I didn’t even see it happening. I didn’t even notice it slipping into my brain, my body, every layer of my consciousness… It came with a mask of “reality”. It sounded like “practicality”. It told me it was “responsible”… And my body knew better, but I fell for it.

I remember sitting in a class on substance misuse in graduate school many years ago… We were talking about 12-step programs. The professor was explaining how difficult it is to know whether 12-step programs (AA, NA, Al-Anon, etc.) “work” due to limited ability to conduct research since these communities are based on anonymity and several other factors.

One of the most pervasive and soul-destroying beliefs floating through our collective consciousness at this time are varieties of, “I should be able to do This alone.”