Drug abuse and addiction are complicated. Studies have shown how the brain is impacted, which also impacts emotional responses and plays a role in the emotional ‘reward’ scenario. Things are always more complicated than they seem. Brain-imaging studies show that disruptions in the brain’s frontal cortex can impact cognitive activities, decision-making abilities, planning, and memory.Read More
For better or worse, human beings are social creatures who love to talk to each other, share thoughts and feelings, and want to feel loved and cared for. They form friendships and relationships, but sometimes peer pressure is part of the journey. It can derail recovery to feel people putting pressure on you to performRead More
Life is a roller coaster of emotions. One minute it feels like flying high, everything is going up. The next minute, life takes a turn and things plummet dramatically. These mood fluctuations come and go. When your mood starts to impact daily activities, you end up suffering from a mood disorder. These uncontrollable shifts inRead More
Every day people wake up, get dressed, brush their teeth, go to work, and start their day the same way. In other parts of the world, it may look different. They may not have the same access to clean water, a house, or even food. When thinking about the blessing of recovery, it is easyRead More
When a person feels overwhelmed, they often experience emotions that include anxiety, fear, and other things that can threaten their recovery. These emotional triggers can bring down recovery because it is easy to get lost in emotion and not be able to navigate away from them without looping them over and over again. Find someRead More
Trauma brings so much to mind for so many people because lots of individuals suffer little and big trauma throughout their lives. Whether it is wartime trauma, losing a loved one, a child, or suffering from abuse and neglect, it seems life is full of traumatic experiences. Unresolved trauma, big or small, can lead toRead More
Facing withdrawal symptoms can make anyone afraid of what may be coming their way. It is scary, even if a person has been down that road before. Every situation is new and unique. There are some signs to consider when it is time to detox. Here are some things to think about. How Detox WorksRead More
Being sober and in recovery is not all it is cracked up to be for most people. It takes a long time to adhere to this ‘new normal’ and begin to shift life into a different gear. When people are new to sobriety, they have lots of challenges facing them. It requires a leap ofRead More
When it comes to the day where a loved one is recovering from addiction, it feels like a massive, positive outcome. It can feel like someone has finally met with themselves and had a moment of clarity around where they want to go from there. Coming to a place of reckoning is not just forRead More
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a difficult mental health condition, which is characterized by mood swings, difficulty in relationships, and actions that can harm themselves and others. Some people turn to alcohol or drugs to cope with symptoms of the mental health condition, while others struggle with addiction to substances as a result of usingRead More