Addiction

Stress is the number one trigger for relapse in both primary mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Interestingly, the brain likes stress. The brain is more prone to notice and adapt to negativity in its environment than it is positivity. Many people who learn to cope with stress in negative ways create reward pathways in their brains which change how they relate to stress. Since the brain is prone to noticing stress, someone who isn’t able to cope with it will feel it more strongly. Mental illnesses thwart the ability to cope with stress, without the right tools and treatments. Recovery, on the other hand, strengthen the brain and enforce new neural pathways which help the brain respond to stress differently. Treatment and therapy for recovery focuses heavily on stress reduction and learning to cope with stress when it arises. Recovery is not the absence of stress. Unfortunately, life continues to happen on life’s terms, which often involves the occasional high amount of stress. Fortunately, there are ways to cope with stresses, big and small, without having to turn to harmful behaviors like substance abuse, self-harm, hurting others, or causing more stress.

Anxiety is different from stress. Living with anxiety means living with a mental health condition in which you experience the burden of a persistently overwhelming sense of worrying. Stress can cause anxiety and vice versa. Meeting the symptoms of a diagnosable anxiety disorder means living with the influence of anxiety on your quality of life and ability to function without any stress. Addiction and alcoholism are commonly co-occurring with anxiety disorders. Drinking alcohol and using drugs helps to numb the brain and relieve the pressure of anxious thinking. Becoming a coping mechanism, anxiety and co-occurring addiction can become a dangerous duo. Treatment is available for both addiction and anxiety, as they are co-occurring, or as they are independent. Anxiety doesn’t mean you just have a lot of stress or worry too much. You can learn how to cope with life in a healthy and effective way. These facts come from The Independent:

Drugs and alcohol can feel like our only friends at the end of our addiction. Having isolated ourselves in some way to our addictions, drugs and alcohol were what we had left. Even if our worlds were full, our hearts we're empty. Only drugs and alcohol understood us. Yet it wasn’t a real relationship. Substances are not people and the relationship was not healthy. It is important to learn about your relationship to substances. What were the underlying reasons for using? What purpose did using serve in your life? Why do you feel it is so hard to let go of your addiction? By seeing your relationship objectively, you can begin to detach from it. Identify How You Want To Build A Relationship With Yourself: Now that you are saying goodbye to drugs and alcohol, you have to focus on a relationship with yourself. It takes time to even approach this subject. In time, you will start to think about how you want your life to be without drug and alcohol addiction in the picture. Who do you want to be? How do you want to feel? What do you want your life to look like? The more you clarify your vision of yourself in the future, the more you realize drugs and alcohol were never going to help you get there. Allow Yourself Time, This Too Shall Pass: One day, it isn’t going to hurt your heart to think of drugs and alcohol. You won’t feel the pain of loss anymore. Eventually, you will find closure on this period of your life as you transition into a new one. Don’t expect your grieving process to happen in a hurry or look any particular way. Let your experience be what it is and be present within it. Engage In Self-Care: For many people drug and alcohol abuse were the ways that they took care of themselves. To deal with a bad time, to celebrate a good time, to have a little bit of “me” time during the day, taking care of the self became synonymous with consuming drugs and alcohol. Recovery puts a lot of emphasis on self-care. Participating in self-care is important for the grieving process. You learn to take care of yourself and nurture your needs in mind, body, and spirit, in order to fully heal. Feeling a loss with drug and alcohol addiction is common. Living in a safe environment with the structure of clinical care, along with the nurturing healing of holistic treatments, can ensure a safe grieving process without relapse. Avalon Malibu proudly serves as one of southern California's leading treatment facilities providing trusted programs for change. For a confidential assessment, call 1 (888) 958-7511 today.

