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Unless you are familiar with depression and other mental health conditions, it is hard to know when it is happening to someone close to you. Taking their actions and behaviors personally can cause a giant rift in your relationship as you become resentful toward them. Do any of these behaviors sound familiar? Your loved one might be struggling with depression.

Early recovery is the first six months to a year of sobriety, or recovery from any mental health condition. During these months, overcoming triggers is the most difficult. As you navigate the choppy waters, keep these things in mind. It’s True, Alcohol Is Everywhere And That’s Hard At some point of your life, alcohol wasn’t part of your life. Though you might have been young, you did live without alcohol for many years. It wasn’t until you learned what alcohol was, how alcohol affects you, and had the experience of consuming alcohol, that things changed. Early sobriety can feel like you’re running through a tactical maze, trying to survive every hurdle, distraction, and attack that comes your way. Remember, you’re making an important choice every day not to consume alcohol because you’ve learned it can be life threatening for you. Recovery Has To Be Your Priority “It’s a selfish program” you often hear about recovery. Recovering from drug addiction and alcoholism is incredibly self-centered. More than ever before, you have to care about yourself above everyone else because your life depends on it. Conflictingly, alcoholism and addiction are often described as selfish diseases of self-centeredness. Here’s the trick to differentiating the two: before you were focused on destroying yourself. Today, you’re focused on helping yourself heal and live. You Still Have To Accept The Things You Cannot Change The changes you experience in early recovery feel miraculous. Cravings, the longstanding chemical reactions which used to disrupt your life over and over again, are gone. Things which used to disturb you no longer do. You have a clarity you haven’t felt in years. It can be easy to start thinking you’re some kind of superhero. If you can be changed, then everyone else can,too. If everyone could change the way that you have, the world would be a better place. Your path to recovery and personal growth was personal and unique. The world will move at the pace it is supposed to. Unfortunately, despite your growing wisdom, that isn’t up to you. Continue Being Honest Honesty is what got you to treatment. You had to be honest with yourself about your problem with drugs and alcohol and how your life had been taken out of your control. The honesty doesn’t stop there. Bringing honesty into every area of your life helps you to maintain manageability. Lies can spread quickly because the brain is programmed to attract negativity. Keep working on growing that positivity magnet inside your head. Avalon Malibu is a certified dual diagnosis treatment center providing primary residential care for both substance use and mental health disorders. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 (888) 958-7511 today.

Nighttime can feel like the witching hour when you are in recovery or treatment to recover from a mental health condition or a substance use disorder. Day time is manageable. For whatever reason, as long as the sun is shining, the reality of your fears doesn’t seem to bad. There is plenty to do, plenty of people to interact with. The world is bustling and busy which keeps you churning at the wheel. When night falls, things become silent and still. Being in early recovery makes silence and stillness two very uncomfortable experiences. People start going to sleep, the world starts slowing down, and we are left feeling very anxious. Many people use a sleeping medication short term when they are in treatment to cope with the nighttime anxiety and difficulty sleeping. Part of the anxiety which comes at night could be caused by sleep problems. Fearing a restlessness, sleepless night over and over again is enough to cause anyone anxiety. Insomnia and Anxiety Disorders Bustle writes that “between 24 and 36 percent of all insomniacs suffer from anxiety disorders, according to studies.” What results is a pattern called sleep-anxiety which, after a long day of coping with anxious thoughts and feelings, sounds exhausting. Dealing with sleep-anxiety can employ the regular everyday sleepy time routines to help the brain wind down and prepare for rest. Anxiety makes a cup of chamomile and lavender eye pillow a little less effective. The article cites a few different practices you can utilize which are science backed to reduce sleep-anxiety specifically. For example, aromatherapy is scientifically proven to help with sleep. Rather than have sleepiness attached to a novelty product, even tea, aromatherapy helps change the air. Even if you’re not breathing mindfully, if you’re trying to sleep, you’re still breathing! Aromatherapy helps get calming essential oils into your every breath, wafting into your nose and bringing tranquility to the brain. Clocks, they emphasize, need to be removed from the room, shut off, or turned away from site. Watching the clock induces more anxiety than it helps. Use an anxiety management or meditation app to help focus the mind and bring a greater connection between the brain and the body. This will help balance energy and calm your nerves. Living with anxiety isn’t easy. If you feel you are in need of treatment for your anxiety disorder, call Avalon Malibu today. Our trusted treatment programs are designed to help you heal. For a confidential assessment, call 1 888-958-7511.

