The holiday season is stressful for many people. It can be especially stressful for someone recovering from addiction. In addition to the stress of travel, buying presents, and dealing with family, there are often holiday parties and gatherings with lots of alcohol. The holiday season is full of triggers for someone trying to stay sober.…
One reason it’s so hard to quit alcohol is that it’s so readily available. Most Americans drink at least occasionally and there are many occasions when it’s expected. When quitting other substances, it’s typically a good idea to distance yourself from people who still use them, but with alcohol, that’s often not practical, or even…
Generally speaking, everyone is different and everyone has different needs in addiction treatment and recovery. However, there are significant differences in between what men and women need from treatment and recovery. While any treatment is better than no treatment, a program that recognizes and adapts to these differences will have a better chance of success.…
Loneliness is bad for your health. Frequently feeling lonely can raise your levels of the stress hormones, cortisol and norepinephrine. This has a number of negative effects on your health. It increases blood pressure, putting you at higher risk for heart disease, it impairs your immune system, leading to more frequent illnesses, and it increases…
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 20 percent of American adults report having had an anxiety disorder in the past year, and about 30 percent of Americans will have an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. These disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder,…
Addiction doesn’t just affect you; it also affects the people around you, including your friends, your coworkers, and your family. One of the most common reasons people give for getting help for addiction is that they realize how addiction has hurt their families. This is especially true of kids, who are still growing and are…
With the days getting shorter as fall approaches, many people may experience seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. SAD is a form of depression brought on by the change of seasons. It most commonly causes people to become depressed in the fall or winter, but there are people who get it in the spring or summer.…
A recent study suggests that brain scans may someday be able to more accurately distinguish bipolar disorder from major depression. The researchers used an MRI machine to study how patients’ brains reacted to seeing various kinds of facial expressions. They were particularly interested in the amygdala, an area of the brain–technically two areas–which is responsible…
We’ve come a long way in our understanding of addiction and addiction treatment and we’re still learning more all the time. Unfortunately, many myths and misconceptions still persist. These can create all kinds of problems for people struggling with addiction and the families of those people. These myths may lead people to take unnecessary risks…
Depression is a serious mental and emotional health issue that is often considered a co-occurring disorder alongside addiction. When our depression is left untreated and unaddressed, there can be a wide range of dangerous effects. Untreated depression can increase our chances of turning to addictions, or worsen them if we’re already addicted. Depression can make…
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