When we take medications, they often work by directly affecting how our brain chemistry operates. In the case of pain relief, medications block receptors in the brain so that individuals experience less discomfort as they heal from surgery or medical treatment. However, using medications has to be closely monitored so that the body doesn’t develop…
When someone close to you develops a substance use disorder, an addiction to drugs or alcohol, it can be a challenge to help them. One of the difficulties may be enabling your friend, family member, or loved one as you attempt to normalize, downplay, or ignore what they are going through. Learning how to avoid…
Learning about addiction is a wise choice if you or a loved one struggles with it. Also, you can prevent addiction by sharing your knowledge with others before they fall into substance abuse. However, you must ensure that the information you attain is correct. The places you get your addiction education matter. Find out how…
One of the most powerful tools you have when it comes to overcoming drug and alcohol addiction is talk therapy. This is an opportunity for you to work with a counselor one-on-one to work through what’s happening and leading you to use. One of the tools available to you is cognitive-behavioral therapy. It is a…
Many individuals who struggle with substance use disorder or addiction, whether drugs or alcohol, come into the world of sobriety without an army of best friends or devoted supporters trailing behind them for moral support. It’s not uncommon for those dealing with addiction to have caused serious damage to their personal and professional lives, leading…
Achieving long-term sobriety isn’t something that happens. It requires a commitment to the treatment programs one enters. As a chronic disease, addiction demands individuals constantly be aware of how to manage their lives and health. Fortunately, addiction is highly treatable. After an individual goes through medically supervised detox and completes an addiction treatment program, there…
A new private facility in Altoona, FL, just an hour outside Orlando, Harmony Hills Addiction Treatment Ranch is now open. Harmony Hills comes in the midst of the national health crisis and the most aggressive scrutiny and strictest regulation of substance abuse rehabilitation providers in Florida history. Modeled on the delivery system of its founding…
Research has shown that not only is addiction linked to genetics, but it is also proven to be a “family disease.” In other words, each person in the family has a cause and effect on the addict during addiction and recovery. This is why family support in sobriety is crucial if both parties plan to…
Many people assume meditation is performed by sitting in one place and forcing their minds to go completely blank and quiet. For that reason, many people see it as something that they will never be able to or don’t even want to try. However, recovering addicts are often told to enlarge their prayer and meditation…
Many of us come to group therapy or sessions in 12 Step programs with a chemical waste factory inside us. Addiction causes us to spend a very long time not being very nice to our bodies – whether through lack of sleep, lack of food, lack of hygiene, and a whole lot of crap to…