addiction

The realities of addition; the truth about living under, above and beyond the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The Grey Harbor of My Mind
Leo’s life was a beige office cubicle, the kind with stains he didn’t want to think about. Fluorescent lights hummed a constant, low-grade headache into his temples. Every day, the same screen glow, the same spreadsheets, the same flat coffee from the breakroom machine. But in his head, the light was different. It was the bruised, pewter grey of a sky over a cold sea, pushing down on old stone cottages with slate roofs, black with damp and time. Always there, this image. A harbor, not grand, but tight, almost choked with fishing boats, their paint peeling, nets piled high like sleeping monsters. He’d never been, not in his life, not a single foot on that rough-hewn quay, but he knew the place like he knew the back of his own hand, better maybe. It was a constant ache, a phantom limb of a memory.
By HAADI22 days ago in Psyche
Being the First Dreamer in a Family of Survivors
I did not come from dreamers. I came from survivors. They woke before the sun because survival does not wait for rest. They worked through pain because pain never paid the bills. Their lives were shaped by necessity, not desire. Food mattered more than fulfillment. Stability mattered more than passion. In my family, dreams were considered dangerous. They were luxuries people indulged in when rent was paid, when cupboards were full, when tomorrow was guaranteed. Dreams, we believed, could distract you from staying alive. And then there was me. I wanted more than endurance. I wanted meaning. I wanted to imagine a future instead of bracing for the next emergency. I wanted to ask questions like “What do I want?” instead of “What do we need right now?” I wanted a life that did not revolve entirely around fear. That is how I became the first dreamer in a family of survivors. No one prepared me for the guilt. Every step forward felt like a quiet act of disobedience. When I rested, I felt lazy. When I imagined a different life, I felt ungrateful. When I pursued joy, I wondered who I was leaving behind. Their sacrifices built the ground beneath my feet. How dare I stand taller than they ever could. I learned early that ambition can feel like betrayal. That wanting more can sound like criticizing the lives that came before you. That growth can feel like saying, “Your way was not enough,” even when that is not what you mean. I loved them. And still, I wanted something different. That contradiction lived inside me like a second heartbeat. They taught me how to survive. But no one taught me how to dream without shame. I watched them carry exhaustion like a family heirloom. I inherited their discipline, their resilience, their silence. But I also inherited their unfinished hopes, buried so deep they no longer had names. Sometimes I think my dreams are not entirely mine. They are borrowed courage. They are postponed desires finally asking to be lived. Still, pride and guilt walk beside me everywhere I go. Pride, because I am doing things they never had the chance to imagine. Pride, because their struggles did not end with them. Pride, because survival evolved into possibility. Guilt, because my life is lighter. Guilt, because I can choose. Guilt, because my fears are not as sharp as theirs once were. Being the first dreamer means translating survival into something gentler. It means honoring the past without being imprisoned by it. It means carrying gratitude without carrying chains. I am not rejecting where I come from. I am continuing it differently. Their strength taught me how to endure. My dreams teach me how to live. And maybe that is the quiet purpose of progress. Not to erase the struggle of our families, but to make sure it does not have to be repeated.
By Luna Vani22 days ago in Psyche
Why Abrupt And Immediate Change Rarely Works
We are getting ready to come into a new year. You know what that means... Everyone is going to be trying something "new" to start off the year.
By Dr. Cody Dakota Wooten, DFM, DHM, DAS (hc)24 days ago in Psyche
Alcohol Gives Me Hangexity
“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.” — Alex Hitch, Hitch
By Chantal Christie Weiss24 days ago in Psyche
The Psychology of Emotional Contagion. AI-Generated.
Walk into a room where tension hangs in the air, and you may feel uneasy before anyone says a word. Enter a space filled with laughter, and your mood often lifts almost instantly. This phenomenon is not coincidence or imagination; it is emotional contagion at work. Emotional contagion is a subcategory of social psychology that explores how emotions transfer from one person to another, often unconsciously. It shapes group dynamics, relationships, workplaces, and even entire societies, influencing how we feel and behave in ways we rarely notice.
By Kyle Butler25 days ago in Psyche
When Stress Becomes the Background Noise of Life
Many people describe stress as something that comes and goes — a difficult week at work, a conflict in a relationship, a looming deadline. But for others, stress isn’t an event. It’s a constant presence. It becomes the background noise of daily life, so familiar that it’s barely noticed until something finally breaks the silence.
By Whitman Drake29 days ago in Psyche
The Elmira Falls Express
The ticket, creased and clammy in his palm, felt like a warrant for his own vanishing. Elmira Falls, it read, in faded black ink. Elmira Falls. He didn’t know anyone there. Hadn't even looked it up. Just saw the name on a crumpled map tacked to a bulletin board in the station, a name small enough, forgotten enough, to promise nothing. Nothing was what he was after, or maybe, everything he had left to offer.
By HAADI29 days ago in Psyche
The Wearying Of Life. Top Story - December 2025.
Have you felt it? The change in the feeling of life? The constant feeling of being physically and mentally tired? The fatigue that crept insidiously into our lives?
By Dr. Cody Dakota Wooten, DFM, DHM, DAS (hc)about a month ago in Psyche
The Hidden Costs of Hustling. Top Story - December 2025.
People do not need to be reminded of the murky, colourless and dull picture of what burnout resembles, of either 'taking on too much' or 'hustling too hard.' I truly get it. Burnout is real for both entrepreneurs and employees alike; and when we push our bodies to the brink - aches and pains, and perhaps a few viral infections and mental exhaustion (only to name) come knocking on your domain. And these pesky guests do not give two hoots as to whether or not they are invited to the party - let alone into your own personal space. Life is expensive, and it is only becoming more commonplace and familiar. It is important to put in the effort, yet that effort needs to be inspired. It does not matter what line of work you engage in, provided you are in the flow. The healing starts with you in getting to the bottom of your trauma and inner child. Doing the inner work.
By Justine Crowleyabout a month ago in Psyche
Addiction Recovery and Sobriety Unbreakable Week To Build A Life You Do Not Want To Escape. AI-Generated.
Addiction recovery and sobriety can begin with something as small as how you shape a single week. On a Sunday night, I sat on the edge of my bed and saw that I had no plan for my days except “get through work and try not to use it.” Nothing in my calendar pointed toward healing, connection, or real rest. Instead, I drifted from craving to craving and then wondered why my mood crashed.
By uper battabout a month ago in Psyche
The Glass Heart of the Deep
Elias tasted salt before he even hit the water. It was in his throat, in the back of his teeth, a permanent fixture after all these years. The cold metal of the boat deck bit into his bare forearms as he tightened the straps of his tank, the rhythmic thump of the diesel engine a dull throb against the hull. Another dive. Another descent into the impossible.
By The 9x Fawdiabout a month ago in Psyche
Key Things to Know Before Researching Botanical Products or Cannabis Items
Are you asking yourself how to start researching botanical items or cannabis-related topics online clearly and comfortably?
By Dwayne Lindsayabout a month ago in Psyche