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New Book Looks at the First Year of Recovery
October 9, 2008

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News Summary

Addiction treatment and recovery advocate William Cope Moyers has written a new book titled "A New Day, a New Life: A Guided Journal" that explores the rewards and challenges of the first year of addiction recovery, the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel reported Oct. 6.

"Treatment is where the journey starts," Moyers said, but the road to successful recovery "requires daily commitment and effort."

In the book Moyers discusses different approaches to addiction treatment and recovery. Writing about addiction science, Moyers noted that for 10 percent of the population drugs or alcohol "turns a switch on in your head that you can't turn off." The book also talks about the 12-step approach to recovery and the work done by Alcoholics Anonymous.

This is the second book for the author, the son of television journalist Bill Moyers. It follows his 2004 memoir, "Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption." Moyers is currently an executive at Hazelden's Center for Public Advocacy.

"A New Day, a New Life: A Guided Journal" is published by Hazelden Publishing.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:
(Comments now appear first to last)

Posted by Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis on 14 Oct 08 04:17 PM EDT
As an author of 3 books on addiction, I am glad to see even more light being shed on this insidious disease, and it truly is a disease. Success stories are few and far between. With an 80 to 98% recidivism rate within 6 months of leaving rehab, this demands that more and intensive steps be taken to combat this disease. Yes it takes daily commitment and effort but it takes more than that. It will take science to discover ways to unlock the mysteries of the brain and to help those who can't help themselves. I watched my own son struggle for 14 years before he couldn't fight it anymore and lost the battle with the Addiction Monster. My website www.theaddictionmonster.com has 3 books that explain a lot about addiction. One is a children's book because believe me we need to start reaching our kids before they go down this slippery slope. It is easy to do drugs, but hard to stop doing them! Be smart - Don't start!

Posted by Stan on 14 Oct 08 05:19 PM EDT
Just wondering, how reidivisim belongs in the same sentence as disease?

Posted by NAR-ANON FAMILY GROUPS on 14 Oct 08 07:16 PM EDT
As a parent of an addict and a grateful member of Nar-Anon Family Groups (ww.nar-anon.org), I am often confronted by new family members who come in search of answers about what they and their addicts are going through. Many come while their addicts are in rehab and wonder if that is the "fix" that will restore their families to normalcy. I remember the stress that we, and he, experienced during the first year of recovery because he was learning to cope with life as a clean and sober person and we were trying to recuperate from the trauma of chasing an addict who was out of control. After my son got himself to the recommended, “90 meetings in 90 days,” got himself a sponsor and moved into a Sober Living Home, he started to resemble the person we all knew and loved. After we all got into our recovery programs, we learned how to communicate with each other and we have all grown. Thank you for writing your new book and giving us another resource of enlightenment about the oh so important, yet fragile, first year of recovery.

Posted by Paul on 15 Oct 08 04:39 PM EDT
Stan - some diseases are chronic; a diabetic will relapse to having high blood sugar if they stop taking their insulin and an addict can relapse to old behaviors when they stop working their 'program'.

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