The hardest part of any addiction recovery effort is often not the treatment itself. Rather, it is the mindset of the individual receiving the treatment. Because addiction is essentially a hijacking of the mind, individuals will often face their biggest battles in recovery when their will comes to a crossroads with the disease and what…
The short answer, of course, is no. Unfortunately, however, if you let it, your body will tell you otherwise. When consuming substances, the brain begins to depend on these substances for stimulation and the euphoric feeling we know as a “high.” Over time, the natural hormones and endorphins that your brain used to create begin…
Even after successfully completing therapy at an addiction recovery center, the journey to sobriety is still far from over. In fact, many individuals who have been sober for years indicate that they are still on the path to recovery, and that the journey never truly ends at all. One of the most advisable things to…
For many, the hardest thing about addiction recovery is the treatment process itself. No doubt, there are thousands of horror stories about the pains of withdrawal, the seemingly endless days and nights of stress and anxiety, and how hard it is to fight the urge to use again after recovery. For every one horror story,…
Substance addiction is a disease that forces your brain to seek pleasure from something that does your body an incredible amount of harm and has absolutely no upside, save the fleeting feeling of euphoria that soon becomes weaker and weaker as your body begins to crave more and more of said substance. Those that abuse…
The short answer is a resounding yes. Research indicates that the detoxification process can be one of the most difficult and testing periods of an individual’s life. In this process, an individual effectively forces themselves to enter into a stage of intense withdrawal and allow their bodies to purge themselves of a substance that has…
It’s easy to get overwhelmed in early sobriety. We’ve entered into a new way of life and turned our backs on using drugs and alcohol as tools to cope with the stressors or daily life. Stress may have greater effects on our health than previously known, and in early recovery, when we are in a…
If you just want to be happy in recovery, it may be closer than you think. Joyful living is not just for people who are living a happy, carefree life without worry. It is how a person turns around a miserable circumstance into something beautiful. Recovery teaches you that sobriety is possible and joy is…
The dangers of relapse are apparent to nearly everyone in the recovery community. We have gone through the pain of detox, taken steps forward in our lives and recovery, and experienced the joys of sobriety. To lose our newfound sobriety and enter back into the state of desperation and chaos of addiction is a fear…
There is a definite connection between addictions and a part of the brain that is impacted by addiction called the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC). This part of the brain integrates conflict and pain with thoughts and behaviors. Learn more about why the ACC can create some challenges for people with addiction. Brain-Body Connection The ACC…