addiction Archives - Page 6 of 27 - Enlightened Solutions

Enlightened Solutions Brings The Hope Of Recovery In Netflix & Mic Series Faces Of Recovery

Written by enlightened solutions on November 14, 2018. Posted in Addiction, Recovery, Sober Living. Leave a Comment

Elaine McMillion Sheldon stunned America when her Netflix documentary Heroin(e) premiered. Through her compelling, compassionate, and intimately personal storytelling, Sheldon illustrated the height of the opioid epidemic in one of the most devastatingly affected areas in Huntington, West Virginia, aptly described as the “overdose capital of the world”.

In a new series called Recovery Boys, Sheldon chronicles the addiction, struggle, and process of recovery for four young men named Ryan, Jeff, Rush, and Adam. All four of these men have been addicted to heroin for years and have felt the greatest effects of heroin addiction. They struggle to keep a job. They’ve been homeless. They face the incredibly guilt-inducing ethical battle of choosing to prevent withdrawal over their children and other life responsibilities. Thankfully, Sheldon refuses to edit her documentary in a way which glamorizes the process of recovery through an archetypical display of the hero’s journey. Instead, she chooses to humanize and ultimately make undeniably real the facts about struggling with addiction in America, especially an addiction to heroin: relapse does not have to be, but often unfortunately is, part of the process of recovery. Heroin addiction is one of the most difficult to beat. As one of the young men, Adam, explains, “It’s heroin. It’s the worst drug on the planet because it’s so good. People don’t get addicted to heroin because it sucks.” Overlaying the montage of urban living which introduces the documentary, one of the subjects explains, “The more you do, the more you have to do to get that same high.” Another voice describes the torture of chemical addiction to heroin and the need to stave off symptoms of withdrawal at even a potentially fatal cost, “I can’t not use. If I don’t use, I’m going to be sick.”

Addiction is disease, a sickness which involves the entirety of the holistic self: the mind, the body, and the spirit. Developing a chemical dependency upon a substance like heroin takes over and slowly dismantles lives from the inside out. According to a report released in August of 2018 by the CDC, 72,000 people died from an opioid overdose in 2017. More than 60,000 died of an opioid overdose in 2016 and more than 50,000 died of an opioid overdose in 2015. There is a preventable and curable disease claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of our friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow strangers on the streets.

The men of this documentary, and the countless, nameless, faceless others who are struggling to overcome opioid addiction every single day, and who are losing their lives to opioid overdose every single day, need their stories to be heard. More importantly, we, as a society, need to witness these deeply intimate, personal, at times painful stories of addiction in order to rid ourselves of the preconceived notions of shame, stigma, and stereotype which inhibit our inherent ability to display and act upon tremendous empathy- life-saving empathy.

“I didn’t know people lived life sober”

For those of us who have never lived with an active addiction to a life-threatening drug like heroin, it is nearly impossible to imagine having your life so overtaken by using “drugs” that nothing else existed. Yet, for those living with addiction, who have lived with addiction for so long whether their own or the addictions of their family of origin, it becomes nearly impossible to imagine living life sober. Sobriety may never have been part of someone’s life when they’re from an addicted family system. Even for someone who didn’t grow up around addiction, they daily toil and routine of maintaining an addiction becomes such a sad, normalized, shame-ridden reality that the idea of something different, the idea of something better, seems out of grasp and undeserved.

Finding Recovery, Finding Hope

The documentary transitions into a series of written pieces sponsored by Netflix on the Mic website, called “Faces of Recovery”. Enlightened Solutions and our founder Jen Hansen was honored to contribute the stories, information, and support necessary to create a truly amazing series. Each part of the series highlights the lives of amazing individuals who have found recovery through one of the programs at Enlightened Solutions, or one of our affiliate programs like Serenity House and Hope Farm. “Recovery: All In The Family” details the many ways addiction can be passed on genetically and experientially through the generations, creating a predisposition for addiction and mental illness. In “Recovery: From Addiction, A Brotherhood Forms”, Enlightened Solution’s Hope Farm, a working barn and sober program in New Jersey, is highlighted as providing structure, challenge, and ultimately, brotherhood, to those who live and work there. Finally, in “Recovery: ‘A Part Of This Forever’” the other side of addiction, the “high-functioning” or “normalized” addiction, is exposed, revealing that even the most normal, successful, and high-functioning of individuals can be battling a severe addiction behind closed doors. Each piece of the series discussed heroic stories of overcoming addiction, our Enlightened Solutions programs, our affiliate programs, and our very real promise: recovery is available to everyone who wishes to seek it.

