Addiction is a complex disease that alters brain chemistry and puts a person a risk of severe mental and physical health issues. Getting help for a substance use disorder or addiction can seem overwhelming and scary. Treatment helps people transition to a healthy, substance-free life in recovery. In treatment, people also learn how to mend…
Holidays can be very stressful. Some people drink alcohol throughout the holiday season to cope with stress, loneliness, or depression. While many families get together during the holidays, many people do not have family members who live nearby or have a difficult time getting along with them. People also drink during the holidays to celebrate…
Many people suffer with a mental health condition, which can increase the risk of developing a substance use disorder or addiction. Often, one or more underlying mental health illnesses co-occur with a substance use disorder or addiction. When anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and ADHD are untreated, a person might self-medicate with drugs or alcohol…
Making the decision to get help for your addiction is one of the best decisions you will ever make. The road may not always be smooth and easy, but sticking it out and really applying yourself to the concept of addiction recovery and all it entails is the key to really turning your life around.…
Drug and alcohol abuse destroys the brain. By sending mixed signals to your brain’s neurotransmitters, drugs effectively trick your brain into craving more and more of them, as they wreak havoc on organs and bodily functions. This craving turns into full scale dependency– a term that indicates that the body has transitioned from simply enjoying…
The biggest step in your fight against addiction is making the decision to seek professional help from a recovery center. Once you have decided that help, at the present moment, is beyond your control, you will find that your attitude towards your addiction will change to one that is more action-based and goal-oriented. Acknowledging your…
Yes. Known usually as “polysubstance dependence,” addiction to more than one drug is possible, and it is unfortunately becoming more common as access to illegal substances becomes more and more open. There are typically two instances in which an addiction to more than one drug occurs. The first typically happens when an individual suffers from…
Drug use is an unfortunate epidemic that affects millions of Americans. Ranging from casual use to severe addiction, individuals from all walks of life suffer the dangerous effects of consuming toxic substances on a daily basis. There are some, however, who very much believe that their drug habit is completely under control, and that there…
As with many illnesses, it is hard to self-diagnose addiction, particularly because of the disease’s wide variety of symptoms. While addiction is always associated with physical dependence on a substance, some addicts go years without ever noticing they are dependent at all. As substance abuse becomes more and more habitual, it is quite common for…
When an individual regularly consumes toxic substances like drugs and alcohol, he or she may consume with the impression that quitting will be as easy as starting was. In fact, several surveys indicate that individuals in these situations often deem themselves perfectly capable of quitting anytime they’d like. Their strategy is typically one that includes…