A substance use disorder can have many negative effects on your life, damaging your relationships, finances, career, and health. Perhaps most disturbing is the way substance use changes your brain. Your neurotransmitter levels change to adjust to the presence of the substance and brain imaging studies suggest the structure of your brain actually changes with… Continue Reading 7 Ways Addiction Can Change Your Personality
Substance use disorders are complex and unpredictable. If two people have similar risk factors for addiction, one may have a serious problem while the other doesn’t and the reason for the difference may not be apparent. While there probably isn’t anyone with zero risk for developing a substance use disorder, there are certain people with… Continue Reading Are You Ever Safe from Developing a Substance Use Disorder?
Recovery Ways is excited to announce we are going in-network with Tricare. This means that our intensive outpatient program, or IOP, as well as our partial hospitalization program, or PHP, will be covered as in-network for patients with Tricare. Tricare is a program that covers the civilian healthcare component of the US Department of Defense… Continue Reading Recovery Ways Will Soon Be in the Tricare Network
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of staying positive in addiction recovery. A positive, optimistic attitude promotes happiness and persistence, while a negative, pessimistic attitude promotes depression and resignation. There will always be challenges in recovery and a positive attitude will help you stick with it even when you feel like you’re struggling. Pessimism and… Continue Reading 4 Tips for Staying Positive in Addiction Recovery
One of the most common fears people have when they’re considering getting help for addiction is that sobriety will be boring. They worry they will never have fun again. Drinking and drug use has been their focus for so long that it’s hard to imagine anything else could be as fun and satisfying. What’s more,… Continue Reading What if Recovery is Boring?
Depression and addiction often go together. While about 10 percent of the general population will develop a substance use disorder, in people diagnosed with depression that number is around 30 percent. The connection between substance use and depression is complicated. Depression can lead to addiction as a form of self-medicating and addiction can also lead… Continue Reading Addiction and Depression May Share Brain Circuitry
Every year, millions of people attend Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, including visitors from all over the US and all over the world. It’s a unique cultural event that features prominently on many bucket lists, but it’s also an event primarily known as a giant party. Drinking is a major part of Mardi Gras,… Continue Reading Is It Possible to Have a Sober Mardi Gras?
Depression affects about 16 million Americans every year and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. While many people with depression can be treated effectively with medication and psychotherapy, as many as 30 percent of people don’t respond well to conventional treatment. A new study shows promise for treating severe depression with deep brain electrical… Continue Reading Deep Brain Stimulation May Relieve Depression Symptoms
Depression affects more than 16 million American adults every year and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Symptoms include sadness, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, disturbed sleep, physical aches, slow movements, poor concentration, fatigue, and thoughts of suicide or death. Depression is inherently unpleasant and pretty much everyone with depression… Continue Reading 6 Beliefs that Keep You From Seeking Help for Depression
Alcohol is almost the default way to unwind after a hard day of work. Happy hours encourage us to shed the stress of the day by having a few reasonably priced drinks with our coworkers. A few drinks can help you relax and turn down the volume on your worrying. However, alcohol is not a… Continue Reading Why is Alcohol a Bad Way to Relieve Stress?