With the uncertainties and impacts of COVID-19 continuing to fuel anxiety and force self-isolation, more and more Americans are turning to alcohol as a coping strategy. Alcohol sales are rapidly rising across the United States as people seek to calm their fears, with most communities deeming beer, wine and liquor sales as an essential [...]
There is a devastating amount of people in the United States with drug and alcohol addiction, roughly 20.7 million individuals (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2017. Only an estimated 19% of those people actually received treatment. This means out of the 20.7 million individuals struggling with drugs and alcohol [...]
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller that is used for medical purposes, mostly in hospitals. Because it is easy to make and extremely potent, fentanyl is also a street drug that can be used alone or be cut into other drugs like heroin. The Many Dangers of Fentanyl According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), [...]
There are many different avenues that are proven to benefit your recover, group therapy being a key component of most treatment approaches. The power of group therapy is undeniable. There are three factors that contribute to the drive of group therapy helping recovery: Validation, Perspective, and Connection. Validation Validation is an important factor in [...]
We’ve all come across times where we’re plagued with negative thoughts. Many of us in recovery may have wondered how we can stop these negative thoughts. Thought stopping is a tool used to block out unwanted or negative thoughts and redirect them to a more positive and realistic thought. You’ll find that thought stopping [...]
The health consequences of prolonged substance use are many and vary depending on the type of substance and duration of use. Further complicating the effects of long-term substance use is the high-risk situations one engages in while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. There are many prolonged health effects of substance use disorders [...]
Shorter days, colder temps, gray skies – this time of year is tough for the best of us. And, if you’re one of the more than 10 million Americans with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it’s even harder to manage. SAD is much more than the “winter blues” or “winter blahs” – it’s a mood [...]
As a parent, you always have your child’s best interests in mind, whether they are just learning how to walk, renting their first apartment, or raising their own children. Finding out that your child is struggling with addiction is heartbreaking regardless of their age, but confronting an adult son or daughter about their substance [...]
Addiction is a personal human struggle as old as time itself. Most recently, addiction has resurfaced at crisis levels. Clinically, addiction is a condition that begins when a person takes a chemical substance (or engages in a behavior), which begins as self-indulgent gratification, but quickly evolves to an uncontrolled compulsion that interrupts your life. [...]
For those who are unfamiliar, Dry January is a public health campaign that urges participants to abstain from alcohol for the entire month of January. The origins of Dry January stem back to as early as 1942 in Finland but has recently gained traction and attention in the United States and in the United [...]
