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Many people who have recently completed long-term, residential treatment programs are unsure of what step they should take next. The right treatment center should provide after-care support to help them decide what plan will best suit their needs, and some may choose to enter a sober living home. Sober living homes are living environments for individuals who want to abstain from alcohol and drugs. Many who seek out sober living homes have been in treatment, but you can also enter one without having recently exited a residential treatment facility. Sober living homes are not housed by the government, and individuals who live there must pay costs just like others in apartments and homes. A 2010 study conducted by researchers from California found that individuals who lived in sober living homes found 12-step meetings and social support to boost their motivation of abstinence within the community. Sober living communities provide an adequate transition for those looking to gain more independence in their sobriety. Often, sober living homes are located in an area that doesn’t promote addictive behaviors or triggers that could lead towards them. With sober living homes, most residents share a sort of “dorm room” with another resident and they have a “house manager”, someone whom they can reach out to should they need any assistance. The sober living home may also offer an opportunity to live in a less restrictive form of housing, such as sharing a house with a roommate. The following are expectations that most sober living homes expect residents to uphold:

Break-ups and divorce can be challenging, especially if you or the other person are still at odds or have some emotional attachments left. While some people break ties, and go their separate ways, others are choosing to remain friends. The reasons for this could vary; some may hold a connection of friendship even if the romantic interest isn’t there – others may hold on because of comfortability, yet others may choose to remain friends for their own benefits. Recent studies are showing that your reasoning behind staying friends with an ex-partner could show signs of psychopathy, and here’s why: A new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences states that staying friends after splitting isn’t a sign of maturity, but rather a sign of psychopathy. First, what is psychopathy? Psychology Today notes that being uncaring or un-empathetic, irresponsible, showing “superficial charm” or outright lying, possessing a “grandiose sense of self-worth”, narrowing of attention, selfishness, inability to plan, and violence are a few key characteristics of psychopathy. The study that was described by Independent, a UK-based news source, found that participants who remained friends with their exes displayed darker personality traits like psychopathy. Many exes are emotionally less supportive, less helpful, less trusting, and less concerned about the other person’s happiness, making their only motivation for selfishness. The results found that individuals may keep their ex around for sex, money, or information, and some individuals exerted “false charm” in order to keep the ex around to continue reaping benefits from them. The article from Independent notes that although many of us exhibit characteristics of selfishness, those with psychopathy are un-empathetic, which is a key difference that makes them lean more towards the mental illness. Does this mean that if you remain friends with your ex, you are a “psychopath”? Absolutely not. Everybody has their own reasons for remaining friends with someone from their past, and you very well may have the best intentions. After all, it’s the intentions that truly underline mental illness and if you can feel empathy for them and do not maintain the friendship for purely selfish reasons, you likely are not experiencing psychopathy. If you are, seeking treatment for this could be very beneficial because you can develop the tools you need to understand your motivations behind this.

Hydrocodone is an opioid medication prescribed to help people manage their pain. Used for short or long term purposes, hydrocodone may also be prescribed to treat other conditions such as chronic cough, pain from cancer, and arthritis. Other brand names that may be marketed as hydrocodone are: Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, Xodol, Zydone, Maxidone, Zamicet, and more. Hydrocodone is classified as a schedule II drug, meaning that it can be highly misused. If you have recently been prescribed hydrocodone, make sure that you have spoken with your doctor regarding proper doses and any symptoms that may be of concern. The United States National Library of Medicine states that hydrocodone is a semisynthetic derivative of codeine or thebaine, alkaloids that are derived from poppy seeds. Hydrocodone is one of the most commonly prescribed medications in healthcare facilities. By attaching to opioid receptors in the brain, hydrocodone reduces pain and creates feelings of euphoria. Side effects of hydrocodone often include anxiety, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, dry mouth, and ringing in the ears. Extended or prolonged abuse of hydrocodone can be very dangerous, with serious side effects including bowel obstruction, breathing problems, slowed or irregular heartbeat, severe allergic reaction, trouble urinating, vomiting, and more. Dependency is also a risk factor with hydrocodone, as taking more than prescribed and for longer periods of time can cause the body to become reliant on the medication to feel calm, relaxed, and for feelings of happiness to arise. Mixing hydrocodone with other medications/drugs such as Percocet, can be highly dangerous. Always speak with a doctor before mixing any medications, even if they are “all-natural” supplements. Hydrocodone can be easily misused, so always make sure that you keep close contact with your healthcare team to ensure you don’t become dependent or addicted on the medication.

