Treatment

When two disorders occur at the same time, it’s referred to as comorbidity, dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorders. Each person’s experience with this is different and, because of this, it can be hard to tell which disorder actually came first. In some cases, one can lead to the development of the other, while in other cases, one disorder can make symptoms of the other one worse. It becomes tricky to safely manage both at the same time, which is why having a healthcare team at Avalon Malibu could be the best option for recovery. Studies suggest that it’s not all that uncommon for a person to experience both a mental disorder, such as depression, and an addiction, such as alcoholism or drug addiction, at the same time. In fact, people with mental health disorders are actually more likely to abuse substances. So, if you are experiencing co-occurring disorders, the sooner you seek help, the better.

Millions of people in the United States are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Consequently, schizophrenia is considered to be one of the leading causes of disability in our nation today. Common symptoms of this mental illness include delusions, hallucinations, and unorganized speech and behavior patterns. Additionally, feelings like disassociation and/or detachment from oneself, general discontentment, anger, and anxiety are reported by individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Media coverage depicts schizophrenia in a negative light, generating fear around the illness due to a lack of education and understanding among the general public. Here are some facts about Schizophrenia, in hopes of dispelling some of the confusion and stigma associated with the disorder.

Benzodiazepines are man-made drugs that help treat symptoms such as inability to sleep, racing thoughts, unusual talkativeness, panic, and agitation. These drugs increase the production of a neurotransmitter in the brain, in which a person is likely to experience greater feelings of calm and relaxation. Examples of these benzodiazepines include Xanax, Librium, Valium, and Ativan. Unfortunately, all drugs in this class are highly addictive and consistent use can lead to dependency if it’s not watched closely. Once physical dependence has been established, a detox process is necessary to stop benzodiazepine use. Specific withdrawal symptoms experienced are greatly dependent upon the detoxing individual’s age, sex, weight, drug history and more. Most people would say that detoxing from benzodiazepines isn’t the most pleasurable thing on Earth, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not possible.

If you’ve recently completed a residential treatment program at Avalon Malibu, you may be working towards an intensive outpatient program while you transition into home and work life. Recovery is such a courageous journey, and you’ve already been taking major strides towards your health and wellbeing. However, you also have responsibilities to uphold: a family, a job, and bills to pay. Now it’s time for you to reintegrate these crucial components of daily living while also balancing your recovery journey. Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) are an excellent step towards building up independence while still having additional support to feel confident as you move forward.

Research shows that the highest addiction recovery success rates occur when individuals receive help abstaining from substances, as well as support cultivating healthy lifestyle changes in general. What many don’t realize, is that recovery from addiction to drugs and/or alcohol involves so much more than abstinence. The recovery process requires commitment growth in developing coping skills, building self-esteem and self-efficacy, goal setting and creating healthy habits. When treatment for addiction takes such a well-rounded approach, those recovering can create and sustain quality sobriety that will propel them into a happier and healthier future.

There are so many different factors that contribute to who we are as human beings. Each one of us has a unique background, family and medical history, interests and skill set, thought process, and much more. Unfortunately, many treatment programs don’t address all of these other factors that are vital in a person’s recovery. While it can be helpful to hone in on detoxification, for example, there are some pieces that often aren’t recognized as important. These overlooked areas of emphasis could make a huge difference in someone’s recovery. Integrative care is more a personal approach that takes into consideration the many aspects of a person’s health that would need to receive attention in order for them to thrive in recovery.

Anyone who suffers from an addiction knows that recovery is a challenging, lifelong process. We must constantly be aware of our stressors and triggers to note if we are in a situation where we feel the need to repeat old negative patterns of behavior. The beginning of our recovery journey can be particularly difficult, because relapse can be a terrifying concept to grasp. When someone relapses, it disrupts their recovery process by involving a temporary lapse in addictive behaviors. Many people who are afraid of relapsing or who have already relapsed are afraid that they’ve failed themselves, their loved ones, and their recovery – but it’s important to note that relapse is an opportunity for those in recovery to learn more about what they need to heal.  There are three main ties to relapses – physical, mental, and emotional.  Emotional relapses may occur in a person and while this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will go right back to their old addictive habits, it is the first stage of the relapse process and could be a tell sign that they might relapse soon. Strong emotions, like jealousy, hatred, anger, sadness and more can all lead a person to begin thinking and feeling emotions that could eventually lead ot physical relapse. Mental relapses occur when a person is at war between using the drug/substance and staying sober. At this stage of relapse, a person has fleeting thoughts of using and it’s hard to keep these thoughts at bay. A few characteristics of this may be lying to the people closest to them, romanticizing using the substance/drug in the past, dwelling on people, places, or things that tie directly to the addiction, and hanging out with people whom they’ve abused substances within the past. Physical relapse is the actual act of relapsing – the person uses substances for a period of time, and this is when they must go back into recovery mode and find out what they can do to strengthen their recovery.

