Seems addiction is not far off the minds of most people these days. I am surprised by the media attention its been getting recently.

Last night I was firmly plugged into relaxing TV, still have a cold and my mind is sieve like.

Gordon Ramsay the famous chef was fronting his show on how to get a business back to profit.

The show is highly entertaining and is a great vehicle for anyone to learn more about business, cooking and being a great chef.

Ramsay as usual takes on a business and its employees to see what he can do to motivate them to succeed. He is impressive and makes me want to get up and do something, anything and work!

One this occasion one of the key players in the programme collapsed from alcohol related problems. Ramsay half suspected he was an alcoholic and eventually outed the man. He did it without prejudice, without blame and with the greatest respect for another human being.

Ramsay shot up in my already high estimations, as a man with insight and humility, care and concern. Truly, Ramsay made possible the recovery of this particular man, and provided a great opportunity for healing within himself and his family.

I needed good news for my afternoon had been pretty awful in group therapy…

The afternoon was the usual suspects. And we are quite a good group where people talk fairly openly about their situations and changes, and what’s really bothering them. It turned out one of our group who has been making really good progress has been assisted with the type of support we don’t expect.

Sharing that after a perfect weekend, the craving for alcohol had become very strong, he had a valium to overcome the adverse feelings experienced.

On gentle enquiry it turns out that valium features almost daily as a way of dealing with the day to day. And without any prejudice we explored what this might mean.

With medical backing our fellow group member has been several months clear of alcohol. And at the same time medicating on valium.

Our issues I guess are cross addictions we can all easily pick up. And in this case it was nothing new, just a continuation of valium, not as an alternative.

I guess no one wants to admit something, which takes away the pain, is harmful. And I wonder if it is…

I know my pathology, I would prefer nothing to valium, and prefer the nothing if I can keep away a day at a time.

Cross addiction is so seamless, its hard when its happening to ourselves to see it, and harder to have to stop it.

We all face these milestones in our lives. They are difficult, they are there. And the answer is always a personal one.

I wonder which way he will go, and how we might support him onwards as the service is most likely to move him elsewhere under their umbrella of care. Hard choices all round

The F word in all these matters is course “fucked”.