Whether you’re holding onto your current job for the salary, the comfortability, the location, the position title, or a different reason, the motivating factor behind your position is an important one. How you feel about your job and what propels you to continue working each day gives you some meaning to your life – it’s what we often talk about when we first meet someone, because we spend so much time at work that it, in part, reflects a little bit about who we are and what we’re about. If you are holding onto your job for the wrong reasons, this could be very detrimental to your health. Forbes Magazine states that 20% to 40% of people report hating their job – an alarming statistic, to say the least. Staying in a job that you don’t like raises many concerns, including:

No matter your circumstance, it’s always important to consistently challenge and improve yourself. Recovery is a wonderful time to focus on this, as therapy can provide the tools and support that you need. Forbes Magazine has provided several wonderful ways that you can become a better version of yourself:

Contributor Merylee Sevilla shared her experience with cutting family ties on Elite Daily: “I broke up with my parents and most of my family when I came out as gay. Growing up, I spent years and years unknowingly sacrificing my happiness and my mental and emotional health in the name of family. I believe I had to do anything and everything for them. And that’s because most of us have been trained to believe that turning our backs on family – no matter how bad or abusive they are – is reprehensible. But, that belief is severely flawed.” The idea of family is one that leads us to believe in connection, closeness, respectfulness, people whom we can depend on and trust, and more. If you have family relationships that are based on these premises, you likely have a good support system. While most of us try to uphold these critical components of a relationship, we cannot control the way our family treats us. Some of us may believe that holding onto family no matter what is best, but this is not always the case. A toxic family member can cause danger to our overall sense of well-being, safety, and recovery. There are several cases you should consider for terminating a family member from your life:

According to Psychology Today, gestalt therapy is “a client-centered approach to psychotherapy that helps clients focus on the present and understand what is really happening in their lives right now, rather than what they may perceive to be happening based on past experience.” With gestalt therapy, clients are asked to re-enact or re-experience them rather than simply talk about them in therapy. Therapists who use this form of therapy try to increase their clients’ awareness and expect them to use their own seeing, feeling, sensing, and interpreting through their experiences. The therapist emphasizes self-actualization, and self-respect, self-motivation, and self-growth can be added dimensions to the treatment. Gestalt therapy is process-oriented and client-centered, meaning that all focus is on supporting the client in realizing, learning, growing, making decisions, and more. Gestalt therapy helps to treat depression, anxiety, self-esteem, relationship issues, migraine headaches, back spasms, and more. Science Direct notes that gestalt therapy is holistic and experiential, and allows for increased choice and flexibility in every aspect of daily life. If you participate in gestalt therapy, your therapist may say:

Over time, we have developed different methods for treating mental illnesses, and this helped so many people because each person has a unique way of learning, of coping, and of expressing themselves. Psychodrama therapy has been known to help people improve their relationships and communication skills, overcome grief and loss, restore confidence and well-being, enhancing learning and life skills, and more. Psychodrama therapy can assist in a variety of issues, such as eating disorders, autism, trauma, addiction, attachment concerns, and more. Psychodrama therapy can assist people with anxiety by increasing their spontaneity – the more a person can act out distinct roles and take on different approaches, the more they can reduce their anxiety levels. However, because spontaneity and anxiety are opposing forces, the less spontaneity used, the higher the anxiety levels can rise. How does psychodrama therapy work? According to the American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama, psychodrama “employs guided dramatic action to examine problems or issues raised by an individual or a group. It clarifies issues, increases physical and emotional wellbeing, enhances learning and developing new skills.” There are 5 basic elements of psychodrama: 1) the protagonist, which is the person selected to represent the “theme”, 2) the auxiliary egos, which are group members who take on the roles of significant individuals from the event, 3) the audience, which are group members who witness the drama, 4) the stage, which is the physical space in which the drama takes place, and 5) the director, which is the psycho-dramatist who guides participants throughout the phases of the drama. A 2016 study conducted by a researcher in Italy examine the benefits of psychodrama therapy on students with mathematics anxiety, and found that it significantly decreased their anxiety surrounding the subject. Participants took part in 10 group sessions each of 90 minutes that were held weekly over a period of 3 months. Psychodrama proved beneficial in helping the students with elevated levels of anxiety before taking a test, assistance with their memory, improved self-esteem and motivation to learn mathematics. Psychodrama doesn’t just help students, however. Studies have shown that psychodrama therapy can help adults with anxiety surrounding a situation because it allows them to act out scenarios or replay a situation that once caused them distress. In doing this, they can better express themselves and understand the situation from others’ point of view.