Recovery from mental health sounds odd to some people. Are mental health disorders things that go away in the brain or do they live on like cancers in remission? Relapse is a word commonly used for the treatment of depression, for example, but the recurrence of depression can’t be found through imaging scans. Recovery from mental health encompasses the critical life changes, therapy, and treatment which takes place mind, body, and spirit. With dedication to therapy, diet, nutrition, exercise, medication, lifestyle changes, communication, and spiritual wellness, recovery is possible. One writer who struggled with narcissism and found a way to recover from it explained her story to Salon. She writes about a significant trauma which happened in her teenage years and caused her relationship with attention and validation to become overwhelming. As a coping mechanism, she increasingly adopted the attitudes and behaviors as well as many of the characteristics of a narcissist. Rather than cope with negative experiences in life, like emotional pain, she became hardened and attached to inflation of the ego. Thankfully, she realized that she wasn’t truly living and needed to change. Realistically, she explains to her readers that doing “the work” isn’t as glamorous as it is made out to be. “I wish I could say it’s amazing to do the work to course-correct from the dangerous entanglements of narcissism. It’s not, but it is worth it.” She describes, “Disengaging and moving forward is lonely and disorienting. You’re constantly tested with new scenarios in which you continue the pattern or not. I have often felt confused, weak or forgotten because I’m no longer a pawn or a player in a high-stakes chess match.” The most challenging part, she expresses, “is the challenge of defining your healthy self and determining how to wield that newfound self-respect and freedom.” Recovering from narcissism demands a certain element of self-awareness and a desire to change. Confronting a painful and traumatic past takes hard therapeutic and emotional work. When the payoff of narcissistic tendencies is no longer beneficial, being stuck within the behaviors can become painful in itself. Having healthy relationships with others is possible. More importantly, it is possible to restore a healthy relationship with yourself. Avalon Malibu wants to see you thrive in a  harmonious balance of mind, body, and spirit. Our residential treatment facility dedicated to primary mental health treatment is located on a beautiful estate overlooking the iconic Malibu coast. For a confidential assessment and more information on our trusted programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Boundaries are a foreign concept to many people. What does it mean to set healthy boundaries in your relationships with other people? Isn’t it a bit awkward to say this is what can be and this is what can’t be, don’t cross the line? If boundaries were communicated with 100% transparency and authenticity, the world would be a funny place. We’d spend a lot of time hearing about the wealth of life experiences which brought someone to decide that this was a healthy boundary they needed to set in their lives. Boundaries can be specific to the individual and their unique needs. Some boundaries are more general and can be applied to anyone in any relationship. Setting healthy boundaries isn’t hard to do. The awkward blatant communication isn’t necessary. Instead, boundaries are usually set through actions. Ceasing to enable certain behaviors, communicating one’s needs in a compromise, and saying “no” are classic boundaries. It isn’t hard to set boundaries, but it can be uncomfortable. For that reason, it is important to practice setting boundaries. Overtime, creating and setting healthy boundaries becomes a natural part of the recovery process. Here are three important boundaries to understand and set: “No”. Saying no is automatically setting poignant and descriptive two letter boundary. When you say no, you clearly define something about you that you don’t like, aren’t willing to do, or a level you aren’t willing to go to. Shaking It Off. Letting people get to you for any kind of reason is an invasion of your own boundaries. Inside your world, there is peace and serenity. When you let a resentment, anger, guilt, shame, or any other kind of toxic attachment to another person enter and disrupt your internal sanctuary, you are violating a boundary. Your space, your thoughts, and your feelings are for you. Shaking it off and letting it go is a way you maintain healthy boundaries. What happens with or to someone else ends where you begin. The spaces have a healthy difference. Not Your Problem. Setting boundaries doesn’t mean you lose your sense of empathy or your ability to connect with others. It simply means you don’t get yourself lost in other people and vice versa. Boundaries means there is a clear distinction of who you are and who someone else is. Recovery is about setting new boundaries which separate you from old, toxic behaviors which harmed your ability to happily live your life. Avalon Malibu strives to provide trusted programs which produce total healing in mind, body, and spirit. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Is it a mental health condition or a mental illness? A mental disorder or a brain disorder? Should the way we describe mental health make a difference in how a condition, disorder, or illness is treated? More importantly, should the way we describe mental health make a difference in how a person is treated? Unfortunately, in a society full of shame, stigma, and stereotype, the labels we use make all the difference in the world. Perceptions based on terminology can greatly influence the way one is treated outside of treatment and the way treatment gets funded by the government or covered by insurance. One Psych Central contributor argues that it’s a matter of what happens to a person versus who a person is. She emphasizes that physical illnesses, diseases, and disorders are perceived as issues which happen to a person, like an action taken against them. For example, someone diagnosed with cancer is not called cancerous. Yet, someone who is diagnosed with depression is called depressed. She elaborates, “We get heart disease, but we are bipolar. We get cancer, but we are obsessive-compulsive. Heart disease and cancer are separate from us. Bipolar Disorder and OCD are us. Indeed, many people mistakenly believe that those with ‘mental illnesses’ typically have no insight or understanding as to what is going on with them.” Previous ideologies regarding the body’s ability to reproduce and heal itself didn’t go far beyond muscle and tissue. The brain is both muscle and tissue with the ability to regenerate. Addicts, alcoholics, and those with other primary or co-occurring mental health conditions change their brains. As the article points out citing research into neuroplasticity, the mind can change the brain. Numerous brain studies have revealed that changing habit, learning new things, and creating new behaviors doesn’t just change the way one thinks or acts but ultimately changes the chemistry of the brain. Neural pathways are altered entirely. “To me,” the author writes, “this is clear evidence that our brains are not who we are. They are an organ in our bodies that to some extent at least, can be trained.” It is for this reason realizing recovery is possible is paramount. Recovery from mental health “illnesses” “disorders” and “conditions” is possible because changing the brain is possible. If you are in need of recovery from a mental health condition which has disrupted your ability to control your life, help is available. Avalon Malibu proudly serves as one of California’s only certified primary mental health treatment facilities. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

What would you do if you were convinced you couldn’t feel any pain? You were so numb and anesthetized to any kind of sensation that you felt completely shut down from your ability to feel and experience. You might think you would try to cause some kind of pain to make sure you can still feel it. Perhaps you would poke your skin with a paperclip to experiment. Such is the philosophy in people who self-harm. Feeling so much that they become numb, self-harm is a way to feel their pain. Conversely, if they feel so much that they can’t bear to process their emotions, self-harm can be a way to release the pain in a tangible way. Additionally, self-harming, when it becomes an obsessive and compulsive practice, can be a distraction from the source of the pain, as well as the pain itself. Isolating Worsens, Inside And Out Self-harm usually isn’t done in a group. One isolates themselves when they participate in self-harm. Feeling alone in their pain, their struggles, and even in their self-harm, their emotional pain is worsened by the deep isolation they are feeling inside themselves. To exacerbate circumstances further, one will tend to create social isolation for themselves, extending the loneliness to outside as well. Self-Harm Is Not A Form Of Attention Seeking Self-harm is a cry for help. Someone who participates in self-harm is trying to help themselves the best they have figured out a way to do. Self-harm and suicide are often criticized as being a form of attention seeking more than a sign that someone is in need of serious treatment for their mental health. Self-Harm Faces Stigma And Shame Many people who self-harm are afraid to reach out and ask for help because they fear the same shame and stigma which faces many other mental health disorders. “Why would you” “How could you” and other questions legitimize someone’s emotional experience, shame them for copying the way that they can, and ignore the cry for help. Instead, loved ones need to understand that self-harm is a sign of deep emotional pain which is demanding to be healed. Learning to cope with challenging emotions without relying upon harmful behaviors takes time and careful treatment. At Avalon Malibu we treat each client with the utmost respect and individualized care program. For a confidential assessment and more information on our healing programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

You’re always connected to someone you love. This is as much a literal fact in the brain as it is a philosophical fact for getting through a breakup. No, you’ll never forget someone you fell in love with and developed a deep connection with. You’ll be connected for the rest of your life. That is, at least, according to the connections of your neural pathways. Relationships are habitual. They are attachments we develop and associate with pleasure, reward, and security. When we spend an exorbitant amount of intimate time with someone for years or months on end as we do in relationships, we create a lot of patterns in the brain. Those patterns are not easily forgotten, no matter how badly we wish they could be. According to Discover Magazine, “Experts say the neurological attachment that happens between young lovers is not unlike the attachment a  baby forms with its mother. Hormones like vasopressin and oxytocin are key in helping create a sense of closeness in relationships and play a starring role in both scenarios.” Having significant intimate experiences with that person makes the connection even more strong. “Such preferential encoding in the brain is one reason why stories of people reconnecting with a high school or college flame are commonplace.” Old flames can cause haywire in circuitry for those in recovery from addiction. Coupling the neuroscience of a relationship with the neuroscience of addiction creates a tenfold of ‘preferential encoding’ in the brain. Most people new to recovery who aren’t in a relationship are advised to stay out of one for at least their first year. For those who are in a relationship unhealthy and toxic to their recovery, they are encouraged to walk away. It isn’t because of the threat, the distraction, or the drama. When one partner tries to get sober and the other partner continues using, there is a constant reminder of those neural pathways which highlight the connection between partner and using drugs. Too often people in recovery relapse because of rekindling an old flame with an ex who is still using. It takes little wooing to light up the circuitry in the brain which says this person is a good idea and using drugs with them is an even better one. Recovery is about learning to live, one day at a time. Learning to have a healthy relationship with yourself will ensure your ability to have healthy relationships in the future. Avalon Malibu happily provides relationship counseling and therapy to those who are committed and wish to work on both relationships during their time of treatment. In recovery, everyone has an opportunity to heal. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Each month there is a new breakthrough in psychopharmacology for the treatment of mental health disorders. Alcoholism and addiction, substance use disorders, are constantly being tried against various medications. America loves medications, for good reasons. For many people with many different conditions, medication works. Resolving treatment to a simple pill is a convenient answer which can be mass produced and help millions of people. Most treatment professionals agree, however, that a medication is only one part of a recovery program. Therapy, diet and nutrition, as well as lifestyle changes are essential for recovering from any kind of mental health condition. Creating a balance lifestyle of mind, body, and spirit is essential for creating the meaning and changes in life which will support ongoing recovery. Eating disorder recovery finds this to be especially true. However, for eating disorders, there is rarely talk of a medication. Recent headlines have indicated brain stimulation might help with bulimia and anorexia nervosa. In recent years, there has been talk of surgeries to help with binge eating disorder, as well as the suggestion of stimulant medications like Vyvanse, used for treating ADHD, to suppress the appetite. Yet, medications and eating disorders don’t seem to be associated. Refinery29 explains that understanding of how eating disorders work in the brain is still scarce. Only recently did some researchers find that eating disorders might live in the area of the brain where habits are formed. Additionally, eating disorders are difficult to study. The article writes that “it can be difficult to tell whether the differences in brain activity that you see in ED patients versus a healthy control group are truly due to the disorder or are actually due to malnourishment.” Another complicated contributor to the ambiguity of eating disorder treatment is that many patients don’t want to give up their behaviors out of fear. When people seek treatment they have either decided they want to live a different way, have been forced into treatment by family, or recognize their mortality should their behaviors continue. Eating disorders can create an unhealthy fear of gaining weight. One of the most influential factors which drive people away from treatment is the fear of gaining weight and not being able to participate in disordered behaviors any longer. Medications can cause weight gain, which could pose an immediate red flag to patients. Therapy and treatment, with a gentle guidance to lifestyle changes and thinking processes do help with eating disorder treatments. Studies are finding that once someone goes to treatment for an eating disorder, their recovery sustains long term. Avalon Malibu offers a residential treatment program for eating disorders which includes nourishment for the soul, the body, and healing for the mind. For a confidential assessment, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

Lying is an unfortunate part of addiction and alcoholism, which perpetuates the shameful stigmatizations. Addicts and alcoholics are not pathological liars by nature, they are not compulsive liars, and they don’t lie for fun. Lying happens in addiction and alcoholism due to the way the brain makes using drugs and alcohol a matter of life or death. Going to any lengths to protect the ability for the brain to create it’s desperately needed dopamine in order to function, it can cause a little lying. Additionally, areas of the brain which help with judgment and morality are severely impaired by substance abuse. However, pathological lying can be a pre-existing character trait which could stir reckless behaviors like substance abuse. One of the primary ways someone who pathologically lies manipulates the truth to control people is through triangulation. Psych Central defines triangulation as “any behavior that misleads, confuses, or damages the relationship between the communicator and more than one other person. In other words, triangulation is a tactic someone may use to control, manipulate, misinform, or deceive. The interaction typically includes two or more people.” Common tactics include: Responsive Listening: Actively listening is a healthy way to make sure you understand someone. In comparison, responsive listening is a way to make sure someone can control a conversation. They only pay attention to information they can use to control, make a point, or assert their authority. If you find yourself saying “Did they even listen to me?” The answer is probably not. Manipulating Emotions: Playing with, creating, and making use of someone’s emotions is a common tactic for lying. Having a keen understanding of how people act when they are in certain emotional states is how a pathological liar can enforce their version of the truth. Hypochondriasis: Feeling ill, feeling sick, or suddenly being in pain is a way someone can invite sympathy and vulnerability in others. Rehearsal: In order to control a situation and make sure their version of reality is consistent, a pathological liar might spend time rehearsing what they are going to say. You might find yourself questioning the authenticity of what they say when they say it, because it was almost performed too well.Residential treatment identifies the underlying causes of substance use disorders and mental health conditions. Pathological lying can be identified and treated in the right facility. Avalon Malibu is one of California’s only residential facilities to provide primary mental health care. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

