Addiction

Winter is finally ending meaning springtime is right around the corner. With water starting to warm up and the ice melting away you have access to all new water activities that you didn’t before. What does water have to do with mental health recovery? Everything! For starters, the brain sits in a puddle of a water lie substance and is mostly made up of water itself. Our bodies are mostly water as well and so is the planet. Water connects us to everything that is life. Without water, we cannot survive and neither would most of the planet. Being connected to water is deeply healing. For example, the pH levels in the ocean match your internal pH levels, which can make similar feelings of being in the womb, causing you to feel calm and relaxed. Water helps us feel buoyant, relieving a lot of aches and pains. Water also makes us feel happier. Neuroscience research is diving deeper into water- literally- to get a better understanding of just how healing water is. Everyone likes to be near water, whether they know it or not. Even people with extreme phobias of water can overcome them because water is a wondrous thing. Go Kayaking Ocean kayaking can be extreme in the wrong conditions. On a flat day or in an ocean bay, it can be enjoyable. Find a nearby lagoon, lake, or channel where you can kayak. You’ll propel yourself along and focus on your breath while paying attention to the beauty all around you. Learn How To Surf There’s a reason people get “surf stoke”- surfing is fun! Springtime is a good time to start learning how to surf. Rent a wetsuit a board before heading out to the white water. Practice popping up and learning how to time the waves. Many lifetime surfers find the practice to be very zen and spiritual. Pick Up A Boogey Board If paddling out to the lineup and catching monster wages isn’t your thing, stick to the white water with a boogie board. Body surfing is always fun and is a great way to feel the rush of the power of the ocean without risking yourself getting too hurt. Take A Fishing Trip Going out on a boat across miles of open sea can be a transformational experience. Try taking an offshore fishing trip where you might see dolphins and whales along the way. Try Paddle Boarding Stand Up Paddle boarding is like a hybrid of surfing and kayaking. You can even do yoga on a stand up paddle board. Enjoy the power of the board with the power of your paddling as you cruise along, taking in the beautiful ocean around you. Create A Beach Collage If getting into the water doesn’t sound like your thing, you can still enjoy the bounties the water has to offer. Taking therapeutic walks on the beach can help your back, help your mindfulness practices, and keep you right next to the ocean. Along the way, you can find sticks, beach glass, and shells to collect. Make a beach collage with some sand so you can have a piece of the shore with you at home. Avalon By The Sea boasts its location in its name. Our stunning estate sits atop the iconic cliffside coast of southern california’s famous beach town of Malibu. During the warmer season we engage our clients in therapeutic water activities and beach activities making the most of our beautiful environment. For a confidential assessment and more information on our residential treatment programs for mental health and addiction, call 888-958-7511.

Most people who have walked into a treatment center for either a primary mental health disorder or substance use disorder have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives. A majority of people will experience trauma within their lifetimes, either directly or vicariously, like watching a terrorist attack (or even news coverage of a terrorist attack) on television. Only a small portion of people who experience some form of trauma will experience fully diagnosable PTSD or any symptoms of PTSD. Coping with PTSD can usually lead to the development of other disorders including depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and substance use disorders. Trying to treat any kind of mental health disorder, including substance use disorders, without fully assessing trauma could be like putting a Band-Aid over a gunshot wound. You might be able to stop the bleeding, but you won’t have retrieved the bullet.

After you transition through the various stages of treatment are complete, you’re ready to make your final transition into independent living. You’ll need to create a safe system of trusted mental health professionals to keep you working on your program of recovery. Here are the different kinds of doctors you might need to work with.

Bipolar disorder can be a bewildering mental health disorder to understand, approach, and manage. If you or a loved one might be living with bipolar disorder, here are some often confused facts.

Nutritional psychiatry is the term used to describe a new movement being taken on by mental health practitioners prescribing diet changes to their patients. Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other prescription medications, in addition to therapy and self-care have been a common prescription for many years. Doctors are always recommending a good balance of diet and exercise, as exercise has been relentlessly proven to decrease symptoms of mental health disorders like depression. With nutritional psychiatry, doctors are emphasizing the diet part of the program. Increasing research has found that there is an important connection between the stomach and the brain. For those in recovery, this is no more obvious than the experience of HALT- the way one’s mood can take a quick, steep turn south when someone gets too hungry. The science behind the connection goes deeper than being hungry or not. Gut bacteria is being proven to have an influence on mood, inflammation, and more. Different foods create different gut bacteria. Holding true to the theory, different foods can create different moods. Nutritional psychiatry argues that following a gut-bacteria and mood-specific diet could be helpful in treating depression. Creating a mood-enhancing specific diet could radically alter the holistic approach of mind, body, and spirit, when it comes to treating depression. According to The Big Think, “95% of your body’s serotonin is made in your gastrointestinal tract.” Serotonin is a critical neurotransmitter helpful in regulating and stabilizing mood. Often, depression is described as a chemical imbalance of serotonin and dopamine.

