When addiction strikes, it hurts more than the person who struggles with the disease. Substance use disorders cause physical, emotional, and mental pain that radiates out to families and friends. Arguably, it is the people closest to those suffering from addiction who feel the most severe impacts of the disease. Often, those people are family […]
What’s the difference between drug abuse vs. drug addiction?How do you know if either is a problem for you or a loved one?A substance use disorder, a term encompassing drug abuse and drug addiction, is a progressive medical condition.Let’s dive into what constitutes a substance use disorder or addiction and what’s defined as drug or
Drug Abuse vs. Drug Addiction: How Far is Too Far? Read More »
Social Media Affects Our Mental HealthThis isn’t news to most people. Most of us have experienced how social media affects our mental health through photos of happy families who never seem to bicker—ever. We’ve likely seen air-brushed, filtered photos of celebrities claiming to look “natural.” And, few of us have avoided cyberbullying, even if it’s
Mental healing requires that we stay in the present but confront the past honestly.For those of us healing from a mental health disorder or past trauma, finding a balance between the past and present is challenging. We can only heal when the pain from the past comes into the light. At the same time, getting
How Does the Past Play a Role in Your Mental Healing? Read More »
What’s Important to Know About Attachment Styles?“How do you overcome an insecure attachment style?”“Does your attachment style impact your sex life?”“Is it possible to have a committed relationship with an avoidant attachment style?”These are a few of the stories sweeping the web. So, what is an attachment style? And, does your attachment style really have
Is Your Attachment Style Damaging Your Love Life? Read More »
“I’m on the brink of a mental breakdown.” Do mental or nervous breakdowns really exist? More importantly, if these breakdowns happen, how do you recover? And, how did these terms become so commonplace in our vernacular?Finally, if breakdowns are real, how do you know when you reach the breaking point? Are there clues to your
What’s a Mental Breakdown? Stress in Our Modern World Read More »
We’d all like to think that stigmas around men’s mental health and emotions are shifting for the better. Continually, however, we are reminded how much further we have to go.In a letter to the editor published in Ohio in July 2021, a 12-year-old girl called out an announcer at a July 4th parade for proclaiming
Men’s Mental Health: Getting Honest with Emotions Read More »
How did COVID impact your life? As we’ve begun to explore the world again (or even the grocery store) without a mask, how is your mental health?There’s a lot of talk right now about collective stress and collective trauma. It’s important, however, to understand the difference between trauma and stress before we diagnose the world’s
Codependency and PTSD have a sordid relationship, usually trailing back to childhood trauma. There are plenty of stereotypes when it comes to childhood trauma. When you hear a child suffered trauma, what comes to mind? Terrible unsanitary conditions and horrific physical abuse?The truth is, sometimes trauma is the result of a family unable to deal
Can Childhood Trauma Lead to Codependency and PTSD? Read More »
Guilt in sobriety threatens to derail recovery when mishandled. Often, it’s shame, guilt’s evil twin, which takes recovering folks down. And guilt can morph into shame if you aren’t careful.According to Brené Brown, a renowned shame and vulnerability researcher, the difference between guilt and shame is simple in theory.“Shame is a focus on self, guilt
Letting Go of the Past: How to Heal Guilt in Sobriety Read More »
