FEAR OF FEAR, from the book, "Miracles of Recovery:"
"Fear. Worry. Dread. These emotions held me hostage for what seemed a lifetime. Terrified of living, and of interacting with others, I was afraid of everything.
In Recovery, I found the guiding hand.."
https://t.co/0KfVqmMKMP
"Trusting our Higher Power," It takes gifts of sobriety to open hearts to a trusting awareness that a HP (some THING, all powerful/all-encompassing) exists. Here, we find our miracles. Sheltered in trust, we have no need to know faiths' answer. It is none of our business..."
https://t.co/6HjrEnSMOw
"Recreating our Lives" from Miracles of Recovery: "Prior to recovery we lived a well-orchestrated lie with denial as our shield from the truth. But re-creating our lives requires a spiritual awakening and "action without negotiation," #alcohol#odaat
Alcohol leaves the room.
Benzodiazepines don’t.
That’s the dirty little secret nobody warns the alcoholic about. You kick the bottle out — ceremony, applause, maybe even a white chip — and quietly invite its more polite cousin to stay. Same house. Same nervous system. Same ending, just slower and dressed in a prescription label.
Alcoholics don’t accidentally fall in love with benzodiazepines.
They recognize each other.
The Science — stripped of romance
Alcohol and benzodiazepines work on the same neural doorman: GABA-A receptors.
GABA is the brain’s primary braking system. Press it gently, you feel calm. Hold it down long enough, the brakes fail.
Chronic alcohol use downregulates GABA receptors and upregulates glutamate — the brain’s accelerator. That’s why withdrawal feels like your nervous system is trying to tear itself out of your chest.
Benzodiazepines step in and whisper: I’ve got you.
They restore inhibitory tone.
They quiet the shakes.
They help you sleep.
They feel like relief.
But here’s the trick — they don’t fix the imbalance. They replace the missing alcohol effect, molecule for molecule, silence for silence.
From the brain’s point of view, sobriety never actually arrived.
Why alcoholics cling to them — even sober
Because alcoholics aren’t addicted to liquid.
They’re addicted to nervous system control.
Benzos deliver:
- Emotional flattening without intoxication
- Anxiety relief without social fallout
- Sleep without surrender
- A sense of being held together
And for someone whose baseline is wired, vigilant, vibrating — that feels like mercy.
Except it isn’t.
Long-term benzodiazepine use further suppresses GABA sensitivity, deepening dependence while eroding memory, cognition, emotional regulation, and — cruelly — resilience.
Withdrawal isn’t dramatic like alcohol.
It’s elegant.
Prolonged.
Psychological.
Weeks turn into months.
Months into years.
The brain forgets how to calm itself at all.
The part nobody likes saying out loud
Benzodiazepines are not “safer alcohol.”
They are alcohol with better PR.
———————————
Professor C. Heather Ashton — who ran one of the world’s most respected benzodiazepine withdrawal clinics — didn’t mince words:
“Benzodiazepines are potentially addictive drugs and can produce dependence even when taken as prescribed.”
— The Ashton Manual
———————————
———————————
And the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse states plainly:
“Combining opioids or alcohol with benzodiazepines increases the risk of life-threatening overdose.”
— NIDA
———————————
Notice the wording — combining.
Because the brain never really separates them.
The alcoholic nervous system — exposed
Take alcohol away from an alcoholic and you don’t get peace.
You get raw signal.
Noise.
Hyper-arousal.
Insomnia that laughs at sleep hygiene.
Anxiety that doesn’t respond to breathing apps.
Benzos don’t heal that.
They mute it.
And muting isn’t recovery — it’s postponement.
The uncomfortable truth
If alcohol was the storm, benzodiazepines are the fog.
Quieter.
Less obvious.
Just as disorienting.
Alcohol announces its destruction.
Benzodiazepines whisper theirs — until one day the nervous system no longer remembers how to stand without them.
Sobriety isn’t silence.
It’s learning to tolerate sound again.
And that — unfortunately — takes more courage than any pill has ever provided.
— RRV
#alcoholism #recovery #MentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwareness
Alcohol leaves the room.
Benzodiazepines don’t.
That’s the dirty little secret nobody warns the alcoholic about. You kick the bottle out — ceremony, applause, maybe even a white chip — and quietly invite its more polite cousin to stay. Same house. Same nervous system. Same ending, just slower and dressed in a prescription label.
Alcoholics don’t accidentally fall in love with benzodiazepines.
They recognize each other.
The Science — stripped of romance
Alcohol and benzodiazepines work on the same neural doorman: GABA-A receptors.
GABA is the brain’s primary braking system. Press it gently, you feel calm. Hold it down long enough, the brakes fail.
