Thousands of people die each year from drug overdoses. In the United States, drug overdose deaths rose again in 2019, according to new preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2020. The CDC predicts the final count for 2019 will be close to 72,000 overdose deaths, an increase of… Continue Reading International Overdose Awareness Day: August 31, 2020
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth are more likely to experience poor health than their heterosexual (straight/cisgender) peers. As a webpage by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about LGBTQ health explains, “LGBTQ youth are part of every community, come from all walks of life, and are present in every racial,… Continue Reading LGBTQ Patients and Specialized Addiction Treatment
Emotional self-regulation is a crucial life skill. Our ability to modulate our emotions keeps them from becoming excessive, counterproductive, or inappropriate. We cannot help having emotions, of course—and they are quite important after all—but when we let our emotions control our decision making, we tend to run into trouble. It’s quite normal to be temporarily… Continue Reading Sensory Regulation in Recovery
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) describes addiction as “a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, [with] continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain.” “The chronic nature of addiction means that relapsing to drug use is not only possible but also likely,” explains NIDA. “Relapse rates are similar… Continue Reading How Comprehensive Mental Health Interventions Reduce the Risk of Relapse
Addiction is a complex bio-psycho-social-spiritual brain disease that requires comprehensive treatment that addresses all of the known needs of the patient, concurrently. Such high-quality treatment may be hard to find in your area, yet many patients and their loved ones hesitate to choose a treatment center considered too far away from home. Often the best… Continue Reading Why the Best Mental Health and Addiction Treatment is in Utah
Historically, people addicted to drugs and alcohol were looked at as having something wrong with them; they were considered a moral failure with a character flaw. For that reason, many people with a substance use disorder (SUD) still choose not to seek the help they need—often internalizing the stigma that they are somehow defective. Too… Continue Reading Addiction as a Mental Health Condition