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Whether dealing with addiction or mental health disorders, maintaining balance is crucial in attaining wellness. Both drugs and mental health issues can cause people to display erratic behavior or suffer from mood swings. This conduct leads to the feeling of chaos and a loss of control in life. It’s easy to lose balance when our needs take a back seat to other more trivial cravings and habits. Self-care is often the first piece of ourselves we lose when in the throes of addiction. It’s important not to judge yourself during this process. Remember that recovery is not a linear journey.

Your journey in recovery should never prohibit you from biking, flying, or driving to your favorite vacation spot. Organizing travel is stressful, especially when a large party is attempting to sync their schedules, and leaving your home is disruptive to your daily routine, but facing these stressors is not impossible. Be aware of the risks you may encounter on vacation, and plan accordingly.

Self-care is very important in recovering from addiction. Self-care does not replace clinical treatment, it promotes motivation for a successful recovery. While caught in the throes of addiction, we neglect ourselves. The simplest changes can be stepping stones towards success. Many issues arise when dealing with addiction, whether physical or psychological, and taking care of these issues is one way to begin living a new, healthier lifestyle.

Everyone feels lonely at times. Social distancing and self-quarantine regulations may prevent us from seeing close friends and family members, increasing feelings of loneliness and anxiousness. Experiencing loneliness and being alone, however, are different states of mental and emotional being. If you constantly seek the company of others to avoid spending time alone, reflect on your relationship with yourself. Consult with your therapist about what may be the root of your aversion to being alone. When you have some clarity, look for solitary activities you can enjoy when you allow yourself to be alone.

Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT), “a treatment approach for married or cohabiting drug abusers and their partners, attempts to reduce substance abuse directly and through restructuring the dysfunctional couple interactions that frequently help sustain it.” Alcohol and substance use disorders (AUD and SUD) are too often conceptualized as an individualized condition, but external influences, such as a tumultuous domestic life, often perpetuate abusive habits. BCT allows couples to address doubts, insecurities, and grievances in a supportive environment.

Substance use disorders and mental health disorders seemingly go hand in hand. You may be dealing with a dual-diagnosis, and some mental disorders exacerbate a substance abuse disorder. It’s critical that any mental health issues are addressed by healthcare professionals in order to provide the most effective care. Thankfully, most models of recovery treatment can be tailored to meet a person’s individual needs, and the addition of mental health counseling can only be positive in the long-run. Many substance users will characterize their use as “self-medication” because it is common for them to have been dealing with mental health issues since their teens or adolescence, and therefore likely started using substances as a way to self-medicate long before their mental disorders were diagnosed. While the method of self-medicating may seem feasible and easy to control at first, the individual’s mental health issues continue to remain untreated, and the drug use eventually tends to lose its luster. At that point, a longer, more complicated process of treatment may become necessary.

The internet is an incredible tool that gives us access to a wealth of information in just one click. With the world at our fingertips, we may be tempted to seek answers to all of our problems by searching online, but don’t let your search bar replace a visit to the doctor’s office — especially when it comes to matters of mental and emotional health. You may know your way around WebMD and other online medical consultation websites, but a self-diagnosis based on a few internet articles is ineffective and can sometimes be dangerous.

When it comes to addiction recovery, the number of diverse options available can be overwhelming. It can be difficult to know what your needs are, especially if you're seeking help for the first time or have recently relapsed and are unsure about what comes next. As you explore your options, you might come across partial hospitalization programs, or PHPs, and wonder who should be in this level of care. Keep reading to learn more about PHP and whether it can help you reach your recovery goals.

Whether you prefer country music, techno-pop beats, or the dramatic swell of a symphony, the music you listen to can elevate your mood. Recent studies conclude that even “sad” music can be uplifting. When engaged in a therapeutic setting, music has the potential to enhance memory, manage stress, and alleviate pain, according to the American Music Therapy Association. Don’t underestimate the power of your playlist!

Substance use disorder (SUD) wreaks emotional and physical damage, and in treatment, you can learn to balance your diet and reverse the effects of continuous substance abuse.

Self-care seems to be the first thing that suffers when in the throes of addiction. Even in recovery, it can be hard to motivate ourselves to take care of daily dietary and hygiene needs. These problems are exacerbated when there is a co-occurring mental illness. Our brains rely on healthy food consumption to obtain the proper nutrients needed to support brain chemicals, such as neurotransmitters and amino acids. Prolonged drug use creates permanent brain changes, and maintaining a healthy diet can make a huge difference when trying to heal your brain.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with a seasonal pattern, formerly classified as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), affects nearly 5% of Americans. Most cases of MDD with a seasonal pattern appear during the fall and winter, but there are recorded cases of summertime MDD. If you experienced dramatic mood swings this summer, you may have the condition.