Omar Manejwala on Craving

Tomorrow Dr. Omar Manejwala will be speaking to the students here at UNC Charlotte's CRC!
We are very excited that he will be sharing on his book Craving! 

Short Background:

•  Psychiatrist with a background in addiction medicine, leadership and healthcare innovation.
•  Expert on cravings.
•  Passionate about helping those struggling with addictions.
•  Graduate from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and was also  the executive chief resident in psychiatry at Duke.
•  Former Medical Director for Hazelden Foundation, and is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Catasys.
•  Has a unique ability to translate brain science into words that the general public can understand.
•  Passionate and experienced with healthcare innovation, addiction treatment, and behavioral science.

A little more about Craving:

A nationally recognized expert on compulsive behaviors explains cravings and gives us tools to achieve freedom from our seemingly insatiable desires by changing our actions to remap our brains.

​

When we find ourselves wanting something strong enough, we’ll do just about anything to get it—sometimes at the expense of our bodies, brains, banks accounts, and relationships. So why do we sometimes have the irrepressible feeling that we need something—such as food, cigarettes, alcohol, or sex— that we really just want? And how do we satiate that feeling without indulging it?

​

In Craving, Omar Manejwala, M.D., translates the neurobiology of this phenomenon into real and accessible terms, explaining where cravings come from and why we crave. He then gives us tools and guidance to find satisfaction without giving in to our cravings. Dr. Manejwala explains:

        How and why our brain drives behavior

        How to change the part of our brain that fuels our cravings

        The warning signs that craving is evolving into addiction

        Why craving is the most difficult component of addiction to address

        Why certain groups are so effective at helping to control cravings

Thank You Omar!

RECOVERY 6K!

http://www.heroesinrecovery.com/heroes6k/charlotte-nc/


We will be helping host a 6k run for recovery!! All the proceeds will benefits UNC Charlotte's Collegiate Recovery Community!

Mission statement:

The Collegiate Recovery Community at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte provides a nurturing, affirming environment in which students recovering from addictive disorders can successfully pursue academic, personal and professional goals for the purpose of enhancing their quality of life and becoming productive members of society.

The Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC) at UNC Charlotte supports students recovering from addictions. We offer programming, resources, and activities that provide a pathway to both recovery and academic achievement. Our goal is to provide educational opportunities alongside recovery support to ensure that students do not have to sacrifice one for the other. The CRC can offer a “typical” college experience for students in recovery apart from the culture of drinking or use that is present on today's university campuses.

The CRC is a safe, supportive environment for students that are recovering from alcohol, drugs and/or other addictive disorders, located in The Student Health Center, room 121.We also welcome students curious about sobriety to explore, experience, and understand recovery at UNC Charlotte.

The Collegiate Recovery program offers weekly 12 step meetings, experiential activities, peer-mentorship as well as volunteer opportunities where sober students serve their community, build friendships, develop a solid support system, and build a lifetime of fun, happy memories. Need help navigating help on campus? The CRC also links students with other campus resources needed to succeed in school including advisors, tutors and mentors.

Volunteers are needed as well as runners/walkers and supporters! This is going to be just amazing to get everyone together for recovery!

On the Fence

Not everyone will understand your recovery but as long as you are fully off the fence and admit that you need help you can receive it. Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness the three "must haves" for recovery. It took what it took to get me where I am and by remembering the hurt and pain I can continually grow from it. Every experience in life shapes our character whether it be good or bad, it effects us. It is our perspective and outlook on the hard times that make us stronger.  So if you are on the fence still figuring out if you should go one way or another, remember what got you to that fence. Also know that the other side is filled with amazing opportunities and great life experiences. I have enough drunk stories for a life time but now I have a life that is worth way more than just a story. My life is filled with adventures I can remember!! haha Imagine that!

 Once I made the conscious decision to choose recovery and fully work a program my life changed for the better. For a long time I tried to hold on to those old ideas that maybe one day I could be normal and drink like a respectable lady. Or once I got out of this legal situation I will be better and everything will start working for me in the right way. It was my old thoughts and very close-minded outlook that wanted me not to change. Because lets face it change can be scary and that fear kept me sitting on the fence for a long time. The truth of the matter was that I wanted control of everything and everyone but it was the disease that had control of me.

Recovery has given me a life that I can be proud of. It has shown me a new outlook on things which used to be harmful for me. I no longer have the ability to judge anyone. You can never tell what someone else is going through and by no means compare yourself to them. "The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."-Steve Furtick  I absolutely love that quote and it is so true! Who knows what someone else has going on in their life but we happen to know all the details of ours.

