I think in the light of it all, and I truly believe that this is just silly, but is it ? Is it not irritating, tiresome and demoralising ? That mithering voice that only brings us bad news if we don’t do as directed. The waves of frustration that you feel as you return to a light switch to make sure that you have turned it off, but not just once or twice or even ten times, but constantly until the voice is satisfied that the light is truly switched off. You see the insanity of it is that you know when a light is off because the room goes darker, But oh no the voice isn’t convinced yet. But what would happen though if you don’t do as requested and switch the light on and off again ? Nothing would happen apparently as some people would say. But the voice would have you believe that something terrible will happen to you or a loved one and boy we would hate it if that happened, so we obey the voice to prevent anything bad from happening, you see ive been doing it for that long now habitually to safeguard myself and my loved ones from danger that it has now become a ritual that I undertake even on auto pilot because I’ve sat in the voices classroom for far too long and become conditioned to obey it to protect what matters. Sound familiar ?? BUT and I emphasise this that if you was to truly ask yourself this question and answer honestly. What would the voice have you believe that would actualy happen if you decided to disagree with it and ignore it’s repetitive requests to switch the light on and off again ?? When you’ve got your answer that you have answered as honestly as possible, write it down and read it back to yourself logically 50 times or more. Now ask yourself would this really actualy happen if I didn’t obey. What evidence have I got that something will happen ? I’m no genius but I would hazard a guess that there probably wouldn’t be any. You see the odds are stacked against the voice if the truth be known, because ask yourself this has anything happened to someone you know or there family because they only switched the light off once ? Probably not. Easier said than done though, I can pretty much categorically agree with that because I’ve lived it and still do. The key is to condition the mind to silence the voice. You’ve got the evidence now put forward your case and try to ignore the voice no matter how uncomfortable that it becomes. Them feelings won’t last for ever and eventualy the voice will give up and eventualy subside and you will free yourself from the voice. Case dismissed..objection your honour !!!
By Brett Pomfrey


Skipping one meal is not foundation. Faking a suicide attempt is not eyeshadow. Getting nervous and calling it anxiety is not eyeliner, and being sad and calling is depression is not lipstick. Mental illness is not makeup. You cannot just put it on and take it off at will just to make people look at […]


Relapse is a very dangerous time if it occurs while in recovery. Because not all addicts get the chance to return to sobriety and quiet a few sadly die while back out in the madness of substance or drug misuse. As blunt as it may sound, it is the harsh reality of addiction. Ones too many and a thousand is never enough. If you find yourself put in a dangerous position of relapse this is the time that you need to up your game. Cravings and feelings don’t last that long and will soon pass, so you need to use the tools that you’ve learnt while in recovery and start to put them in to action. One of the main ones is to pick up the phone and talk to another addict or even a sponsor if you have one, or any alcohol or drug telephone line for that matter of even Samaritans. You will be surprised at how powerful even a short conversation with a like minded person will have, it gives you that time to get out of your own head and share them problems with another and share with them what’s going on for you. Don’t ponder or fester on it if your struggling, addiction takes no prisoners and can soon have your head over. So H.A.L.T which I’m sure most of you are aware of the phrase and just pick up the phone or get yourself to a meeting. Experience States that the meetings that you are undecided about going to or can’t be bothered going to, while your sat at home full of self pity and magical thinking end up being the meetings that you identify with most and pick you back up out of that pity pot, Have strength and hope and remember WE DO RECOVER !!!


H.A.L.T – Hungry angry lonely tired.What is H.A.L.T.? These four words – (hungry angry loney tired) are often taught to us in addiction recovery. A big part of staying clean and sober is taking care of yourself and being aware of certain signs. When drinking or using drugs you probably didn’t consider certain feelings, continuing to just drink and use drugs. Using this acronym is an easy way to recognize certain signs and to help you stay clean and sober. 

When you were drinking or using you may have felt hunger but you just suppressed that feeling with more drinks or drugs. Everyone needs to eat, it’s a basic function of survival. But is that the only hunger we deal with? No, we hunger for attention, love and understanding from others. Taking care of yourself emotionally is just as important and giving yourself the attention, love and understanding you need. 

Physical hunger can be quite dangerous if not tended to because of excessive drug and alcohol consumption. There may be some questions you want to ask yourself throughout the day to maintain a healthy lifestyle, like when was the last time I ate today? What did I eat? Am I still hungry? Asking these questions and thinking about them can help you get on a routine of staying on track. 


The first step to conquering this shortcoming is to recognize the feeling and take a look at things to see where it is coming from. The next step is to diffuse the anger. There are multiple ways to do that. Ways to dealing with anger can vary from person to person. Some need to get the aggression out on activities such as exercising, punching a pillow and even cleaning can calm some people. Another method for is to start a creative project, something to turn anger into calmness. Others call their sponsor and talk it out with them or their support group to get out all the emotions. This can help figure out where the negative emotions came from, why they came out and to learn how to approach things differently for different results. Anger can be dangerous in recovery and can lead someone to pick up that drink or drug. It is important to find the best way to deal with your feelings of anger.
This leads us to loneliness.


In recovery there are other options to not feeling lonely. There are ways to unmask this feeling that most addicts and alcoholics experience when using. Some people have different opinions to handle this emotion, but the best thing you can do is turn to your sponsor and your support group and to let people know where you are at. 

Other options for dealing with being lonely include running errands and even taking a walk to clear your mind which could help you identify this feeling. Going to a 12-step meeting and possibly sharing your feelings with other people or the group are highly suggested. These tactics will all help with getting out in the real world, feeling that you are a part of something important.


