This is your how-to on how to detox from weed

I didn’t think detox from weed was a thing … until I went through it. Back before I got into opiates, I was a major pothead. After my first arrest, I needed to sto […]

Family help is important when a loved one is suffering from addiction

Addiction hurts families in ways that make daily life feel difficult or impossible, but there are ways to feel better. Especially with the […]

Stages of opioid recovery show a timeline for getting healthy

Stages of opioid recovery were not clear to me when I started my journey. I just wanted to stop using. Why is recovery so difficult, and why do so […]

Opioid stigma impacts recovery so profoundly that many people with substance use disorder perish in secret rather than face the shame of trying to get help, and failing. Stigma also prevents family members from […]

Survivor’s guilt is not something you expect when you decide to go into opioid recovery

Opioid recovery is challenging at best, but when your friends are dying, the trauma can become overwhelming. Many people […]

Recovering addicts are a mystery to people who haven’t experienced it within their family unit. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 19.7 million people (ages 12 and older) suffered from […]

What is high-functioning mental illness

You need to know this question: what is high-functioning mental illness? High-functioning mental illness is when someone is living with a mental illness that is ju […]

Taking painkillers in sobriety — the taboo topic we don’t talk about enough. Can sober people take painkillers as part of a treatment plan after surgery? My experience is yes. Just because we are in sobriety doe […]

“I juggled kinkajous,” I said.

My coworker had asked me what I did during the previous weekend.

“I deep cleaned their rooms, revamped enclosures, went shopping for supplies, and took care of paperwork. I […]

About that night the relapse ended… There was a knock on my car window, the driver’s side. I had been sitting inside for the past hour or so, trying to get high — rather, trying to get “right.” My eyes met the […]

I didn’t used to know how to stay calm and sober when things went wrong, and it caused endless distress. Let me explain and set the scene that inspired this piece…

Learning how to stay calm when things go w […]

Why I had to learn self the hard. I care for 33 lives. Imagine the responsibility? I love it. I’d even say, I live for it. But, caring for 32 lives wouldn’t be possible without putting one above them all — M […]

It’s 8 in the evening, and the party is about to begin. I look to the main room and see a thin, brown flash of tail skate across one of the ropes. The tail disappears into a hide box, attached to the c […]