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WELCOME TO
THE Recovery Radio FLASH! |
Week of May 25, 2006 |
Welcome...to the
FLASH! This weekly e-newsletter will keep you informed of what's
new at Recovery
Radio Show...and
at Recovery Media, Inc., our affiliated service corporation. We
are dedicated to taking the hope of RECOVERY to you, your
family, and to all persons afflicted with- or affected by - THE
DISEASE OF ADDICTION. There IS a better way....
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Our newsletter is a free, weekly update on what's
going on here at
Recovery Radio Show and includes valuable resources and tools for any
 one affected
by the disease of addiction.
SUBSCRIBE
HERE >>> |
1.
THIS WEEK'S SHOW: SATURDAY, MAY 27TH,
2006
PAYING THE PIPER
 Why
didn't someone tell us about the Dark Side when we first were
offered a drug or drink?? Why didn't someone warn us that the
time would come when we must PAY THE PIPER??
Our subject this week is physiologic dependence upon drugs,
including alcohol. With chronic use of drugs, the brain cells
will immediately begin the process of adapting to the presence
of the drug, such that over time it take more and more drug to
obtain a similar "high". Soon, getting high is no longer even
possible regardless the amount of drug ingested. On the flip
side, the brain is now dependent upon the presence of the drug
simply to feel "normal", or something close to that. Removing
the drug from the addict's system will then result in a
reaction that is exactly the opposite of feeling good or
"high". God have mercy on us now!!!
When we first discovered drugs, or had that first drink, we
thought we had discovered Nirvana! We thought we had found the
answer to all of our problems. We felt WONDERFUL!! All it took
was a fix or a few drinks...and "voila'!!", everything was
great. It was instant and predictable. But was it really quite
so simple, and was it quite so good as it seemed??
Problem is, much to our consternation and deepest chagrin, we
soon discovered that we could never again attain that first
ecstatic "high". No matter what we did, no matter how much we
took, no matter how hard we tried- we could never re-create
that first euphoric experience. But we kept trying. And trying
and trying and trying. We were DUPED. We bought the Brooklyn
Bridge.
Soon we were totally consumed with the incessant and
exhausting job of procuring and using drugs and alcohol- in
spite of the fact that they no longer worked. We found that if
we did NOT keep shoveling drugs or drinks into ourselves, we
felt HORRIBLE. The best we could do was to feel slightly
sub-normal; never good. If we did not continually feed our
voraciously hungry new Demon, we quickly became tremulous,
shaky, anxious, depressed, nervous, dope-sick, dysphoric,
frantic, ill, nauseated, horrible, terrible, yechy,
suicidal....and yet still completely obsessed with the thought
of getting high just one more time.
It was now TIME TO PAY THE PIPER. The PIPER does NOT dismiss
our debts, and he will ALWAYS extract full price. There is no
free lunch.
The price we pay in a strictly physical or physiological sense
is detoxification; getting through the process of removing
drugs from our systems. It is miserable. But can we fool the
PIPER? Can we trick him? Is there anything available to
addicts to minimize the agony of getting off of drugs and
alcohol? What are the alternatives??
This week we will discuss the most immediate and fundamental
problem that addicts face when discontinuing chronic use of
drugs: the Demon of Physiologic tolerance, or, brain
adaptation to the presence of drugs. We will discuss why there
is such a huge price to pay when it's TIME TO PAY THE PIPER.
We'll discuss the misery of drug withdrawal, the process of
detoxing- both "cold-turkey" and medically-assisted- and the
options available for detoxing in the least painful manner.
If many of us knew in advance what a terrible price we would
have to pay for our drug addiction, we just MIGHT not have
proceeded. Given the agony of detoxing off drugs or alcohol,
its even the more puzzling that many addicts who have been
through cold-turkey detox multiple times continue to
chronically relapse, and knowing full well that there will be
an agonizing price to pay sooner or later. This sad reality is
powerful testimony to the profound denial which characterizes
the disease of addiction. The solution: Recovery.
Don’t miss this exciting and highly informative show! Live!!
This Saturday night, May 27th, 6 – 8P Pacific Time on
99.5 FM KKLA Los Angeles and 10 other cities…and…streaming on
the web. Our show call-in number is 888/995-5552 for your
questions and comments. Remember….. RECOVERY WORKS!!!
