Our daily lives and the habits we develop can play a role in our addictions because mentally, emotionally and physically we set ourselves up to develop certain patterns that can contribute to how we function. Our habits might seem irrelevant to the deeper illness of addiction, but there is actually a strong relationship between the […]
Category: QA
How Can Reintegration Lead to Relapse?
When we finish a treatment program and are returning to our regular lives, there are some common factors in the reintegration process that can be particularly triggering which can contribute to our relapsing. We are often hopeful that we can continue our sobriety once we’ve re-entered our former lives, our homes, families, environments and lifestyles, […]
How Can We Educate Our Children on Addiction and Mental Health?
One of the most important things we can teach our children early on is that we have much more control over our thoughts and emotions, and therefore our lives, than we often tend to think. When it comes to addiction and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, we often think they are these […]
How Can We Prevent Addiction in Children?
Children are experimenting with, and becoming addicted to, drugs and alcohol at astounding rates, and while it can feel like a problem with no solution, there are some things we can do to help prevent our children from developing an addiction. Children are being fed messages left and right touting partying, drinking and drugs as […]
How Can I Transform My Self-Image?
Working to heal from our addictions entails repairing our damaged relationship to self and transforming the self-image we’ve created out of self-hate and self-rejection. We see ourselves as bad people, as ugly, worthless and shameful. We feel inadequate and inferior to other people. We don’t see ourselves for who we truly are. We don’t focus […]
How Can I Heal My Relationship with Myself?
Healing from addiction means addressing the root causes of our emotional issues, and for so many of us, our lack of self-love and self-destructiveness are major driving forces. We might be self-destructive because we blame ourselves for the traumatic experiences we’ve had. We might be holding onto shame and self-blame for issues our families went […]
How Do We Self-Destruct?
When we are lacking in self-love, we self-destruct and self-harm in countless different ways. We struggle with addiction and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and these can cause us to have such an unhealthy relationship with ourselves and our emotions that instead of being self-protective, we become self-hating and fall into cycles […]
How Can I Talk to My Children About Addiction?
Talking to our children about addiction can be difficult. We might find it awkward or uncomfortable, or worse we might worry we’re putting ideas in our kids’ heads about doing drugs. The unfortunate truth, though, is that children are being exposed to drugs and alcohol at very early ages, from their friends, from marketing, from […]
What Are Warning Signs of Suicidal Tendencies?
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Knowing a loved one is suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts is one of the hardest things we can experience. While many people keep their thoughts of suicide to themselves and don’t share them with anyone, there […]
How Can Mindfulness Help Us Prevent Relapse?
When we are struggling with addiction, we very often have not yet learned the important practice of mindfulness. Our addictive behaviors hinge on our lack of mindfulness. Rather than mindfully dealing with our thoughts and emotions, we bury them under distractions of all kinds. Our drugs and addictive behaviors turn our focus away from our […]