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Mental health concerns have no age requirements. Over the past ten years, the number of mental health issues has been steadily growing in adolescents and young adults with social media notably being one culprit behind the uptick. Recent studies have discovered an increase in mood disorders amongst these younger age groups, with wealthy, young females one of the main groups afflicted.  Having open communication with your children about mental health is critical in detecting the signs of a mental health concern. Just speaking openly about mental health in general and creating strong and nurturing relationships with your children can make the difference to prevent extreme distress during traumatic times. By knowing how to navigate the delicate conversations surrounding mental health, you can help your children better understand and handle their feelings and emotions.

One of the most challenging parts of recovery is looking back and addressing past mistakes. Guilt and shame can be ever-present feelings through recovery, and reflecting on one’s lowest point can add more depression or anxiety into an already complicated process. However, it is important to acknowledge these past mistakes to begin moving through them and contextualizing what it means to see success.  Coping with one’s past may be one of the most difficult parts of recovery, and reconciling relationships and forgiving oneself can take a lot of time and effort. While difficult, it can also be one of the most potent and transformative parts of each person’s recovery story, and looking back is just the first step in learning to look forward to a brighter, sober future.

Choosing if you’re at the right place in life to date and potentially share the intimate details of your inner world with another person in a relationship is a big undertaking, but especially so for someone new to recovery. Depending on where you are on your journey, you may feel unsure if you are ready to put your newly sober self out there. When trying to decide if now is the best time to start dating again and still be successful in recovery, begin by asking yourself a few of these questions.

Recovery is a transformative experience where each person can set future goals and discover new practices that can lead to a new, sober lifestyle. However, recovery is challenging and requires a great deal of commitment.  Nothing about overcoming an addiction to drugs or alcohol is easy, and coping with the anxiety, depression, or withdrawal symptoms that accompany the process can add even more hurdles. Despite the difficulty, recovery is always possible. However, it demands that each individual be willing to commit themselves wholly to their transformation both inside and outside the recovery sphere.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, with teens and young adults being some of the main user groups. Young people are drawn to smoking pot for many reasons, including easy access, social pressure from peers, anxiety, depression, escaping stress, boredom, and self-medicating for sleep issues. Rarely do young people realize that marijuana use is not completely harmless or its potential for addiction.

Art possesses the ability to inspire people and encourage them to think about things from a different perspective. Art also transcends across many different platforms and has become essential in sustaining recovery in that it promotes inner growth, self-expression, self-confidence, and overall better mental health. Research shows that art provokes thought, inspiration, and creativity because it stimulates and strengthens areas of the brain, helping to increase overall brain function, which promotes better focus, memory, and motor skills. In your recovery and mental health, art is an essential step because it helps people communicate thoughts, ideas, or fears in a way that verbal communication sometimes cannot. Art also cultivates resilience, insight, and advances social skills. Here are five ways in which art can improve your mental health.

Eating disorders are a type of mental illness that includes disordered patterns of eating. They are extremely common with over 30 million people in the United States having an eating disorder. Eating disorders are a serious mental illness with more people dying every year from an eating disorder than any other mental illness. Several types of eating disorders exist, but the most prevalent include:

The year 2020 was a total rollercoaster. But we made it through, and are looking ahead to what comes next in 2021. Now that the holidays are over and the ball has dropped in Times Square, your thoughts may be turning to New Year’s resolutions and how you can make positive changes that are good for you going forward. Whether you want to be more present or reconnect with friends and family, each step you take toward the version of yourself that you want to be can be looked at as a part of your recovery. Recovery is most often defined as the process of restoring your body and mind to an optimal state of health. This includes rediscovering pieces of yourself that may have gotten lost along the way. As we say goodbye to 2020, we’ve outlined SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) 10 Guiding Principles of Recovery to help you on your quest for healing and self-discovery in the new year so that you can make meaningful progress toward your goals with a clear focus and vision.

Taking the brave first steps towards recovery for an alcoholic by quitting the bottle is a daunting and impressive feat by any means. However, true recovery for an alcoholic is much more than just not drinking every day. The journey to find long term healing in recovery goes beyond this and requires addressing the emotional issues that lead to addiction in the first place. When a person does not take this extra step to address their emotional baggage, an issue known as “dry drunk syndrome” may emerge.

Watching someone who has problems controlling either their impulsive or compulsive behaviors can be troubling, but it’s first necessary to be able to name and identify the behavior for a person to ultimately get the appropriate help they need. Both of these behaviors are significant since they can take a huge toll on a person’s mental health and require attention if not kept in check. Understanding the difference between impulsive and compulsive behavior is crucial since these behaviors often occur in addiction or other co-occurring disorders.

The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what we can or cannot do determines our reality. The problem is, so many of these stories are rooted in beliefs learned from childhood when we lacked the proper understanding of life or may have been someone else’s beliefs pressed onto us. The core beliefs we have about ourselves need to be reexamined every once in a while to be sure that they are serving us well. Often limiting beliefs may have led to addiction in the first place, so when it comes to breaking an addiction, it is crucial to first break any limiting beliefs surrounding it. The way you “break” a self-limiting belief is to reframe it in an empowering way.  One of the basic self-limiting beliefs in substance abuse is that you can’t imagine life without your drug(s) of choice and that life would be too boring without it. For instance, if you are having trouble believing you can quit drinking alcohol, begin to reframe this belief by first realizing that there is a layer of social conditioning in believing you need to drink to have fun. It is merely your perception that alcohol leads to a good time, but is that necessarily the reality when you always end up crying alone after a long night of drinking? Instead of letting alcohol hold all of the power, the real power is in choosing to quit which will free you from your addiction and dependency on having alcohol in your life and to having a good time. Choose to focus on the true freedom that life without addiction brings and see that you are an active participant in choosing what you want and are in control of your life. To help identify some of the self-limiting beliefs that may be fueling your addiction, try following these steps.

Today, everyone’s nervous systems are constantly assaulted by chronic stress so many live under. Add on top a substance abuse problem, and our nervous systems need some serious TLC. To understand how substance abuse affects our nervous systems, first, it is helpful to understand some of the basics of the nervous system. The nervous system is the vast network of nerves and cells that control the communication between the brain, spinal cord, and the rest of the body. The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. All the nerves throughout the body outside of the brain and spinal cord make up the peripheral nervous system. Nerve cells within the central nervous system are referred to as “neurons” and the “neurotransmitters” are the chemical messengers that the brain uses to communicate between neurons and the rest of the body. The brain is like the control center of your body, and it is constantly sending electric signals to regulate your body’s systems and communicate with your body to determine how you feel.