America is finally focused on therapy. With the rise of life-taking addictions like the opioid epidemic, there has been a great change in the way people approach the topic of mental health. Addiction is no longer considered a character or personality problem. Today, as mandated by the government, it is regarded as a mental health condition. Additionally, mental health disorders can no longer be discriminated against and treated differently. Parity laws have made mental health disorders as important as any other medical issue. As a result, there is a greater focus on providing more people with the mental health treatment they need, from residential rehab programs to therapy. Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of therapists and counselors available in some areas where they are needed the most. People who are in need of mental health treatment the most are also some of the most busy. The millennial generation has a great amount of responsibility and stress on their shoulders, which also contribute to their failing mental health. In contrast, their parents, the baby boomer generation, is rapidly retiring. Moving away from the work force and responsibilities which have kept them busy, they are forced to reckon with themselves. People do have circumstances which prevent them from entering treatment or committing to typical therapy treatments. In response, online counseling, online therapy, and even texting therapy has grown. Can these methods replace or be as effective as traditional therapy? Pluses Of Online Therapy

Neuroscience has given mental health treatment an unprecedented edge. Never before has there been such an intimate understanding of the brain, how it works, and how it doesn’t work. *It seems as though a new neuroscience report is coming out every day. The world is more literate in regards to the brain inside their heads than they have ever had the opportunity to be. Inspiration for these endeavours is a combination of desperation and capability. Science is advanced, especially neuroscience. Equally, there is a mental health crisis all over the world. People are struggling with their mental wellness. Very many of them are turning to destructive substances like drugs and alcohol to medicate a problem they don’t understand. The more we can understand about mental illnesses, the better we can treat them. New promise for bipolar disorder comes from South Korea where researchers have specified a protein in the brain which interferes with moods and emotional reaction. Reporting on the breakthrough, Medical News Today writes: “There appears to be a neurochemical chain reaction that leads to the disease. The synapses that do not have enough PLC?1 are unable to fulfill their inhibitory function properly in excitatory neurons, because the BDNF is not working properly either. This causes a disproportion between excitatory synapses and inhibitory ones, eventually leading to bipolar symptoms.” In more simpler terms, some synapses in the brain are lacking a specific protein, the PLCy 1. Those synapses aren’t able to do their jobs in helping calm down excited neurons, leading to an imbalance of excited neurons and inhibited neurons. Bipolar disorder is often called manic depressive disorder. Think of manic as “excitatory” and depression as “inhibitory”. A collection of dysfunctioning synapses in each of these categories could be the cause of bipolar systems. Conclusively, the researchers found, the lack of PLC y1 is the cause of manic behaviors. Treating Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder can be treated pharmaceutically with prescription medications of different kinds. Lithium was a long standing treatment for bipolar and is sometimes used today. Antidepressants and mood stabilizers are more frequently prescribed. To properly treat bipolar, there needs to be a thorough diagnosis process by a psychiatric professional. Residential treatment programs are helpful for those who have been off medication and need help to stabilize, learn practical coping techniques, and heal any wounded emotions. Avalon Malibu provides residential treatment for clients with a primary diagnosis of Bipolar disorder. If you are struggling with bipolar and substance abuse, we offer dual diagnosis programs as well. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Heart damage is a little known side effect of eating disorders. After years of binging, purging, and restricting cycles, the physiological effect of eating disorders takes a toll on the heart. When someone who has lived with ongoing eating disorder issues suddenly dies of a heart attack or heart failure, their cause of death is rarely labeled with their eating disorder. As a result, heart problems remain a hidden and deadly secret for eating disorder recovery. Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia is an eating disorder with the typical traits of starvation, restriction, and extreme compensation for food. Malnutrition and the actual physical state of starvation is common for those struggling with anorexia. The heart slows down during phases of starvation and restriction to create a condition called “bradycardia”. Heart failure is a high risk for severe cases of anorexia. Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia nervosa does not rely on restriction as much as it relies on purging. Someone with bulimia will not necessarily binge. When they do, they turn to purging to relieve themselves. Through dehydrating diuretics, or exhausting vomiting, people with bulimia can turn to extreme exercise and putting stress on the heart. “Tachycardia” is a condition where fluid loss makes the heart beat faster, causing someone to faint or have heart problems. For people whose bulimia includes purging and extreme exercise, they are in a constant state of dehydration, lacking in electrolytes which can cause arrhythmia. Arrhythmia can cause cardiac arrest. Binge Eating Disorder People with poor eating habits are aware of the damage they can cause their hearts. Cholesterol problems, clogged arteries, heart stress, blood pressure, and more can result from a poor diet like binge eating disorder. Constant changes in metabolism can make the way the heart functions change, causing a heart attack. EDNOS Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified can also have an effect on the heart. Any extreme changes in dieting, exercise, and food consumption will affect the strength and integrity of the heart. Staying Heart Healthy Treatment programs for eating disorders are placed under careful medical care. Doctors, cardiologists, and dieticians are always on hand to help restore the body and heart to a natural state. Avalon Malibu provides primary residential treatment for eating disorder recovery. Our private chefs help create heart-healthy meals according to each client's needs, determined by their work with dieticians and nutritionists. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

