12 STEPPING TO RECOVERY DAILY THOUGHT!! 4-20-12

Step 2
We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
In the natural progression of addiction, life degenerates.  In one way or another, many of us wake up one day to realize that we are living like an animal.  How true this is depends on the nature of our addiction.  Some of us may be living like an animal in terms of our physical surroundings.  Others of us may be a slave to our animal passions-powerful emotions that dehumanize us and others.  The fact that we are able to recognize our life as degenerate or insane proves that there is hope for a better way of life.  We are reminded of times when life was good, and we longed to have the goodness restored.  When we turn to God, who is powerful enough to help us build something better, we will discover that His power can restore us to sanity.




Courteous of Tyndale Life Recovery Bible

FRAT Presented By Livingrin!

The First Responders Addiction Treatment Program reaching out to police, firefighters, emergency personnel and combat veterans.

Alcoholism or other dependencies complicate the stress and physical and emotional trauma of dealing with life-threatening situations. Addiction is no stranger to "those who go in first."

A dependency might actually destroy a person's health, family life and career. On top of that, an individual also has to bear the unfair stigma that the addicted person "doesn't have enough will power," or "made the wrong choices." But we know (as does all of the medical community) that addiction is a disease with a medical and behavioral basis, requiring care, understanding and professional treatment.


Post-traumatic stress disorder is a major challenge for vets and responders. Prescribed pain medication can easily lead to dependency. There are so many factors, influences, and potential negative results. And addiction can also lead to suicide as an "option." (Police officers are found to be twice as likely as the general population to take this desperate course.)

Treatment works.Get help NOW for yourself, loved one, or somebody on the job.Meet the experienced program managers.



FRAT is based at Livengrin Foundation, founded in 1966 as a nonprofit treatment center in Bensalem, PA (outside Philadelphia). Livengrin provides a complete range of services for alcoholism and drug dependency, at a wooded rehab campus and six outpatient locations throughout the region. More than 100,000 people have come through its doors to begin a journey to recovery. Visit Livengrin

12 STEPPING TO RECOVERY DAILY THOUGHT!! 4/18/12

STEP 2
We came to believe a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity!
   Acknowledgement of your short comings and taking responsibility for the mess you made is the beginning of humility. GOD designed us with a free will not to run around and fulfill all our evil desires he gave us free will because he loves us and he is not an ogre or dictator forcing what he wants out of of us.If you force someone one to love you is that true love, no its not. My point God sits patiently by waiting for each one of us to go to him in humility admitting our helplessness and pains and sorrows. Living life away and apart from our Almighty Father can and will be hopeless cold lonely and exhausting. Sounds likes addiction! Call him daddy ask for him to forgive you and that you have missed him, share your heart with HIM. He has been at your side this whole time waiting and sharing everything you have been through hoping  for you to return, He is ready if you are.  
               

A Personal Experience With Bath Salts by Eliza Player

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH BATH SALTS BY ELIZA PLAYER

Written by Eliza Player on Tuesday, 03 April 2012. Posted in Voices in Recovery



When I started this focus on bath salts, almost all the information I had came directly from news stories, or other second hand sources. I began asking around for personal stories. I did not talk to anyone who had actually done the drug, but I did get a lot of personal experience from a friend whose son had taken the drug several times.

My friend’s son was no newcomer to the drug life, and he would take whatever he could get his hands on. His drug of choice was heroin, and he often mixed the opiate with cocaine or meth. My friend has seen her son under the influence of various substances, and she has witnessed his erratic behavior for years. But, she hates bath salts worse than any of them.

When her son first discovered bath salts, he decided to give them a try. (As many of us would have also done while still immersed in active addiction.) Almost immediately he was twitching and sweating, while he became increasingly paranoid. He became fixated on finding something in his bedroom to the point he was unable to control himself and the fixation. He tore his room apart, removing all the dresser drawers and searching all the drawers over and over again. He ended up splitting open the mattress and box spring, digging around inside looking for this item. His room was completely destroyed. He did not sleep for the next three nights.

Another time, her son became obsessed with electrical cords of all types: extension cords, USB cords, phonecords, phone chargers, and even the cords plugging the television into the wall. He went frantically around the house, pulling out all the cords he could find. They were on a big pile in the living room floor when my friend asked her son what he was doing. He told her he did not know.

On another incident, she recalls him crawling out of his skin. He paced around the house, peeking out the windows every five minutes, convinced the cops were looking for him. He picked his face until it was one big scab. The paranoia of the cops got more and more intense, so my friend decided to take him to a hotel, thinking he would be more comfortable there. The entire ride, he looked out the window, convinced the cops were following them. When they got to the hotel, the paranoia just got worse. He stayed up all night, searching the room for the “bugs” the cops had planted. When my friend woke in the morning, all the appliances had been pulled away from the walls; all the items in the kitchenette were pulled out and laid on the floor. There was not a piece of the room that had been left untouched.

