Have you ever heard of Gaslighting? I hadn’t until yesterday when someone posted an instagram photo about it. Honestly I had no idea and guess what? It’s been done to me. I always knew something was wrong, I knew I didn’t imagine things and I knew what I said but I was told I was
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/family-affair/201506/detaching-love-0 Like thousands before me who visited the Academia in Florence, Italy, I was astounded by the magnificence of Michelangelo’s statue of David. Yet, I was most taken with the artist’s statues of four Prisoners or Slaves, his “non-finito” (incomplete) works. The Prisoners consist of four nudes with only parts of their bodies, like the head or leg,
Sunflowers. They seem to bring a smile to everyone’s face. They are a very cheery flower that can brighten everyone’s day. Seeing a huge field of them only makes it that much more uplifting. When you admire them you think of the beautiful photo I took, front facing, bright yellow, sun shining, everything that’s makes
Addiction hurts everyone, not just the addict. Addiction has far reaching affects on the people that are around the addict, the ones who love them and the ones who care for them or advocate for them. Having the constant stress takes it’s toll both mentally and physically. It is the constant worrying about your loved
I know how you feel because I feel the same things. I know the pain you’re feeling because I too feel the pain. I know what it’s like to see them walk out the door not knowing if you’ll ever see them again. I know the excitement that this will be the time he stays
Repost – from Dr. Steven M. Melemis https://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/families-and-addiction.htm Help for Families With Addiction An addiction destroys families as much as it destroys individuals. Living with an addict is both heartbreaking and exhausting. Family members are torn between how to help the addict and how to avoid being sucked into the addict’s world. Here are some
We can all use information from reputable sources to help us understand how addiction impacts families. Remember that you’re not alone. The following article from NCADD provides an overview and some helpful links. https://www.ncadd.org/family-friends/there-is-help/family-disease Addiction is a family disease that stresses the family to the breaking point, impacts the stability of the home, the family’s
I find myself talking about the bad things that happen because of my son’s addiction. I talk about lying, stealing, yelling, homelessness, selfishness and so much more but there is also the part of my son that is good. The part that loves his family, the part of him that wants to stay sober,
Today was a good day. My son called early this morning and ask if we could watch the 2 kids. At first I was a little like really I had so much to do but kept it to myself and said yes. It was so they could go out looking at places to live since
We had a great night with both of our granddaughters. We took them to a local carnival. One is our son’s and the other is our daughter’s, both are expecting new little ones in September and October. These two are 3 + 2 years old. I get to spend alot of time with the 3
Our son is in recovery, he has to my best estimate, 12 months clean. I know that he relapsed last June when my Father, his grandfather, passed away. He has made a lot of changes in this past year, some good and some not as good. He found out last June that he had a
Did you ever get upset because there was an upcoming holiday and your son or daughter was going to be missing? Or maybe you have your whole family together and you insist that there’s a family photo taken? Did you ever think, what if this is the last time I can get this photo or
I read something today that really hit home to me. I started thinking about what I am afraid of. The truth is I think I’m most afraid of letting my children down, any of them, not just my son who is an addict. I think I want to do everything I can to be there
I know that I’ve been primarily writing about my son but there are other things that go on in my life as well. Just as everyone has multiple things going on all the time. Sometimes they overlap and sometimes they do not. As the Mother of three I am surrounded by three different life stories