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The year of 2016 marks a significant shift in regards to how addiction and substance-based treatment are viewed. With the recent passing of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) through the Senate, the conversation on addressing addictive disorders has taken a distinct turn towards action and compromise. However, multiple government officials declare the new act lacks financial support and the use of specific treatments in the field remains contested.

The Gottman Method, developed by Dr. John Gottman and his wife, Julie Gottman, is a form of couple’s therapy that draws on building the elements that make a relationship last. The Gottman’s spent 40 years exploring these elements, regarding all types of couples, no matter which phase of life they are in. One major insight to this method is that negative emotions like defensiveness and contempt have more power to hurt a relationship than positive emotions can help a relationship. In a 2016 Business Insider article written by associate editor Rachel Gillett, it seems the most successful couples take elements from the Gottman Method. Psychology Today notes that the method focuses on helping couples develop understanding and other skills so that each partner can maintain fondness and admiration of the other. The Gottman Method teaches people to lean on each other to get their needs met – especially in times of need, to manage conflict together, help each other when they make mistakes, and to follow their dreams. The Gottman Institute notes seven crucial principles that are typically shaped and customized to fit each couple’s patterns and challenges:

The World Wide Web is an irreplaceable resource in the modern age, but it can also be an added source of unrest. This dichotomy especially applies to individuals undergoing recovery. Although online forums and psychoeducational texts can be accessed instantly through computers and cellphones, the Internet itself can easily become an additional, addictive element in people’s lives.

When the US Drug Enforcement Administration released a public safety report related to numerous opioid-related deaths in Sacramento California in April of 2016 they linked the “powerful synthetic opioid” Fentanyl to many of the overdoses. DEA described Fentanyl as “an odorless substance considered to be 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin, and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine,” adding that “Fentanyl is potentially lethal, even at very low levels.” Forbes contributor on health, medicine, psychology and neuroscience, Alice G. Watson, fleshed out why Fentanyl has become an unfortunate opioid addiction game changer in her article “Why Fentanyl is So Much More Deadly Than Heroin.” Watson’s article first sets forth the fact that Fentanyl functions exactly like other opioids in that it crosses the blood-brain barrier to bind with specific receptors, called µ opioid receptors, in the brain. But she lays out three reasons Fentanyl use is increasing the dangers in an already challenging field of addiction: 1) Fentanyl reaches µ opioid receptors more rapidly than other opiates. 2) A much smaller dosage—micrograms as opposed to milligrams—of the drug is needed to produce the same effect as other opiates. 3) The illegal drug trade, with the chaotic mixing and misrepresentation of what goes into street drugs, does not take these first two points into account. More addicts are being rapidly created, and grave harm is accumulating to them quickly. The effects of Fentanyl that accompany the intense euphoric high are sedation, vomiting, analgesia, and respiratory depression. Since opiate deaths are caused by respiratory arrest, a street trade incorporating Fentanyl in unregulated doses is very precarious. Media images of parents unresponsive in their car while children in the back seat try to wake them are harrowing testimonies to this. Dealers can buy Fentanyl from China through Mexico, and while some mix it with heroin and sell it to unsuspecting heroin users, some are pressing it into pill form and selling it as if it were something else entirely, such as the hydrocodone and acetaminophen mix called Norco. One target to combat our nation’s opioid epidemic is to look at prescribing practices of physicians. But another area to explore is the field of addiction treatment and recovery. As we gain understanding of opioid addiction causes, and the facets of healing needed to bring people back to functional living, the message of hope can become louder than the voice of the street dealer whose pills promise relief but may bring death.

