SUPER CRUNK SOBER DANCE II

Last year's Super Crunk Sober Dance was a big hit, so we at Students for Recovery are bringing it back! Come on out this Saturday for what promises to be an excellent night!

Check out the Facebook event page, swing by our HornsLink page, or just come on by!

The Anonymous People - Film Screening

Please join us at the Utopia Theatre in the School of Social Work building tomorrow (Friday 9/21) at 7PM for a screening of the film The Anonymous People. 

This film is a part of the growing movement to break the silence surrounding those in recovery. Many of us feel like our recovery from addiction is a dirty secret, and dirty secrets breed stigma. Help beak the stigma over at Many Faces 1 Voice.

Image via.

Watch a trailer here.

Click here to find the Utopia Theatre.

Chances are high that this screening will fill up fast, as seats are very limited at the theatre. If you miss this screening, Communities for Recovery will be holding a screening next week. I will update here with the deets as soon as I get them!

Sober Tailgate Tomorrow!

Recovery First Tailgaters will be joining together with CSR to tailgate the UT vs. Ole Miss game this Saturday (tomorrow)! 

The tailgate will be ready to welcome fans and visitors at 2pm! We'll wrap things up by kick-off at 7pm. There will be free food, free non-alcoholic drinks, TVs, games, and fellowship! We'll be in Areas 2&3 of the Speedway Plaza! 

Recovery First Tailgaters are a group of fun loving superfans who prove that sober != boring. They "celebrate any and all types of events through a tailgate party.  It doesn't matter the competition or for whom you may root, you are welcome to attend." The only requirement is a willingness to attend abstinent of mood altering chemicals, and respect for recovery. If you're not in Austin, check to see if they will be in your area soon, or invite them out (scroll to the bottom of the page)!

Genetic Predisposition for Alcoholism and Disordered Eating Linked

Munn-Chernoff and colleagues recently published a study demonstrating a link between the genes underlying a heritable predisposition toward alcohol dependence and binge-purge eating forms of eating disorders.

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Previous studies have demonstrated that eating disorders and alcoholism often co-occur in individuals. This study built upon previous research by utilizing a a sample of nearly 6,000 identical and fraternal twins who have been studied since 1981. In addition to using an absolutely larger sample, the study also incorporated results from males, while many studies of eating disorder and alcoholism comorbidity only sample females. Further, this study distinguishes between the binge-purge (termed "binge eating with compensatory behaviors") form of eating disorders, and the fasting form (e.g. anorexia nervosa).

The researchers found significant genetic correlation between binge-purge eating disorders and alcohol dependence in both men and women. While the exact genes involved have not yet been identified, Munn-Chernoff and colleagues presented a model for this linkage.

Read more at Science Daily.

UT Prof seeks those with pre-college recovery experience

Dr. Lori Holleran Steiker has been a huge supporter of CSR from the get-go. That, and her very popular undergraduate courses (including her Signature Course "Young People and Drugs") make her a familiar face around the Center. Now is your chance to help her out! She is seeking students with pre-college (so, high school age or earlier) experience with recovery. Check out her message below, and please contact her if you'd like to get involved!

Did you have the unique experience of coming to CSR from another recovery community, Alternative Peer Group, Recovery High School, or other recovery-based program?  As you know, I am a professor in the School of Social Work and a Researcher in the area of Adolescent and Emerging Adults with regard to Addiction, Treatment, Interventions and Recovery.  I am hoping to get a few of you to share your experience, strength and hope with regard to these foundations for a manuscript and presentation that a group of professionals are putting together.  If you would like to participate, read on . . . Ivana and I are the Co-Editors of a Special Edition of the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions on the topic of College Students and Addiction/Recovery. We are writing an article about the various recovery settings that have served as foundations for young people in recovery going off to college (e.g., Recovery High School, APGs, Treatment, etc.)  I have the support and participation of Directors of PDAP, Teen & Family, Cornerstone, Lifeway, & Choices as well as Archway Academy.  Also, serendipitously, the 15th Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting to be held at the Hilton Austin Hotel in Texas.  For this conference, we are likely going to present the Houston Continuum of Care which Austin is modeling after for young adult treatment and recovery communities, which hopefully will help young people in recovery easily make the transition to CSRs when they go off to college (I know that at least a few of you started your recoveries in Houston . . . )  If any and all of this makes you say, “She’s talking about ME!” please let me know and we’ll get you involved immediately.  My email address is lorikay@mail.utexas.edu. 

Cory Monteith and faces of addiction

The recent death by overdose of Glee star Cory Monteith has served as a grim reminder that addiction is a fatal disease, even for the most talented and successful among us. Monteith's fresh face and squeaky-clean image is in stark contrast to the mental image many have for a heroin junky, or even for an addict.

Monteith on a promotional poster for Glee. Image via.

This has been a problem facing addicts seeking help for a long time, probably as long as addiction has been around. Addiction is a difficult disease for non-addicts to understand, without the added cognitive dissonance that comes with learning that your seemingly well-put-together friend has been hiding a major drug or alcohol problem.

Not every addict looks like this. Image via.

If a friend or loved one approaches you for help with a drug, alcohol, or other addiction problem, please remember to take them seriously, no matter how much they deviate from your preconceived picture of what an addict is supposed to look like. It could be a matter of life or death.

Petition to Honor AA's 80th Birthday with a USPS Stamp!

On June 10th, 1935 a small fellowship with a big idea got its start: Alcoholics Anonymous. Soon, that fellowship will be celebrating 80 years of quietly saving lives. Millions of people (AA doesn't keep any kind of official count, but this is a decent guess) have either changed their own lives or witnessed the change in the life of a loved one thanks to the 12 Steps of AA. 

The Man on the Bed by Robert M. It first appeared as a cover on the December 1955 issue of the AA publication The Grapevine.  More info here. 

To honor the service, compassion, and tireless work of the founders of AA, several recovery groups have banded together to petition the US Postal Service for an official Bill W (AA's founder) stamp. 

You can sign the petition here.