Addiction occurs when you no longer have the ability to stop consuming a substance or participating in behaviors that lead to substance abuse. The medical field now widely accepts addiction as a disease and a disorder. Furthermore, therapists and counselors identify risk factors for addiction. While many of the risk factors for addiction center around…
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Addiction doesn’t just impact the person struggling with a substance abuse disorder. Addiction is also a family disease because it negatively impacts those you love most. The negative impact on your loved ones is especially profound if you’re married or have children. Since addiction requires treatment, family therapy plays an important role in your recovery,…
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Each year, more than 140 million Americans ages 12 and old consume alcohol, making alcohol one of the most widely used psychoactive substances in the country. Even though alcohol is legal and widely available and highly accessible, it can lead to alcoholism. Excessive drinking can also lead to legal problems, like DUI charges. Since alcohol…
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When you are actively recovering, it may seem impossible to find a way to celebrate a sober New Year’s. Holidays can be especially dangerous and difficult if you are in recovery. Fatal overdoses and alcohol-related fatalities extremely common during New Year’s. Thus, New Year’s poses a threat to your sobriety. Holidays can also create a…
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Since addiction causes a lifetime of symptoms, recovery requires finding ways to manage your life without relying on drugs and alcohol. During addiction, life revolves around substances. Most of your socializing centers around alcohol and drug use. That can mean that finding fun sober activities during recovery can be challenging. Addiction is such a powerful…
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When you battle addiction, drugs and alcohol become your primary coping mechanism. Masking painful and uncomfortable thoughts and feelings with psychoactive substances means that an important part of recovery is learning healthy stress management techniques. Stress is an unfortunate part of life. While some types of stress are beneficial and can help motivate you to…
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Signs of anxiety can start at any age, meaning that even if you don’t have symptoms when you’re an adolescent or young adult, you can still develop an anxiety disorder. Anxiety-related disorders are the most common mental health conditions in the United States. Each year, more than 18% of Americans struggle with anxiety. While anxiety-related…
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14.5 million Americans ages 12 or older meet the criteria for an alcohol abuse disorder each year, which equates to more than 5% of the American population. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse can also lead to a slew of medical and mental health problems. In fact, alcohol and depression often co-exist. Just because something is legal…
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Addiction can not only impact your cognition, judgment, and relationships, but it can also aggravate and cause mental health disorders. Worse still, you can develop a co-occurring condition that requires dual diagnosis treatment. But what is dual diagnosis and how common is it? Each year, more than 30 million Americans ages 12 and older use…
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According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 90 people die from an opioid overdose each day. In addition, nearly two million people abuse opioids annually. Opioid epidemic statistics make up a significant percentage of overall drug and alcohol abuse in the United States. Opioids make up a combination of illicit drugs and prescription…
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