Addiction

No matter how many times you’ve been warned that relapse is part of recovery, the sting of a loved one repeatedly relapsing hurts every time. When a loved one is in recovery and your full attention is on their recovery needs, it is easy to forget about maintaining your well-being around the recovery process. Setting up appropriate boundaries and reminding yourself that it is not your fault when someone relapses are important steps to take when a loved one is in recovery and relapses. Doing this will help maintain your mental health and well-being so you can remain strong on the sidelines for the many ups and downs that are a natural part of the recovery process.

No two people are the same, and no two addictions are the same. Knowing this to be true, why should any addiction treatment be the same for two individuals? That is why at Avalon Malibu, we tailor our treatments to the needs of each client. Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach to addiction recovery, a personalized treatment approach allows for a flexible practice that addresses the needs of the whole person on the levels of mind, body, and spirit. The benefits of individualized treatment go much further than what first meets the eye. Reasons and Benefits to Seeking Personalized Addiction Treatment

Mental illness and addiction have a close association, especially bipolar disorder. Those who have bipolar disorder cycle between manic and depressive episodes. Substance use is particularly risky for those diagnosed with bipolar disorder since drug use can trigger a manic or depressive episode. With the symptoms of this disorder exacerbated by drug or alcohol abuse and vice versa, then substance abuse and bipolar disorder together make for a truly dangerous combination and fuel a vicious cycle.

Dedication. Obsession. Addiction. When you think about these three terms, you may notice that they run in the same vein with methodical, intense behavior surrounding them. Indeed, there are some key similarities between their meanings and the behaviors they elicit. Yet, understanding how they differ is necessary because one can often be mistaken for the other. One way to better understand how dedication, addiction, and compulsion differ is by distinguishing the intentions behind the efforts of someone when they are practicing these three things.

Even if just one individual is suffering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol, it can affect the whole family. While addiction can feel incredibly isolating, each family member or individual living with someone suffering from addiction will feel the effects in their own way. Recovery from addiction is a complicated process, but an individual doesn’t have to go through it alone. Working to heal as a family can help achieve prolonged sobriety and maintain the life-changing practices needed to continue through a sober future.

What makes substance abuse so rampant within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) community? Statistically speaking, LGBTQ adults are known to be nearly twice as likely to have a substance abuse disorder than heterosexuals, so it is a huge problem to the health and well-being of members within this community. By gaining a better understanding of the challenges that affect this community, it can help to explain the phenomena of mental health and substance abuse disorders within the LGBTQ community.

Take a moment to pause and ask yourself what your relationship with control looks like. Do you believe that you can control what happens to you in life? Whether you’re struggling with addiction and self-control or recovering from trauma and want to control the world around you, people have varying beliefs about how much they can influence their own lives. By first cultivating an awareness of your relationship with control, you can then start working towards a more balanced relationship with life.

Addiction looks different from one person to the next and believing that you don’t have a problem because you may not be passed out all day doesn’t mean you aren’t struggling with addiction deep down. People with functional drug addiction maintain some of the normalcy of daily life and still maintain busy careers, relationships, and activities, yet live a double life and conceal their addiction to substances. Their addiction is a big part of their life but can seem camouflaged by other aspects of their life to outside observers. Identifying the tell-tale signs of functional addiction can help bring the truth to light.

Living with alcoholism is already a battlefield. Coping with alcoholism during a global pandemic complicates sobriety. COVID-19 has forced millions into “locking down” in their homes due to job loss, providing home-schooling for children, or health issues. People are dealing with isolation from their friends and family. They find themselves with a lot of extra time on their hands. Due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, stress and anxiety rise, creating a perfect storm for leaning on unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with their scary “new normal.” For those already struggling with alcoholism, these changes can be a recipe for disaster.

Someone who has ever struggled with a drug or alcohol addiction knows that they might have said or done anything they needed to get their next fix. When you are caught up in the addiction spiral, you may not see the dysfunction behind any manipulative or abusive behavior displayed that helps to maintain your addiction. Learning to identify “gaslighting” can help put an end to this traumatic and abusive behavior.

Achieving lasting recovery becomes complicated when your ego still rules you. The ego is one major contributor to addiction for some people, leading them to believe they don’t have a problem or push others away since they don’t think they need their advice or help. If you are in recovery and still have your ego assuming an influential role in your decisions and life, know that it affects you on many levels, not just in your recovery. Likely, it is also preventing you from truly connecting with yourself, your partner, and others.

Turning off the voice inside our heads that tells us we need our next quick fix is made much more complicated by the world around us continually reinforcing that instant gratification is entirely normal. Everything is available to us at a push of a button, from the information we want at a second’s notice online to the food we can get delivered to us from almost any restaurant. Living in a world that promotes instant gratification makes it harder to exercise impulse control. However, by self-imposing delayed gratification into your lifestyle, you may become more successful in long-term recovery.