Treatment

Author Martin Kantor explains a common, painful truth of avoidant personality disorder (APD) in his book titled “Distancing: Avoidant Personality Disorder” by stating, “Some [people with avoidant personality disorder] are isolated individuals, who, unmindful of the pathological nature of their avoidance, cite, and live by, its presumed advantages, and eventually come to believe that their isolation from family, friends, and potential intimates is a good thing.” If you struggle with APD, perhaps you can relate to the deep, internal fear of being criticized, judged, or ridiculed; many people with APD feel inadequate or socially inept, causing them to withdraw from others. Personality disorders affect the way a person thinks and behaves, as well as how they connect with themselves and relate to others. People with APD may have difficulty forming and maintaining relationships of any kind because they fear of doing something wrong. APD is said to affect 1.8% to 6.4% of the U.S. population, split fairly equally between men and women. If you have APD, you likely can relate to the following:

After a night of drinking, you wake up, and feel a massive headache coming on. Your muscles ache, you feel groggy, and you didn’t get much sleep. These are all signs of a hangover; although typically harmless, hangovers can make it difficult to function the next day at work, and may cause you a lot of discomfort. An estimated 75% of people who drink alcohol to intoxication will experience a hangover the next morning as a result. Other symptoms, such as dry mouth, dizziness, rapid heartbeat and change in blood pressure may occur. What happens to your body when you drink alcohol that causes you to have a hangover the next day? Let’s look at what science has to say. First, it all depends on what you have been drinking. Research says the darker in color your alcoholic beverage is, the more congener it contains – leading to more severe hangovers. When the body processes alcohol in its system, chemicals called congeners form, which increase the frequency and severity of hangover symptoms. Many people also become low in blood levels of various hormones, which effect the hangover as well – for example, alcohol inhibits the antidiuretic hormone, leading a person to urinate more frequently and become easily dehydrated. Secondly, it depends on how much you had to drink and how you drank it. For example, a person who drinks quickly and has had little food to eat is more likely to experience a more severe hangover than someone who drinks moderately and has been eating throughout the night. A 2018 study published in the journal, “Addictive Behaviors” found that greater hangover severity predicted more future drinks per drinking day and alcohol problems. This makes sense, as many people who experience severe hangovers are likely heavy drinkers or drink dark liquors. Lastly, the environment in which a person drinks can affect the quality of and their ability to sleep. Loud music, smoke, flashing lights, and more can all impact your experience the next morning. Based on the physical effects of drinking, how can you prevent a hangover? There are many ways:

Stress can negatively affect many areas of our lives – our relationships may suffer, our work performance and productivity may decrease, and our lives may spin out of control; there’s no doubt that sleep can also be negatively affected, but how? If you’ve been tossing and turning all night or experiencing insomnia due to stress of any sort – getting to the bottom of this could help you ease your mind – and body – a little more. When you become stressed, your body muscles tense. As emphasized by the American Psychological Association (APA), muscle tension is nearly a reflex to stress – it’s the body’s way of guarding itself against pain or injury. Chronic stress often causes the body’s muscles to be more or less tense in a constant state, which can lead to further distressing physical issues such as migraines. Your respiratory system is also affected, as you may experience shortness of breath or even anxiety attacks. The body’s cardiovascular system is affected, as stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol amp up. The endocrine system is affected as when your body is in “fight or flight” mode, the liver produces more glucose, a blood sugar that gives you the energy to react in response to an emergency. Furthermore, energy will come from the additional cortisol and epinephrine that your adrenal cortex has produced in your adrenal glands. Your gastrointestinal system is affected, as your stomach, esophagus, and bowels experience heightened activity. All of these symptoms together affect the central nervous system, which plays a part in your sleeping patterns. A study published in Experimental Neurobiology found that stress can cause an activation in the body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, one of the main neuroendocrine stress systems during sleep. When stress hormones are activated, the sympathetic nervous system results in wakefulness, attention, and arousal. The study further denoted that stress-related insomnia can easily become a vicious cycle of as the hypothalamus is known as a key center for sleep regulation; in order to sleep better at night, you need to take part in activities such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, and other self-care exercises to protect your mind and body from the considerable damage that stress can cause.