An intimate relationship is a constant interplay of fulfillment and responsibility. Both members of a romantic bond must be able to contribute to the relationship and each other. When substance use is added into the equation, this exchange can quickly become unbalanced. As a relationship with drugs or alcohol begins to invade a person’s priorities, interpersonal relations are undoubtedly strained. What experts say In her 2004 essay, “Disorders of desire: addiction and problems of intimacy,” Helen Keane, Ph.D., proposed that to better understand how addictive disorders relate to interpersonal instability, people need to view problematic substance use in different light. Keane explained, “It is not the objects of addiction that determine the condition, but a particularly intense and rigid relationship between the addict and her substance or activity of choice.” In his 2013 article entitled, “When Substance Abuse and Intimacy Issues Are Linked,” Robert Weiss, LCSW, recounted relying on his experience in the field due a lack of research on addiction and intimacy. From his years of seeing patients, Weiss has noticed the undeniable prevalence of co-occurrence between substance and relationship-based problems. In further, he recommended that treatment providers address these comorbid conditions simultaneously to ensure the best recovery outcomes. According to Psychiatrist David Sack, M.D., an addict’s significant other cannot magically solve dependency issues, but he or she can ignite the desire to change. Sack stated, “You don’t have control over the addict, but you do have influence. It is often an intervention, an ultimatum or a refusal to enable that leads addicts to take the first step into recovery.” Warning signs of a loved one dealing with addiction William Fals-Stewart, Ph.D., of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) outlined the warning signs of addiction within a relationship:

Recovering from an addiction, whether it be substance or drug addiction, can be scary. When we take the courageous leap towards recovery, the future may seem unpredictable, and we may feel very vulnerable. One major fear of many who enter recovery is relapsing. Relapse is defined as the recurrence of a condition that was previously overcome. Relapses are a quite normal part of recovery, and do not mean that the person has failed. However, relapse prevention therapy is often used to help decrease the chances of a person relapsing. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, relapse prevention therapy (RPT) is based on cognitive-behavioral principles and seeks to address the problem of relapse through the development of self-control strategies.  Here are several aspects of RPT:

Although the industry of addiction treatment and recovery has made progressive leaps and bounds over the past few decades, the field still faces a large hurdle of outdated ideologies that prevent innovative and evidence-based practices from being implemented. This restrictive force is known as stigma, and it is continually strengthened by how everyday people are presented information about substance abuse and dependency. The major culprits of misinformation include the Internet, television, and other sources of media.

According to NBC News, approximately 1 in 5 young Americans suffers from a personality disorder. Personality disorders are often characterized by rigid and unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behaving. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, bipolar personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder are just a few disorders that many have heard of. Understanding the diverse types of personality disorders and getting an official diagnosis from a licensed health professional is the best way to determine if you suffer from borderline personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by the following:

Taking action against addiction is best accomplished by having a sense of structure to rely on. Although treatment professionals and providers typically build a foundation with their patients, some people may need an extra level of support. The hardiness model of resilience proposes three factors that create a strong and sturdy self: commitment, control, and challenge. Each characteristic is important to have in day-to-day life, but all are particularly powerful throughout the recovery process. Established by Salvatore R. Maddi, Ph.D., the concept of hardiness was developed from a landmark study on Illinois Bell Telephone (IBT) staff. After comparing the wellness of 400 employees before, during, and after a massive company restructuring, Maddi and his research team noticed a significant subset of employees that reacted positively to the change. As a result of further analysis, Maddi identified a trio of personality traits that contributed to this resilience:

A person’s teenage years are a primetime of potential influences. A supportive teacher can inspire students to achieve their dreams. Participating in a sport or extracurricular program can foster a needed sense of teamwork. A life-changing experience could occur at any moment. Unfortunately, this significant situation could be the invitation to experiment with drinking or using drugs.

Although more treatment providers and health care organizations have begun to view addiction as a chronic and progressive disorder, many admitted patients leave early after the detoxification process. In order to match theory with practice, two modern studies have demonstrated that continued treatment after detox is correlated with more successful recoveries.

When addictions become too severe and ingrained within people’s lives, professionals often have to wean patients off their dependencies through the use of clinical medication. A number of different treatments are utilized depending on the type of substance use disorder. While some like Suboxone have been criticized for their regulation and potential for abuse, others like naloxone have saved countless lives from overdose.