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Ask Dr. Al: How big of a problem is addiction today?

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How big of a problem is addiction today?

According to recent statistics, about 22.2 million people in the U.S. age 12 or older (8.5 percent) were abusing or dependent on drugs or alcohol in 2012. The largest subgroup, 14.9 million, misused alcohol only.

Most of those 22 million people needed treatment for their addiction. But sadly, very few get it. Only about 2.5 million got treatment at a specialized facility that year. That leaves more than 20 million people who needed treatment but didn’t get it.

Quick Start Guide to The Recovery Book

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Newcomer, old-timer, family member, doctor? Not sure where to dive into The Recovery Book or how to best use it? The quick start guide to The Recovery Book is for you. We also have handy guides to the Recovery Zone System, the Recovery Zone System chart (annotated with relevant chapters), and chapter highlights. (Or get them all with the All Guides document.)

The Recovery Book – Quick Start Guide (pdf)

The Recovery Book – The Recovery Zone System (pdf)

The Recovery Book – The Recovery Zone System chart (pdf)

The Recovery Book – Chapter Highlights (pdf)

The Recovery Book – All Guides (pdf)

Check back later for news about our text4recovery(TM) program!

Ask Dr. Al: Do people with addiction really need to “live in recovery”?

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Do people with addiction really need to “live in recovery”? Can’t they just get sober and go on with their lives? Can’t they just go to treatment and get cured and move on?

Sobriety is just the first step in recovery. Treatment, too, is just the beginning. Recovery is really a lifelong process; like dealing with diabetes or another chronic disease, it is something that needs to be tended to every day.

Once a person gets sober, there is much more work to be done. They need to learn about their own personal triggers for relapse, and how to live their life in recovery while minimizing the risk of relapse. They need to restore their relationships and health; indeed, many need to rebuild their entire lives.

People in recovery also need to focus on different issues at different times. You can’t do everything at once in the first week that … Read more...

37 Ideas to Help You Stay Sober During The Holidays

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For some people in recovery, the holidays can be tough. But you can make it to January with your sobriety intact. You don’t have to let unfulfilled expectations, stressful family dynamics, or crazy in-laws threaten your recovery. Not to mention all those holiday parties.

You just need a bit of preparation. Start planning your strategy now, with these #soberholidays tips from The Recovery Book and the workbook companion My Life in Recovery.

Sober Holidays Tip #1: Remind yourself every single morning how good it feels to be sober (and how great it will feel come January). Plant that thought in your mind right now, and think about it every morning. Stick a note on your bathroom mirror to remind yourself to think about it every day.

>> Download the first 3 chapters of The Recovery Book FREE at Amazon <<

>> Download a free sample of My Life in Recovery… Read more...

Ask Dr. Al: What’s new in the second edition of The Recovery Book?

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What’s new in the second edition of The Recovery Book?

The entire book has been updated and revised.

It is now structured around the Recovery Zone System, an easy-to-follow, three-stage blueprint for getting into recovery, rebuilding a life, and staying sober for a lifetime. I developed this system over the last 20 years because I saw that too many people were relapsing—they either took on too much early in recovery, or they lost their focus a few years into sobriety. This new system helps to ensure that a person new to sobriety does not take on too much at once, takes the time to build a rock-solid foundation for a lifetime of recovery, and keeps a focus on recovery throughout his or her life.

My Recovery Story

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Did you catch the video of Dr. Mooney’s grandson? He is sharing his family’s recovery story.

He’s only 6, but he already knows that the disease of addiction can do great harm to a family — AND that recovery can break the cycle for an entire family. Happy endings do happen!

What is your recovery story? Your family’s story? Share it on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #myrecovery, on our Facebook page, or in the comments below. (If you prefer to stay anonymous, email it to us at TheRecoveryBook@gmail.com and we’ll post it for you.)