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2.
WOMEN NEEDED TO SHARE THEIR STORY ON
CABLE TV PROGRAM “SECRET LIVES OF WOMEN”
TV Show seeks “functioning” female addicts for on-air
documentary series
(alcohol, meth, sex)
 Women’s
Entertainment Network (WE) is a cable television channel
whose focus is on women: their lives, their interests, their
jobs, their hobbies, their joys, their sorrows, their
problems- EVERYTHING and anything that appeals to the female
gender.
I recently received a phone call from one of the producers of
the WE show “Secret
Lives of Women”, which is in its second season and airs on
Tuesday evenings at 10:30P in those cable system areas that
carry WE. They are looking for 3 women who might be willing to
be interviewed for an episode of this “real-life” documentary
series (NOT “reality TV”!!). The show chronicles the actual
lives of women in various situations and who are facing
various significant or unusual challenges, “demons”, or other
special issues of concern.
They would like to find three women who would be interested in
sharing their lives as being:
The letter I received from “The
Secret Lives of Women” producer follows:
READ MORE >>>
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3.
STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE
DOC by Dr Steve
Reckoning
Time
 Time
comes when it’s time for the addict to pay the piper. We’ve
made a bargain with the Mephistopheles; and we’ve had our fun.
Now we must pay.
When we first picked up, we only saw the roses; what we thought
was the positive side of drugs and alcohol. We were SURE we had
found the answer to our problems. Better living through creative
chemistry.
But…there’s always a price to pay. Newton’s law of physics also
very much applies to drug addiction: For every action, there’s
an equal and opposite reaction. For every “high”, there will be
a “low”. We experience the “lows” as hangovers, post-speed
depression, dope sickness, and the like.
Why is this so? Why is there a price to pay?
The reason is that as we use drugs chronically, our brain’s
neuro receptors adapt to the presence of the drug. With time, it
take more and more drug to get high. Eventually, we cannot get
high at all; the best we can do is to try to feel “normal” or
‘average”; even accomplishing this is difficult. Nature always
tries to return to ‘normal” and it will adapt. We call this
“tolerance”. The biggest problem of all, however, comes when we
decide to quit, or, worse, perhaps, if we need our drug but
cannot find it or procure it. Then, its REALLY time to pay the
Piper!!!
Withdrawal is period of time during which the brain
re-acclimates itself to the presence of no drugs. Just as it
took weeks to months to develop tolerance to our drug, likewise
it takes an equal number of weeks or months- or more- for the
brain to return to it’s “normal”, pre-drug state. During that
time, we feel HORRIBLE and it's exactly the opposite of our
drug- induced highs. It’s now Reckoning Time; time for payback.
There is no free lunch.
My opinion?? If we only in advance how horrible it would
become….perhaps we’d never start.
This is Dr. Steve telling it to you Straight!!
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4.
THOUGHT FOR RECOVERY- by BOB MUNCK
 Each week
on our show this past year, Bob has shares his "Thought for
Recovery", a unique personal reflection meant to inspire those
of us in Recovery. This is from a man with 15 years of
personal sobriety, and with many years of recovery leadership.
He has seen and heard it all. He has sponsored hundreds of men
during that time. Bob's "Thoughts" will focus on pearls of
wisdom that all alcoholics and addicts in Recovery can use to
enhance their own Recovery. We reprint this week's Thought for
Recovery here:
GOD'S GRACE FOR ADDICTS
 Just
because a person is clean and sober today does not mean that
he or she will not experience struggles and emotional
upheavals in one’s daily life- with “people, places and
things”.
The sooner we learn that we have no control over “people,
places and things”, the quicker we can humble ourselves to our
Lord and Creator of the Heavens and Universe; because God is
the only One who has total control over all of His Creation.
It is in the struggle and conflict of our emotions and
thinking that God will always teach us about His Grace. Grace
is God’s gift to all of mankind, because we can’t earn it,
work for it, make it or boast of it. Grace can only be given
to someone, by someone who has the grace to give. Think about
it: Grace is the spiritual fuel that drives the body, the
mind, the spirit and the soul of every human being.
