Addiction

Maintaining a healthy family dynamic where everyone works together, takes on responsibilities, and accomplishes life goals is challenging. If you live with someone struggling with addiction, it can add many difficulties to the relationship’s dynamic. Over time, addiction creates barriers between you and your loved one where you begin to harbor feelings of disappointment, resentment,…

Many people use the terms compulsion and addiction interchangeably to describe either their or another person’s behavior, however, they are not the same thing. The interchangeable use of these terms also causes confusion with those seeking treatment for specific conditions. Both compulsion and addictive tendencies can have a significant impact on your mental and physical…

After years of substance use and addiction, you might feel emotionally numb. Whether this happens consciously or unconsciously, addiction tends to cause people to turn off their emotions. Sometimes this response occurs due to past trauma, anxiety, fear, stress, or other responsibilities. When you use substances to cope and suppress feelings, you might think that…

Addiction is an issue that has been around for decades. But since the arrival of COVID-19, substance abuse rates have soared in the U.S., with 13 percent of Americans reporting an increase in drug or alcohol use. This surge has been linked to the stress, fear and uncertainty of the pandemic and shows no signs…

After years of using substances, your emotions can become numbed and imbalanced. Consistent substance use also involves avoiding emotions. Alcohol and drugs used to cope with feelings of sadness, anxiety, anger, and depression further perpetuate your emotional numbness. Recovery, however, is all about reconnecting with your emotions and finding balance. As such, you will have…

The stigmas surrounding mental health disorders are damaging and can often hinder one’s motivation to seek help. However, these stigmas often stem from a lack of understanding about various mental health issues, including the language sometimes used when talking about these issues. Stigmatizing language can be deliberately harmful or more subtle, in which people using…

Long-term substance use creates changes in the body and alters the brain, meaning that it also affects a person’s mental health. Since the brain is responsible for all voluntary and involuntary actions, substance use can change how people think, act, and feel. If you have a loved one currently using substances and dealing with behavioral…

Mindfulness is a practice that allows you to look inward and open up to vulnerability. Practicing mindfulness allows the opportunity for better self-awareness and growth in confidence. The best part is, anybody can achieve the benefits. However, the narrative of most stereotypes that men are “not good” at showing emotions or “too strong-willed” negatively influences…

Many stigmas, taboos, and negative beliefs surround substance use and mental health disorders. Such views not only misrepresent and harm those affected by substance use and mental health disorders. They also create fear and isolation and even prevent many from seeking the help they need. The legal ramifications further support these beliefs for those in…