Change of Address

I have decided to move this blog to a new location. My aim is to provide a lot more content focusing on fighting addiction and getting the most from recovery. You can find the new blog here

In this episode we discuss the benefits of meditation for those suffering or recovering from addiction.

Don’t forget to check out the Dead Drunk Facebook Page

Music for this week’s podcast comes from Doug and Judy Smith

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Should Ireland Send Addicts to Thailand?

A recent article in the Irish Herald newspaper referred to some of my ideas about sending Irish addicts for treatment in Thailand. I would just like to expand on some of the issues raised in order to give a fuller
explanation of my views. It is not my intention to come across as some sort of evangelist for any temple detox program in Thailand, but merely to suggest an option that I feel could work for some addicts.


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Theories about Substance Abuse and the Models of Addiction

The way that a substance abuse treatment program will deal with substance abuse will usually depend on which of the models of addiction they subscribe to. Many attempts have been made throughout history to provide a reason as to why some people abuse alcohol or drugs to such an extent that they harm themselves and others. The behavior of the addict can really baffle those around them and the addict themselves will often be at a loss to explain their destructive behavior.

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Mindfulness Addiction Cure?

Can Meditation Beat Substance Abuse?
A mindfulness addiction cure would be something that would be welcome by many people. There is a lot of interest in the possibility of using mediation as a means to combating substance abuse. Alcohol and drug abuse is
recognized as contributing to a whole host of personal and societal problems. In this article I will discuss my own experience of using mindfulness as an addict and in recovery.

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Addiction and Recovery Podcast 23 - The Response to Dead Drunk

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Don't forget to check out the Dead Drunk Facebook Page

Music in today's podcast is from Doug and Judy Smith.

Addiction and Recovery Podcast 22 - Dealing with Difficult Times in Recovery

In this podcast I discuss my recent experiences of dealing with difficult times in recovery.

Don't forget to join the Dead Drunk Facebook Page if you want to find out what is happening with the book.

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Dead Drunk After Three Years

It has been almost three years since I first began writing my account of addiction and about my time spent in Thamkrabok temple detox. So much has happened during that time, and my life has changed in so many ways. For one thing my son came along and that certainly shook my world, but things have been unpredictable in other ways as well. When I first began posting some of my experiences as a blog it was just a way to get things off my chest; there was no way that I could know that this would all lead to an actual published book. Yet here we are; today for the first time I held the finished product 'Dead Drunk' in my hands.

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Is Wat Thamkrabok the Magic Cure for Addiction?

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Don't forget to check out my Dead Drunk Facebook page

The Vomiting Ceremony of Wat Thamkrabok

Wat Thamkrabok is famous for its vomiting ceremony. In fact when this temple detox is mentioned in the western media it is usually this that gets the most attention. This is hardly surprising as the practice is just so unique; there are also those individuals who would even see it as extreme. The vomiting is an important component of addiction treatment at Wat Thamkrabok, but it is only a part of it.

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Public Talk in Dublin

As Part of the promotion for my book "Dead Drunk" I will be giving a talk on the fourth of May in the Irish Writer's Centre. This will be open to anyone who wants to come. Here are the details;

Title: Does Wat Thamkrabok Offer a Wonder Cure for Addiction?
Venue; Irish Writer's Centre Parnell Square
Time: 19:00 4 May 2010
Click for Directions

Advice for People Considering Addiction Treatment at Thamkrabok

The Thamkrabok temple detox is becoming an increasingly popular choice for those hoping to escape the misery of substance abuse.

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Free Treatment at Wat Thamkrabok

The treatment at Wat Thamkrabok is provided freely; although most people will give a donation to the temple at the end of their trip. Those who can only afford the plane ticket to Thailand will be welcome no matter how much money they have with them; nobody is ever turned away.