Grace will come to us if we are willing to surrender and
humble ourselves in each and every struggle and conflict, such
that God comes first. He can teach and heal us from our own
self destructive nature. Then- and only then- do we have God's
Grace inside of us that we in turn can give to someone else
who is struggling with his or her conflicts with “people
places and things”.
Dear God , I pray that you will give us the courage to
completely surrender all of our struggles and conflicts to you
first, so that we can be healed and filled with your Grace.
May I always give Grace from the Grace I receive from You.
Your Grace is the glue that holds relationships together in
times of Conflict, so please give us more.
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5.
MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
WITH RECOVERY RADIO
Recovery Radio Seeks
Show Sponsors
 The
Recovery Radio Show is more that just a radio show.
We are a comprehensive set of resources for addicts and their
families. Our uniqueness is that each week we reach hundreds of
thousands of addicts and their families who are still
suffering…over 500,000 people each week. We do this in many
ways, the most obvious of which is over the airwaves every
Saturday night in Los Angeles and 10 other cities,
coast-to-coast.
In addition, we will soon be publishing “California Together”,
a monthly newspaper targeted at the recovery community
throughout Southern California. We will be publishing this in
partnership with Bill and Barbara Brown, publishers of “Arizona
Together”, which periodical has been meeting the needs of
the Arizona recovery community for over 15 years. The two will
be sister publications.
We maintain one of the most popular “recovery radio” websites in
the world! Both Google and Yahoo have rated ours to be #4, and
this after only 6 months of existence! That is phenomenal, and
testimony to the fact that we are “doing something right!” Our
weekly e-newsletter, the FLASH! reaches many people each week as
well, with timely updates on what is happening with Recovery
Radio and the recovery world in general.
Future projects include an “800 HELPLINE”, the HOW Program USA
“recovery scholarships”, Fourth Step Workshops with Bob and Dr
Steve, and “The Art of Recovery- Southern California” recovery
community annual convention.
What does this all mean? It means that those organizations whose
business is related to recovery and/or recovery products have a
unique opportunity to engage- at the ground-floor level- in an
extremely effective marketing alliance with The Recovery Radio
Show.
Ours is a highly-targeted audience. We reach over 500,000 people
each week (conservative estimate). Approximately 60% of our
callers are family members or loved ones of an alcoholic or
addict who NEEDS RECOVERY. They are looking for solutions to get
their loved on into recovery. About 30% of our callers are from
addicts or alcoholics who are IN RECOVERY, and want and need
recovery-oriented products.
More so, ALL of our listeners are learning more about a
societal problem that in reality affects essentially every
single person in this nation. Addiction is by far the #1 public
health problem in the nation today, costing our society over $4
Billion/year. It is long overdue that our nation accepts
addiction for the medical disease that it is. We are doing our
part to effect that change.
If you are with a business or organization that might benefit
from a marketing relationship with Recovery Radio, please
contact us. We will be happy to discuss the many ways that you
can benefit from joining our team…and at the same time help AND
benefit from our growing fan and listener base.
CONTACT US
if you would like to explore sponsorship or marketing
opportunities with Recovery Radio Show. Toll-Free:
866.334.0471., ext. 102 (Bob), or ext. 111 (Dr Steve).
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PAST SHOWS!
 Miss
one of our shows? No problem!! All shows are
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need. 24/7. Our shows may also be heard "LIVE" every Saturday
night by going to our website HOME page and clicking the "LISTEN
HERE" button.
Audio
Archive Here
RECOVERY RADIO
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
The
Recovery Radio Show is organized as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit
public benefit corporation under the IRS tax code: Our Mission
is to provide education about addiction to our fellow human
beings, and to do what we can to allow those still suffering to
get into recovery. If you, or your company, would like to make a
tax-deductible donation to the RRS, you may do so with our
profound thanks and appreciation by clicking on the link above,
or by going to the "DONATE" button on our website on the
HOME page. Or, you may call our very own Melissa Stewart at
866.334.0471 M-F between the hours of 8A - 5P.
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That's it for
this week....Join us this Saturday Night, won't you?????.....6-8
Pacific Time...on-air, or on the web.
Yours very truly, and in sobriety,
Dr Steve, Bob, and the Recovery Radio Crew |
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