Sobriety and abstinence

Hitting Bottom and Staying There

by Bill Brenner July 19, 2011 Addiction

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about hitting bottom. Specifically, after I hit bottom, how long did it take for things to start looking up? I got bad news for those craving the quick fix. Mood music: The first point worth making is that I didn’t hit one bottom like you usually see in the movies, where the addict falls so low that the clouds part and they see the light in huge, dramatic fashion….  [Read More]

Boredom: An OCD Case’s Worst Friend

by Bill Brenner July 13, 2011 Addiction

Last year I wrote about how boredom is one of the most dangerous things an addict can encounter. It’s equally true for someone with OCD. Mood music: The mood music today is especially fitting for the topic. Like the addict who is bored, the OCD case who is bored gets an itch and restlessness that causes you to search and destroy. I’m a street walking cheetahwith a heart full of napalmI’m a runaway son of…  [Read More]

R.I.P. Betty Ford

by Bill Brenner July 9, 2011 Addiction

Former first lady Betty Ford has died at age 93. I wanted to honor her here, because her honesty and bravery about her own battles with substance abuse went far in smashing the stigma attached to addiction. ABC News said it best in its obituary: She lived in the White House in an era during which she was expected to simply serve tea and host luncheons but instead, she fought for women’s rights and spoke openly about…  [Read More]

Social Anxiety, Alcohol And Whatever Else Numbed Me

by Bill Brenner July 5, 2011 Addiction

Addicts often become the way they are because they suffer from severe social anxiety. To carry on in a large group setting is as painful as having a leg sawed off while wide awake. I know the feeling very well.   Item: It’s December 2001 and I’m at the home of the big boss for the annual Christmas party. I skipped out on this celebration a year earlier because talking to co-workers about anything other…  [Read More]

Fear and Self-Loathing in San Francisco

by Bill Brenner June 21, 2011 Addiction

Just got to my hotel in Santa, Clara, Calif., with a few random memories shifting around in my head — memories that illustrate who I was and who I am now. Mood music: It was July 1991 and I was with Sean Marley on my first trip to the west coast. I didn’t really want to go because I was afraid of everything and everyone. But Sean was red h0t about the idea, and back…  [Read More]

Sugar and OCD: An Interview with Bill Brenner

by Bill Brenner June 17, 2011 Addiction

Author David Vanadia recently interviewed me for a segment in his blog about sugar addiction and OCD. Check it out HERE.

A Recovery Under Pressure

by Bill Brenner June 14, 2011 Addiction

The coming days and weeks are going to put my recovery program to the test like nothing I’ve experienced since getting the OCD under control and bringing my binge-eating addiction to heel. That’s not a complaint, or a cry for sympathy. It’s simply the way it is. It’s life. By being honest with myself about what’s coming, I stand a better chance of holding it together. Yesterday I visited my father, who’s been in the…  [Read More]

The Easier, Softer Way

by Bill Brenner May 18, 2011 Addiction

A reader asked me the other day if I still take medication for OCD. Yes, I told him. He told me that when he was diagnosed with OCD, he thought about trying something other than therapy or meds, but after a while realized that it wasn’t that easy. He’s right. Mood music: I know a lot of people who have struggled to control their own addictions and mental illnesses using alternative methods. Many times it works…  [Read More]

Say Hello To My New Friend

by Bill Brenner May 18, 2011 Addiction

One of the great things about writing this blog is that it puts me in touch with some cool people. Yesterday was one of those days. Meet my newest friend, David Vanadia. He contacted me yesterday after seeing my post about how flour and sugar nearly destroyed me. It turns out he was a sugar addict who gave it up in 2005 and has been blogging about it ever since. Check out the blog, Sugar Blog:…  [Read More]

How Flour & Sugar Nearly Destroyed Me

by Bill Brenner May 17, 2011 Addiction

When people ask about my giving up flour and sugar, they have an easy time grasping the raw health benefits. What’s harder for them to understand is how these things can form a mixture as addictive as heroin. Here’s my attempt to explain it. First, the point I need to make is that for us addicts, the substance isn’t the root of our problem. Two other things bring us down: –A hole in our soul…  [Read More]

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