Volunteering is a wonderful way to support your recovery from addiction. After completing an intensive program of addiction treatment you may feel invigorated and ready to take on the world. It could also be that you feel lost and unsure what to do next. Many people find themselves without purpose post-rehab. For a long time…
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As an addict in recovery you have been through a major life struggle. You lived with your addiction. You forced yourself to realize the problem you had with drugs or alcohol. And finally you accepted offers of help and made it through a rehab program to get sober and learn how to stay sober. You…
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As an addict in recovery you know that addiction is far more complicated than a failure of willpower. Drugs and alcohol cause chemical changes in your brain that encourage you to use them repeatedly. With more use come more alterations to the brain. These leave you nearly helpless in your attempts to stop using. However,…
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If you have a loved one who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, you know how challenging it is to talk to that person. When you try to confront him about his problem you may encounter any number of deflecting techniques: avoidance, anger, guilt, aggression or anything else that prevents you from having a serious…
DetailsWhen Calista’s friend recently set her up on a blind date, she prepared with the usual amount of nervousness and trepidation. Would he like her? Would she like him? If she did like him (and he liked her), how soon would be too soon to tell him about her mental illness? Calista has borderline personality…
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Being outside and enjoying nature have great restorative powers. You don’t have to take a weeks-long wilderness adventure to reap the benefits that the great outdoors offers. Simply spending time in a park or working in front of a window with a view of a green space can work wonders for your mind, lower stress…
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It seems like a simple idea, and maybe like an unnecessary thing to worry about when you have bigger issues to deal with, but exercise could be very important to your recovery from addiction. Some of the latest research into addiction treatment indicates that healthy lifestyle changes can help recovering addicts resist the urge to…
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Addicts often blame everyone but themselves. To admit having a problem and then taking responsibility for it are both very difficult to do. The truth is that attitude is very important when it comes to addiction recovery and blaming external sources for problems is counterproductive to successful sobriety. Blame never leads to real change. It…
DetailsAs the adult daughter of a mother with mental illness, it falls to me to keep doctors and sometimes even law enforcement apprised of my mother’s history and tendencies. She has been involuntarily committed into psychiatric treatment by police on at least four occasions, and has more than once been arrested as a result of…
DetailsWe all experience loneliness from time to time. Some is situational, as in we may be separated from loved ones and family members for a short period due to business, travel, school or other circumstances. Some loneliness is nearly inescapable, like the unbearable sadness and loneliness we feel after a loved one dies. While loneliness…
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