Enlightened Recovery Solutions is a strong member of the sober community, standing out as leaders in progressive, proven, holistic treatment and the development of a lifestyle of recovery which never necessitates the use of drugs and alcohol. Offering a curriculum of care including transitional and sober living, as well as working opportunities, Enlightened Solutions provides clients and their families with the tangible hope of a better future and the tools to achieve it. Call us today for information: 844-234-LIVE

How We Can Redirect Our Thoughts When We Are In Crisis

Written by enlightened solutions on November 14, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

When we are experiencing a serious depression or other crisis such as a nervous breakdown, our thoughts can be debilitating and are often a major contributing factor in our condition. When we are in crisis, our thoughts can feel as though they are out of control. We can experience thoughts of deep hopelessness and despair, breakdowns in our rational thinking, and suicidal thoughts and ideation.

One thing we can do for ourselves when we are in crisis is to work on redirecting our thoughts. This can feel impossible. We feel controlled by our thoughts, even haunted or tortured by them. Our inner demons are persistent and overbearing, and they dominate our minds. If we can start to consciously choose our thoughts with intention, we can start to take back control of our minds.

Our usual default line of thinking is often focused on how much pain we’re in. We think thoughts like “I don’t want to be alive. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t deserve to live.” We tend to replay these same thoughts over and over again in our minds, which amplifies them and gives them even more power over us. When we have moments of feeling even a little better, maybe we have a pause in our painful thoughts, our instinct is often to return to the depressing thoughts. That becomes our automatic line of thinking that our minds naturally, instinctively revert to.

The good news is that we can reprogram this line of thinking. Our minds have the capability of transforming themselves from within. Even in times of crisis, even in a total state of breakdown, we often have moments where we have some clarity. In those moments, whenever you can, start to say things to yourself like “I am healing. I am getting better. This pain will be over soon. I will get through this.” Write them down if you can. If you need the help of a therapist or friend, ask. You can record your affirmations, and anything else you find comforting. Meditate with the recording to calm yourself and help you sleep. With repetition, we are reprogramming our subconscious minds. As we do this, we begin to be able to heal our deepest wounds, address our underlying fears and handle unresolved emotions.

When painful thoughts arise, try not to fight them. Meditation helps us to accept our thoughts rather than adding resistance to them, which can add fuel to the fire. We can embrace our painful thoughts with our understanding and compassion. We can have empathy and patience for our inner selves as we heal.

Enlightened Solutions has years of experience helping people in recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on how we can help you.

Our Issues Are Interconnected

Written by enlightened solutions on November 13, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Addiction. Leave a Comment

Sometimes we think of the problems in our lives as being isolated issues, and we don’t always take a step back to look at how they’re all connected. Everything we do, feel and think is part of the larger framework of who we are. We are made up of our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical selves, and everything is connected. When we can look at things in this way, it can help us to learn who we are and find healing solutions to our problems.

Many of us living with addictions and mental health issues have multiple things we’re dealing with at the same time. Many of us are termed “dual-diagnosis” when we experience a substance abuse problem and mental disorder at the same time. When we are able to look at our issues as being connected, we can begin to understand ourselves, how we developed these conditions, and how we can recover.

Our issues are often a manifestation of our traumatic experiences and the responses we have to them. How we process our fears, manage our moods, work with our emotions and handle our thoughts- everything is affected by trauma. Many of us have a tendency to want to escape our pain, many of us never deal with it at all. In our avoidance, we turn to addictive behaviors and thought patterns. Everything we go through is informing our development, and every facet of ourselves is affected by everything else.

In working through our trauma, it can be highly beneficial to work with holistic healing practices. They approach our various illnesses as being an interconnected manifestation of the whole person and all of our experiences- our fears, traumas, relationships, memories, behaviors, thoughts and feelings. There are healing methods that address all of our issues together, and they include therapy, meditation, yoga, energy healing, and chakra healing.

When we are suffering and in crisis, our symptoms are overwhelming, and we need relief. We struggle with panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, and various problems with our physical health. Holistic healing methods can provide relief from our symptoms and help us heal the underlying issues and clear the energy of fear and trauma we’ve stored within us.

