ADHD is a major risk factor for addiction. Having ADHD makes you about 50 percent more likely than the general population to develop a substance use issue, most commonly alcohol. People with ADHD often have racing thoughts that jump from one topic to another, which can be exhausting. They often try to turn down the… Continue Reading Can You Take ADHD Medication while Recovering from Addiction?
Everyone worries sometimes, but if that worry is excessive, persistent, or irrational, it can harm your health. Anxiety has been linked to a number of health problems, including digestive issues, heart disease, pain, headaches, insomnia, and frequent illnesses. Anxiety can also lead to depression and addiction. However, there are healthy ways to manage anxiety. Here… Continue Reading How to Keep Anxiety from Damaging Your Health
Recovery capital comprises everything you have working to your advantage when trying to stay sober. The more forms of recovery capital you have, and the better the quality, the easier recovery will be. On the other hand, if you have little or no recovery capital, you may have trouble staying sober even if you have… Continue Reading What is Recovery Capital?
Everyone experiences anxiety sometimes. It’s normal to feel anxious before a test or a job interview, but if you feel anxious most of the time and about relatively minor things, you may have an anxiety disorder. Signs of anxiety disorders include panic attacks, phobias, constant worry, and insomnia. Anxiety isn’t just unpleasant or inconvenient. It… Continue Reading 5 Ways Anxiety Affects Your Health
For a long time, addiction was considered a character flaw or weakness. People who became addicted, usually to alcohol or possibly opium, were thought to be weak-minded people who made poor choices. Now, largely as a result of the efforts of Alcoholics Anonymous, most people believe that addiction is a kind of disease. Some percentage… Continue Reading Is Addiction a Matter of Nature of Nurture?
We’ve come a long way in understanding addiction, but unfortunately our language doesn’t always keep up. We now know that addiction has a large genetic component and that your risk of addiction has a lot to do with social factors, trauma, and mental health. Despite this, much of our language about addiction remains accusative and… Continue Reading Why Language Matters When Discussing Addiction
No one wants to see a loved one suffer. We always want to help the people we care about and protect them as much as we can, but if that person is struggling with addiction, our help may be doing more harm than good. It’s never easy to tell the difference between helping someone through… Continue Reading What’s the Difference Between Helping and Enabling?
One problem people often face in the first year of recovery is feeling disillusioned because sobriety is not the panacea they expected it to be. They may be doing very well, but perhaps they expected more. They feel deceived, disappointed, or cynical. They might start to wonder if they’re doing something wrong, or if sobriety… Continue Reading Why Expecting Too Much Too Soon Endangers Your Recovery
Eight states have now made recreational marijuana legal, and many other states are moving in that direction by making medical marijuana more easily accessible. Advocates of marijuana legalization consider this a positive thing because it leads to more personal freedom, hurts the profits of drug cartels, allows police to spend their time on better things… Continue Reading Has Marijuana Legalization Led to More Addiction?
Lack of motivation can be a major impediment to getting sober. Only about 10 percent of Americans with substance use issues seek and receive treatment. The vast majority of those who don’t seek treatment are just not ready to quit. They might not believe they have a problem, they might fear change, they might fear… Continue Reading How Motivational Interviewing Can Help You Overcome Addiction