Chronic alcohol use downregulates GABA receptors and upregulates glutamate — the brain’s accelerator. That’s why withdrawal feels like your nervous system is trying to tear itself out of your chest.
Benzodiazepines step in and whisper: I’ve got you.
They restore inhibitory tone.
They quiet the shakes.
They help you sleep.
They feel like relief.
But here’s the trick — they don’t fix the imbalance. They replace the missing alcohol effect, molecule for molecule, silence for silence.
From the brain’s point of view, sobriety never actually arrived.
Why alcoholics cling to them — even sober
Because alcoholics aren’t addicted to liquid.
They’re addicted to nervous system control.
Benzos deliver:
- Emotional flattening without intoxication
- Anxiety relief without social fallout
- Sleep without surrender
- A sense of being held together
And for someone whose baseline is wired, vigilant, vibrating — that feels like mercy.
Except it isn’t.
Long-term benzodiazepine use further suppresses GABA sensitivity, deepening dependence while eroding memory, cognition, emotional regulation, and — cruelly — resilience.
Withdrawal isn’t dramatic like alcohol.
It’s elegant.
Prolonged.
Psychological.
Weeks turn into months.
Months into years.
The brain forgets how to calm itself at all.
The part nobody likes saying out loud
Benzodiazepines are not “safer alcohol.”
They are alcohol with better PR.
———————————
Professor C. Heather Ashton — who ran one of the world’s most respected benzodiazepine withdrawal clinics — didn’t mince words:
“Benzodiazepines are potentially addictive drugs and can produce dependence even when taken as prescribed.”
— The Ashton Manual
———————————
———————————
And the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse states plainly:
“Combining opioids or alcohol with benzodiazepines increases the risk of life-threatening overdose.”
— NIDA
———————————
Notice the wording — combining.
Because the brain never really separates them.
The alcoholic nervous system — exposed
Take alcohol away from an alcoholic and you don’t get peace.
You get raw signal.
Noise.
Hyper-arousal.
Insomnia that laughs at sleep hygiene.
Anxiety that doesn’t respond to breathing apps.
Benzos don’t heal that.
They mute it.
And muting isn’t recovery — it’s postponement.
The uncomfortable truth
If alcohol was the storm, benzodiazepines are the fog.
Quieter.
Less obvious.
Just as disorienting.
Alcohol announces its destruction.
Benzodiazepines whisper theirs — until one day the nervous system no longer remembers how to stand without them.
Sobriety isn’t silence.
It’s learning to tolerate sound again.
And that — unfortunately — takes more courage than any pill has ever provided.
— RRV
#alcoholism #recovery #MentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwareness
Here's a copy of my new trailer for Miracles. See what you think. https://t.co/Vapb59WZFb
Of course, you will find your copy before the holidays on AMAZON here, https://t.co/0KfVqmMKMP or wherever books are sold!
Today's "Miracles" story: "FEAR, of FEAR:" "When challenged by fear, we ar te reminded that feelings aren't facts. Everything passes. Gentle and kind to ourselves and others is our goal.
For that special someone, beginning with you get it here: https://t.co/5MLM0Sjks8
LAST CALL FOR A SOBER AND SERENE CRAWL ship Paradise. Deadline to receive LOWEST GROUP RATE today by 8:00 p.m. Thereafter, prevailing rates apply. Call Carnival @ Group Sales: 1-866-721-3225 without delay. WHO WANTS TO PAY PREVAILING RATES? Not me.
#odaat#Alcoholpoisoning#alcoholic Come and share in the fellowship on a SERENE and SOBER cruise. LAST DAY TO DOWN PAY is 10/15. Please pass it on. Who SAYS we're a glum lot??
MIRACLES OF RECOVERY shows how to use ideas that keep us where our feet are. Positive suggestions let us see what we CAN do--just for the rest of today regardless of pain and personal situations as we stay the course.
See Recap of 100 Reviews at https://t.co/0KfVqmNiCn
#sober#alcoholawareness#Inspiration#Spirit#addiction
COME AND HAVE 24 HOURS OF FUN, FOOD, AND TOGETHERNESS ON THE HIGH SEAS! NOTE DEADLINE DEPOSIT. Meetings, presentations, and lots of free time. We are NOT a glum lot!
The Things People Remember Most Before They Die (Today is the perfect day for forgiveness and letting go of negativity.) #Stress
https://t.co/vwV4wb3Wjh
Hello everyone. Please say a quick prayer for my mother, 91, who is as I speak, in surgery for a hip replacement. I'm trying to breathe in the moments and not wonder what could/may or may never happen. She always say she's strong like bull...now she gets to prove it.
Elon Musk doesn’t want this video shared because he’s trying to help Trump win in November. It would be a damn shame if everyone shares it. https://t.co/e226PPDz3B