There are some organisations that can assist people to get to the temple and some of these may have costs involved. It should be noted though, that there is no requirement to use these services or pay anything. This is optional; plenty of people make their way to the temple without the need. You can find some useful information here;

Latest News about Dead Drunk

It is now only a few weeks away until the release of my book Dead Drunk - 30th of April. My publisher Maverick House is arranging for some radio appearances in Ireland and there is also going to be a public talk somewhere in Dublin. Other exciting promotional activities are also being planned - exciting for me at least. I will let people know as soon as more details are available.

Please feel free to join my Dead Drunk page on Facebook.
Dead Drunk Fan Page

Addiction and Recovery Podcast 20 - Dead Drunk

In this episode I discuss my new book Dead Drunk and what prompted me to write it.

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Dead Drunk Cover

This is to be the cover for my new book Dead Drunk which will be available in book stores across Ireland, the UK, and Asia from 30th of April 2010.

Spiritual Enlightenment; The Damndest Thing by Jed McKenna - Book Review

Jed McKenna claims to be enlightened; this is what he says in Spiritual Enlightenment; the damndest thing. I don't know if that is true or not but what I do know is that he has some interesting ideas to share. In this book he said some things that challenged some of my own beliefs and opinions. What really surprised me was that by the end of the book some of my ideas and opinions had changed. Not because I believe that Jed McKenna is some higher spiritual being, I don't really care about this, but because what he said felt convincing; you know that feeling when you read something and you just know it's true.

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Just Giving Up Drinking Alcohol May Not Be Enough

The term dry drunk syndrome can seem a bit confusing; after all if someone isn't drinking how can they possibly be a drunk? Well the dry drunk definition refers to a form of negative behavior that some people can exhibit even though they are not drinking alcohol.

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A Dream Come True - Dead Drunk Will Hit Bookstores Soon

Less than four years ago my life was a mess. I had been an alcoholic for almost two decades and had lost all hope of there ever being an escape. I had hit my first treatment centre before even leaving my teens and had been in and out of recovery groups every few years since that time. I had tried and failed at every addiction method that I could find and had been told that my liver was damaged. I was in my late thirties and had ended up somehow living in a Thai village; I was waiting to die.

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Addiction and Recovery Podcast 19 - Dealing with our Perceptions

Most days bad things happen because of our internal mood rather than what is actually happening in the outside world. Learning to see that the problem is often us, and not the world around us, can be a great help by making things easier to deal with.

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How to Develop the Motivation to Quit Addiction

A huge problem for those wishing to escape addiction is to develop the motivation to actually make the move. It is fine to know intellectually that you want to quit substance abuse but developing the energy to turn this into action is not so easy. I knew for almost two decades that my addiction was destroying my life, but there were only a few occasions when I actually tried to do something about it.

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Does Wat Thamkrabok Offer a Wonder Cure for Addiction?

In my new book ‘Dead Drunk’ I discuss how a Thai temple called Wat Thamkrabok helped me beat my addiction to alcohol. It is now almost four years since I left the temple and it really does feel like my addiction has been completely defeated.

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The Benefits of Mantra; Evidence that it Can Help Individuals Cope with Stress

The benefits of Mantra have been recognized for centuries but it is only recently that scientific evidence is available to support these claims.

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What is Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention?

Mindfulness based relapse prevention is promising to be a useful technique in the battle against addiction.

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Addiction and Recovery Podcast 18 - living in the present

In this week's episode I discuss the importance of living in the present.

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Dead Drunk to be Released in April 31 2010

My next book Dead Drunk is due for release on April 31 2010

Maverick House Website

Alcoholic Neuropathy Symptoms

Long term abuse of alcohol can lead to nerve damage. This alcoholic neuropathy can make life difficult for those needing to deal with the symptoms.

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Addiction and Recovery Podcast 17 – It is better to change yourself than try to change the world

In this episode I examine the idea that it is easier to work on changing ourselves rather than trying to change the world. I have found that focusing on what other people are doing wrong allows me to ignore my own shortcomings.

