It’s heartbreaking when someone you love relapses into drug or alcohol use and all the hope and joy you felt upon believing they had conquered their addiction evaporates. The mental torture then begins: “I should have seen this coming,” “I feel so stupid” and “How could they choose this over me?” It’s a painful time…
Sexual addiction is still a difficult concept for many people to grasp. The fact that much of the behavior typical of people with sexual addiction is socially taboo makes it easy for others to suspect that the disorder is really a convenient excuse for people who want to redirect the blame when they have been…
Kristin Waite-Labott, a recovering drug-addicted nurse, vividly remembers the first time she took the opioid painkiller fentanyl. “There’s getting high and there’s getting lost, and I just feel like I got lost once I took that.” She was a talented and respected ER nurse at the time, as well as a loving mother, a trusted…
A new twist on cognitive behavioral therapy is gaining traction in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. It uses techniques from psychodrama, an experiential role play therapy, layered over the research-based favorite, cognitive behavioral therapy. Although this combination is not officially recognized as a distinct form of therapy, it’s being used by some leading-edge…
Imagine this scenario: You are invited by a friend to spend a week in Jamaica at an all-inclusive resort. All you need to do is pay the airfare. Your immediate response is, “Of course, I will go. Thank you very much.” Your secondary and quite visceral reaction is, “That means I might have to take…
Here’s a simple social anxiety test: When you hear a group of people laugh, do you wonder what they found so funny, or are you sure they’re laughing at you? That feeling of being judged and found lacking, of being doomed to embarrass yourself whenever you are around others, are hallmarks of social anxiety disorder,…
Just how addictive are opiates such as prescription painkillers and heroin? Consider Melissa’s story. After regaining consciousness in the hospital after a heroin overdose, the young mother unhooked her IV from its pole, walked out and went straight to her dealer, still in her hospital gown. “And he sold me heroin, the same heroin that…
A few months after the birth of her daughter, actress Hayden Panettiere made headlines when she opened up about her struggles with postpartum depression and checked herself into a treatment facility.
Most people are in a state of malnutrition and physical deterioration when they enter addiction rehab. Proper nutrition helps these issues and supports mental health. Common medical conditions in addicts vary by what substance they’ve abused and include hypertension, cardiovascular disease, malnourishment, gastrointestinal issues, mental health disorders, kidney and liver damage, and obesity or emaciation.…
Love addiction is a complicated psychological condition that comes in many forms. If you think you may be a love addict, understanding love addiction and all its types is an important way to move forward. Knowledge is power, and when you realize that you are making choices that are leading you away from a healthy…
