Trauma is hard for people to talk about at any point in their lives. It makes a person feel less in control and may reduce their ability to think, feel, and act appropriately in their lives. Those exposed to traumatic experiences of any kind may feel debilitating effects. How it impacts people depends onRead More
Compassion is an important part of recovery, whether you are in recovery yourself or supporting someone who is recovering. Becoming more compassionate is a matter of practice. Here are a few ways to involve the practice of compassion in your life. Practice more empathy: Empathy and compassion go hand in hand. Whereas compassion can beRead More
Emotional thoughts and feelings can lead to acting out through behaviors that might be regrettable later. Sometimes it feels like they are unstoppable emotions that are out of control. With recovery, there is a lot of work that has to be done but emotions are part of the challenge. The giant waves of negative feelingsRead More
There is a reason we say that mental health disorders, like anxiety, live in the mind, the body, and the spirit. The body runs on the brain. Meaning, our nervous system is what connects every single cell of our body to our brain and vice versa. We don’t think about it because we don’t haveRead More
Everything has gone digital. In a modern world that keeps changing, the brain has a hard time keeping up. Everyone is required to do different things at once. This multitasking takes a toll on the brain and body over time. Addiction to technology is not only changing the brain, but it also makes peopleRead More
Sadness is a part of depression. Sadness is separate from depression. We can feel sad for extended periods of time without being depressed. If our sadness is persistent for weeks or months on end and is accompanied by other symptoms, we might be experiencing depression. Jumping to either conclusion- we are only sad, or weRead More
High functioning anxiety is not recognized as a mental health issue. It refers to people who are able to function reasonably well in different areas of life while identifying themselves as dealing with anxiety on a regular basis. With high functioning anxiety, people can become frozen in fear. Millions of adults deal with anxietyRead More
We understand a few things about depression. First, depression is a normal part of life; for example, we experience depression as part of the grieving process. Second, depression can be hereditary. That is, at least, as a mental illness. Research has provided us with the knowledge that when one parent has a mental illness, likeRead More
You’re safe is one of the most important things we have to convince ourselves of when we are in recovery from trauma. Trauma rids us of our sense of safety in many ways. Trauma upsets our sense of reality. Trauma upsets our sense of self. Trauma puts our nervous system into a state of dysfunction,Read More
The same question can be asked of someone who is addicted to harmful and deadly drugs. Why and how do we get addicted to something which is so bad for us? Why can’t we stop? Don’t we know we should stop? In the case of spending too much time interacting with our phones, there isRead More