Seeing our challenges not as isolated illnesses to approach separately but as a part of the whole can help us to unearth critical information about who we are as people, how we can manage our pain, and how to work towards recovery.

Holistic healing is a major focus of treatment at Enlightened Solutions. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information.

Creating Better Habits

Written by enlightened solutions on November 12, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

A major factor in our daily lives, and in our addictions and mental health issues, is our habits. We often develop habits that are unhealthy and self-destructive. Along with our addictive behaviors, we also often neglect self-care and engage in toxic patterns. A helpful way to think about recovery is the idea of implementing better habits for ourselves.

We might tend to think of our bad habits as the smaller things we do like biting our nails, or hitting snooze on the alarm and being late for work, but our habits make up everything we do. We have our daily habits, our relationship habits, our habitual thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

When we are dealing with addictions, depression and other challenges, we often struggle to feel motivated. We can have a very hard time accomplishing even small tasks. Sometimes we don’t show up for our responsibilities. We feel like we’re disappointing, hurting and betraying ourselves and the people who care about us. Our habits have a lot to do with it.

When it comes to assessing ourselves and our lives, we often tend to see things through a filter of negativity. We beat ourselves up for procrastinating. We judge and criticize ourselves for our bad habits. We compound our challenges when we focus on how ashamed we feel. When we put ourselves down, we aren’t helping ourselves do better, we’re actually chipping away at our resolve and determination.

To create better habits, let’s start by encouraging ourselves instead. “I am strong enough to do what’s best for myself. I have the power to change my habits. I can do anything I set my heart and mind to.”

What are some habits we can start to implement that would help us prioritize our mental and emotional wellbeing? We can start setting intentions around those things- getting enough sleep, making time to meditate, eating healthy foods, exercising. Joining a support group or starting therapy. Journaling, being creative, doing things we enjoy.

We can create habits around choosing patience when we are stressed or frustrated, forgiveness when we are angry, compassion when we are in conflict. Habits we can try are:

-Taking deep breaths when we feel our thoughts starting to race or our hearts beating faster.

-Meditating on forgiveness, using affirmations like “I choose to forgive. I choose to be at peace.”

-Meditating on compassion,“I see your hurt. I see your humanity.”

We can consciously look at our habits- how we respond to life’s daily challenges, how we react to other people, what directions we allow our thoughts and feelings to go in. Then we can intentionally begin to create habits for ourselves that feel better and serve us more.

Treatment at Enlightened Solutions includes working with wellness and nutrition, life skills and recovery planning. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Choosing Faith Over Fear

Written by enlightened solutions on October 30, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our addictions and mental health issues are often related to our relationship to fear. When we become addicted to a behavior or thought pattern, it is often because we are looking for ways to suppress, bury or otherwise escape our fears. Many of us have experienced trauma in our lives, and our trauma can impact how we deal with fear. Anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses can be a manifestation of our built-up fears. We are often so afraid of our fears that we make them worse. We develop neuroses, complexes, obsessions and phobias. Our responses to fear, the ways we think about and deal with our fear, can have a lot to do with our addictions and mental/emotional health problems.

We find ourselves living in fear, and it can be a painful, distressing way to live. How can we change our response to fear and live with more peace, clarity and hope? We can start by making a conscious decision to choose faith instead of fear.

Having faith in our recovery means having faith in our higher power, faith in ourselves, faith in our ability to heal. Faith in the idea that we’re being supported on our journey, and that healing is in fact possible. Faith that we are more than our addiction and depression. Faith that we will find our way, that we will be able to live our truth and find fulfillment.

How do we actively choose faith? We can work on growing our faith by using affirmations, visualization and meditation. We can repeat statements affirming, “I have faith. I trust in my higher power. I have faith I will heal. I believe in myself. I believe in my recovery.” We can visualize ourselves being at peace, feeling trusting and confident, being sure and certain of our recovery. We can meditate using these affirmations and visualizations while holding our hands over our hearts and activating their powerful healing energy.

Changing our fear responses takes time and practice. We won’t rid ourselves of our fears immediately. When we are hit with anxiety and fearful thoughts, we can make a choice each time whether to respond to them with more anxiety and fear, or to reroute our thoughts to more positive, affirming ones instead. As we become more conscious of our thoughts and practice meditation, we realize we have more power to control the direction of our thoughts than we often think we do. Meditation also allows us to quiet the panic and noise in our minds and to prioritize feelings of wellbeing.

