What Behaviors After Treatment Should Cause Concern?
If someone you know or love has received treatment for substance use, they have taken crucial steps toward recovery. However, even after seeking and receiving treatment, there is still the potential for relapse. For someone trying to overcome a substance use disorder, it’s important to know that relapse is not a sign of failure. The recovery process takes time and patience, and relapsing is actually more common than you might realize. However, if a relapse is severe, it can have serious (and potentially fatal) health consequences. If someone in your life has received treatment, it’s important to know signs of [...]
4 Things to Remember When Searching for a Therapist
If you are suffering from mental illness, searching for a therapist is an important step towards recovery and having a better life. However, finding a therapist can be a difficult and deeply personal task. You are trying to find a person with the right skills, training and personality to help you find mental health and wellness. This is not a process that should be rushed or done carelessly. While you might desire to see a resolve in your mental health now, it is important to remember that healing takes time, and the work you put in at the start – such [...]
What to Expect When Detoxing from Opioids
Choosing to undergo detox from opioids is a huge step in the journey of recovery. Not only does it take a great amount of mental stamina and determination, it takes courage. The detoxing process is a grueling one on the body. Because of the way opioids hijack the reward system in the brain, suddenly depriving the brain of those chemicals causes the body to undergo a form of shock. And while it's completely possible for the brain and body to recover, it is this recovery process that takes time and patience to undergo. Detoxing from opioids When detoxing from opioids, [...]
5 Things To Know About Psychological Testing
When you hear the word “testing,” what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s pencils, papers and lists of questions designed to measure how much you know about a subject. Beyond students and school, you might think of medical tests involving needles, imaging, and waiting for results. But what is “psychological testing,” and what does it mean if it’s been recommended for you? While it might seem scary or mysterious, testing is a typical part of a comprehensive psychological evaluation and is nothing to fear. Here are five things to know about psychological testing and its benefits: 1. The Goal Is Understanding [...]
What Can I Do to Support My Spouse in Addiction Treatment?
A drug or alcohol addiction can put immense strain on a relationship. If your spouse or significant other has recently started a treatment program, they have taken an important step towards recovery, but you may be wondering when the difficulties are going to end. While recovery and treatment are still challenging times for both of you, there are steps you can take to support your loved one in recovery that will help minimize the strain and provide a hopeful outlook during this time. What can I do to support my spouse in addiction recovery? Support is more than making [...]
The Dangers of Untreated Mental Illness
Millions of Americans suffer from mental illness every year. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that 43.8 million adults in the United States experience mental illness annually. Around 10 million people suffer from a mental illness that severely interferes with major life activities. Sadly, more than half of these mental illnesses go untreated, leaving adults and children unnecessarily suffering from symptoms. The reasons why people don’t seek treatment are vast. The stigma and shame around receiving treatment can keep people from getting help. Poverty or embarrassment can also keep someone from asking for assistance. It may be difficult [...]
Recovering From Substance Abuse and Recovering Your Identity as a Parent
Substance abuse is known to break apart families because of the emotional distress and lack of dependability that an addiction brings into the household. Taking steps towards recovery can help you heal as both an individual and as a parent. Allow the process of recovery to help you regain your life and relationships with the people who matter most. Substance Abuse Puts Children at Risk The children of drug and alcohol addicts face challenges even though they may not be actively engaged in substance abuse themselves. The shift of a parent’s attention from children to a substance such as alcohol [...]
Starting the Conversation About Rehab for Addiction
Many often subscribe to the idea that there are certain things you just don’t talk about. A friend’s personal problems might be one of them. Like most, you might assume that if your friend wants help, he or she will ask for it. Unfortunately – statistically – conversations where that friend actually reaches out for help are unlikely to happen. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports as many as 95 percent of those who need specialty treatment for addiction don’t believe they need it. What this means is if you believe a friend is struggling with an [...]
6 Ways To Avoid Relapse Post-Detox
When you are fighting addiction, seeking recovery is one of the bravest, possibly most life-changing decisions you can make. Not only are you rejecting an unhealthy lifestyle, you are opening yourself up to help and healing in a beautiful way. But anyone who has struggled through recovery before will tell you the same thing – it is not easy. Once you have successfully gone through detox, the process of rewiring your brain and habits begins. In order to avoid relapse and maintain sobriety, it is important to put certain practices in place in your life once you have finished detox. [...]
What Is MAT and How Does It Work?
There are many different types of programs for individuals struggling with substance use disorders, and many different viewpoints on what treatment approaches provide the best chance of finding long term recovery from addiction. In fact, one of the biggest challenges you may face (apart from conquering the addiction itself) is deciding which program is the best fit for your needs. While the answer may be different for everyone, recent research and best practices in the treatment field point to the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) that specifically targets opioid dependency. MAT has been shown to help individuals manage withdrawal symptoms [...]
The Best Sober Activities to Maintain Recovery
Once you choose to maintain sobriety, it becomes important to seek out activities that don't involve alcohol. Especially in the early stages of recovery, it is important to avoid certain people, places and events in order to prevent relapse and keep triggers at bay. Depending on your lifestyle, sober activities may not be things you are very familiar with, or you may struggle to find creative ways of planning a good time without the consumption of alcohol. That's okay! Don't be hard on yourself if you find yourself stuck in this rut – transitioning to a whole new lifestyle [...]
Will Group Therapy Benefit You?
When you enter into addiction treatment or seek any mental health care, you will encounter a variety of treatment options. You are likely already familiar with individual therapy, where you meet with a therapist one-on-one and reap the benefits of talking with someone about the struggles and complicated emotions you may be experiencing. In addition to individual therapy, group therapy is often used in treatment as a means of allowing individuals to connect with others in therapy while at the same time allowing everyone the chance to experience the benefits of talk therapy. The benefits of group therapy Some treatment [...]