AS I rebuild the site I will be adding more to this page, some serious and some entertaining. I hope you enjoy at least some of them. John.
Who could develop a page about addiction and not include 'Nuggets' this short animation explains addiction on a level that often can't be put into words. It's obviously appreciated by many as it has had over 23 million views - blimey.
The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
We are not affiliated with A.A. but love the 12 Steps and how they continue to help people around the world. The WCM made this reminder of what the steps are and I find it very peaceful. It will help you remember the steps which, of course, is the first level in our learning process.
The largest, most rigorous independent study on Alcoholics Anonymous to date shows that AA can help people get sober, stay sober, drink less, and suffer fewer negative consequences of drinking, all while keeping health care costs down. Watch scientists John Kelly (Harvard/MGH) and Keith Humphreys (Stanford/VA) discuss their findings (published 3/11/20 by the Cochrane Collaborative), with commentary from psychologist Gabrielle Jones.
Ever seen something on social media that really jumped out at you. I saw this from Allan Kehler - Building Better Mental Health and really related to what he had written. When I wrote the first sponsor manual it was because others persuaded me it maybe a good idea and the book book may save one life, when I pushed the publish button I didn't sleep for days. Thanks for the permission to post Allen.
The following content may contain topics related to suicide or self-harm.
Here's what Allen wrote about doing this rather great TEDx talk.
"Facebook reminded me of an interesting memory from
one year ago. I remember receiving this red mat in the
mail so that I could rehearse my TEDx talk. I also
remember how absolutely terrified I was throughout this
entire process. Rehearsals in front of the TEDx
committee was an entirely different level of stress,
and it pushed me well beyond my comfort zone.
After delivering my talk, I remember saying,
"I am never going to do this again. Ever!"
And I meant it.
Recently, I received a message that was only a single sentence.
"Your talk saved my life."
I sat with that.
I cried.
Suddenly, all of those sleepless nights and days full of anxiety were worth it.
When we are able to move through our fears, our impact is limitless".
Recovery Africa
Working with Recovery Africa has been one of the highlights of my life, after visiting Ghana in 2016 we continue to support this excellent venture and hope to visit again soon.
Today was our last day at Ankufal Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Al spent some time talking about the Recovery Book and TAMERS, (Think about recovery talk about recovery, Act on recovery, Meditate and minimise stress, Exercise and eat well, Relax and Sleep). I continued to talk about the processes of recovery that we see in the 12 Steps and how that is similar to the processes in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Today was another busy day. We met with the leaders of the National Council for Civic Education from the Accra region who were interested in learning more about addiction. It was an interesting day. Everyone started off with the usual introductions and expressed a desire to know more and it didn't take long for people warm up and start talking openly.
It was also great to see that one of the senior nurses had brought her baby to work and she gave me permission to take the photo you see. Just imagine how many millions would not be spent if we all carried our children this way
Today was our last day at Ankufal Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Al spent some time talking about the Recovery Book and TAMERS, (Think about recovery talk about recovery, Act on recovery, Meditate and minimise stress, Exercise and eat well, Relax and Sleep). I continued to talk about the processes of recovery that we see in the 12 Steps and how that is similar to the processes in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
My friend Vicky and the Isle of Wight College made a short documentary video in 2017 about the impact of alcohol on people, she asked me to take part as the resident professional.Vicky's life was impacted by alcohol as she grew up so not only did she create a film as part of her college studies but it was on a subject close to her heart.
So far this film has had an incredible viewing on Youtube of over 82,000 people, it's only 12 minutes long and you can see it here.
She decided to call it confessions of an alcoholic.
The Superman Complex.
Who can relate to this?
