Getting Visitors In Treatment
If your friends drink alcohol or use drugs, it is not a good idea to have them visit you in rehab. The reason you are in treatment is to learn how to stay sober, avoid triggers, and completely change your drinking and drug-using lifestyle. Going through detox and treatment is hard and you will face challenges with relapse for the [...]
Is it Cool to be Sober?
Many people associate socializing with drinking alcohol and people drink on practically any occasion. A person may intend to have just one or two drinks, but soon discover him or herself in a situation they cannot control. Consuming alcohol can cause poor judgment, bad behavior, and even lead to death. Drugs also affect all aspects of a person's life. The [...]
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
A person's negative attitude contributes to problems with depression, anxiety, and addiction. For someone with an addiction to drugs and alcohol, negative thinking disrupts all attempts for treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps professionals and the person living with the addiction, to implement strategies for improving treatment response. Cognitive behavioral therapy uses incentives [...]
Why are Painkillers Addictive?
Prescription painkillers are strong medications that, while they relieve pain and discomfort, often carry the risk for harmful effects or even addiction. When used properly, they’re a tool to help overcome serious injury, but it’s a slippery slope when it comes to how much is too much, and even though it’s been prescribed by a doctor, pain medication can be [...]
Causes of Relapse
A person in recovery learns a new way of living without drugs or alcohol. He or she must replace old habits with new, substance-free ones. Recovery is very is difficult and takes time, patience, and determination. Drugs and alcohol alter a person's brain and take control of normal brain activity. The cravings for the euphoric effects of drugs and alcohol [...]
What Causes Loss of Self Control in Substance Abuse?
Addiction is the repeated involvement with an activity or substance despite negative consequences directly related to the substance use or activity. People who suffer from addiction often dream of a sober life. Family and friends beg them to just simply stop using, but they’re unable or unwilling to do it. Many people who battle addiction have a genuine desire to [...]
10 Reasons to go to Sober Living
Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is a life-long process with many challenges and obstacles to overcome. When a person is addicted to drugs and alcohol, personal relationships with family and friends become compromised. Addiction can result in job loss, cause financial problems, physical and mental health issues, overdose, and early death. Here are 10 reasons to go to sober [...]
Does Substance Abuse in Adolescence Damage the Brain?
Drugs and alcohol have devastating effects on the human body. These substances are very damaging to the brain, which controls everything we do, feel, and say. The brain is a complex organ that controls how the way you feel, move and talk. The brain also helps you think, learn, and process information in order to make critical decisions. Substance abuse [...]
Alcohol’s Effect on the Heart
Alcohol is a depressant and affects a person's mood, emotions, and behavior. Alcohol consumption causes the brain to release dopamine, which gives a person a pleasurable feeling. Alcohol affects the brain and its ability to control the individual's behavior, thinking, motion, and speech. It also affects the heart and can have damaging and deadly consequences. A person who drinks heavily [...]
What are the Best Relapse Prevention Skills?
The temptation to relapse is difficult for someone with an addiction to fight. During recovery, you need to avoid any triggers that could influence a relapse. This includes people, places, and things that relate to your lifestyle of using drugs or alcohol. It is easy to relapse at any time. Learning relapse prevention skills can help the recovery process and [...]