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The drug called ‘Approval’

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We've all been drugged, so we hardly notice that it's a problem until we overcome the addiction -- or should I say, "if" we overcome it. As Anthony De Mello describes it: Imagine giving a young child a taste for heroin. After a short while, their bodies crave the drug to the point of needing its fix usually for an entire lifetime. Now replace the word heroin with these words: approval...acceptance...or any other word to describe a sense of belonging. This is what we've been drugged with -- … [Read more...]

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Real Conscience: The Solution for Addiction

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Michael Jackson's death has kept the problem of addiction in the news recently. An estimated 30 percent of Americans suffer from alcoholism at some point in their lives, as well as addiction to drugs, sex, gambling, relationships and the internet. Addiction involves a lack of control over a persistent behavior in spite of negative consequences. As a psychiatrist who has incorporated the use of conscience in clinical work for more than 30 years, I have found "real conscience" the best guide to … [Read more...]

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Might as well face it, you’re addicted to drama

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We all know the people whose lives are the stage for constant drama. They live from crisis to crisis; every conflict, or roadblock is fodder for their personal soap opera. Once one catastrophe ends, they are quickly immersed in another. We are all subject to it. You have some kind of stressful event happen, a bad break-up, a conflict with a co-worker. You get on the phone with friends, constantly rehashing and analyzing the situation, working yourself into a froth. Exhausting one audience, … [Read more...]

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Prosperity in Changing Times

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Once upon a time (say, in the Reagan years) we were taught that it was desirable to use our wits to do more, have more and be more than our fellow citizens. There was no such thing as too much. Now, as it all falls apart, we're seeing the end result of a strategy that raised up a few at the expense of the many. Where we once took pride in "separating ourselves from the herd," we now find some meager comfort in knowing "we're all in the same boat." Money is a heady drug and there are countless … [Read more...]

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Avoiding and Transforming Addictions through Yoga and Mindfulness

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than 22 million Americans suffer from substance abuse related to drugs and alcohol. Sometimes we turn to substances to manage stress, forget problems, numb out pain and escape from unpleasant experiences. For addicts, consistent use causes impairments to the brain, overwhelming cravings and the compulsion to ingest the substance to feel "normal." Often in denial, they first need to recognize they have a problem before they … [Read more...]

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Addiction robs you of your Greatness

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Besides the obvious physical additions some experience to things like drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, an addiction also can be considered anything that we use on a regular basis to distract us from pursuing our dreams. Rather than taking the time to go within, get to know ourselves or to do the work we need that will allow us to move forward, often we non-consciously use our addictions as our excuse. Do you choose to habitually watch television, share your dramatizing victim stories, gossip … [Read more...]

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Understand and Release Addictions

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An excerpt from The Body Knows...How to Stay Young: Healthy Aging Secrets from a Medical Intuitive If you're sick, chances are you're addicted to certain foods, behaviors and thoughts. Anything that has power over you and that you have difficulty letting go of is an addiction. For example, dwelling on the past can be just as damaging as being hooked on coffee, alcohol or chocolate, because it holds you back in life. In fact, noted physician and author Deepak Chopra claims that all illness … [Read more...]

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Addiction and the Cold Wet Fish of Reality

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When I thought deeper about addiction - beyond drugs, alcohol, sex or food - what came to mind was our addiction to drama. Everyone knows someone who is always in the throes of some emotional drama or another. Some people just don't feel alive unless things are out of control and they have dramatic stories to tell. Even the smallest thing like a waiter giving poor service can ruin their day. They will go on and on about it for hours and probably tell everyone not to go to that restaurant again, … [Read more...]

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Light at the End of the Tunnel

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Someone should have told me earlier that the journey toward enlightenment was so fascinating and full of love. I wouldn't have waited so long looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, wallowing in the hopeless well of addiction by drinking my way out of pain. Six (Light) sober years later, I find the path growing brighter each day. My pathway in sobriety is a little unconventional. I went to some AA meetings. I followed a Twelve Steps program. I wrapped myself around Step Three: "Made a … [Read more...]

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Neurofeedback and addiction

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Addiction is currently one of the most significant health and social problems in America, affecting more than 12 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Medical costs can be up to 300 percent higher for an untreated alcoholic than a treated alcoholic. Other costs to society have reached almost $500 billion, taking into account unemployment, lost productivity, increased crime and justice system/incarceration costs, health care … [Read more...]

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What’s so bad about getting high?

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In current health care the growing use and interest in alternative methods of dealing with disease is still beset with one major stumbling block: the approach to illness, including addiction, after you are sick. Today, we wish to substitute natural and non-toxic methods for toxic, side-effect laden methods. This is indeed a noble cause and a step up from where we have been in medicine for the last 100 years. However, nearly all ancient methods of healing stressed prevention as the nobler … [Read more...]

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Addicted to Money & American Success

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A nasty addiction gets celebrated more often than it's recognized and treated. Headlines and sound bites trumpet the negative effects of this addiction daily. What's interesting and hopeful, however, is how holistic solutions to this addiction have become more available and acceptable. I'm thinking of our addiction to money - and society's definition of success. More and more of us find our faces pressed into the reality that, no matter how hard we work, we'll never have "enough" money. We … [Read more...]

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Soul of an Addict

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On July 17, 2007, John Poulos died in a hospital room surrounded by strangers. He blew a .38 when he arrived at the hospital. His blood-alcohol level was four times the legal limit.  John was a handsome, charismatic and charming 38-year-old alcoholic. John was my nephew. I was the last call on his cell phone before he called the hospital for an ambulance. John's death inspired a book entitled, The Soul of an Addict, which contains "The 7 Spiritual Steps to Sobriety." As a recovered alcoholic … [Read more...]

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