Our addictions and our relationship fears are often linked and can fuel and exacerbate each other. When we’re in unhealthy relationships and experiencing excessive fear within those relationships, we’re more likely to turn to our addictions for comfort and solace, and we’re more likely to experience spikes in our mental illnesses. Similarly, when our addictionsRead More
Many of us struggling with addiction, along with experts and professionals, believe that addiction is a lifelong illness with no cure, and that once we’ve developed an addiction to a substance or behavior, we will always be addicted to it. Our addiction can be in remission when we’re in recovery, but we would still technicallyRead More
One of the reasons why our addictions and mental illnesses affect us so powerfully is that everything we go through, every issue, challenge, difficulty and crisis, affects us not only mentally and emotionally but also energetically. Our energy is comprised of everything we do, think and feel. It is our fears, our pain, our sensitivitiesRead More
Our addictions and mental health issues contribute to the formation of some very unhealthy and toxic habits, habits that we perpetuate over the course of our lives and that become part of our everyday routines and our lifestyles. The more we repeat our habits, the more ingrained they become, until we’re often not even awareRead More
When we experience relationships that are codependent in nature and that function like addictions, there are often some very difficult underlying issues going on that we haven’t fully healed from. We have subconscious fears and limiting beliefs that affect our ability to be alone, to be independent, and to feel we’re enough on our own.Read More
Sometimes when we think of our sobriety, we associate it with all of the difficulties, all of the stress, all of the challenges and obstacles to overcome. We think of the withdrawal symptoms, both emotional and physical. We think of having to give up our relationship with our drug of choice, one that was fullRead More
When we are under stress of any kind, our nervous system is under duress and our ability to handle all of life’s challenges therefore becomes impaired. Our depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses, along with our addictions, wreak havoc on all of our systems, affecting us not only mentally and emotionally but also physically andRead More
Many of us who struggle with addiction and mental illness are also coping with conflict of some kind, whether it arises in our everyday lives because of problems in our relationships, or because there are issues we’ve been avoiding facing for years because the conflict is too overwhelming. We experience conflict not only in ourRead More
Sometimes as we’re undertaking our journeys of recovery, we’re filled with so much excitement and optimism that we plow full steam ahead, diving head first into our sobriety without having a recovery program in place. We have faith in ourselves, and we’re pursuing our goal of sobriety with abandon. This can sometimes cause us toRead More
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Many of us have been conditioned to suppress our concerns about our mental health, to be brave and stoic in the face of our pain, and to be private about anything difficult we’re going through. We stifle ourRead More