The ideology that addicts are criminals and need to be punished for their crime is thankfully fading away. Increasingly, the much more accurate ideology that people who struggle with addiction are living with an untreated mental health disorder is taking hold. It is true that many people who fall into the grips of addiction and alcoholism do become criminals. Most drugs to which addicts are addicted are illegal. In today’s world, someone can “get off” for possessing a small amount of crystal meth, but can face incarceration for being caught with too much marijuana. Consumers, dealers, importers, manufacturers, or just general risk-takers who get involved in crime, it is possible for an addict to also be a criminal. Being addicted to drugs and alcohol is not a crime. It also isn’t a moral failing, a defect of character, or a lack of willingness to live life according to social norms. For whatever reason a person becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol, once they become chemically dependent upon substances, the matter is out of their control. Serious neurobiological processes become “hijacked” according to some theories, or become disordered, according to others. Addicts and alcoholics are people who have lost their way in their ability to make decisions, judge outcomes, and live by consequence. Numerous brain imaging studies have found that areas of the brain which specifically regulate such areas are compromised by the chronic inundation of drugs and alcohol addiction tends to provide. Still, most of society continues to view addiction as a crime which logically should be “treated” with incarceration. Without proper assessment and treatment, many addicts never get a chance to fully recover. Prison systems are riddled with drugs and can lead to trauma which worsens one’s addictive behaviors when, or if, they are ever released. Prisons are not alternatives to mental health treatment centers. In fact, most prisons are ill-equipped and underfunded to cope with the amount of mental health problems which need to be treated in their inmates. Thankfully, drug courts continue to have positive reinforcement, providing an alternative sentencing  for addicts and alcoholics who are convicted of crimes. Most drug court systems see great success in recovery and reformation. Treatment for mental health issues and co-occurring substance use disorders is available and can create lifelong changes which lead to a lifetime of recovery. Avalon Malibu is offers residential care designed to promote healing and transformation in mind, body, and spirit. For a confidential assessment and more information, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

Most people are dissatisfied with the way they look and feel that this is a serious consideration for how they feel about themselves, what they deserve in life, and how they conduct themselves. Where exactly do body image issues come from? Pressure From The Media “The media” always gets a big dish of the blame when it comes to body image issues. “Media” can include: social media, movies, magazines, tv shows, and even music. Any kind of mainstream messaging can create a body image issue. For example, it only recently came to light in the last few years that magazine covers and models in advertisements underwent digital alteration. People can photoshop themselves on their phones now before posting to social media. Pressure From Other People Other people like parents, romantic partners, friends, bullies, or family members get their inspiration to criticize someone’s body from somewhere. Most often, they are insecure in the way they look themselves and take that out on other people. As a result, they create the same fears and beliefs in others. Studies have found that mothers who criticize their bodies in the mirror in front of their daughters contribute greatly to their daughters developing body image issues of their own. Low Self-Esteem Low self-esteem can be natural for someone who generally feels insecure, shy, or anxious. It can also be caused by just about anything. Bullying, trauma, abuse, mental health conditions, or any kind of event or influence can cause a focus on the body. People are not born with an insecurity about their body. They have to learn that there is a way a body “should” look and that their body doesn’t look that way. Insecurity can cause body image issues. In order to avoid feeling insecure, to manifest insecurity, or to create a hyperfocus on it, a person can become obsessed with their body image and live in negativity about it. Eating Disorders Body image is a primary focus in eating disorders. Perfectionism is a leading problem which is isolated in how one looks. Deep fears about eating, weight gain, being judged by others, reaching a certain size or number on the scale are all tied to body image issues. Body dysmorphic disorder is a specific body image issue in which someone is unable to see past their perceived physical flaws. Convinced their flaws define them, they have difficulty socializing and being around other people. When body image issues become obsessive, they can interfere with your ability to live your life. You can learn to love yourself again and heal the pain of negative body image. Avalon Malibu offers residential treatment programs from our beautiful estate along the California Coast, specializing in mental health treatment to heal mind, body, and spirit. For a confidential assessment and more information, call 1 888-958-7511.