All I can say is what worked for me and that recovery works. Progress not perfection, every day I can choose to live to the best of my ability or squander it away in a bottle. That is right today I have a choice! At one point it wasn't a choice it was the only option. Having the ability to do the next right thing is just amazing! When I go and do things for other people I don't scream it from the roof tops, I do it because it is the right things to do. Of course in the process it makes me feel a little better too, but that's just a plus not the reason behind why I do it.

http://wellness.uncc.edu/collegiate-recovery-community-crc/your-support-needed

Online drug trade?

WSOC News had an interview with our first graduate of UNC-Charlotte's Collegiate Recovery Community!! The interesting information on drug trade on the internet is just astounding.

Hillary Belk's Interview

By Nate Stewart

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 

There's a new concern about illegal activity happening on social media sites like Facebook. Investigators said people in the area are using the sites to deal illegal drugs.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are some of the most popular social media sites, but Shanda Bostian, she says her son used them to deal drugs.

"Hurt. Just hurt. I didn't want to believe my son would do something like that," said Bostian.

Bostian said she started noticing changes in her son Steven: behavioral problems, bad grades, and violence.

"Then I started seeing signs of drug use," said Bostian.

She said she had no idea the extent of her son's addiction, and new business, until she stumbled upon his Facebook account.

"When I opened his inbox messages there were hundreds and hundreds of messages of drug transactions between him and other students," she said.

Bostian said she saw evidence that her son was dealing OxyContin, Xanax, cocaine, and Ecstasy through the social media site. The messages she showed us detailed drug deals, shipments, and even drop-offs on school property. Agents said it's a problem exploding across the Charlotte area.

"It opens up borders," said William Baxley with the DEA in Charlotte.

He said e-trafficking, as he calls it, is on the rise.

"So instead of going to unsafe neighborhoods, the buyer can, from the safety of their home, use the social media to purchase drugs without exposing themselves to the elements they traditionally would," said Baxley.

He said cartels and criminal organizations use social media to reach a large network of potential buyers. He said drug dealers feel the online community is safer than using a cellphone.

"Almost every investigation that we do now touches on the social media on some aspect," said Baxley.

A search warrant we found backs up Baxley's claims. The warrant said a man named Alfredo Alejo, a prisoner at a prison in Georgia, was using Facebook to recruit couriers and coordinate trips, trafficking heroin from California into Charlotte. The warrant said the DEA, CMPD and Mint Hill Police were able to seize 9 pounds of black tar heroin in Charlotte after Alejo placed the order over Facebook.

"It doesn't surprise me that it has moved into this arena," said Hillary Belk, a recovering drug user.

She's now clean, working with UNC-Charlotte's Collegiate Recovery Program to teach students about drug abuse.

"I wasn't OK with me," said Belk.

She's now using her new opportunity to educate students on addiction while provide a safe place to hang out and foster sober friendships. She's also doing the majority of her work, online.

"You can use social media to do the opposite, and that is to move forward the idea that you are not alone," said Belk. "We can use this as an opportunity to continue to counter act it and educating and letting the public know that there is a message of hope out there."

But for parents like Bostian, the reality is tough, sending her son off to rehab and now boarding school, just to keep him offline and off drugs.

"It was the worst thing I've ever went through," said Bostian.

She hopes other parents take notice of what could be going on online.

"I don't think parents are aware of it or if they are aware of it they want to ignore it cause they don't want to have to face it," said Bostian.

The DEA said the online purchase of drugs exposes people to a number of dangerous situations. They said ultimately the buyer does not know exactly what they're getting.

If you or someone you know is seeking help recovering from drugs or alcohol, there are a number of ways to seek treatment for drug abuse in our area.

---

The collegiate recovery program at UNC Charlotte supports college students who are in recovery from addiction of any kind. They offer weekly 12 step meetings (alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous and Al-anon), seminar classes on recovery issues, advisement, peer mentoring, as well as $1,000 tuition scholarships for those who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and at least 6 months of sobriety. 

 The Dilworth Center in the Dilworth neighborhood helps adolescents, young adults, and adults deal with chemical dependency. They also have relapse prevention programs and on-site drug screening. According to their website, "the adult, 40-session treatment program offered by the Dilworth Center is designed to deliver effective and intensive chemical dependency treatment in a manner that allows participants and their families to continue their work and home routines."  You can find more information on their website. 

 The McLeod Addictive Disease Center has dozens of treatment and educational programs ranging from alcohol abuse to adult substance abuse and methadone programs. According to their website, "McLeod Center offers methadone and substance treatment for opiate dependence in eight outpatient treatment programs across Central and Western North Carolina, with locations in Boone, Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Hickory, Marion, Monroe, and Statesville." There's more information on their website.

Found on:

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/special-reports/9-investigates-social-media-drug-trade/nbsQG/

Haloween & Talks from TEDx

This is your brain and this is your brain on drugs! lol j/k but these pumpkins had me laughing so I thought I would share!

TALKS FROM TED!


Sarah Nerad- Investing in Recovery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtpx0EJHzeI#t=160




Lessons from the mental hospital- Glennon Doyle Melton

Glennon Doyle Melton is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, CARRY ON, WARRIOR, founder of http://www.momastery.com, and creator ofhttp://www.monkeeseemonkeedo.org. 
Glennon believes that life is equal parts beautiful and brutal, and writes about the "brutiful" she finds in marriage, motherhood, faith, addiction and recovery. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHHPNMIK-fY

The Anonymous People viewing here in Charlotte!!!!

TONIGHT!!!





There are still tickets available!!!


http://gathr.us/screening/5613

Repel for Recovery!

Hey Everyone!!

It is just crazy how things fall into place, especially when my recovery is first. Just a few years ago I felt like there was no hope. My entire world was crashing in around me. Everything I knew of was going horrible and I was all alone. Come to find out everything was mainly in my head. My messed up thinking and rationalizing the most obvious bad decisions. My using and drinking put me into places where I thought I would never be. Fast forwarding a few years later, here and now. I'm in college, clean and sober, part the first Collegiate Recovery Community in NC and working with people in recovery. Who thought this drunk would be flying out to California tomorrow to repel off the side of the W Hotel in Hollywood?? Not me!! That is for sure! I couldn't have told you what the future held back then. Now I know there is hope, even when you feel helpless and worthless, there is help. I felt so alone in a room full of people. I thought being alone was better that people seeing the true me. Today I get to help others or should I say they help me more than I help them. I get to be surrounded with people who truly understand what I am feeling. Being in college and in recovery is such an amazing concept! Just the opportunities that have been sent my way, all the people who I have met, everything has gotten so much better! Just remember you are not alone if you are struggling with this disease. There are tons of people willing and able to help. For me asking for help was the hardest thing I had to do and still to this day can struggle with trying to do everything all by my self. I have learned through trial and error asking for help is totally worth that minute that I might feel uncomfortable. After that minute it seems everything I was either worried about or stressing over is just turned over, or explained

in a very simple way for me.

A friend sent this to me and I thought I would share!

The Over the Edge Repel Event in Hollywood!!

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ChelseaSchmidt/hollywood-over-the-edge

 Anna David's Webpage (one of the Celebs who will be repelling with us) She also goes to colleges and speaks on recovery

http://annadavid.com/speaking/

Contact us:

http://wellness.uncc.edu/collegiate-recovery-community-crc

Many faces one voice:

http://manyfaces1voice.org/

Faces and Voices of Recovery:

http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/

The Anonymous People viewing in Charlotte NC: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

https://gathr.us/films/the-anonymous-people

The Anonymous People trailer:

http://vimeo.com/64948005

Young People in Recovery:

http://youngpeopleinrecovery.org/

National Youth Recovery Foundation:

http://nationalyouthrecovery.org/

Addiction

Standing Tall for Recovery

 We made it on the front page of UNC Charlotte's web page!

http://www.uncc.edu/spotlight/2013/spotlight-standing-tall-recovery

 Its amazing to see that students are becoming more aware of recovery on our campus! 

Yesterday was The Center for Wellness Promotion's big October event, OctSober Fest! Students came out to participate in the fun and games, while of course learning about health and wellness. There were tables set up on sexual health, relationship health, nutritional health, recovery and alcohol awareness. Along with fun and games thanks to Venture, Rec Services, GAMMA, RSA, Scarowinds, the Police Department and many more. Thank you to everyone who came out to volunteer and participate!!! It goes to show how much fun can be had without drinking or using drugs. Back years ago I would have told you that the idea of doing anything without a drink would have been crazy. Now I know that everything is so much better without it!

The support from other students is such a huge part in my recovery and education. I'm really not sure how I would still be here, in college, without these amazing people helping me. School has not been easy this time around but I believe that all good things come with challenges. The second chance and opportunity was given so freely to me, now is my time to put down the footwork and ask for help when it is needed.
I'm not sure why asking for help can be the hardest part of using the tools, but for me that phone can be so heavy when it is time to pick it up. Even writing an email to a Professor to get help. There are so many resources here on campus that are available! Why can it be so difficult to just utilize them?

Knowing what needs to be done and actually doing it is the difference between staying the same and changing. Change is necessary for my continual recovery. We must remain teachable! Everything we go through helps us learn and grow. I am so grateful that today I can see when things need to change and have amazing people who are willing to help. The support I receive is just so amazing!

Today I am grateful. Today all I can do is my best and sometimes by best is poor. Either way all I can do today is try! One day at a time, one moment at a time, one second at a time. I am a young person in long-term recovery, a college student, a employee, a daughter, a girlfriend, and most of all a friend. I can be all these things if my recovery comes first! Balance helps to maintain everything and finding that balance has been the hardest thing for me lately. This to shall pass. I know the sayings but sometimes its hard to see. You just have to believe!

Procrastination is not the key

 Hello Everyone!!

Sometimes being a student can be stressful. Deadlines and classes and work. Where does our recovery fit in all this? I've always been told my recovery must come first or everything else will be lost. Well truth is it won't be lost I will freely give it away. My license, my car, my friends, my job, my education, and my willingness. All these things will be exactly where I leave them weather it is in the hands of a police officer, a junk yard or just a waste of a good person.  Today I know I'm far from perfect and that it's progress not perfection. I also know that my laziness and old habits like procrastination or perfectionism can creep back up at any moment. Especially when I am not spiritually fit. Little things that I hardly consider, tend to be the biggest contributors to those old character defects coming back. Reading a daily meditation, exercising, going to a meeting, getting sleep, eating a healthy well balanced diet are those little things that make a BIG difference.

I think when I was told to always say yes when asked to do something in recovery I might just have taken it to the extreme. Haha funny an addict who takes things to the extreme! Sometimes it OK to say no! Overwhelming and overworking your body leads to breakdowns. Not only will your brain not function properly but you will be no use to yourself or others. Being a college student pulling all nighters, pushing things back to the very last minute, surviving on coffee and nicotine, I understand. There has to be balance in recovery, school, work, study time, and personal time. I'm still working on this balance and find myself getting better but at least I know that a drink or a drug is not going to make anything go away. For so long I used to cover up all the messes I was making. Now I see the mess and am trying to figure out how to clean it up, and sometimes it takes awhile to learn these new habits. I truly think all the craziness and events that are happening around me are there for a reason. I just have to keep telling myself it's Progress not Perfection!!

Thought this was pretty helpful :)

Please let me know if you have any questions or advice for the recovering student.

Help Support Recovery and join the cause!

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ChelseaSchmidt/hollywood-over-the-edge

I found this article about Collegiate Recovery and wanted to share!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/a-bridge-to-recovery-on-campus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Powerlessness

It is amazing to know people Support Recovery!

The N.O.P.E. (Narcotics Overdose Prevention Education) candlelight vigil and Rockin' for Recovery went so well!!

 There was a good amount of people who made it out to Support Students in Recovery! It's very positive to know that other students on our campus are supportive to those in recovery. The rocking raised awareness about Recovery and helped new students to learn that we are there for them.

Other organizations on and off campus came to support and Rock with us! Thank you to Everyone it truly means a lot!

Thank you to everyone who came out or stopped by!! We all can make a change by letting others know there is always HOPE!







Our speaker and new found friend shared her story before the NOPE Vigil. Hearing the perspective of a mother who had lost her college age son to drugs was all to familiar.  I had the pleasure of introducing Deanna Uhler, a very strong woman who chose to overcome her nerves and share her experience, strength, and hope with us. I opened by sharing some letters that were written by Alex's(Deanna's son) friends after his passing. It really puts in perspective of why we do what we do. By telling her story in hopes of helping others she also brought awareness to this epidemic harming our youth all around. By educating people we hope to help others receive the proper treatment and care in all aspects of the continuum. Recovery being the piece that was missing for so long.

Her message was very strong, there was not a dry eye in the room. By telling her story she touched souls and helped so many people. Thank you Deanna! You are truly an amazing woman! We are here if you need anything.

The voices of Eden Choir sang so beautifully. It was very amazing that they were there.

https://www.facebook.com/voicesofeden

To remember the souls lost to addiction and overdose we held the candlelight vigil.

The Voices of Eden sang another song while we prayed for those who have been lost.

Know that Addiction is a disease just like cancer is a disease the loss of a person from one or the other should be treated the same. The sigma that is placed on Recovery makes it harder. Recovery is very positive and should not be a shameful thing.



If you are struggling and don't know what to do we here at The Center for Wellness Promotion in the Collegiate Recovery Community. Student Health Center Room 121. If we can not help you personally we can find out who can.

Center for Wellness at UNCC
https://wellness.uncc.edu/

N.O.P.E.
http://www.nopetaskforce.org/candlelight-vigils.php

If you are find someone who is overdosing or passed out and are afraid to get them help because calling for help might get you or them in trouble.  Please know that the 911 Good Samaritan law has been passed in NC as well as other states and you are protected. Please save a life the consequence of losing a child, sibling,  parent, or friend is way worse. DON'T HESITATE TO GET HELP!

911 Good Samaritan Law
http://www.drugpolicy.org/911-good-samaritan-fatal-overdose-prevention-law

Ikea supporting the CRC
http://inside.uncc.edu/news/item/ikea-provides-more-furnishings-collegiate-recovery-community

Should I Tell People I’ve Been in Treatment For My Eating Disorder?

Should I Tell People I’ve Been in Treatment For My Eating Disorder?