the use of drugs.

• May suffer from physical pain from overuse of the drug but not feeling guilty yet.

• Can usually control the time, amount, and outcome of drug used.

3. Harmful dependence (regular use, the drug user)

• Experiences loss of control.

• Violates their own value system, creating emotional pain and guilt.

• Loses insight into their behavior and uses rationalization to explain increasingly abnormal behavior.

• Develops increasing anger about himself/herself.

• Experiences increasing preoccupation with the use of the drug.

• Develops tolerance to the drug.

• Under goes deterioration of health, emotions, spiritual life, and family life.

• Using the drug to feel normal During this final step the user:

• Has to use the drug to feel normal

• Has frequent loss of control and loss of memory due to binges

• Finds that tolerance for the drug increases.

• Experiences full-blown addiction.

• Frequently has paranoid like thoughts and behavior is totally unpredictable. In this last phase the abuser have reached the point where they feel that they are using the drug to survive. The user no longer has the drug, the drug has them. At this point, the user is powerless to stop using drugs without help. Everything else takes second place to using and acquiring it. The drug now provides meaning and purpose. This is really a false sense of self-esteem caused by the drug. Deep down inside they usually feel totally worthless and frequently are filled with self-hatred.

Drug and alcohol addiction is often considered to be a disease. Someone has suggested that if it is a disease :

• It is the only disease that is controlled by the act of the will.

• It is the only disease that is requires a license to propagate it.

• It is the only disease that is bottled and sold.

• It is the only disease that promotes crime.

• It is the only disease that is habit forming.

• It is the only disease that is spread by advertising.

• It is the only disease that is given for a Christmas present.

Without treatment this ‘disease’ is universally fatal, it is just a matter of time. The drug user can be treated for the disease by medical therapy and recover from the chemical addiction. The difficulty with the medical-disease concept is that it seems to excuse the addict from any responsibility for the problem.

One must remember, after that initial use they had to make the choice to use it again, and again, and again; thus becoming addicted. The problem is really one of wrong choices – a moral and spiritual problem. Addiction is both a medical disease and a spiritual crisis. The treatment thus requires both medical and spiritual therapy. You cannot treat one without the other. Drug addiction is a process then that affects all aspects of a person’s life.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."1 Thessalonians 5:23

 

 

AFFECTS:

• Body – Physical addiction

• Damage to health

• Ultimately death

• Mind/Soul – Guilt

• Anxiety

• Fear

• Depression

• Spirit- Decline of close, vital relationship with God and family

There is no simple cause of drug and alcohol addiction. The reasons are complex, for one to become addicted and each individual are unique. Therefore the answer to the problem is not to lay blame, but to provide for a way out of the dilemma of addiction. One must note other addictions other than alcohol and drugs.

 

 

 

OTHER ADDICTIONS:

• Overeating

• Promiscuity

• Gambling

• Shopping

• Churchianity

• Workacholity

• Cultist

• Exercise

• Hobbies

Some abusers can hide their addiction more easily than others. To understand the effects drugs has on the human body one must understand what drugs are.

They are simply chemicals that can change something in the body’s chemistry or internal makeup. Some drugs like vitamins are necessary for the body to work properly. These drugs are both necessary and beneficial. There are also (Rx) prescribed drugs by a doctor.

Recent statistics show a decrease in longevity. In 15-24 year olds, the principle cause of death is suicide, homicide, drug overdose. The common thread behind those statistics is the use of drugs and alcohol.

Abuse of drugs and alcohol is harmful, they are being used for purposes for which they were not intended. This is what drug abuse is all about.

Substance abuse is the use of a mood-altering substance to change the way one feels, and it may be inhaled, sniffed, swallowed or injected. It can be legal or illegal, but not being used for legitimate or medical reasons. All drugs affect the brain. The limbic system- is that part of the brain where the person’s feelings originates. Here the drugs work by interfering with a substituting for the brain’s natural chemicals, called neurotransmitters,- chemicals that carry a signal from one brain cell to another.

Dependence is the compulsive desire to continually use a substance to either experience its effects or avoid painful realities despite adverse consequences. Addiction, occurs when the users’ brain must have the substance in order to function. If they don’t have the drug, their neurotransmitters mechanism malfunctions. If more of the drug is not taken withdrawal begins.

Addiction / Dependence is a way of coping with painful reality that is self-destructive. Addiction develops from an unhealthy choice of drugs as a pleasure producer or coping ,mechanism.

