Daily Steps On Our Road to Recovery for Week of 14 April 2003

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Monday 14 April 2003

The Good Life is recovery from Uncomplicated Alcohol Withdrawal.

DSM [291.80] "Uncomplicated Alcohol Withdrawal" is symptoms that we cause ourselves, either consciously and or unconsciously. These symptoms would be called mental illness signs, except that they end shortly, by just going through them.

It was our stinking thinking that caused us the pain that we tried to kill by drinking the alcohol in the first place. We certainly are powerless over our unconscious thoughts and we are powerless over our conscious thoughts, that are influenced by our unconscious thoughts. So we need to learn how to use our conscious thoughts. Sometimes we need divine intervention that we invite.

All of what has been written here at Recovery by Discovery is about regaining our true powers and thereby making our unconscious more conscious. One way is to become more conscious of the thoughts, that lead to wanting to drink that first drink. As we become conscious of these thoughts, we can choose to change the stinking thinking, to living loving thoughts. Of course we need to do a lot of living loving thoughts, to change those old thought to new habits. Sometime we need to learn what living loving thoughts are, so that we can think them.

Tuesday 15 April 2003

The Good Life is recovery with spiritual faith.

Another break from the disorders of the DSM-III desk reference.

"Study Finds Link Between Religious Faith & Recovery from Depression" is a link to comments on the study at the Mental Health Net. This link may be temporary, since I do not know how long they keep their material at their web site. It said "For each 10-point rise in religious faith, there was a 100 percent increase in the speed of remission from depression, compared to their non-religious counterparts." Said the other way, the speed of remission from depression is a measure of their religious faith, as they defined religious faith in this study. In this case faith had nothing to do with church attendance or a specific religious practice. It had more to do with attitude and altitude of the attitude.

The study was financed by the National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH] and the study was reported in the American Psychological Association [APA] in "THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY Volume 155, Number 4 April 1998". This is very significant where the NIMH is financing a look at what works in the realm of spiritual and the APA is publishing something in the realm of spiritual. There is hope after all for the mainstream to learn what works.

Wednesday 16 April 2003

The Good Life is recovery from Withdrawal and Intoxication.

DSM [291.00] "Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium" is lowered consciousness and rapid heart beat, after withdrawing alcohol. The symptoms are just for returning the system to balance. Rapid heart beat is trying to increase the systems energy so try and maintain consciousness, to maintain balance.

DSM[291.30] "Alcohol Hallucinosis" is hallucinations after withdrawing alcohol. The symptoms are just for returning the system to balance. Without the alcohol involved, they may think you are schizophrenic. Hallucinations can come from to much energy returning, like those rapid heart beats.

DSM [291.10 & 291.20] "Alcohol Amnestic Disorder" & "Dementia Associated with Alcoholism" are just amnesia and dementia symptoms created by the stress of alcohol. The source of the stress seems irrelevant. All stress comes from a conscious or unconscious judgment that something "should" be other than it is. This resistance produces a strain from the energy generated which is anger. The energy of anger is generated whenever there is a difference between what is and what is really wanted.

DSM [305.70] "Amphetamine or Similarly Acting Sympathomimetic Intoxication" which is described as essentially bad behaviour like being "wired" and signs of physical arousal. If this kind of intoxication helps people with the same symptoms, perhaps that is why people with the symptoms of alcohol intoxication take alcohol to reduce the symptoms. That would be like giving Ritilin to people with ADD symptoms.

DSM [292.00] is for withdrawal from amphetamines. Crutches are painful to use, but are generally less painful than the broken bones, without the crutches. Chemical crutches may often be the same.

DSM [305.90] "Caffeine Intoxication" has an interesting set of symptoms. DSM defines it as five of the following: Restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, excess urination, stomach and intestine upset, twitching muscles, rambling thinking & speaking, rapid heart, mania, agitated movement. To me a lot of these are the same. Caffeine then could be a crutch for many of these symptoms just like alcohol and amphetamines. It also could be a cure in the form of homeopathic doses when it gets the spirit unstuck.

Thursday 17 April 2003

The Good Life is recovery from Alcohol Idiosyncratic Intoxication.

DSM [350.20] "Cannabis Intoxication" with changes like euphoria, anxiety, fear, time slowing, withdrawal, poor thinking, appetite, dry mouth, and rapid heartbeat. Some interesting symptoms that might be alleviated in those that already have the symptoms by using low & homeopathic doses . With the support of recovery facilitation these processes may be even more effective. More research is needed to establish what works with other conditions. Of course the original use of cannabis is an attempt to get high. The need to get high is a spiritual need that the person does not know how to get spiritually high. They then pay for the pseudo spiritual high with a real spiritual low.

When someone is delusional and not from cannabis it could be effective to use a homeopathic or small dose crutch of cannabis. Again, more research is needed for the uses of [292.11] "Cannabis Delusional Disorder". The withdrawal symptoms appear to happen over the long term.

DSM [305.60] "Cocaine Intoxication" is symptoms like euphoria, fighting, grandiosity, hypervigilance, can't keep still, poor thinking, poor social and work functioning. I note a lot of similarities to ADD and ADHD and manic symptoms. Some interesting symptoms that might be alleviated in those that already have the symptoms by using low & homeopathic doses . With the support of recovery facilitation these processes may be even more effective. More research is needed to establish what works with other conditions. Of course the original use of cocaine is an attempt to get high. The need to get high is a spiritual need that the person does not know how to get spiritually high. They then pay for the pseudo spiritual high with a real spiritual low.

DSM [292.00] "Cocaine Withdrawal" has depression, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, insomnia or its opposite, and can't keep still symptoms. There also is [292.81] "Cocaine Delirium" and [292.11] "Cocaine Delusional Disorder" from cocaine.

Friday 18 April 2003

The Good Life is recovery from Hallucinogen Hallucinosis.

"Hallucinogen Hallucinosis" is marked by perception changes. Some of the symptoms are the same symptoms that are produced by longer term meditation. It is better to experience perception shifts from meditation, than medication because then you are more able to integrate these experiences into you life. Then you know that there is more to reality than just chemicals. Then you know intimately the processes of life, instead of only knowing that perceptions change. Then you have felt and seen and sometimes heard the processes of spirit, instead of the processes triggered by chemicals. Then you know spirit did that, instead of knowing the medication started that, and not knowing where the trigger left off.

The kind of trip one has, also depends on who brought you, to the dance. I would recommend always invoking the Holy Spirit, or what ever the equivalent is for you, when ever you are on a meditation trip. In fact, it would make good sense to do so for each night's trips.

The same comments apply for those already undergoing similar symptoms, perhaps from meditation or its equivalent, that I had for other kinds of intoxication.

Remember that hallucinations are just seeing things in our energy field that we were not aware of before.

Very Respectfully,

Michael

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A daily hint has published each day since June 1996. This is past my fifth year anniversary, since starting my web pages. I started my daily page, because it is useful for me to look for some recovery tip or secret each day for my spiritual growth. we and I only need one secret to work on and let it work on us each day. They are secrets because they are usually the opposite of what the majority of society teaches. They must be secret because they are not commonly used. A friend of mine once said "Common Sense is not much in Common.". Now that I have grandchildren I am also writing for them. I would have really liked for my grandparents and my parents to have passed on more of what they learned.

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