Ask Dr. Al Archives

Ask Dr. Al: How to Talk With Your Doctor About A Medical or Dental Procedure When You’re in Recovery

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If you have a medical or dental procedure planned, you’ll need to be extra vigilant about your recovery. Taking any mood-altering medications before, during or after your procedure can put you at high risk for a relapse.

In The Recovery Book, we suggest you return to the Red Zone and ramp up your recovery program at such times. (Read more about the Recovery Zone System in our Quick Start Guide post.) You should also talk with your doctor or dentist about medications before the day of your procedure.

The “Dear Doctor” letter below can help you to broach the topic. Print it out and take it with you to an appointment; use the information to start a conversation. Be honest with your health care provider, and enlist their help in your efforts to avoid relapse.

The Dear Doctor letter below was originally written by staff at Willingway Hospital; it … Read more...

Ask Dr. Al: What is Recovery?

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What is Recovery?

Getting and staying sober is the first priority when someone gets into recovery. But most soon learn that recovery is about so much more. Here are some basic truths about living in recovery.

Recovery is a way of life. Recovery is about building and enjoying a better life for yourself in sobriety. It’s about finding and developing loving relationships, solid friendships, strong community ties, satisfying work, and invigorating play. It’s about spending your life in good health and good spirits. It’s about living a good life steeped in the culture of recovery. What is Recovery

Recovery is about healing. Over time you’ll notice that your body is healing. Even better, your brain will be healing as well. Addiction hijacked your brain, making it very hard for you to make good choices. As you focus your thoughts and actions on sobriety and recovery, your cravings will disappear and your thoughts will … Read more...

Ask Dr. Al: Why are so many people using heroin now?

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It seems there has been an increase in the number of heroin users. Why?

Heroin use is indeed on the rise. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of people who abused or were dependent on heroin more than doubled, from 214,000 to 467,000 (another 202,000 had used heroin at least once in that year).

It’s a complex issue, but in large part it goes back to the misuse of prescription painkillers in recent years. These drugs became so much easier to get—legally and illegally—and many people were getting hooked on them. In recent years, the number of people abusing or dependent on painkillers rose from 1.4 to 2.1 million. Many people then found that prescription painkillers were too expensive to buy on the street, or found that their supply dried up, and turned to heroin, which is cheaper and easy to find. We’ve been left with a full-blown heroin epidemic … Read more...

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.

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...

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.