Withdrawal is the unpleasant emotional and physical symptoms which occurs when one is addicted and does not have enough drug in the system to satisfy their brain chemistry. It is what prompts the drug user to seek more drugs to feel normal. Withdrawal is very unpleasant one may become depressed, fatigue, experience muscle aches, vomiting, insomnia, and irritability.

Although we all have experienced these symptoms, with the drugs abuser they are more intense, because of the changes in the brain chemistry. One beneficial effect–they might drive the addict to seek treatment.

Ethyl Alcohol : Generic term is alcohol, in small doses it serves as a relaxant. Alcohol, when consumed in excess acts to depress the area of the brain that controls behavior. Alcohol is the most dangerous of any of the psychoactive drugs because it is a toxin, damaging most of the body muscles, systems and major organs. It is very addicting.

DRUGS OF ABUSE:

• Psychoactive Drugs

• Depressants

• Stimulants

• Psychedelics / Hallucinogens

• Inhalants / Nicotine

• Marijuana (pot)

• Sedatives

• Narcotics

• Cocaine and Amphetamines

It is a fact the more money is spent on illegal drugs than food. The international narcotic industry is the largest growing industry in the world.

Denial is not recognizing or admitting a problem. It is a very common behavior and is the drug abusers’ way of avoiding unpleasant realities. If drug abuse is not acknowledged, it will not be dealt with and it will continue. The underlying attitude behind denial is ““What problem?” Although denial may protect the mind from the psychological pain of this internal conflict, it unfortunately serves to perpetuate the addiction by allowing substance abusers to deceive themselves and avoid the awareness of the true extent of the addiction.

There are seven forms of denial which maybe called the substance abusers denial system:

1. Rationalization

2. Projection

3. Repression

4. Suppression

5. Withdrawal

6. Regression

7. Conversion

Greatly simplified the brain may be divided into two functional parts:

1. The Thinking Center: Which is the logical, cognitive area of the brain where integration and analysis of information takes place and responses are initiated. It is responsible for control of voluntary muscle activity.

2. The Feeling Center: Where emotions originate, known also as the limbic system and is activated by the feeling center of the brain.

The denial center protects the mind from the psychological pain. It allows the substance abuser to isolate rational and logical thoughts from feelings. Once the denial system has succeeded in splitting the thinking center and the feeling center from one another, then the thinking center is greatly weakened in its ability to monitor and control the impulses of the feeling center. The feeling center is then made very vulnerable to the development of addiction.

In a substance abuser, the power of the drug addiction is so strong that the feeling center of the brain often dominates the behavior and controls it, allowing the addictive patterns to continue. Although the denial system initially softens the pain and internal anguish of substance abuse, over time, because it is an unnatural psychological system, it requires an increasingly massive amount of emotional energy for it to continue.

It is very difficult to maintain this internal, psychological denial system, therefore the individuals has to develop behavioral “masks” to protect themselves from discovery, disapproval and deep emotional involvement with others.

Abusers often develop attitudes or masks to hide their motives, to rationalize their behavior and to deny responsibility for change. These masks are used to gain control over the people around them.

Some Of These Masks Are:

• Closed communication

• “I can’t” attitude

• Self Pity

• Lack of time perceptive

• Failure to consider others

• Avoiding responsibility

• Assumed ownership

• Denial of bad consequences

• Lack of trust

• Refusal to be dependent

• Unwilling to be responsible

• Pretentiousness

• Unwilling to endue adversity

The substance abuser becomes an expert wearing masks. When their defenses are down they become angry with themselves, angry that they can’t stop, angry that they are hurting, angry that they are hurting those around them, angry at God for allowing them to get into this mess.

At this point one major emotion breaks through the denial system, one that is most powerful and potentially most damaging -GUILT. Guilt always demands some type of punishment or resolution. It is ironic that guilt usually motivates the abuser toward continued drug use rather than away from it. If the cycle is going to be broken, guilt must be dealt with effectively.

Appropriate Guilt: The abuser perceives in response to the unhealthy destructive behaviors carried out while under the influence of the substance. This appropriate guilt can be dealt with by the spiritual and psychological work in the twelve step process.

 

Twelve Steps – A Spiritual Journey:

 

STEP ONE : One must admit they are powerless over the effects of their separation from God and their lives have become unmanageable. In step one they admit that they can’t stand anymore, and plead for release. They cry, ”I quit !” Step one is an opportunity to face reality and admit that their life isn’t working with them in control. They embrace their powerlessness, they stop pretending. In step one, they come to grips with the reality of their lives. Perhaps for the first time, they will finally admit defeat and recognize that they need help. Step one provides needed direction for one’s unmanageability. They prepare themselves by realizing that step one is the first step in a spiritual journey toward wholeness. This step stops us. It puts a halt to our efforts and gives us permission to quit.

STEP TWO – Come to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Step two is about faith, truth and believing. Step two helps one acknowledge the seed of faith that God has given us. This begins the process of trusting that power greater than ourselves is at work in our lives. Many of us have a distorted view of God, although we are not quick to admit it, we may believe that God is like our abusive or absent parents or significant others. We may believe that God doesn’t care how we feel, that He is cruel and waiting to judge us. We have to set aside our old images and mistaken beliefs about God. For now we can simply hold on to the words of AA’s second Tradition, “…there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God…”

 

STEP THREE – admitted our powerlessness and ability to manage our lives. We also have come to believe that God can heal us and now we decide to turn it all over to God’s care. Here we take time to contemplate changes, and finally we make a decision that God is the only one able to manage our lives, that His will for us is best.

STEP FOUR – Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Realize that there are areas of our lives that need attention. We also must realize that we cannot see all these areas. Denial keeps us blinded to the dirt in the corners. Low self-esteem has kept us ignorant about the beauty and worth of our lives. Here God comes to us as a caring friend. He opens our eyes to the weakness in our lives that need changing and helps us to build on our strengths. With a clipboard in hand we walk down the aisles of our lives and note areas of weakness and strengths In relationships we take stock of resentments, grudges but we also examine loving and health relationships as well. With communications we note the lies, but list the positive ways we shared with others. In this process we can look to God for guidance. He knows the contents of our warehouse far better than we do. The twelve-step process is not easy and step four is particularly demanding.

 

STEP FIVE – Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. We work through this step by bringing step four inventory to God in prayerful admission. We work through step five be being honest with ourselves, by looking ourselves in the eye and reciting our inventory. We share our inventory with someone we can trust, someone who will understand, someone who will encourage and not condemn us. The work of confession is our task here, not easy work but absolutely necessary.

STEP SIX – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Here we are ready to have God bring changes into our lives. Becoming ready may not seem like a lot of work, but it is – it’s spiritual work. God can’t change us unless we are willing for him to do so, and so far we have not asked God for change. We have become aware of our condition and admitted our need. In this step we wait for God to do some internal work, and we must be sensitive to the changes He is making in our hearts.

 

STEP SEVEN – Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings. ("If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."1 John 1:9) Step seven is worked out on our knees. Our condition, our honesty and our pain have humbled us so now we must open our mouths and pray. We hold nothing back from God. Make sure that we have resolved the fear of letting go of our defects. Learn to draw nearer to God by becoming comfortable in God’s presence. Take prayer seriously. This is a time to talk to God in a very personal way. Go to Him with inventory in hand and with a full understanding of our need.

 

STEP EIGHT: – Make a list of all persons we have harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all. This is worked through with thought reflection. With God’s help we recall the names and faces of people we have harmed. Write down each name and consider each person carefully. We need to examine our relationship with these people and consider how we have harmed them. We will help ourselves by being as thorough as possible in our consideration and notes. Through step eight we learn humility. The willingness to be humbled puts our lives in proper perspective and places us in agreement with God’s plan and will for our lives.

 

STEP NINE: – Make a direct amends to people wherever possible, except when to do so would require them or others. This step is similar to the repairs and rebuilding that takes place after a disaster. The difference is that we are part of the entire event. Through the process of making amends, we begin to make restitution and mend the damage of our past. In step eight we surveyed the damage and made a plan, now we go into action, we listed person by person now we approach each one we can with gentleness, sensitivity and understanding. God can help us to know the best way to make contact. Some may require a face to face meeting while others maybe handled by changing our behavior. God will provide us with the wisdom and direction we need.

 

STEP TEN: – Continue to take personal inventory and when they are wrong promptly admitted it. This is really a summary from step four to nine. They take an inventory of their lives and admit what they find. Become willing to allow God to change them, then humbly ask Him to remove the shortcomings. Take note of the amends needed and make those amends.

STEP ELEVEN: – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve their conscious contact with God as they understand Him, Praying only for knowledge of His will for them and the power to carry it out. In this step they must take prayer and meditation seriously. Through meditation they listen to God and hope to hear the message He has for them. Some struggle with the idea of prayer and meditation as a way to maintain contact with God. They know prayers but they don’t know how to pray. They may be unfamiliar with meditation and resistant to try. This step is communicating with God. It is work of learning the intimacy and power of prayer and meditation. It is the act of drawing near to God, and seeking His will . One needs to prepare for this step by developing an understanding appreciation for both prayer and meditation. Should there be struggle in this area the help of counsel would of course be beneficial.

 

STEP TWELVE: – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, one tries to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all their affairs. This involves taking time to appreciate the spiritual growth in their lives. One works this step by sharing with others and applying the principles of the steps to every area of their lives. Twelve step will be theirs if they have done all of the following; relied upon God’s presence, worked the steps in partnership with Him, and gave Him control of their will and life.

David The Psalmist struggled with guilt. He describes his struggles in Psalm 32: 3-5

"When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them, I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to The Lord.’  And You forgave me! All my guilt was gone." (NLT)

Lets look at Inappropriate Guilt: It is that guilt which the substance abuser will ironically choose to hold onto in order to maintain the addiction cycle. This guilt needs to be pointed out to the abuser. Events in the past cannot be changed, but any real guilt for those events can be erased through the forgiveness available from God through the grace of Jesus Christ.

The substance abuser can temporarily cover up the pain with more substance, but sooner or later they will find a workable answer. C.S. Lewis said; “But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is HIS megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Sometimes it is not easy to stand back and watch the consequences take their toll, but if we really love the person, we must. Substance users have different levels of tolerance for pain. Knowing that they have hurt or disappointed those they love is enough to motivate them to seek treatment. Sometimes others have to go all the way to the point of crash and burn before they are ready for help.

­CONFRONTATION: Is a process where by substance using behavior is acknowledge by others and fully exposed. Proverbs 27:5 "An open rebuke is better than hidden love!" (NLT)

If the counselor wants to see someone become substance free, they must be tough. A progression of steps can be followed in trying to encourage the abuser to seek treatment. Frequently the first three steps will need to be utilized simultaneously. This is called the funnel of loving confrontation.

 

STEP ONE Open Acceptance – The abuser must be drawn into a process of positive change. It is based on his or her need for a relationship with a significant other, a relationship that the abuser values and does not want to lose. Whomever it may be, the key is that the abuser cares what that individual thinks about them and wants to continue the relationship. One should become indispensable in the right kind of way, developing an open acceptance of him or her as a person, viewing them as someone worthy of love, based upon the need of the abuser not their behavior.

 

STEP TWO: Assigning Responsibility – The next step in the ever tightening funnel is , the significant other to quit making excuses for the abusers’ behavior and actions. Excuses are no longer accepted. The abuser is expected to take responsibility and to be accountable for his or her behavior. They may resist this responsibility and make more excuses, however the truth will eventually become apparent.

 

STEP THREE: Allowing The Consequences – As the funnel constricts even further, the abuser pleads with their significant other for rescue from the painful consequences of the substance related behavior. The significant other must take a loving but firm stand. Here are some guidelines:

•  Get the facts

•  Stand your guard

•  Be united

•  Keep your cool

•  Be prepared to follow through

At this point the user may be agreeable to treatment and if so there must be options ready to present. The first step to treating substance addiction is actually getting the user to agree to treatment.

 

STEP FOUR: Intervention by Confrontation – If the first three steps fail to convince the abuser of the need for help then a direct confrontation along with intervention is necessary.

FIRST: Intervention (Why and How) The abuser has to hit bottom before he or she is willing to get help.

The Process – Gain as much knowledge as you can about the problem Support and encouragement will help with following through.

 

 

SECOND: Family should gather together without the abuser and discuss how the abuser’s behavior has affected their lives as well as others. A meeting should be held with the others as well.

THIRD: Investigate local treatment options, inpatient and outpatient programs, cost and insurance should be looked at as well.

FOURTH: Get advice from peers in the substance abuse field for support and guidance. Some goals to consider for the intervention are:

• Secure the drug user’s agreement to become drug free.

• Get the abuser’s agreement and commitment to a plan for accomplishing

• this. This would include a change in behavior and habits

• Decide which type of treatment program would be best.

Rehearsal is vital to a successful intervention. One has to act as the facilitator. (the counselor, experienced lay-person, or family member, a close friend of the abuser or employer,) all must practice what they will say to the abuser. They are to state only facts about how the abuser’s behavior has affected them personally, do not preach, teach or chastise.