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10 Addiction Recovery Tips

Addiction recovery tips can help those who are struggling to escape from Substance abuse

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Can I ever drink again?

In the past I have hung onto the idea that if I manage to stay sober for x number of months or years that I will be able to drink again. There is also the idea that if this or that happens in my life then it will be safe to drink again. I explore this myth in today’s podcast.

You can check out my blog at;
http://paulgarrigan.blogspot.com/

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A Simple Dual Diagnosis Definition

A simple dual diagnosis definition is important for those needing to deal with addiction and mental illness.


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Are You an Alcoholic? How to Tell If You Have a Drink Problem

A drink problem can make life unbearable for you and for those in your immediate vicinity. Deciding if you are an alcoholic can be an important first step to recovery from alcohol addiction. What follows are my views on the issue. I am no expert on addiction, but I did spend almost two decades battling the booze. Much of my adult life was spent trying to investigate what made me the way I was; thankfully those days are now behind me.

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Addiction and Recovery podcast 15 – dealing with depression in recovery

Depression is commonly associated with addiction. If it occurs in recovery it can make life unsatisfying, and increases the chances of relapse. The unfortunate thing is that there are believed to be many people in recovery trying to muddle along with untreated depression – they may not even realise that there is a problem.

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Addiction and recovery podcast 14 - Staying positive

In this episode I discuss the importance of staying positive. I also examine the risks associated with too much self-absorption.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes.

Just click on play to listen

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Relapse and relapse prevention

In this podcast I will discuss the important subject of relapse. This is a danger for everyone in recovery and all care must be taken to avoid it.

Don’t forget that you can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes.

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Understanding Dry Drunk Syndrome and How to Deal with Dry Drunk Symptoms

The term dry drunk syndrome can seem a bit confusing; after all if someone isn't drinking how can they possibly be a drunk? Well the dry drunk definition refers to a form of negative behavior that some people can exhibit even though they are not drinking alcohol.

Dry drunk definition

When we say that somebody is a dry drunk we usually mean that they are behaving in much the same way as they did as an addict. They may not be actually ingesting alcohol but in many other ways it is business as usual. This is a dangerous type of behavior for reformed addicts because a dry drunk syndrome can easily lead to a real return to addiction.

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Mindfulness and Jon Kabat-Zinn

I have previously talked about how important Mindfulness meditation has been for my recovery from addiction. One very good teacher of this technique is Jon Kabat-Zinn. He has taken mindfulness from its Buddhist source and adapted it for a much wider audience.

Here is a video of him talking about this technique. It is over an hour long, but he offers some useful insights that can help everyone struggling with addiction or managing their recovery. I hope you enjoy it.

Addiction and Recovery Podcast 12 - Lessons from the temple

In this week’s episode I discuss how I eventually managed to get sober. I also talk about the tools that I managed to pick up during treatment at Wat Thamkrabok.
To find out more about this drug treatment facility in Thailand you can just click on the link.
http://www.thamkrabok-monastery.org/


Don’t forget that you can subscribe to this podcast on iTunes

Music for today’s podcast came from Doug and Judy Smith and the song is called “Crest of a Revolution”.

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Addiction & Recovery Podcast 11 Dealing with bad days in sobriety

Life in recovery is not always a box of chocolates. Even those of us who have made it into to recovery will still have to deal with bad days. In this episode I will examine how to deal with the bad times within returning to addiction.

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I love New Year; I always have. For many years it was a time of relief; I would have a whole new year ahead of me that I hadn't messed up yet. I would make all sorts of promises about how things would be different, but things usually ended up pretty much the same. These were during the long period when I was a drunk. By the end of most years I would be looking back at the previous one with shame, but full of hope for the next one. This doesn't happen anymore; well not in the same way. I still look forward with excitement to the New Year, but I have no shame about the previous one. I had a great 2009; in fact every year has been great since I gave up alcohol.


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