Mental Health

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.

Relationships are incredibly complicated. It can be challenging to live alongside another person while still having the time and space to practice one’s individual interests. These kinds of relationships aren’t limited to romantic involvements. It can be just as complicated to learn how to be friends with a person, get along in group projects for school or professional goals or even live harmoniously with family members. Intimate relationships can affect an individual in profound ways, whether reshaping beliefs and goals or finding ways to empower and support each other. However, it is also possible that these relationships can become “toxic.” Toxic relationships can have the opposite effect on an individual, and there may be an unhealthy imbalance of needs or support. Identifying toxic relationships and understanding their perils can help avoid dangerous outcomes while addressing one’s mental health.

Recovery from addiction, trauma or co-occurring disorders is a very personal journey. Each individual will explore their own best practices when addressing their unique needs. Because of the personal nature of recovery, it is essential to have as many options as possible for each individual to find their own most effective approaches and explore new ideas that they can incorporate into their sober lifestyle. Neurofeedback is just one of these options. While neurofeedback may not be appropriate for every person, those suffering from co-occurring disorders or who have been through extreme trauma may benefit significantly from this approach. However, before an individual decides to try any therapeutic practice, it is crucial to understand the approach and its intended effects to determine if it will be pertinent. It is also essential to be able to measure the effectiveness through the process.

Most people have experienced what anxiety feels like since anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the US. Women are more affected by anxiety disorders than men, but it is estimated that 31% of people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life. With anxiety rates on the rise and ever more common, knowing how to treat anxiety is paramount, so it doesn’t infringe on your quality of life. Often making small lifestyle adjustments can result in significant improvements to someone’s anxiety, with some fixes so simple you can do them in your sleep. Medical professionals have been using weighted blankets for years to ease patients’ anxiety and stress during medical procedures and therapies. Just using a weighted blanket when you sleep or taking breaks to rest under a weighted blanket can help decrease feelings of anxiety.

The onset of spring brings with it a wealth of new opportunities. As temperatures warm, new therapeutic options become available to explore for all those looking to either begin constructing new daily routines in their sobriety or looking for new ways to tackle the complicated and difficult process of maintaining one’s aversion to drugs or alcohol. Gardening, while a seasonal practice, can also be a profound therapeutic outlet that can reward an individual’s determination and effort, all while helping them continue to practice responsibility in their lives and adding a needed element of structure and consistency to a daily routine.

Feeling like you are living in a dream may sound like a good thing, but for those living with a depersonalization-derealization disorder, it is a frightening reality. Many who abuse substances can vouch for having experienced depersonalization or derealization before. However, when these feelings happen increasingly often, it can indicate a more severe problem. Identifying the difference between depersonalization and derealization from other substance use-induced symptoms helps to understand if depersonalization-derealization disorder may be affecting you.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 264 million people suffer from depression worldwide. Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. Depression can look very different depending on the person, with over 50 symptoms associated with depression. You may not even realize depression could be affecting you, so it’s important to be aware of your thoughts and how they influence your behavior. By challenging and redirecting any negative thoughts you have, you can ease the symptoms of depression and find a piece of the solution to overcoming your depression.

March 2020 was the month that marked a complete 180 turn in every American’s lives (along with everyone around the globe). Now one year later, for better or for worse, we have all learned a thing or two about how to better care for ourselves in totally new ways. Some of the most important lessons we learned were how to better care for our mental health through self-care routines. We realized that contrary to what we believed self-care to be, it turns out to be some of the least glamorous things we may have to do in our day.

Addiction affects every facet of a person’s life, but those suffering from the disease may not realize the extent of the impact of their drug or alcohol use. Addiction can develop beneath the surface over a long period before a person realizes that they have developed a genuinely unhealthy practice. At that point, addiction may be extremely difficult to overcome with willpower alone. Reevaluating one’s relationship with drugs and alcohol frequently can help an individual identify problematic behaviors early in addiction’s development. However, it is also possible that a person is continually rationalizing or normalizing their behavior to avoid confronting the problem. Normalizing dangerous behaviors can not just lead someone away from getting the help they may need to overcome an addiction; it can lead to romanticizing the meaning of drugs or alcohol or otherwise avoid the adverse effects of addiction in one’s life.

Do you ever feel like you have to explain yourself or justify why you did something? Understanding what JADE means and the times you may be JADE-ing yourself or others can change how you interact with life for the better. If you aren’t familiar with the term, it originates from Al-Anon and stands for Justify, Argue, Defend and Explain. It becomes particularly problematic when used in communication with abusers, toxic relationships, or with ourselves.

Everywhere you turn, stress is all around, and you don’t have to look any further than the ensuing global pandemic to see how stressful everyday life is. Being mindful of stress is important because it wreaks havoc on our minds and bodies, and since it isn’t going anywhere, we have to learn how to properly manage it, so it won’t have negative impacts on our health.

Depression has a way of rewiring how a person operates, from their eating and sleeping habits to their activity level and how they communicate with others. Sometimes people struggling with their mental health may be discreet in hiding their depression and conceal their innermost thoughts or feelings, so knowing if a loved one is struggling with depression may be difficult. By looking for certain patterns in their language, you may be able to detect they are struggling. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in the study of language and depression with researchers developing new computerized text analysis methods to determine the linguistic patterns unique to people struggling with depression.