The family and others should assemble before the abuser arrives. The facilitator explains to the abuser why they have gathered and ask him or her to listen without responding for awhile. Everyone speaks directly to the abuser, stating facts, events and telling how it has affected them.

 

This is an objective attack on the abuser’s denial system, NOT the person. Options for help are shared. Then the abuser is allowed to respond. The group should be prepared for other responses including anger, hostility, and counter- accusations, as well as the possibility of the abuser bolting from the room.

It is most important when a decision is made to follow it through. Follow up action should be taken immediately and be consistent. The abuser is NOT allowed to bargain. It may be necessary for a court order in some cases. Whatever the response, the facilitator must be sure the message is loudly and clearly delivered. Telling the abuser he or she can continue to destroy themselves but we will no longer assist them in the process. The group must be prepared to mean business and to follow it through no matter how difficult it may be for the abuser and those in the group.

Addiction is a family affair. Living in a family of an abuser is like being on the wrong side of a two-headed coin – you never win. The only thing constant in the home is the inconsistency and unpredictability. Being in a no win situation brings out certain behaviors and habit patterns that are very abnormal but necessary for survival. Unfortunately in many families no treatment is sought. If a parent is the user, the children suffer the most. When children of such a home become adults, they frequently feel worthless and have great difficulty with close, intimate relationships. The tremendous emotional scars inflicted upon children growing up in substance abuse homes lead directly to marital discord, emotional depression, vocational instability and job dissatisfaction in adulthood. Characteristic behavior traits and attitudes plague the children of the abuser. These begin in childhood and continue into adulthood. Children are confused as to what is normal.

• they have difficulty completing projects

• they lie compulsively

• they are overly critical of self

• they are too serious and have difficulty having fun

• as adults they have difficulty with intimate relationships

• have a great need to control one’s life

• have a life long need for approval and affirmation

• they are either overly responsible or overly irresponsible

• extremely loyal to the abuser which only aggravates the problems

The price the substance abuser pay is destruction of his own health and self-esteem. It is also paid by those individuals around them who are dragged – emotionally, spiritually and sometimes physically with them into the pitiful abyss of their addiction. The counselor is to assist the family in identifying what roles the members have played in the family system. This may not be easy, as they may well be using denial and believe that only the abuser has a problem.

If they can acknowledge their roles and then get help themselves they can become part of the solution instead of remaining part of the problem.

One must keep in mind that there is no quick cure. They must not let anyone delude them with the idea that this can be cured instantaneously. In fact part of the "disease" itself is to be always looking for a solution just around the corner.

For the perfectionism specializes in if-onlys: “ If only I could _____________________________, I would be OK.” Positives ( If only I could… read, pray, give, witness, serve.) or negatives…

n if only I could give it up

n if only I could stop

• if only I could quit

• if only I could follow the steps

Healing is a process. It will involve a process of growth in grace, of reprogramming and of healing in every level of your life. You will need healing of your mind with its distorted concepts, healing of your feelings with their damaged emotions, healing of your perception with its downgrading evaluations and healing of your relationships with all of their disruptive contradictions. One will also need a deep, inner healing of memories to blot out the destructive, slow-motion video replays that interfere with the life. This sounds like a pretty thorough overhauling, it is, and submission to this process is the beginning of healing.

 

Each individual must make his or her choice to accept or reject God’s healing power. We who are concerned cannot do it for them. More advice for the recovering substance abuser:

• The time to become drug free is today.

• Recovery from substance abuse is a lifelong process and not just a one-time event.

• Get help from someone qualified.

• Don’t give up if you should relapse.

• Don’t struggle with drugs in your own strength.

• You must stay away from all drugs and drug using friends

• Don’t be surprised when you are tempted to use drugs again.

• Recognize that it is easier to lie to yourself than to anyone else you know.

• Don’t become proud and self-sufficient once you become drug-free.

• Have a confidence in God. He has your best interest at heart.

• Walk with God one day at a time.

• Take time to pray each day.

• Read your Bible every day. God’s Word has the answers for all your problems and the direction you need.

• Attend church weekly. This is where you can worship and serve God. You will grow when you give yourself to others.

• Maintain a support system, a group of other Christians with whom you can share your struggles and receive encouragement.

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself." Galatians. 6:1-2 NLT

THE SERENITY PRAYER: God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

©2004 Ozell M. Borden
For Personal Use Only.  Any commercial use or publication without authorization is strictly prohibited.