The Aviary Recovery Center Blog
When You Love Someone with a Substance Use Disorder – Three Perspectives
When someone you love is struggling with a substance use disorder, it can seem as if you are all alone. You don’t know how to help, or what to say, or how to encourage your loved one to get the help they clearly need. Three Stories - Three Perspectives Several years...
Staring Down the Scariness of Relapse
Do You Like Scary Movies? When you watch a scary movie, there is almost always a moment when you are just sure that someone—or something—is about to attack the protagonist. The camera comes in close, the music gets more intense, and the feeling of suspense can be...
Three Potentially Unexpected Strategies for Maintaining Your Sobriety
The Typical "Go-To" Strategies for Maintaining Your Sobriety Many of the recommendations for maintaining your sobriety are familiar. Go to your 12-Step (or other recovery) meetings regularly. Develop positive relationships with people who will support your sobriety....
Four Reasons to Give Up Alcohol and Turn Your Life Around
Give Me One (More) Reason You have probably heard the Tracy Chapman song “Give Me One Reason.” The lyrics start like this: Give me one reason to stay here And I’ll turn right back around. Ms. Chapman is making a pretty generous offer when you think about it. She...
Boredom Can Be a Devilish Problem for a Person in Recovery
Boredom & Relapse Triggers Have you ever heard the phrase “Idle hands are the devil’s tools”? It has a sort of old-timey feel, doesn’t it? You don’t hear too many people dropping that sort of wisdom into casual conversation these days. Nevertheless, the old saying...
Whether Legal or Illegal, Marijuana Can Still Be the Cause of a Substance Use Disorder
Marijuana & a Major Shift Arguably, no drug has undergone a greater change in its public perception over the last two decades than marijuana. In the mid-20th century, the drug was the subject of a number of films intended to warn parents and kids of the grave...
Up and Down: A Look at High Achievers, Rock Bottom, and Substance Use Disorders
The Art of Rationalization Most of us are pretty good at rationalization. If there is something that we want to do—even something that we suspect is a little (or a lot) sketchy—we find a way to justify doing it. The justification may be paper thin, but it still may be...
Strategies for Curbing Cravings in Recovery
The Curse of Cravings If you have gone through treatment and regained your sobriety, you may be hoping for clear sailing ahead. And why not? The drugs or alcohol are out of your system, and you have strategies and resources for maintaining your sobriety. Stick to the...
We Hate to Break It to You but Methamphetamines Are Bad News
Meth Is Bad News The title of the show Breaking Bad—in which a high school chemistry teacher starts making meth as a strategy for covering medical bills—tells you just about everything you need to know about methamphetamines. Meth is undeniably bad news, and using it...
Words Are Sometimes Worse Than Sticks and Stones
Words Can Be Painful You probably know that old saying that is often used to discourage bullies who use words as their primary weapon: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It is a powerful idea, suggesting that we can just rise above...