Self-Destructive? Perhaps, But That's Not Necessarily Bad. Those of us who have developed alcohol related problems may also have an attraction to high risk behaviors - and people. That is a genetic predisposition, one of several factors that can lead to developing alcohol problems. Others may also include a high tolerance for alcohol and resistance [...]

Stages of Change... Years ago researchers James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Carlo Diclemente decided to look at behavior change from a new perspective. Instead of attempting to predict what would cause change, they looked instead at people who had successfully changed and delved into how they'd actually managed that. Eventually they found that real change, [...]

Your Self-Image and Alcohol Abuse How we use or abuse alcohol can be rooted in our self-image. For example, research has shown that college students use of alcohol depends on their perception of what other students are doing. If binge drinking is seen as part of being a student - or part of belonging to [...]

Yes, we know it's Super Bowl Sunday, and you're busy "enjoying" another excuse for a "normal" alcohol fueled regression, but maybe... ********** Your Personal "Normal" and How It Effects Alcohol Abuse... We each carry our personal definition of "normal" around inside us with very little awareness of its existence. This normal is an amalgam of [...]

Productive or Self-Destructive? Many of you, perhaps most, are like us in that we have two basic "gears" - you're either being productive or you tend to get self-destructive. Unlike most folks, you don't have a lot of interest in going through life on "cruise-control." That's pretty common with bright, creative, sensitive, and successful  people. [...]

Alcohol abuse - a BIG passive-aggressive "FU" to controlling spouses and/or other family members... High up on the long list of benefits many of us derive from abusing alcohol is the way it allows us to move from passive to passive-aggressive when we can't quite manage assertiveness in our personal relationships. It's no exaggeration to [...]

Moderation? Last week a reader wrote to ask about our stance on moderation. Our stance is that we don't dictate what people can, can't, or must do. We agree with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) research that the misuse of alcohol occurs across a broad spectrum and that an array of [...]

With the holidays behind us - except for the Super Bowl, we suppose - does your personal cost/benefit of your alcohol use since Thanksgiving support doing the same next year? You don't have to share your analytic results with anyone but yourself, so be real. What negative impacts did your drinking have on what you [...]

We're about a day and a half away from another new year and once again many of us will be making resolutions. Some of us will even manage to keep them and others won't make it past the end of the week. What's the difference? First, negative resolutions are a bad idea. For example, I [...]

It would be impossible, and wrong, to ignore the twin disasters of Hurricane Sandy and Sandy Hook School. Nothing can mitigate or explain or ease the unspeakable sadness that has enveloped many following these horrific events, both natural and man made. I do think it is a reminder to count our blessings, reach out to [...]