*Trigger Warning - Suicide* I am 70 years old. My story won't end stigmatization. It was around in the earlier years of my life and it is still around. It doesn't bother me much 'cause I don't wear a flag'. "Crazy" is not 'who' I am. Schizophrenia is my diagnosis. In Canada, the disorder [...]
Trigger Warning *Suicide* In 2012 I put a gun to my chest and pulled the trigger. That was when I realized that I had a problem. For years I’ve suffered with severe depression, bipolar disorder, and drug/alcohol addiction. As a queer non-binary man living in the South I had always had issues with self [...]
February 3, 2019 “Transformation is achieved through suffering alone.” - Buddha “Only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength.” - Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (Alcoholics Anonymous) Since I was a kid, I’ve been treated for what used to be called dysthymia, and is now know as [...]
Prescription Painkillers word cloud with white background Last week the West Virginia newspaper Charleston-Gazette Mail published an article on their investigation into the 1,728 West Virginians who have died from overdoses from hydrocodone and oxycodone. The report found that in the six-year period of time when these overdoses occurred drug companies [...]
Thug's cleanched fists with scars with fake Love and Hate tattoos on the fingers. Toned image with added grain for the grunge menacing style designs with big copy space area. A major obstacle in dealing with any social problem is getting people to leave behind preconceived prejudices so that the topic at hand [...]
The word "Law" written in dirty vintage letterpress type on a aged wooden background. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act permits employers to ensure that the workplace is free from the illegal use of drugs and the use of alcohol. This means that the employer is granted the right to make [...]
Time To Heal Concept text on background It is no secret that drugs and alcohol wreck havoc on the body. We have all seen those before and after pictures of people who abused drugs throughout the years and many who are reading this right now have lived that experience. I know when I [...]
America’s history with alcohol and drugs has been a complicated one. We are one of only a handful of Western countries that has at one pointed banned liquor and when compared with other parts of the world our drug laws seem arcane. Yet we also have a culture that is all but centered on the [...]
Addiction is a disease that affects those closest to the addict. This could be because of the money that is stolen or spent on treatment, the emotional turmoil caused by not knowing if the person is safe, or any other number of ways that addiction affects the family. However, an unforeseen effect that addiction has [...]
Tennessee Williams said a writer should never be embarrassed. That great playwright’s nakedly honest writing is filled with painful truths about human nature, drawn from his own experiences, observations, and relentless self-scrutiny. I took his words as inspiration during the many difficult times in writing my recently published memoir The Broken Places. Once I made [...]