Addiction takes a toll on everyone, but teens are at increased risk. The long-term damages of addiction are widely known – significant anxiety, confusion, insomnia, mood disturbances, violent behavior, memory loss, learning deficiencies, hallucinations, and more, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Researchers have compared the brain’s reward response system in adult and teen rats, and may have pinpointed some differences for what places teens at higher risk. As adolescents are growing, so are their brains. As researcher Bita Moghaddam of the University of Pittsburgh, stated, “The brain region that is very critical in planning your actions and in habit formation is directly tapped by reward in adolescents, which means the reward could have a stronger influence in their decision making, in what they do next, as well as forming habits in adolescents.” Teens often exhibit risk-taking and impulsive behaviors, which is often in part because their brains are developing and thus placed at higher risk for making decisions that could lead toward addiction. Studies have also shown that adolescents are more susceptible to stress, mental illness, and addiction than adults, because they are still developing their decision-making and reasoning skills. The nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain that react with “happy” reward chemicals when doing things that ensure our survival such as eating, is even more reactive in adolescent brains as they form habits and learn that doing certain things produces more pleasure. If gone awry, this could include drugs, sex, and/or alcohol. To prevent adolescents from reaching addiction, we must make sure that as a community, we are educating and reinforcing messages against it. Reminding our youth of the dangerous consequences via academic resources and subjective experiences can help teens understand the true implications that addiction has. Secondly, referring our teens to help and other resources such as counseling can be beneficial in helping them work through something rather than lean towards addiction to cope. Lastly, serving as an example is one of the best ways to show teens both what it looks like to recover and to achieve sobriety.

Seeking treatment can be challenging, whether you have an addiction or a mental illness. Identifying the right time to seek treatment, along with recognizing the symptoms and overcoming the fear of stigma within healthcare can all be enough to stop someone from seeking help. By avoiding treatment, we are placing ourselves at risk for worsening our symptoms and never developing the tools that we need to overcome and manage them. One population that’s experiencing trouble with seeking help are Asian Americans, regarding eating disorders specifically. A preliminary analysis conducted by researchers at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), involved an online survey of Asian Americans from late 2014 to early 2015 about eating disorders and other body image concerns. The study involved analyses of 212 participants, with approximately 77% of whom were female and an average age of 25. The study’s findings showed that:

There are a variety of methods used to treat depression, including cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic therapy – medication in addition to one or more of these forms of therapy can also be beneficial. Science has shown that an alternate form of therapy involving magnets has been shown to protect individuals from the symptoms of depression. According to the Scientific American, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) isn’t a new form of therapy, but it does prove a viable option for defense against this mental illness. The U.S. News states that this is a form of brain stimulation therapy, which involves activating or inhibiting the brain directly with electricity. With TMS, a small electromagnetic coil is placed against a person’s head at a certain location, most often the left frontal cortex of the brain because that is shown to be less active in people with depression. There are two types of TMS: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). With rTMS, a wand is attached by cable to a wall outlet and the magnetic field travels through the hair, skin, and skull. Dr. Joan A. Camprodon, director of neuropsychiatry and neuromodulation at Harvard Medical School, told U.S. News in an interview, “The brain’s neurons act as a pickup coil and turn the field back into electricity, which forces the neurons to fire.” With tDCS, two wires with electrodes extend from the smartphone-sized device containing a 9-volt battery to the head. While both methods deliver electricity, each do it in a unique way. Harvard Medical School states that TMS is for people who have tried standard treatment methods and they haven’t worked. They do not suggest TMS for people with mild depression or newly diagnosed moderate/severe depression. No anesthesia is needed for this form of treatment. In a study that involved 301 men and women who did not respond to up to 4 antidepressants, 1 in 7 participants who underwent TMS got relief from their depression by the 6th week, compared to 1 in 20 who underwent what looked like TMS but didn’t wasn’t. With many different forms of treatment available, you must find what works best for you. If you haven’t sought out treatment yet, speak to someone today. By seeking help, you can determine what helps your depression the most and you can be on your way to a happier, healthier way of living.

Most of us experience negative script in our head; “I wish my arms were thinner” or “I don’t like my nose”. For some of us, these critical comments float right on by, and we give them no further importance or attention. For others, we cling onto these thoughts and soon enough, they grow into our self-esteem, our self-perception, and our overall self-image. Psych Central claims that 80% of women in the United States are dissatisfied with their appearance, and more than 10 million are experiencing eating disorders. Our negative self-talk can be detrimental to our mental, physical, and spiritual health, and here’s why: Body hate can hold you back from attending events, can consume your thoughts to the point of no longer enjoying the present moment, and can damage critical aspects of your relationships with others, such as intimacy with your significant other. If you are experiencing body hate, ask yourself these questions: