Keep up with Dr Robert Lefever's latest thoughts, ideas and insights
Christmas parties are very special. We relax. We enjoy ourselves. We make friends with colleagues we hardly know. I do all of that even though I haven’t drunk alcohol since 12th October 1984. I get heavily stuck into fizzy water. This has a number of very clear advantages. I do remember what I was doing, […]
The busiest day of the year in my rehab is January 13th. The hope at home is that everybody will be relaxed, enjoying themselves and having a good time over the holidays. The reality of the Christmas period is that it is often a very stressful time. Families gather round to have a good fight. […]
Holiday times are good times. Aren’t they? Nowadays, with air travel, the holiday season can be at any time of year. The good times don’t need to fade away into distant memory. We can have them again whenever we want. A holiday gathering can be a family gathering with any number of family members. Or […]
Some addicts are highly intelligent. They use this natural gift to ‘prove’ to themselves and others that they are not addicts. As with mediaeval monks discussing how many angels dance on the head of a pin, they argue over the precise nature of addiction until the cows come home. Intelligence doesn’t protect them from mental […]
Many people die before they hit rock bottom addiction. They think they can manage their ‘habit’, use sensibly, and have a bit of fun. Then one morning they wake up dead. Addiction isn’t a habit. For one in six of the population, it’s a compulsion, probably driven by faulty neurotransmission systems in the mood centres […]
There are people who simply overindulged over Christmas. They see a dry January as a good way to detox. That’s fine. A party every day is no party at all. It becomes the norm – like the Queen going to yet another banquet. Surely the fun in life is in its contrasts. But these people […]
People often ask me why they keep choosing to drink when they genuinely want to be sober. I asked myself that same question many times for many years. My diets and periods of abstinence ended in binges, time and time again. Already, after a couple of weeks, there are many people who have tried to […]
If you want a delicious meal and a pint of an excellent real ale, go to see my nephew, Michael, who owns and runs The Kings Arms in Trowbridge. By contrast, if you have repeatedly drunk too much on occasions, you might be better off seeing me. A dry January helps some people but not […]
Ali G, a character created by the comedian Sasha Baron-Cohen, was interviewing the Drug Tsar. He asked him about the effects of cocaine. The Tsar replied that it caused dilated pupils, blurred vision, a runny nose, agitation, disturbed sleep patterns and… ‘Yes, yes’, said Ali G. ‘But has it got any bad effects?’ I tell this story […]
All mood-altering drugs are addictive to anyone who has an addictive nature. Cocaine is highly addictive. So are some individuals. The combination of an addictive drug and a highly addictive person is deadly. Focussing solely on the drug sends healthcare and education professionals and law enforcement authorities down the wrong route. To identify adults with […]