When we are ready to recover, how successful we are in our recovery all depends on how willing we are to do the work to develop healthy habits for ourselves. We want to eliminate all of the destructive habits that were limiting us and holding us back, contributing to our self-destruction and self-sabotage. We want […]
Category: Resource Center
How Do I Stop Comparing Myself to Other People?
Along with our addictions and mental health issues, we often develop emotional patterns that contribute to our unwellness. One of the most destructive and debilitating of these emotional patterns is our tendency to compare ourselves to other people. We compete with other people and feel easily threatened by them. As addicts, we compare ourselves to […]
Seasonal Affective Disorder
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, also known as Seasonal Depression, affects many of us in colder climates during the winter months. Knowing some of the causes and signs of this disorder can help educate us on this very […]
Why Do We Abuse Ourselves?
Our addictions are often accompanied by self-harm and self-abuse. They are themselves a form of self-abuse, as we do harmful and dangerous things to ourselves when we are driven by our addictions. Our dependence on addictive substances, behaviors and relationships, along with our deep unhappiness and fear, make us treat ourselves with unkindness, even cruelty. […]
Avoidance as a Coping Mechanism
Knowing when our loved ones are struggling can be incredibly difficult and can impede our ability to help them get the support they need. A major sign of emotional suffering is avoidance. When our loved ones avoid their issues, it is often a sign that something deeper is going on. A common sign that people […]
Emotional Blocks to Healing
When we’re in recovery and reintegrating back into our former lives, there are some emotional challenges we confront that can act as blocks to our healing. Part of our recovery work, along with our abstinence, is facing these blocks and doing our best to heal the parts of ourselves that are limited and restricted by […]
Why is Self-Compassion So Important for Recovery?
Many of us living with addiction have developed mental and emotional patterns of criticizing and judging ourselves, beating ourselves up, and inundating ourselves with feelings of guilt and shame. We hold onto our mistakes and regrets rather than forgiving ourselves. We are unkind to ourselves rather than being patient and understanding with ourselves during the […]
Signs that Troops and Veterans are Struggling
Troops and veterans are often accustomed to hiding their pain from the rest of the world, from their peers and loved ones, even from themselves. They’re conditioned to put on a brave face amidst the most difficult of experiences. They’re taught to pretend that everything is fine, even when they’re in pain. Their work requires […]
How Can I Stop Being So Triggered?
When we have unhealed wounds within us, we can find ourselves being easily triggered by events, by things people say and do, by memories or associations, or by anything that reminds us of our pain. Often we don’t know why we’re being triggered by something or someone. We can find ourselves being highly reactive, volatile, […]
Challenges Troops and Veterans Face
Each of us has unique challenges to face in coping with our addictions and mental health issues, and the same is true for troops and veterans. What are some of the challenges that troops and veterans must contend with when returning home and working to recover? Displacement A major challenge is how displaced troops and […]