Whether it’s you or a loved one who has recently began a treatment program for an addiction or mental illness, anxiety and overwhelming feelings may be at the forefront of your heart and mind. It’s normal to feel apprehensive – after all, it’s a completely new experience, one that you may not be sure you’re ready for. However, completing treatment is essential to your success in recovery, and identifying some of the risk factors for wanting to leave treatment early could help you overcome these thoughts and/or feelings. A 2018 study published in Qualitative Social Work interviewed 15 males and females aged 19 to 29 years old to explore patients’ own understanding of their drop out from residential substance use disorder treatment. The following were the themes found:

More than 4 million people in the United States have borderline personality disorder (BPD), a disorder characterized by intense emotions experienced for extended periods of time. BPD makes it difficult for a person to achieve stability after an emotionally triggering event; this difficulty can lead to impulsivity, poor self-image, rocky relationships and dangerous self-harming behaviors. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 75% of those with BPD are women. In whole, BPD is associated with difficulties in regulating emotion. What is emotion regulation? Emotion regulation is a complex combination of ways in which a person relates to and acts upon their emotional experiences. This may involve one’s ability to understand and accept their emotions, one’s ability to cope with uncomfortable emotions, and one’s ability to engage in appropriate behaviors when they’re distressed. Individuals who do not have difficulty with emotion regulation are able to – for example – remain calm even in a distressing situation, whereas someone with BPD may self-harm or engage in reckless behavior when upset. A 2015 study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri identified 4 main components to emotion dysregulation that those with BPD experience:

Traumatic events such as rape, domestic violence, natural disasters, severe illness or injury, the death of a loved one, witnessing an act of violence and more can have a lasting impact on one’s physical, mental, and/or emotional stability. Many people who experience trauma also struggle with guilt, denial, anger, sadness, and emotional outbursts. Physical effects of trauma may include paleness, lethargy, fatigue, poor concentration, racing heartbeat, hypertension and more, making compassion such a critical component of recovery. A 2017 study published in Behavior Therapy assessed the effectiveness of compassion-based interventions for individuals who experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At a 2 and 4-week follow up after the intervention, researchers found that the participants showed improvements in self-compassion and self-blame. Shame is often a major component of trauma, and having compassion-based therapy helped these individuals push past these damaging beliefs. What does a compassion-based intervention consist of? Compassion-based therapy aims to promote mental and emotional healing by encouraging individuals to be compassionate towards themselves and others. This form of therapy often integrates components of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of therapy that helps people overcome negative, unproductive thought patterns and develop newer, more positive and productive ones. Much of the way a person recovers from trauma is grounded in their perspective of the event, themselves, and others. A reputable treatment program that is grounded in customized treatment, compassion, and CBT can have a major positive influence on those who are struggling with the distressing symptoms of PTSD. How can I be more compassionate to myself in recovery?

Much research has shown that mental and physical health are linked; this is why your muscles may tense or you may experience a prolonged headache because you’re feeling stressed. A 2018 review of the literature published in Psychiatric Services denoted that mental illness, general medical comorbidity, and premature mortality are greatly affected by risk factors such as tobacco use, substance use, poor diet, and lack of physical activity. Thus, reputable treatment programs offer several effective components to addressing these concerns: medical and psychological interventions, nutrition assessment and management, and physical fitness exercises.

Imagine that everything has been going very well for you in recovery lately. You’ve met all of your goals that you’ve had set for yourself, and your therapist has commended you on your diligence in meeting those goals. You’ve been feeling great…but suddenly it all stops. You become a whirlwind of emotions one evening, and you feel all of this negative energy creeping in. Before you know it, you’ve relapsed, and you feel like it’s all gone terribly wrong. “How did this happen?” you may ask yourself. “Everything was going so well – where did it all go wrong, and where do I go from here?” Recovery is a lot like life. There are ups and downs and, at times, we may act in ways that contradict our values. This doesn’t mean that we have failed – it simply means that more reinforcement is needed, and/or we need a minor adjustment to our treatment regime. Perhaps something you’ve been working on in treatment hasn’t truly “sunk in” for you or you just don’t connect with it – that’s okay, as there are many treatment modalities for this very reason. If you’ve relapsed, you will want to work with your therapist to identify what led to this event. There are a number of triggers that could have affected you without you realizing it, such as:

If you’ve recently started a residential treatment program for an addiction and/or mental illness, you may have learned of the importance of social support to your success in recovery. Oftentimes this form of support comes from family and friends, while other times it comes from team leaders and peers within your program. Making friends in any place can be challenging at times, but connecting with others who are working to overcome their addiction or better manage the symptoms of mental illness can add another level of challenge to the mix. A 2017 study published in Health and Social Care in the Community noted several factors that impeded progress of residential treatment clients’ success in building social support with one another. We will review the reported challenges and provide you with ways to overcome them:

It is estimated that nearly 21.5 million Americans age 12 and older battle a substance use disorder each year; the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that men are more likely than women to use almost all types of illicit drugs. Studies have shown that men of just about any age are more likely to have higher rates of use and dependence on drugs, but women are just as likely to become addicted to drugs and may even be more susceptible to craving drugs. Although the rates of use and likelihood of addiction may vary between those two genders, what about addiction experiences? Well, it all depends on the person and the substance. For instance, women generally weigh less than men and have more fatty tissue. Fat retains alcohol while water dilutes it, making women more susceptible to experiencing bodily injury and faster absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream than men. Since alcohol dependence can develop quicker in women, organ injury such as liver disease and brain damage are more likely to occur.  Previous research conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has shown that women have death rates 50 to 100 percent higher than do men with alcohol use disorders, including death by suicide, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and more. Marijuana use has also been shown to act differently in women versus men. For example, studies have proven that marijuana impairs a woman’s spatial memory (information about one’s environment) more than a man’s. In previous studies conducted with female rats, it was found that females were more sensitive to the reward sensation achieved by marijuana, as well as pain-relieving and activity-altering effects by the drug. Thus, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main ingredient, can produce significantly different effects between men and women. Overall, women have been shown to be more sensitive to the effects of drugs, ranging from alcohol and marijuana to heroin and cocaine. Scientists believe that estrogen is the main reason why women are most sensitive to the effects of drugs. A 2014 study published in Current Psychiatry Reports found that menstrual cycles of women regulated their progesterone and estrogen, with drug use also impacting the levels of these hormones. The study highlights the importance of estrogen in a woman’s transition from recreational drug use towards addiction. Prior research has denoted the higher risks and dangers that women have with substance abuse, meaning that help should be sought sooner rather than later. If you’ve been struggling with an addiction, make the decision to seek help today. Recovery is possible, and there are many tools to help you take back control over your life.

Finding the right treatment program for you can be a daunting experience. With so many options and so much to consider, it may feel easy to simply select a program that’s the most convenient, affordable, or straight-forward. While all of these options provide some benefit, a key component of your decision-making should be focused on whether or not the treatment center works with you to develop a customized treatment program that will best suit your needs. As a 2015 study published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine emphasizes, personalized programs are an emerging paradigm since many people have experienced misdiagnoses, late and inadequate treatment that has required them to re-enter programs, and unsuccessful attempts to recover due to a lack of support in other areas of life such as employment and finance management. Perhaps you have been on the receiving end of one of those unfortunate cases. If you have, you’ve likely found that there was a component of your initial program that was missing – something that didn’t quite speak to what you needed. For a customized treatment program, the following must be taken into account:

Author Cathy Malchiodi, experienced professional of art therapy, expressive therapy, and counseling, stated in her book titled, “Expressive Therapies”, “Expressive therapies offer unique ways to enhance communication as well as fresh directions for therapeutic work for both the client and therapist…they have several specific characteristics not always found in strictly verbal therapies, including, but not limited to: 1) self-expression, 2) active participation, 3) imagination, and 4) mind-body connections.” If you’ve ever created something by painting, drawing, playing an instrument or something similar, you’ve taken part in a component of expressive therapy. However, expressive therapy is not simply doing one of these activities – it involves engaging in a creative activity to express oneself and learn more about oneself and others, typically through the direction of a therapist. Expressive therapies didn’t become popular until the 1930s and 1940s, when psychotherapists and artists learned that these modalities could help those with mental illness. According to the California Institute of Integral Studies, psychologists utilize expressive therapy to help promote clients with their self-awareness, emotional well-being, healing, and self-esteem. In therapy, you need not worry about the end result of your creative project. In fact, you most often will be asked to draw or create something that represents what you are going through. Your therapist will not be judging your artwork, and you will be able to engage in conversation about what your project means to you and how you view the situations that are occurring in your life. Consider expressive therapy as an extension of your feelings and thoughts. You may not know what you will create until you are the process of creating; expressive therapy has been shown to help people who have difficulty talking about the way they feel. A 2010 review published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association identified numerous studies that assessed expressive therapy and their correlated benefits for participants in each study. The results of these studies further confirmed that expressive therapy has been reported to help reduce stress, reduce cognitive distortions, enhance coping mechanisms, provide a safe place to explore feelings and grief, show positive change and growth, improve behavioral functioning and mood, and more. Speak with a representative at a reputable treatment center today to learn more about how expressive therapy could be of benefit to your recovery.