Many people with mental illness are limited in their ability to find and create a rich, meaningful life either due to the heavy stigma that's placed on them by society, not many opportunities for growth, or because the symptoms of their mental illness prevent them from carrying out certain aspects of their daily life. When it comes to recovery, it’s crucial for a person to be able to make sense of their experiences. If you’re ready to get involved in a program that will support your mental, physical and spiritual health, speak with a professional from Avalon Malibu today. Research studies have previously explored leisure activities and how they’ve aided in a person’s success in addiction recovery. There are so many examples of activities that can be relaxing for a person who is working on their sobriety, such as hiking and other recreational activities, running, quilting, volunteering, storytelling, and more. If a person becomes involved in more leisurely activities, they’re likely to experience an enhanced way of life in a multitude of ways:

Heroin is a drug made from morphine – and is typically consumed by injecting, sniffing, snorting or smoking it. When a person consumes morphine, it immediately binds to opioid receptors located in the brain. When this happens, a number of physiological symptoms are impacted – such as heart rate, sleeping, and breathing. Heroin is an illicit opioid that produces effects like dry mouth, heavy feelings in the arms and legs, severe itching, nausea and vomiting, clouded mental functioning and more; heroin is incredibly addictive and can become extremely dangerous for a person if severe addiction is developed yet no treatment is sought. For those who do want to recover from heroin addiction, it can be incredibly hard if their significant other – or close friends – are still battling with it. Many people who experience this find that their lives continued to be disrupted because the occurrence of heroin continues to interfere with their daily life, even if they themselves are not using it anymore. Heroin can completely change the way a person thinks and behaves; many people who’ve abused heroin have described it as something that pulls a “warm feeling” over them, with little to no worries. Of course, this may sound euphoric – but the effects last only for a short period of time, and there are a myriad of unpleasant effects that can occur if a person were to ever recover, such as:

Many people who’ve battled with mental illness and addiction have been neglected or forgotten by their loved ones because they were deemed “too hard to deal with”. As humans, we all experience painful situations and moments in life, but it can be particularly destroying to feel as though we’re not being loved unconditionally by those who matter most to us. A treatment center should not be a place that perpetuates these feelings – it should be a place of love, acceptance, and nurturement so that a person can thrive in recovery.  In many cases, both addiction and mental illness have developed out of painful situations from the past or even difficult emotions. Treatment programs that focus strictly on changing outward behavior, or ones that only provide support only for what’s seen on the physical side cannot truly provide their clients with unconditional love – the parts that make everyone human cannot be recognized. The reality is that addiction and mental illness involve more than just themselves; they involve finances, health, relationships, nutrition and so much more, and all of these aspects of living need to be tended to as well. You deserve to have full support throughout your recovery. Not receiving this could be very detrimental to your success in recovery; unfortunately, too many people are discharged from treatment and come back over and over again, not achieving their desired results because they weren’t given the proper love and care to begin with. 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.  If you’re ready to meet with a treatment center that truly cares about your mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing, speak with a. professional from Avalon Malibu today.

While the topic of addiction tends to revolve around loved ones who are battling with this dangerous disease, families have a foundation that can be significantly disrupted when a loved one is involved. Personally, family members tend to experience a rollercoaster of emotions that can affect the way the family functions as a system overall, and, if not resolved in a healthy manner, family members may break to the point of miscommunication and, ultimately, severed ties. If your family is currently in recovery from addiction, it will be long process – but with the right tools and resources from Avalon Malibu, you’ll be just fine. Self-care is needed in order for a person to feel mentally, physically and spiritually fit. It is defined in deliberate actions, and truly depends on what a person feels they need to heal and recover. Family members – both individually and as a whole – need to be implementing self care on a daily basis and as soon as possible in order for the healing process to jumpstart; of course, self-care and healing truly take place when a person is personally ready for it. Family members who have hope, who practice healthy coping skills and who are ready to change tend to experience the greatest effects of healing in recovery. During this vulnerable time, family members can practice a range of other self-care activities, such as:

There are many types of approaches that can be taken to addiction recovery – and the effectiveness of these approaches truly relies on what works for each person individually. Personalized, holistic treatment is about assessing an individual’s needs and getting an understanding of who they are, including their medical history, their family and relationship history, major life stressors, mental health status reports and more. Put simply, recovery should consider a person’s mental, physical and spiritual wellness – and in some cases, didactic group therapy could greatly help a person find more stability in their recovery journey. Upon entering recovery, clients will learn more about what addiction is and how it’s affected their lives. Didactic group therapy is facilitated by a therapist or doctor who directs conversations on a number of topics, such as exploring the adverse effects that can become associated with addiction on a short or long-term basis, relapse prevention, common beliefs surrounding addiction and so much more. The idea behind this type of therapy is that by educating people in recovery, they will become more informed and more able to stay committed to their recovery goals – because they’ll understand the ins and outs of addiction and how it all works. In addition to this, those in recovery will gain valuable tools to apply directly to their lives. There are many definitions that can be found for addiction, but generally it’s a brain disease that involves the compulsive use of drugs, alcohol, or other addictive behaviors despite harmful consequences occurring in a person’s personal and/or professional life. By looking at it this way, it’s much easier to understand just how strong addiction can be – for many people around the world, addiction is not something that can easily be “stopped”, and “quitting” takes much longer than a day because recovery is an ongoing process. There tend to be a lot of misconceptions about addiction and recovery, and even those who are seeking help may misunderstand the truth about these processes; that’s where didactic group therapy can come in. Common misbeliefs about addiction and recovery may involve believing that a person is too weak to seek help, that recovery and treatment programs are a “quick fix”, that addiction is the only thing that matters without regard to a person’s mind, body and spirit, that addiction is the only thing that’s treated in recovery, and the broad idea that nobody can understand what a person is going through truly. This misconceptions may seem convincing, but they’re not true – and they’re all ways to alienate people from feeling that they can truly recover and seek help. Education is power, and those who learn more about the biological processes of addiction as well as the psychology behind that and relapse have better chances of succeeding in recovery. Social support is a major component of healing, and didactic group therapy can foster this support by providing an environment in which individuals can share their ideas and grow together. This type of therapy is focused on education, which may be structured similarly to a classroom setting where those in recovery work together to identify problems in life that could lead to addictive behaviors later on – as an example.