Obsession and compulsion- that is the core of obsessive compulsive disorder. What drives the obsessions in OCD is not usually pleasant. The compulsions are usually small behaviors to try and cope with those unpleasant thoughts. Since the thoughts are categorized as obsessions, that means they aren’t fleeting. The uncomfortable thoughts are persistent, recurring, and ruminating. Meaning, that they don’t stop until they are satisfied in some way. Compulsive behaviors are that way. Compulsions are more than urges, they are obsessive urges, because they are connected to the obsession. Typically, the relationship between the two is irrational. For example, the commonly portrayed version of OCD including a hyperfocus on germs or cleanliness. It’s likely the event causing the obsessive thoughts was relatively “dirty” or made the person feel unclean. Thus, the compulsive behaviors include a focus on sanitation behaviors. Though it makes sense, it's irrational that compulsive, repetitive behaviors will “clean” up the past.

Post traumatic stress disorder is a psychological disorder which impacts all areas of someone’s life after witnessing a traumatic event. Symptoms include:

Sex is a physical act as much as it is an act of emotion, psyche, and spiritual connection. Engaging in physical, sexual intimacy is a physical closeness that makes many people uncomfortable. Low self-esteem, insecurity, vulnerability, and even trauma regarding sexual intimacy is not reserved for those who might struggle with a mental illness. However, it can be a particularly complicated area for those living with and recovering from eating disorders. Eating disorders are usually talked about with a focus on food, control, perfectionism, weight, and body image. These factors can contribute to difficulty in sexual intimacy. Because sex is so physically close, if someone is at odds with their physical appearance, sex can be triggering. Furthermore, if that physical appearance is still toxically connected to how one perceives themselves (i.e. “today I feel fat, so today I have low self-esteem”), it can cause a deep level of discomfort. The effects of eating disorder on one’s sex life can range from preventing intimacy due to insecurity. Eating disorder behaviors like restriction, starvation, and purging, can deplete the body’s natural energy as well as throw off normal hormonal balance. Finding a desire for sexual interaction can be challenging when there is hardly a desire to eat. The Double Edge Sword Of Eating Disorder Recovery And Sex Recovery from eating disorders is usually successful as a patient starts to normalize their weight, working through underlying issues contributing to the eating disorder, and learn to be more body positive. Working on raising levels of confidence and body acceptance leads to tremendous shifts in perception and sexual desire. Unfortunately, there is still the old programming regarding weight, body image, and being wanted. As sexual desire increases with weight gain, there could be a newfound insecurity in the body. Though the individual has learned to accept and embrace themselves, they are still aware of the shame, stigma, and stereotype which gets applied to the physical form and what is defined as sexually desirable. True Self-Intimacy Before getting intimate with others, recovery demands that we become most intimate with ourselves, in mind, body, and spirit. Eating disorders separate us from ourselves. Through recovery, we learn how to be close with ourselves, our bodies, and our minds, creating a holistic whole self once more. Avalon By The Sea provides primary mental health care for men and women needing to recover from eating disorders. Call us today for a confidential assessment and more information on our residential treatment programs at 1 888-958-7511.

ADHD is commonly mistaken for depression and vice versa. One of the unknown sides of depression is the ability to create cognitive difficulties. Popularly known symptoms of depression include symptoms of being sad, tired, lazy, and without hope.However, all that emotional strain and imbalance in the brain can cause a difficulty in concentrating, focus, making decisions, and just thinking clearly. According to Science Daily, the American Chemical Society is studying rats to find out just how intensely the brain is cognitively affected by depression. Even with treatment for depression, as common symptoms pass and become more manageable, the cognitive symptoms can remain for quite sometime. Having to deal with lack of focus, forgetfulness, and an inability to make decisions is challenging. The pressing extreme emotions of depression can be challenging enough to live with and manage as feelings of sadness can take over. However, not being able to think clearly, remember, or make decisions is even more impairing. Relationships, jobs, schooling, and care taking can be compromised by this. The research suggests that certain proteins are more available in rats without depression than those who do have depression. In simple cognitive tests, rats without depression performed better than the rats who had the depression. Implications from this study could contribute toward advancing treatments for depression to include targeted treatments for cognitive functioning. Supporting Your Mental Health While Living With A Mental Health Disorder There are some practices which can be helpful in sharpening your focus, clearing your mind, and giving your brain more power when you're living with depression. Mindfulness meditation is scientifically proven to change the brain in positive ways and enlarge the prefrontal cortex which is where cognitive functions live. Exercise produces endorphins and is helpful to gaining mental clarity and energy. Depression is also helped by a healthy balanced diet which includes amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids from foods like eggs and avocado. Some studies suggest that the right diet could eliminate negative symptoms of depression entirely. Avalon By The Sea is one of California’s only mental health facilities providing primary care for depression. Our program is centered on mind, body, and spirit, to help facilitate healing holistically and clinically. For a confidential assessment, call 1 888-958-7511.

Watching a loved one struggling with the deep pain of depression can be heartbreaking. You cannot fix your loved one’s depression, but you can help ease their symptoms and encourage them to keep moving forward in recovery. Be Extra Loving You aren’t going to love your partner or loved one out of depression. However, some studies have found that extra displays of love can help someone who is depressed feel the love they need to feel from others, helping them to feel it toward themselves. How you react to their episodes of depression in terms of the love you give them directly affects the way they perceive themselves and their ability or worthiness to be loved. By being extra loving, you’re letting them know they are worth not just your love and care, but their own as well. Spend Quality Time With Them Episodes of depression can conjure up a lot of feelings of guilt and shame, resulting in behaviors which try to push people away when they are needed the most. Your loved one will be most benefitted by spending a lot of quality time with you, even if they won’t admit it. You don’t have to plan activities to try to get them out of depression, but you don’t have to enable their depression either. Exercise is a proven method for reducing the symptoms of depression. Find a creative way to get them moving for just a little bit or engaged in an activity which takes their focus off their depression. Support Yourself As Well Being the loved one, partner, or caretaker of someone living with clinical, chronic depression can be exhausting. You are in need of all the same love and support as your loved one. The best way to support someone is to make sure you are supported. Airlines use this example in their safety measures. You are instructed to put on your oxygen mask before placing one on a neighbor. The saying “you can’t transmit what you haven’t got” also applies. Have regular appointments with your own therapist, your own self-care regime, and spending time with friends or family who lift you up. Avalon By The Sea provides primary residential care to men and women needing treatment for depression. Our programs are focused on bringing healing and balance to mind, body, and spirit. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 (888) 958-7511 today.

Mental health care is not something we think of doing for ourselves everyday. However, simple strategies can be used to contribute to good mental health the same way that brushing your teeth every day can contribute to good dental health! Here are a few of our favorites:

Mindfulness and mindfulness based stress reduction are helpful therapy and treatment methods for mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Creating a sense of calm and a tranquil foundation aids in emotional regulating reducing cravings, and managing stress. Benefits Of Mindfulness Through The Brain Reducing symptoms of stress is the primary benefit of mindfulness based practices. Depression, anxiety, cravings for drugs and alcohol- symptoms from all of these mental health issues can be found rooted in stress. According to The Big Thing, in one study conducted on the brains of long time meditators during meditation and when they’re not meditating, there is a key difference in areas of the brain associated with stress. Stress comes from the human “fight or flight” response to threats, which produces the hormones of adrenaline and cortisol. The amygdala is where stress primarily lives in the brain. After an 8 week mindfulness course, the amygdala shrinks, as it is shown through MRI imaging. Another benefit of mindfulness based practices is clarity, the ability to focus, make better decisions, and have more awareness in daily life. The practice of noticing and paying attention are an integral part of mindfulness. The MRI imaging found that the prefrontal cortex region of the brain becomes thicker, compared to the shrinking amygdala, after mindfulness practice. Awareness, such as the awareness built during mindfulness practice, as well as decision making and other “higher” brain functions, live in the prefrontal cortex. Blazing New Neural Trails One of the interesting things found in the study, The Big Think writes, is that there are some developments of dualism which indicate the brain changing its relationships. For example, there was more activity in pain-sensing areas of the brain. However,people who meditate reported feeling less pain. “This demonstrates the capacity of meditation to create new neural connections and change how different regions relate to one another,” the article writes. What’s more fascinating is that over time, the brain stops shifting. The benefits achieved through meditation become the “norm” for the brain. Avalon By The Sea knows that the power of the mind can be harvested and used for good in recovery. Our dual diagnosis treatment program is certified to treat both mental health disorders or substance use disorders as primary conditions. For a confidential assessment, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.