I was the PTO mom, the carpool mom, the Brownie leader.  We ate family dinners at the table, taught our children manners and took family vacations.  My husband and I were blessed to have very good jobs.  My daughter, Brittany, the beautiful girl in the photo, was the honor roll student, the volunteer at the

In the story of every addict there is a point when they stop using drugs or alcohol and the drugs or alcohol start to use them.  At some point the substance takes ownership of the new addict. One moment you are having fun using drugs, meeting new friends and exploring the possibilities ­­– the next

In today’s world, porn addiction is the most common form of sexual addiction. Without doubt, this is thanks to the Internet, which offers an almost endless supply of free, easily and anonymously accessible erotic imagery of every ilk imaginable. For porn addicts, the Internet is a bit like dropping an alcoholic in a liquor store

  Jeff Vande Zande teaches fiction writing and screenwriting at Delta College. His books of fiction include Emergency Stopping and Other Stories, Into the Desperate Country, Landscape with Fragmented Figures and Threatened Species and Other Stories (Whistling Shade Press). His novel American Poet won the Stuart and Vernice Gross Award for Excellence in Writing by

The room’s one window is covered by a dark Venetian blind. The sunlight behind it is only a rumor. There’s a lamp on the desk and a lamp turned on next to Robby where he sits in a leather chair. He’s slumped in his seat with his elbows on the arm rests. His hands hang

There is no doubt that there is an epidemic of opioid abuse in our world. The definition of epidemic in the Cambridge Dictionary:  a particular problem that seriously affects many people at the same time. This particular epidemic is persistent, brutal and killing indiscriminately. But why is this epidemic not being dealt with like other

In today’s world, digital technology is omnipresent. Nearly everyone owns or has access to a computer or some other digital device, like a smartphone or a tablet. And for the vast majority of people this is a good thing. Sex addicts, however, can struggle with the 24/7/365 ability to affordably and anonymously access pretty much

I stood on the playground in my green, parent-volunteer apron. Kids were eating, playing, running, sliding, screaming. A fifth grader carrying a lunch tray frantically ran toward me and then screeching to a halt. His eyes bulged. He looked like he was going to throw up. But there was no sound. Oh my God are you

Rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame inductee, Ricky Byrd, formerly of Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, is on a mission to “carry the torch of change surrounding the stigma of drug and alcohol abuse”. Clean and sober since September 25th 1987, Ricky has plenty of experience, strength and hope to share with recovering people around

One of the first questions I hear from almost every sex addict new to recovery is “How did this happen?” And many of the men and women who ask this question are unable (or unwilling) to move forward with treatment and the process of recovery until they have an answer. So even though knowledge about