Emotional

There are so many different types of relationships. From friendships to family to romantic relationships and more, the ways we interact with others can have a significant impact on our mental health. Acknowledging this fact is important so you can identify ways to grow and improve your relationships.

Anger is a natural response to some situations. For example, in the heat of a stressful or hurtful moment, we can use our anger to endure what we are experiencing. However, uncontrolled anger is destructive for your physical and mental health.

The recovery process teaches you how to learn and identify your triggers with coping mechanisms, and when those triggers occur, you need a prompt response. Everyone, at some point or another, is going to experience triggers. It is important to understand how to manage them to avoid relapse or other deconstructive outcomes and address them right away.

The first step to getting sober is the physical aspect of not using anymore. Taking each day at a time is a key pillar to success in the early days of recovery, but just avoiding the use of drugs or alcohol isn’t a sustainable solution to long-term sobriety. This is where what’s known as emotional sobriety comes into play, requiring a mindset and lifestyle shift to learn to regulate your emotions.

Inside all of us resides a secret weapon for healing and fostering a positive mindset, known as gratitude. When you practice gratitude, you allow yourself to notice and feel appreciation for all you have in life, not limited to material possessions but encompassing your relationships, opportunities, experiences, and feelings. Gratitude is a powerful tool to utilize in recovery because it offers a simple solution to combating any negative thinking or emotions that may fuel the urge to relapse.

What makes the difference between someone able to accomplish the long-term goals they set for themselves and someone who can’t? Does it boil down to something predetermined like intelligence, luck, physical capabilities, or is it something else? It turns out that your ability to persist through challenges and stay focused on achieving your goals is something that you have more hand in creating for yourself, and it is known as mental toughness. What is Mental Toughness? Having mental toughness is important because it is what allows you to persevere through adversity to reach your goals. Mental toughness is defined as the capacity of an individual to deal with stressors, pressures, and challenges and perform at the best of their ability, regardless of difficult circumstances. Possessing mental toughness comes with a strong ability to effectively manage your thoughts and emotions to act in alignment towards achieving your goals. 3 Aspects of Mental Toughness in Recovery Cultivating mental toughness will help you through any challenge you encounter in life, but it can be an especially helpful trait to have if you are in recovery. Aspects of mental toughness that help someone achieve a goal like sobriety are seen below:

Communication is a crucial part of recovery. Whether an individual is addressing their mental health, moving through their recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol, or trying to support a loved one through their struggles, communication is the cornerstone of progress. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone necessarily communicates in the same way. Even if an individual feels safe in their environment, they may not feel they have the proper tools to share their feelings, progress or struggles effectively. Learning about the various ways an individual can express themselves can improve the quality of their recovery and support and strengthen their drive to see their goals through.

Many people who struggle with addiction and/or mental illness experience a lot of conditional love – they have been neglected, abused, abandoned, forgotten, ignored, or disengaged. As humans, we all experience pain, but it can be particularly painful to experience the pain of conditional love. A treatment center should not be a place where these painful feelings continue – it should be a place of love, acceptance, and nurturing to promote optimal growth in a supportive environment. In many cases, both addiction and mental illness have developed out of feelings of anger, isolation, shame, loneliness, grief, sadness, and more. Treatment programs that focus strictly on changing outward behavior, or ones that only provide support for the direct addiction or mental illness cannot offer unconditional love because they reject all the other parts that need nurturing – the parts that make you human. Your family relationships, financial and employment status, general health, and home life may all need attention, too, which is why unconditional love is so incredibly important. Dr. Mark Willenbring, former director of the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, stated in an interview, “You don’t treat a chronic illness for four weeks and then send the patient to a support group. People with a chronic form of addiction need multimodal treatment that is individualized and offered continuously or intermittently for as long as they need it.” You deserve to have full support throughout your recovery. Not receiving this could be very detrimental to your success in recovery; Dr. Willenbring cited a case of a 43-year-old woman who had been in and out of rehabilitation 42 times because she wasn’t receiving the proper medical and support services that she needed. This case, as well as previous research, underlines the importance of full love and support as you work to better yourself in recovery. You should feel that your voice is heard and that your preferences – if they are in line with what you need – are met. The journey to recovery is a lifelong endeavor and should not be taken lightly. It all begins with treatment, making the right treatment center a crucial foundation point.

Veterans who have recently left the military are between 2 and 3 times more likely to take their own lives compared to active service duty members, and nearly 20% of all veterans who return from duty experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. USA Today stated that on average, 20 veterans die by suicide each day. These numbers are alarming, devastating, and so tragic for all the military members and families involved. Earlier this year that President Trump signed an executive order to provide more benefits for more veterans transitioning from the military into civilian life. Trump stated, “We want them to get the highest care and the care they so richly deserve.” Many members of service are exposed to horrifying instances like combat, assault, disaster and more – leaving many with anxiety, nightmares, depression, hyperarousal, paranoia, and more. When they come back to civilian life, they face unique challenges. On top of their mental and physical conditions, they must fit into corporate America, which isn’t very easy for them. Veteran Health Services has noted the following challenges for many returning from the military:

Nobody likes experiencing a bad mood – that sunken feeling of despair, hopelessness, negativity, and so forth can make it appears nothing will get better. Bad moods may last just a few short minutes or could impact our entire day – no matter the length, a bad mood effects not only the person who has it, but those around them as well. When we’re feeling grouchy, we may not even think about what led us to this feeling. Amanda Chan, Managing Editor of Healthy Living, provides in a 2014 Huffington Post article several factors that may be contributing towards a bad mood: