Anita Devlin on Women Worldwide

Anita Devlin, co-author of the book, S.O.B.E.R., an acronym that stand for Son of a Bitch Everything’s Real, joins host Deirdre Breakenridge on Women Worldwide. In her book, Anita shares how she felt during the harrowing experience of helping her son navigate his addiction, which has led to his recovery. Anita’s son has been sober for nearly 5 years.

On the show, Anita discusses how addiction is an octopus that affects the entire family and how families become co-dependent. She also stresses the importance of sharing what is going on if you suspect that a loved one has an addiction. Hiding the situation or keeping a secret can have horrible repercussions. Anita offers advice to other parents who are frightened about addiction and their own children. She reinforces how you have to trust your instincts be aware of the warning signs: changes in behavior such as mood swings, friends disappearing and not communicating with the family.

A little more about Anita Devlin … Anita is an addiction advocate. She works with moms who have children struggling with addiction. Anita offers advice and support by speaking at treatment centers and parenting groups throughout New York and New England. Her goal is to make moms feel that they are not alone and to realize addiction is a family disease. The entire family needs to be in recovery / therapy.

Learn more about Anita on her website and you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

A little more about Your Host, Deirdre Breakenridge … Deirdre is an author, entrepreneur and CEO of Pure Performance Communications. A 25-year veteran in PR and marketing, she is the author of five Financial Times Press books including her latest titles, “Social Media and Public Relations,” and “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.” Breakenridge speaks nationally and internationally on the topics of PR, social media and marketing. She's an adjunct professor at NYU and UMASS at Amherst, a recognized blogger at PR Expanded, and also the co-founder of #PRStudChat, a dynamic twitter chat with PR professionals, educators and students.

Connect with Deirdre by following @dbreakenridge on Twitter and on her blog at www.deirdrebreakenridge.com.