Similarities, not differences, are the key to determining whether or not you are an alcoholic. My ability to find differences between myself and the stereotypical alcoholic was my greatest tool for living in denial. As long as I could find the differences, I could ignore painful truths. This was especially true in early sobriety. If you only compare stories to find differences, you will always find an excuse to claim you are not an alcoholic. 

Dating is hard enough as it is, but dating in alcohol and drug recovery and trying to figure out when to disclose that you are in recovery can make dating even more stressful. So when is the appropriate time to disclose that you're in drug and alcohol recovery to a dating partner?

Courage and confidence are emboldened by alcohol because it lowers inhibitions, thereby reducing the sense of fear--but you can find courage and confidence without alcohol. A common misconception is that courage is the absence of fear. However, courage is actually defined by taking action in spite of your fears. When regaining control of your life in early sobriety, developing courage and confidence is difficult if you have always relied on alcohol. For anyone adjusting to sobriety, here are a few suggestions to find courage and confidence without alcohol. 

Talking to children about addiction and recovery may put recovering parents in a tough spot. Parents in early addiction recovery often struggle with explaining their drug or alcohol addiction to their children. Depending on their ages, some details of addiction are too graphic or complicated for children to understand. It’s important for the recovering parent to carefully consider the needs of the child. However, the parent's need for privacy during such a challenging and tumultuous process must be respected, too. Here are some suggestions to navigate talking to your kids about addiction and recovery.

It's important to learn how to avoid feeling overwhelmed in addiction recovery. (Overwhelmed by Stress and Anxiety? How to Deal with It). Feeling overwhelmed was one of my major triggers while in my addiction. Whether I felt overwhelming sadness, fear, or worry, these feelings were often a trigger for addictive behavior. Feeling overwhelmed is an almost universal addiction trigger; here's how to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stop triggering your addiction.

You need to maintain your addiction recovery, even while on vacation. Vacations should give recovering alcoholics and addicts a break from our routine, but not our addiction recovery. Maintaining a program of addiction recovery while vacationing is crucial for physical and psychological sobriety.

Therapists and counselors use specific addiction diagnostic criteria when considering alcoholism or addiction in their clients. However, they only know as much as you, the patient, tell them. Therefore, you are really the only person who can determine whether or not identifying or diagnosing alcoholism is appropriate for you (take the Alcoholism Test).

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) both emphasize clean (or sober) dates and time: but does this focus of addiction recovery programs harm or help  group members? This question necessarily wanders into the perennial debate around abstinence versus moderation in addiction recovery. So, is clean time in alcoholics and narcotics anonymous helpful or harmful?

Drunkorexia is a non-medical term describing the habit of reducing food intake (or even anorexia) combined with alcohol use. This calorie restriction is used to compensate for calories consumed through alcoholic beverages. It is not a new phenomenon, but it's not a safe one either. Restricted eating or anorexia plus alcohol use is dangerous.

Amy Winehouse, an alcoholic, lacked a social support system near the end of her life, according to a recent documentary about the ill-fated singer and songwriter. After watching the revealing and very sad, Amy, last week, I am reminded how critical it is for struggling alcoholics and addicts like Amy Winehouse, to surround themselves with a quality support system (Importance of Drug Addiction Support).