Addiction is a national epidemic. It is considered a chronic, progressive condition, meaning that symptoms will worsen over time if left unaddressed. This disease affects your brain and behavior; over time, you may notice that your life has changed significantly to protect and preserve your substance use. Lying, spending large amounts of money, and drinking …
Cravings are powerful desires to use alcohol or drugs that can trick us into sabotaging our recovery journey. As our brain continues to heal from substance abuse, it is important to learn strategies for managing them in order to prevent relapse. Identifying triggers that cause cravings and having a plan in place to get through …
Substance Abuse triggers are emotional or physical stimuli that we all experience whether in recovery or not. They are feelings such as depression, anxiety, boredom, guilt, regret, or any other emotional feeling that motivates a particular action. They can also be physical such as seeing something on tv or social media, a holiday or event …
Experts continue to learn more about the science of addiction, recovery, and the brain. They have studied the effects of different substances on the physical body and mind and have learned that it is possible to for the brain to repair itself and heal. Addiction is a lot like other diseases, such as heart disease. …
In our series explaining the things you will learn through substance abuse recovery, the next topic we will cover is what we mean by powerlessness. It is not to be confused with weakness. Powerlessness in recovery means admitting that no amount of trying or practicing or self-control is going to change the way that drugs …
In our series explaining the things you will learn through substance abuse recovery, the first topic we will cover is what neuroplasticity is. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form new pathways and connections. It used to be thought that the brain could not repair itself once damaged, but breakthroughs in neuroscience have …