If you’re thinking to yourself, what do you mean I have to tell someone I’m dating I have a mental illness? You’ll be happy to hear these statistics cited by The Guardian in an article about how-to and how-not-to tell someone you’re dating about your mental illness. A 2013 study by two charities called Mind and Relate, 77% of people living with a mental health disorder told their partners in an active, rather than passive way. Only 5% of those people reported that their relationship ended because of this information. Surely the partner was horrified and just hiding their fear. 74% of the partners reported they “weren’t fazed”. This is good news. Getting to that conversation and having it with confidence and emotional articulation is a different story. The Guardian author suggests these tips for talking with someone. Remember, you have nothing to be ashamed of regarding your mental illness. Hundreds of millions of people around the earth live with mental health disorders every day. Not all of them make the decision to seek help and start a life of recovery for themselves. You have something to be proud of when it comes to learning how to live with mental illness in a healthy way. You Should Tell Them At Some Point You’ve worked hard in treatment developing the tools you need to manage your mental illness and yourself. Difficult days can still happen and you might not always do it perfectly. That’s okay, you aren’t supposed to. You don’t want to catch your partner off guard or let a bunch of projection stuff slip and hit them where they don’t deserve it. Instead, be honest with them and let them know about the powerful journey you’ve taken. Emphasize the daily program you work to take care of yourself and your commitment to mental health. Be Honest, Within Reason You don’t have to reveal every single detail of your entire life story at once. However, be willing to answer their questions and tell your story, within reason. You don’t owe them any kind of explanation. If they have insecurities about your mental health, it isn’t about to you to make them feel more secure. Encourage Them To Do Their Research If they are interested in learning more, rather than be the encyclopedia of your condition, encourage them to do some research for themselves. They’ll be able to create meaning for themselves, come up with questions, and probably find an article or two about dating someone living with a mental illness. Avalon Malibu knows that one day, you are going to have healthy and meaningful relationships. We are here to provide the best possible care we can for individuals with a primary mental health diagnosis at our beautiful residential treatment center overlooking the stunning California coastline. For a confidential assessment, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.

