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Recovery is a time to focus on your self-care and well-being, but that doesn’t mean that you must neglect your significant other and/or family. While it’s best for people to take some much-needed time to focus on themselves, the health of your romantic relationship depends on whether your partner is supportive of your recovery, if they are focused on their health and well-being too, if they are a great partner to you, and more. Some people find that their romantic partner isn’t the best fit for them when they’re in recovery, mainly because they aren’t supportive or because they pose a risk to the person’s mental and/or physical health. If you want to maintain a healthy relationship with your significant other while you’re focused on your recovery, there are a several things that will need to take place:

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have been clinically shown to have four major overlapping symptoms: restlessness, loss of energy or feeling fatigued much of the day, difficulty concentrating, and sleep disturbances of insomnia. Rumination can be another experience associated with either disorder and has been defined in previous studies as “a negative, repetitive style of thinking about present and past symptoms, loss, and failure.” When we ruminate, we tend to dwell not only on events that we can’t change, but also on the “negative” aspects of our lives. While rumination is dangerous for anyone, it can be especially dangerous for those with MDD and/or GAD due to the other symptoms experienced. A 2015 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology sought to the effects of rumination on those with either or both disorders. The research study involved 145 participants, 38 of whom were diagnosed with MDD but not GAD, 36 of whom were diagnosed with GAD but not MDD, a dual-diagnosis group which consists of 38 individuals who were diagnosed with both MDD and GAD, and 33 individuals with no diagnosis to serve as a controlled group. Participants completed interviews and also wore an electronic device that would produce signals throughout the day; individuals were asked to record their thoughts and whether they were “positive” or “negative” each time the device signaled them to. Results from the study showed the greater rumination predicted more symptoms of those experienced with MDD or GAD; it also predicted greater levels of social withdrawal, inactivity, and behavioral avoidance. This makes sense, because during those times that we engage in rumination, we’re so hyper-focused on what our lives our lacking – why would we want to participate in life more? Participants with either MDD or GAD experienced difficulty in engaging in motivated activity when they were ruminating. Overall, the study’s results show that rumination can cause a lot of damage. Why? Because it can take us away from the present moment, it can exacerbate the symptoms of a mental illness, and it can cause us to hold back on what is supposed to make life more enjoyable. Speak with your therapist about ruminating if it’s something that you struggle with. Identify tools to overcome it. It is possible to change your thinking patterns – cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common therapy tool for this.

A ropes course is an outdoor activity designed to assist clients in overcoming their fears, learn to develop trust with people in their program, and identify new strategies towards finding success in their recovery. Different ropes courses may involve team effort, while others may require a person to gain personal strength as they embark on an endeavor on their own. Individuals who are scared of heights may find the ropes course particularly challenging but utilizing coping skills in these moments of fear can help a person to become stronger both physically and mentally. A 2015 study titled “Learning Goals and the Challenge Course Experience: An Explanatory Study” involved the participation of 375 individuals who were divided into 16 different groups and led to complete various high and low ropes courses. Several skills, benefits, and outcomes were associated with the varying ropes courses:

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out daily responsibilities. If you have been diagnosed with BD, you may experience mania and/or depression, depending on the type of BD you have. Mania is often characterized as having heightened energy, feelings of elatedness, a sense of grandeur and more. Depressive episodes involve extreme fatigue, a sense of hopeless, sadness, and even suicidal ideation. While many people may address the challenges that are associated with BD, there are aspects of this disorder to celebrate: creativity! BD has long been linked to creativity, but it’s been relatively unknown how this sense of creativity positively impacts those with the disorder. Some past research has taught us that those with BD to a lesser extent have been shown to be more creative than those with severe cases of BD, but many people with the disorder tend to take on creative careers such as those in filmmaking, visual artistry, performing, writing, designing and more. A 2015 study published in Qualitative Health Research conducted focus groups with creative participants who were diagnosed with BD. During the focus groups, the researchers asked several questions, including:

Racing thoughts, dizziness, increased heart rate, excessive worry and other symptoms of anxiety don’t just affect people at home; anxiety can affect nearly every aspect of a person’s life. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), 72% of people who have daily stress and anxiety state that it interferes with their lives at least moderately, with approximately 56% saying their anxiety most often impacts their work performance. Work-related anxiety may be caused by a demanding boss, a toxic workplace environment, heavy deadlines, or something else. No matter the cause, anxiety can certainly cause people to not only become less productive at work but can cause them to despise showing up for work altogether. A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health emphasized that employees with anxiety experience lower employment rates, long-term unemployment, increased risk of exposure to inequalities at work such as lower salaries or discrimination, decreased participation, increased absenteeism, and more compared to those without anxiety. If you have experienced these outcomes of work-related anxiety, it’s important that you seek help today. What are some ways that you can better manage your anxiety at work? There are a few things that you can do to potentially help your work situation:

If you’ve been struggling with a mental illness, you may not consider yourself to be happy at times. Dealing with the symptoms of a mental illness can be challenging and can even take away some of the things you used to love about life, causing disconnection and further distress. One hopeful outcome of treatment is that you will become much happier as you regain control back over your life. It may take some time for you to feel comfortable utilizing the skills you’re learning in treatment, but there are some activities that you can start doing today to boost your happiness in recovery. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology sought to explore diverse types of positive activities and how they can benefit a person’s well-being and overall recovery. Positive activities were defined as acts that promote well-being and protect a person from mental health conditions. Activities listed in the study were: thinking gratefully, acting pro-socially, thinking optimistically, savoring positive experiences, doing kind acts for others, counting one’s blessings, using one’s strengths in new ways, affirming one’s most important values, meditating on positive feelings towards oneself and others, visualizing one’s best possible self, and more. The study emphasized that these positive activities can easily become reflective in many areas of life; for example, building on one’s strengths and doing kind things for others could lead a person to take on new opportunities they wouldn’t have before, or may lead them to a new friendship they otherwise wouldn’t have been led to. As individuals build compassion and love for themselves and others through positive activities, they improve their well-being and chances for success in recovery. If you are currently in recovery, consider the activities mentioned above and reflect on these questions:

Imagine this: You’ve been in recovery for about a month, and you’re feeling great. You’ve been working hard in individual and group therapy, and you finally feel as though your life is back on track. You think to yourself, “Finally, everything is just as it should be. I’m on TOP of the world!” Recovery consists of highs and lows – much like life – and when things are going well, it can be an amazing feeling. While you should embrace and appreciate these moments, you don’t want to allow yourself to feel invincible. Over-confidence can be just as much as predictor of relapse as feelings of helplessness can; just because everything seems to be going right, doesn’t mean your work in recovery is over. A 2016 study published in Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Policy, involved interviews of 36 participants regarding their history of drug use and rehabilitation, their self-evaluation of addiction, their motivations to abstain, their plans for the future and their attitudes towards rehabilitation. The researchers found that over-confident participants under-estimated their levels of addiction, over-estimated their self-control, and held external motivations and attributions. What does this mean for you? See if you can recognize these statements:

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is “a disorder that develops in some people who have experiencing a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.” It’s very natural to feel afraid during a traumatic event, but some people carry those feelings over time, manifesting in the form of nightmares or unwanted memories, avoidance of situations that bring back memories of the trauma, anxiety, paranoia, agitation, depression, and more. Nearly 5.2 million people are estimated to experience PTSD in a given year. While symptoms of PTSD can affect work, school, and home life, they can worsen if adequate sleep is lost.

Sedatives have been widely prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety, pain, insomnia, and panic attacks. They are central nervous system depressants, meaning they slow normal brain function by affecting the neurotransmitter GABA – responsible for reducing neuronal excitability. Sedatives such as benzodiazepines and barbiturates have become more controlled due to their potential for abuse or misuse, but even those with prescriptions are at risk. Those who use sedatives recreationally often do so alongside mixtures of other substances, increasing their chances for dangerous side effects. Prescription medications can easily become abused if a patient is not closely monitoring how often, how much, or how long they are supposed to be taking the drug. A 2015 study conducted by researchers from Texas and published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine noted self-medication as a major cause of sedative abuse; for those with anxiety, increases in emotional stress can lead to increased vulnerability towards anxiety, causing a person to attempt to self-medicate. Examples of emotional stress include:

Recovery can be challenging because it involves building a new lifestyle for a better future. If you’ve recently begun a treatment program, you may feel apprehensive about your capabilities; many people who begin recovery have identified with a label – “addict”, for example – that holds them back from their true potential. Motivational enhancement therapy (MET), may help you discover the self-confidence that you need to push through the barriers that addiction tries to enforce on you. MET is designed to help people find new labels of their lives – ones that incorporate happiness, health, recovery, and much more. In the first session, your therapist will conduct an initial assessment to learn more about your history with substance abuse and your thoughts on recovery. Your therapist may work with you to come up with an action plan, as well as discuss with you some useful coping strategies that could help you in times of need. MET therapists are trained to listen to you rather than tell you what to do – this places the decision-making process in your hands. Your therapist won’t argue with you regarding any thoughts or decisions you plan to make about recovery; rather, they will explore with you all of the possibilities that you could take and help you make an informed decision. Ambivalence is completely normal when considering a major change. Often a key method for deciding if treatment would be best is to conduct a cost/benefit analysis; talk to your therapist about the benefits of attending treatment and what it could do for your life, as well as some potential challenges you may run into and some hesitancies you are having. On some occasions, addressing these issues may allow you to reconsider if the risks are all that bad – or more, what you may do in situations where these risks arise. If you’re unsure of whether treatment is the best option with you, schedule an appointment with a professional at a reputable treatment center. Get more information and speak with a therapist regarding your thoughts. Sometimes all it takes is talking to another person out loud so that you can process everything in front of someone who truly cares about your happiness and health.

If you have anxiety, you’ve probably noticed at one point or another your heartbeat escalating, your thoughts racing, and feelings of nausea, fatigue, dizziness, etc. Anxiety is caused by worry, nervousness, or unease typically surrounding an event or something with an unpredictable outcome. Thankfully, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help many people with anxiety; in fact, it’s one of the most effective, widely-used therapies for this issue. If you’re ready to incorporate CBT into your daily life, begin taking control over your anxiety by following these steps: Step 1: Begin taking note of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations in a log. Get a journal and write down every instance that you feel anxiety. What are your thoughts at the time? What situation is this regarding? Did someone say or do something to make you feel this way? How would you describe your feelings? What physical sensations are you feeling (ex. sweaty palms, heart racing, etc.)? Lastly, how did your anxiety influence the situation/interaction? For example – did it cause you to leave an event early? Not go at all? Taking inventory of these can help you become an investigator of your own reactions. Step 2: Recognize patterns that are coming from these notes. Is there a certain time of day you experience anxiety the most? What about a specific person or place that tends to lead you to a lot of anxiety? Highlight commonalities between your experiences – with assorted colors if that makes it easier for you. Step 3: Do a cost-benefit analysis. As you review the notes you’ve taken so far, write another list that weights out the benefits and the consequences to having this anxiety. For example, how has having anxiety helped you? In what situations has it caused more pain or discomfort, when it didn’t really need to? This is your change to get an understanding for how anxiety is affecting your life. Step 4: Create alternative ways to react. What can you think to yourself that will make you more at ease, more confident, and less worried? For example, if you’re nervous about going to a work gathering, write the following thought: “The gathering will go well, and I’m excited to get to know other people.” Even if you don’t necessarily feel that way, stick with these positive thoughts. Step 5: Practice daily, no matter how you’re feeling. This is a great start to CBT – towards changing your thought processes towards something more positive and productive. Practice this every day, no matter how you’re feeling.

The opioid epidemic has led to opioid drug overdose as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Opioids are chemically related and interact with opioid receptors in the brain, sending signals to block pain, slow breathing, and provide a calming effect. For those in opiate addiction recovery, withdrawal symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, depression, drug cravings, and more. Many people who become dependent on these drugs do so in an attempt to further medicate themselves of chronic pain they are experiencing; unfortunately, as their body becomes used to the dosage, it begins to require more and more in order for the individual to achieve the desired effect. As a person recovers from opiate addiction, that pain may become more pronounced as their body begins to feel again. A 2015 study published in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork sought to find out if Swedish massage could assist in reducing the pain experienced by opioid-dependent patients. Massage therapy has been shown in previous research studies to not only significantly reduce pain levels, but to also enhance relaxation, sleep, emotions, recovery, and the overall healing process. Eighty participants were chosen for a randomized treatment program, to receive either treatment as usual or to engage in Swedish massage therapy for 12 weeks, with each session lasting approximately 50 minutes. Participants from the study reported their chronic pain as an outcome of a car/motorcycle accident, a sports injury, a work-related injury, a fall/accident, partner abuse, a medical condition, pregnancy, or an unknown cause. All participants had tried various remedies for treating their chronic pain. Overall, the researchers found that those in the massage group reported significant improvements regarding their pain. If you’ve been struggling with opiate addiction, speak with a professional from a reputable treatment center today to learn of how massage therapy can be incorporated into your treatment.