Brain and Drugs
Big Book Basics
Relapse Prevention
Movies in Recovery
Ryan Reynolds
100
After a binge, what pleasure chemical crashes in the brain?
Dopamine
100
The Serenity Prayer asks for courage to change the things we ______.
Can
100
The term for an event or situation that makes you want to use.
Trigger (External or internal cue)
Acceptable: Impulse (the sudden urge itself that follows a trigger)
100
This movie features a math genius janitor at MIT who struggles with alcoholism.
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting
100
This superhero is also known as “The Dark Knight.”
Batman
Batman
200
Narcan is used to reverse this type of overdose.
Opioid
Acceptable: Heroin, Fentanyl
200
The AA Book is often referred to as the Big Book. What is another name for the NA Book?
The (NA) Basic Text / The (Big) Blue Book
Acceptable: The Book
200
In recovery slang, what does the acronym HALT stand for?
H = Hungry
A = Angry
L = Lonely
T = Tired
200
This 2012 film stars Denzel Washington as an airline pilot battling alcoholism after safely landing a crashing plane.
Flight
Flight
200
In Toy Story, this character says, “To infinity and beyond!”
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear
300
Which "brain chemical" helps regulates mood, emotional balance, and the sleep cycle?
(Hint: it’s one of the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals.)
Serotonin
300
This step focuses on confession and accountability, requiring complete honesty with yourself, a higher power, and another person.
Step 5
300
How many stages of relapse are there?
Three
-----------------------
Emotional relapse – feelings and behaviors set the stage for use
Mental relapse – internal battle between using and staying sober
Physical relapse – the actual act of using
300
Bradley Cooper plays a struggling musician alongside Lady Gaga.
A Star is Born
A Star is Born
300
In the TV show The Office, Jim frequently plays pranks on this co-worker.
Dwight Schrute
Dwight Schrute
Acceptable: Dwight
400
What hormone rises with stress and craving?
Cortisol
400
The triangle on AA’s symbol stands for _____, _____, and _______?
Unity, Service, and Recovery
400
What type of thinking often causes relapse after a period of sobriety, when a person starts believing they no longer need meetings, support, or structure?
Complacency
400
Johnny Depp plays a writer battling alcohol in Las Vegas.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegs (or Fear and Loathing)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegs (or Fear and Loathing)
400
This Marvel superhero wields a hammer called Mjolnir.
Thor
Thor
500
This part of the brain controls decision-making and is weakened by addiction.
Prefrontal Cortex
Acceptable: Frontal Lobe, Frontal Cortex
500
This recovery phrase reminds members that sobriety is a journey, not a destination, emphasizing ongoing growth.
Progress Not Perfection
500
What thinking trap tells people “I can handle it now”?
Denial
500
Which 2018 movie stars Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet as a father and son coping with meth addiction and recovery?
Beautiful Boy
500
In Breaking Bad, this is the name of the fast-food chain Gustavo Fring uses as a front for his drug empire.
Los Pollos Hermanos
Los Pollos Hermanos