What does borderline mean? Simply defined, a borderline is just a line marking a border. With borderline personality disorder, there is something disordered about that line. For those who have borderline and those who are the loved ones of someone with borderline, that can mean two very different things. First, there is a lack of distinction between personality types, hence lacking a borderline. Borderline and multiple personality disorder are no longer the same thing. However, people who have borderline personality disorder experience rapidly shifting mood swings, emotions, and even perspectives depending on their mood. People who live in relationships with those who have borderline personality disorder feel like they can never be sure as to what to expect next from their loved one. Second, there is typically a lack of boundaries for people with borderline. They are known to receive boundaries like a personal offense. Part of what is “disordered” about borderline is that they tend to take things deeply personally, meaning they have a difficult time discerning the point where they end and other people begin. Not understanding or being able to maintain healthy boundaries can create an immense amount of emotional pain for someone who is already living with a devastating insecurity. Unpredictable Emotions Without a clear distinction between emotional states and weak emotional regulation skills, living with borderline personality disorder can feel like walking on a minefield. How someone with borderline thinks and behaves is entirely dependent upon how they feel. Unfortunately, there is never a guarantee or prediction to how they will feel. What they can rely upon is knowing that when the emotions come, they come on intensely strong. Feeling Exhausted And Being Exhausting One of the hardest parts about living with borderline is the constant feeling of unmanageability. Though some people with borderline can have co-occurring narcissism or narcissistic traits, others are keenly aware of the effect their changing moods has on others. Especially for those they love, people with borderline feel a significant amount of guilt for their uncontrollable behaviors. Treatment And Coping Behavioral psychotherapy types like cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy have proven to be extremely helpful for treating borderline. Giving people the tools they need to regulate their emotions, cope with emotional intensity, and create strategies for communication can be life-changing. Borderline was once considered untreatable. Today, through therapy and treatment more people are finding ways to live with their condition. Avalon Malibu is a certified mental health treatment facility providing trusted residential care to individuals with a primary diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. If you are in need of treatment and are ready to heal, call us today for a confidential assessment at 1 888-958-7511.

Bipolar is perhaps one of the most widely misunderstood and misdiagnosed mental health disorders. Previously referred to as manic depressive disorder, bipolar is primarily characterized by shifting moods or “mood swings”. There are two different types of bipolar: bipolar I and bipolar II. Bipolar one has moods that shift frequently, whereas bipolar II has moods that shift every so often. Additionally, the mania and hypomania are experienced differently in each type of bipolar. Bipolar I will have severely high mania whereas bipolar II will have what is called hypomania. Mania is considered an “up” swing, followed by depression which is considered a “down” swing. People who live with bipolar feel as though they do not have any control over their emotions and moods. Once they get into a manic state, they feel great, if a little out of sorts. When that manic state comes to an end and heads toward depression, they come crashing down and can even become suicidal. Bipolar depression and clinical depression are two different kinds of depression, though they can share similar symptoms. Mania and Depression The symptoms of both the mania and the depression can be difficult to manage. Feeling out of control of one’s emotions and behaviors is triggering, frustrating, and overwhelming. Bipolar disorder is frequently co-occurring with alcoholism and addiction because of the way it soothes a variety of symptoms. According to Yahoo Finance, “It's estimated that as many as half of bipolar disorder sufferers also struggle with some form of addiction. The extreme mania and depression of bipolar disorder makes it easy to see why turning to drugs or alcohol is a natural choice; warding off the lows and enhancing the highs can be accomplished almost immediately by self-medicating.” Though self-medication can be relieving for a time when someone is abusing drugs and alcohol while living with bipolar, they are likely making matters worse. Popular prescription treatments for bipolar like Lamictal do not interfere well with substances like alcohol. Self-medicating “may only exacerbate the brain chemistry that makes bipolar disorder so overwhelming in the first place.” Treating both bipolar disorder and addiction is essential for full recovery and long lasting sobriety. Without assessing both processes in the brain, one might never be sorted out from the other, causing an ongoing interaction. Avalon Malibu is one of California’s only primary mental health treatment facility. Our estate houses both our mental health and substance use disorder facilities, making dual diagnosis treatment easy and accessible. For a confidential assessment, call 1 888-958-7511.

Eating disorders are complex and complicated mental health issues which can become life threatening without treatment. Supporting a loved one who has an issue with one of life’s necessities, food, can be challenging. Help Them Stop Talking About Weight Since weight and body image has been such a hyper-focus for so long, it might feel like a natural area of conversation to bring up when your loved one is in treatment and recovery for an eating disorder. Learning not to focus on weight and body image is something they are working very hard at. Even if they had reached dangerously low weights through anorexia nervosa and you want to comment they are looking healthier as they gain some weight- try to avoid these comments in the beginning. On the other hand, if someone had gained a dangerously high weight through an eating disorder like binge eating disorder, try not to comment on how thin they are looking. Underneath the surface of obsession regarding weight and body image are serious psychological issues they are working hard to sort out. For now, encourage them to keep working so hard in treatment. Leave The Guidance To The Therapists Getting a call from a loved one in treatment is a special yet also a frightening moment. You want to support them and help them in every way you can. Making sure those ways you chose are healthy is important. Remember, that though you are a parent, a spouse, or a dear friend, you are not a licensed professional certified in treating eating disorders. What you can do is:

Social media gets a lot of attention because our lives are becoming increasingly intertwined in it. You can sign up for just about anything with a Facebook account login. All channels of social media somehow connect to one another so you can post across multiple platforms. Your phone can ring all day with notifications and alerts regarding activity within your social media world. Soon, Facebook has leaked, there will even be virtual reality hangout rooms where you can interact with your friends in a virtual space, interacting with mixed media and more. What about real space, where real people live? Reports of the way social media affects the human brain are varied. Some reports reveal that social media engagement, from receiving a “like” on a photo to scrolling through a news feed can activate our brains the same way drugs like cocaine do. Other reports have found that social media can boost our self-esteem. Contrastly, reports have found that social media is devastating for body image and confidence. Every list of sleep recommendations includes staying away from social media before bedtime. Productivity suggestions emphasize not getting on social media first thing in the morning. It seems there’s no right way to balance social media use and continue to maintain mental health. According to On The Mind, these are some of the key ways we are affected by social media use: “Likes” Various research has found that the power of the “like” function, or any other function on social media which indicates a positive reaction to something we posted, stimulates the brain. It creates a reward circuit pattern, not unlike drugs and alcohol. Essentially, the article explains, we’ve trained ourselves to react to those positive reactions. When we don’t receive the response we think we do, we feel insecure and lose that quick boost of self-esteem we had just achieved. Social Media For Good Social media has produced a lot of positive movements which have helped to shift paradigms and unravel decades old way of thinking. From body positivity to wider acceptance of mental health, trending hashtags and challenges online have helped create conversation that might have taken decades more to have. Social Media For Bad On a similar coin to how social media has promoted unity and acceptance it has also created divides. Hidden behind the strength and security of social media platforms and screens, people can act in ways they might not normally act. Primarily, that means they can become online bullies. Online bullying, broadcasting live videos of violent acts, and other troubling uses of social media have come about, harming people’s lives, costing people’s lives, and more. Avalon Malibu is a residential treatment center for primary mental health diagnosis as well as dual diagnosis substance use disorders. If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, or bullying due to your social media use, help is available. Call us for a confidential assessment at 1 888-958-7511.

It doesn’t take a diagnosis of trauma or post traumatic stress disorder to create the experience of living and reliving difficult moments. We see them in our sleep, we see them as we mindlessly stare out the window. In our most calm moments, they creep in and play from a broken remote. Without a way to mae the pain, guilt, shame, fear, and sadness stop we are constantly left victim to negative thoughts, feelings, and memories. As a result we feel discouraged, unmotivated, helpless and sometime hopeless. For individuals who are working on recovery for their mental health through treatment, this is an especially discouraging occurence. Treatment is meant for healing and changing the mind from creating more and more pain. Thankfully, research is particularly focused on how to maximize positivity and increase the potential for efficiency in the brain. Negativity and ruminating negative thoughts are useful in what they can teach us when they don’t hold us back. One study suggests the use of self-guided positive emotional imagery training. Imagery techniques are neither new nor revolutionary. Creating positive visualizations in the mind also doesn’t work for everyone. Some people actually aren’t able to visualize images in their minds. However, for those who can make use of the technique, they find great benefit. Imagery and visualization are tools often used in cognitive behavioral therapy in order to “reframe” painful memories. By painting a different picture- quite literally- one is able to change the way they emotionally relate to that picture. Imagery Processing Techniques Some techniques are easier and more safe to practice alone without the clinical supervision of a therapist. Others might be triggering for underlying trauma.