The winter blues are here and for those of us in all types of recovery, they can be especially tough (Stop Letting Winter Depression Freeze Your Happiness). If you're a recovering addict or alcoholic with the winter blues setting in, you are not alone.

New Year's Eve brings lots of unsafe alcohol consumption but you need safety on New Year's Eve. Whether you're sober or not, you should make plans to stay safe this New Year's holiday. Here are some ways to ensure alcohol safety on New Year's Eve.

Love it or hate it, the holiday season always brings obligations and you have to handle holiday obligations in alcohol recovery. It can be tricky to navigate those obligations. For me, feeling overwhelmed is just as a big an alcoholism trigger as alcohol itself so I have to be careful in my alcohol recovery with regards to holiday obligations.. 

I believe that Charlie Sheen needs to take more responsibility for his behavior of 2011. Almost two weeks ago, actor Charlie Sheen announced that he is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -positive, and paired the announcement with his plans to work for increased education about HIV. This is a commendable goal and he is in a unique position to educate and inform the public. But I believe Sheen also needs to take responsibility for his behavior and the harm he may have caused during his public meltdown in 2011.

Similarities, not differences, are the key to determining whether or not you are an alcoholic. My ability to find differences between myself and the stereotypical alcoholic was my greatest tool for living in denial. As long as I could find the differences, I could ignore painful truths. This was especially true in early sobriety. If you only compare stories to find differences, you will always find an excuse to claim you are not an alcoholic. 

Dating is hard enough as it is, but dating in alcohol and drug recovery and trying to figure out when to disclose that you are in recovery can make dating even more stressful. So when is the appropriate time to disclose that you're in drug and alcohol recovery to a dating partner?

Courage and confidence are emboldened by alcohol because it lowers inhibitions, thereby reducing the sense of fear--but you can find courage and confidence without alcohol. A common misconception is that courage is the absence of fear. However, courage is actually defined by taking action in spite of your fears. When regaining control of your life in early sobriety, developing courage and confidence is difficult if you have always relied on alcohol. For anyone adjusting to sobriety, here are a few suggestions to find courage and confidence without alcohol. 

Difficulty sleeping relates to alcohol use and withdrawal. Alcohol is actually not a good sleep aid, contrary to popular belief. Sure, it helps you fall asleep more quickly, but can lead to a host of other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and sleep walking; plus, when used frequently, drinking alcohol can lead to alcohol dependence.1 In alcoholics, the effects on sleep of alcohol, or alcohol withdrawal, are much more pronounced. Here are some explanations and advice for what you can do in early sobriety to sleep more soundly. 

You might want to consider how recovering alcoholics react to normal alcohol use, if, indeed, you choose to drink alcohol. If you have loved ones who are in alcoholism recovery, be aware that a recovering alcoholic's reaction to your alcohol consumption could change day by day. As I continuously grow and adapt to life around me, my tolerance for alcohol and sense of security evolve as well. I am my own best advocate for my sobriety, but I'm also the only one who truly knows where I stand in my recovery process. Here are some things for friends and family to keep in mind with regards to how recovering alcoholics react to normal alcohol use.

You need to maintain your addiction recovery, even while on vacation. Vacations should give recovering alcoholics and addicts a break from our routine, but not our addiction recovery. Maintaining a program of addiction recovery while vacationing is crucial for physical and psychological sobriety.