Brave Mom Tells Truth about her Daughter's Heroin Death

Here's is a brave Mom--she actually put what killed her daughter, heroin addiction, into the obituary! If more people did that, parents might get a better idea of how prevalent the problem is! Rathter than  saying an accident, families might tell the truth--an accident while drunk! Rather than say suicide, say a suicide while stoned on PCP, rather than say simply "overdose" try saying "they took too many pills stolen from their parents". It would be very very hard to tell the truth about drug and alcohol deaths but could and would help so many others understand the scope of alcohol and drug abuse in this country.

Portraits Of Those Killed By Heroin Bring Healing And Awareness : NPR: "When Jackie Zanfagna died last year at 25 years old, her parents did something bold. In the first sentence of her obituary they acknowledge what killed her: an accidental overdose of heroin."



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Retraining Parents To Bond With Kids To Break Addiction Cycle

In our work book for parents Sober Coaching Your Teen, this is exactly what we do, retrain parents regarding their kids and drug prevention/abuse. The traditional methods "love them enough and all is well" approach has turned out to be a dismal failure. But training parents in effective ways to deal with kids make them part of the solution, not problem. No more enabling!!!! Read about what  Nemours Children’s Hospital and UCF have started.

Retraining Parents To Bond With Kids To Break Addiction Cycle - 90.7 WMFE: "“Trading out that sense of pleasure they get from the drug for the sense of pleasure that a lot of parents get from their children,” Boris said. “Not 24-7 because parenting is hard, but there are very important moments for parents.”"



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The beautiful Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve

What a beautiful tradition for Christmas--I would love to see people in recovery adopt this--read from the Big Book, the Pocket Sponsor, various meditation books..a night of graditude and recovery sharing!

The beautiful Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve : TreeHugger: "Book lovers will want to adopt this lovely holiday tradition, which melds literary and holiday pleasures into a single event.

Icelanders have a beautiful tradition of giving books to each other on Christmas Eve and then spending the night reading. This custom is so deeply ingrained in the culture that it is the reason for the Jolabokaflod, or “Christmas Book Flood,” when the majority of books in Iceland are sold between September and December in preparation for Christmas giving."



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Research reveals adults believe other kids are obese or abusing drugs but don’t worry about their own children

OK--this is the truth and reflects what I deal with a lot--I have always said about "Sober Coaching Your Toxic Teen" that by the time parents know they need it--it is too late! Get the workbook now and learn what you need to know BEFORE you get slapped in the face.

I know parents used to believe that soda was good for kids!!!

Research reveals adults believe other kids are obese or abusing drugs but don’t worry about their own children | The Courier-Mail: "PARENTS “underrate” their child’s significant health issues with research revealing adults believe other children are obese and using drugs but are not worried about their own."



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Rehabs address lower success rates in gay community-we should too

I went to a speakers meetings Sunday night and a recovering woman from the LGBTQ community was the speaker--powerful lead she gave and very inspiriing to all of us--especially the newcomers in the room. I was reminded of how difficult it can be when you are "different" then your peers in some way. When I arrived in several fellowships in 1969--I was "different" (a hippie who also did drugs) and almost run off--but my tenacity and AND the few who reached out to me even though many people in recovery saw me as a threat, are what kept me from going back out.

This Holiday season, make a speical effort to reach out to anyone you see as different--do you not like their looks? They bore you at a meeting, they are strongly religious and you are spiritual, they are gay and you are not, they are young and you are old, they are professionals and you are a blue collar worker? Reach out this year and the gift you give will be to yourself. (read about the Gay community's plight below):

Rehabs address lower success rates in gay community - NY Daily News: "Molly Gilbert, who works at the PRIDE Institute — a Minneapolis-based addiction treatment program founded in 1986 with a specific focus on treating the LGBTQ community — said that most data shows that somewhere between 28% and 35% of the LGBTQ community has a substance abuse problem."

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Attorney general releases shopping guide, warns parents to monitor kids' online

WE do need to monitor our kids online habits--we know this yet do we make the time???

Attorney general releases shopping guide, warns parents to monitor kids' online: "“You as a parent really need to have some understanding of what it is they’re doing with the technology you’re giving them,” Madigan said. “As parents, we have to take responsibility of having these conversations that may not be the most fun but turn out to be some of the most important.”"



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The Family Drug Addict and Thanksgiving

What a great article for any family that has to deal with their drug addict over the holidays! Alcoholism and Drug addiction ruined holdiay after holiday when I was a child--this story talks about dealing with it as an adult. Wow--worth reading. I especially realted to "All this contentment made me a sitting duck for the family drug addict and her annual permutations on holiday-destroying crisis creation." Forget that it's written on a chatolic blog--it's the truth and well written!

The Family Drug Addict and Thanksgiving: "So, they rouse themselves from their self-absorption and go to work, manufacturing crises and doing everything in their power to pull the rest of the family into the traumas of their own devising. They won’t stop until you stop them, or until they’ve made such a mess of the holiday that everyone — Every. Single. Person. — from the littlest baby to the senile old lady is a frazzled wreck, and sullenness and misery hang over the turkey like a fog."



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