Posts Tagged ‘Addiction Recovery’
PTSD and Addiction Recovery: A Process of Healing
“Every day I wake up to a different version of me. Will I be happy or sad, will I feel safe or scared? The things I feel because of my post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) aren’t invisible to others. I like to think of myself as a warrior in my own right, because I face invisible…
Read MoreSelf-Care Is Critical, No Matter How Long You’ve Been in Recovery
Self-care is all about nurturing a loving, kind, respectful relationship with ourselves, and it’s takes work – just as other meaningful relationships in our lives do. As an ongoing, lifelong process, we have to remind ourselves to continue building upon that relationship – but if we get too comfortable in our recovery, we may find…
Read MoreMoving Past Shame in Addiction Recovery: Choosing to Move Forward
Shame is defined as, “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.” Shame is a powerful emotion that can cause people to feel worthless, defective, and damaged beyond repair – and for those in addiction recovery, shame can be quite a common feeling. One fundamental area of…
Read MoreLearning From Amanda Bynes’s Struggles with Addiction and Mental Illness
Amanda Bynes had a promising career as a child star with a lot of promise. What looked like bizarre behavior on Twitter and her series of arrests were just a cry for help for her mental health disorder. Bynes showed the world how with the use of the internet, we can see how mental illness…
Read MoreWhat Happens When You Stop Drinking Alcohol?
Consuming large quantities of alcohol can have horrible effects on your body as well as your social life. You could be feeling very sluggish, sick, develop cancers such as towards your liver and colon, and you will not be the best you can be. When you stop drinking alcohol, you will get back everything you…
Read MoreWhat Gifts Do I Give Someone in Recovery?
It may be hard to shop for someone who is in recovery from substance abuse. If you ask them what kind of present they would want during a holiday, they may ask for money which leaves them the opportunity to buy more drugs. It is important to be mindful about what present you give to…
Read MoreCouples Rehab- Healing Together
It has been known to happen where couples are both suffering with addiction and can cause serious problems in their home in regards to their children, health, and finances. If one person in the relationship goes to rehab, there is a big chance of relapsing if your partner refuses to quit. If both people in…
Read MoreRelapse Prevention: How Can I Discover What Triggers Me Personally?
We’re all made up of different thoughts, feelings and life experiences. Just as a person entering a new relationship will need to learn more about what they can/cannot say to their new beau because of past experiences, you’ll need to learn about yourself in recovery to discover what triggers you. Not one of us are…
Read MoreWhat Strategies Are There to be More Mindful in the Present Moment?
Author Lawrence Peltz stated in his book titled, The Mindful Path to Addiction Recovery, “Rather than feeling compelled to fall into our addictive behavior whenever we feel the urge, we discover that we can create a gap between impulse and action – we take a breath, feel whatever is behind our urge, and decide whether or…
Read MoreAcceptance, Gratitude and Strength: Positive Messages Received in Recovery
When we’re in the throes of addiction, we often lose sight of what’s real. We become confused about our sense of purpose in life, sometimes with the belief that substances are all we’re meant to seek out. We may lose aspects of our lives that were once near and dear to our hearts – such…
Read MoreWhat are the Dangers of Complacency?
Complacency is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, “a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder.” We all become complacent from time to time; we stop pushing ourselves to achieve new goals at work, we become a bit too comfortable in our relationship, and we nonetheless…
Read MoreCoping With Time Change When You’re In Recovery
For people in the US, daylight saving time begins on March 10. That means we set our clocks forward and lose an hour of the day. For most people, the beginning of daylight saving is harder than the end. Most people’s circadian rhythms are slightly longer than 24 hours, so losing an hour feels like…
Read MoreWhich Habits Will Make You Happier in Addiction Recovery?
Everyone wants to be happy, but for someone recovering from addiction, happiness can mean the difference between a sustained recovery and falling back into old destructive patterns. Much of what we do in life is determined by our habits, those things we do every day without even thinking about them. Bad habits can sabotage your…
Read MoreHow Do You Overcome Fear of Change in Addiction Recovery?
Change can be scary for anyone. You don’t quite know what to expect. You may face new problems you don’t know how to deal with. Your life might get worse. Fear of change is especially scary for someone considering getting treatment for addiction. Addiction is often characterized by set patterns and rigid behavior. People with…
Read MoreCreating Healthy Habits in Recovery
A successful, lasting recovery depends on our willingness to shed our unhealthy habits and replace them with new, empowering ones. Living with addiction, we’ve developed all kinds of habits that fed our insecurities and self-hate, that perpetuated our cycles of self-destructiveness and self-sabotage, that exacerbated our addictions and kept us living in pain and fear.…
Read MoreBenefits of Pets During Addiction Recovery
Loneliness is one major challenge people often face early in recovery. It’s usually a good idea to distance yourself from old friends who drink or use drugs since they can be a major trigger of cravings. However, you may not yet have any friends to replace them. People typically find loneliness stressful and depressing. Chronic…
Read More8 Tips for Living with Someone in Addiction Recovery
Finishing inpatient treatment for addiction is a great beginning to recovery. It creates a solid foundation to build on. If you have a loved one who struggles with addiction, you will play a role in building on that foundation if you want your loved one to succeed. Recovery is challenging for both the person in…
Read MoreWhy Goals Are Better Than New Year’s Resolutions
Around this time of the year, it’s common to hear people talking about New Year’s resolutions. Weight loss, fitness goals, smoking cessation, travel plans and more fill the air as friends and family share with one another what they hope to complete within the next 12 months. For years, New Year’s as served as a…
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