The most severe incident her son had with bath salts occurred while he was living on the streets. He had very little money, so he bought bath salts. She thinks that he had become so susceptible to the drugs effects, and he immediately went into a psychotic episode. He stood out as the only white person in a gang-infested Latino area, eyes wide and crazed. He remembers mothers pulling their kids into the house when they saw him. He thought the cops had him surrounded, trying to Taser him, so he called 911. When help arrived, they took him to the hospital. It took a week to get him stabilized. The nurse told my friend her son was one of the lucky ones. The nurse had seen patients permanently damaged by bath salts; to the point they would never be able to live on their own again.

My friend asked her son why he would do it again when he had already suffered so much each time he took them. He told her he did not want to take them, and he had sworn he would never do them again. But something always changed to make him think it would be okay…just one more time. I have heard this story over and over again.

He is in treatment right now. We are all praying for him.

My friend also wanted to reiterate that bath salts and spice are not the same thing. I will actually delve into Spice a little tomorrow, explaining the difference in these synthetic drugs. These drugs are often lumped together in news stories, and even in some legislation. It is important for people to understand that these drugs are not the same. Spice is synthetic marijuana. Bath salts are more like synthetic meth, and they can easily cause hallucinations and psychosis. The danger of thinking the two are the same comes when one kid sees a friend on Spice, and then purchase bath salts, thinking it is the same. It is very, very different.

Amazing Race Co-Producer Believes She Was "Spared to Warn Youth About Drugs"

AMAZING RACE CO-PRODUCER BELIEVES SHE WAS "SPARED TO WARN YOUTH ABOUT DRUGS"

on Wednesday, 18 April 2012. Posted in Breaking News



Kathryne Fuller was left partially paralyzed after taking cocaine in her hotel room with co-worker Jeff Rice, while the two were working in Uganda, making arrangements for the television series, "The Amazing Race." The cocaine they ingested is believed to have been contaminated.

According to IOL News, Kathryne believes that God spared her life for a purpose- to teach young people about the dangers of drugs. She will be speaking from her hotel bed, for the first time since the incident seven weeks ago. She claims she is not an addict, and tried a line with her co-worker. She said this was only the second time she tried cocaine, and it left her paralyzed on her right side and confined to a wheelchair.

She was taken to the hospital after she was found unconscious, along with Jeff Rice. Jeff did not survive, and Kathryne was held in a Ugandan hospital for two weeks until she appeared in court and plead guilty to cocaine possession. Her father helped her get home to South Africa as quickly as possible, and he has been at her bedside since the incident.

She hopes she can help young people realize that even dabbling with drugs can be dangerous. Kathryne said, "All I know is God has got a plan for my life- whether it is to go and speak to young people about drugs or something like that. We took cocaine. It was my second time. Don't do drugs because as exciting as it may seem, it is really not worth it. I already know people who have stopped using drugs because of what happened."

Kathryne describes Jeff Rice as a recovered cocaine addict, who had not habitually used in the weeks up to the incident. She claims to have blacked out that night and has no memory of the incident. She was heavily sedated at the hospital, which she believes helped her deal with the trauma.

Kathryne Fuller claims she is feeling better, but she could remain in the hospital for months. There was a lot of nerve damage, and she had blood clots in her arms and legs, which caused the paralysis. She is now out of danger, regarding the threat of an aneurysm.

Kathryne hopes to eventually complete her masters degree in health promotion, and she plans to get back to work on her dissertation as soon as she can. She also plans to get back into her local church, from which she strayed in recent years. Kathryne Fuller now feels like her life serves a higher purpose.
Item Tag: cocaine, Jeff Rice, Kathryne Fuller, The Amazing Race

Free Family Seminar Presented by Livingrin "Was my child schmacked?"

Was my child schmacked?"

Free Family Seminar address the challenges of keeping adolescents from addiction





Did you see those "schmacked" Internet videos of teens from our area - seemingly celebrating drinking and drugs? Plenty of parents have wondered if their offspring were in those videos, or in any way tempting addiction and a host of bad choices.



For parents asking how to understand & help their teen, a free seminar offer information and reassurance.

Counselors and researchers will talk with parents, clinicians and educators in an informal, confidential setting.

10AM-Noon, Saturday April 28. Refreshments provided, with free parking and a private entrance.




Haverford Counseling Center

355-A W. Lancaster Ave. 19020.



No charge, but you can RSVP or get more information:

610-642-4604 x 302.