Our recovery can really benefit from holistic healing methods, and at Enlightened Solutions we’re here to help you find the ones that work for you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Enabling Each Other

Written by enlightened solutions on October 26, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Addiction. Leave a Comment

Those of us who have lived with addiction in our homes or relationships know how hard it can be to deal with someone else’s addiction. We often enable addicts’ behaviors, even though we care about them and want them to get better. Why do we do enable each other?

It often comes down to fear. Sometimes we’re afraid of how the person will react if we try to stop them from using. When the relationship is abusive, they might threaten us with violence if we don’t do as they ask- sometimes when we are being abused, we try to placate them as much as possible.

Sometimes we are embroiled in our own addictions and can’t extricate ourselves from them, let alone help someone else to. Often our relationships are codependent and addictive in nature. Many of us are love/sex addicts. In continuing our patterns, we’re often enabling multiple addictions at the same time.

When in these kinds of relationships, we might know we’re in an unhealthy situation but are afraid to let go. The idea of no longer having them in our lives can feel excruciating, and we’re so afraid of losing them that we enable their addictive behaviors to keep the relationship.

Addictions in relationships often go hand in hand with mental health issues. We might be dealing with multiple illnesses at the same time. When we are in this place, we don’t necessarily have the clarity we would have otherwise. We feel lost, confused, sad and in distress. It can feel virtually impossible to help others quit their addictions when we’re suffering ourselves. When we stay in these toxic situations, our mental health often deteriorates, and our addictions grow worse.

What are some of the ways we enable each other?

You might buy your partner his drug of choice when he demands it. You might choose to go out drinking with him, and even let him drive drunk. You might turn a blind eye and be in denial about his problems. You might choose to stay in the relationship while he continues to disrespect you, allowing him to take advantage of your support.

We enable other people when we allow them to continue hurting us and themselves, when we allow them to lie to us, manipulate, coerce, or otherwise control us. When they continue to cross our boundaries and we keep letting them, we are enabling them. Enabling is anything that we do that allows, perpetuates, exacerbates or contributes to addicts’ continuing their addictive behavior.

Coping with addictions means dealing with all kinds of interpersonal issues. We’re here to help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

One Day at a Time

Written by enlightened solutions on October 24, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

Our addictions, emotional challenges and mental health issues can be so damaging and destructive that we become consumed with fear, especially fear of the future. We experience anxiety and panic about the unknown. Being unable to live with uncertainty can be paralyzing. We dread what’s to come and often think in terms of worst-case scenarios. “Will I ever recover? Will I always hurt the people I love? Will I ever get out of this?”

When our mindset is based in negativity and fear, it can feel impossible to be hopeful and optimistic. People use all kinds of sayings to help themselves get through life’s challenges, and one we commonly hear is “One day at a time.” When we are filled with anxiety, how do we implement this idea, and how can it help us?

It starts with a conscious choice to choose to take things day by day, and to bring our focus back to that concept over and over again. Every time our minds leap to fears about the future, we can repeat “one day at a time” as an affirmation to help calm and soothe ourselves. We can remember that as much as we might try to plan, life will always throw us unexpected curveballs. It is up to us to take each challenge in stride with as much grace, patience and flexibility as possible, one day at a time.

This new mentality helps us to live in the moment and appreciate the small, beautiful everyday things in life that we often take for granted. Taking the time to watch the sunset, choosing to be present and attentive with a loved one rather than rushing through a conversation, giving energy to gratitude throughout our day- all of these can help us to stay grounded and centered in the present moment. This can drastically reduce our anxiety, panic and overwhelm. It helps us to focus on individual moments of happiness, which helps us manifest more happiness and grow our sense of wellbeing.

Taking things one day at a time requires that we practice consciously choosing faith. Can we choose to have faith in the unfolding of our lives? Can we choose to trust in divine timing? Can we choose to believe that our higher power is working with us for our highest good? This can be a challenge for many of us who are accustomed to letting our fearful anxiety dictate our thoughts, choices and actions. When we relax into our faith, we allow the flow of healing to come to us. When we act out of fear, we block that healing.

Learning new coping strategies is an important part of recovery. Enlightened Solutions can help you find techniques that work for you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

How Do We Forgive?

Written by enlightened solutions on October 23, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

Choosing to forgive people who have hurt us may seem like a monumental task that is easier said than done. We might know it’s important to forgive because we don’t want to hold onto the anger that is poisoning us and making us sick, but how do we go about forgiving? Choosing to forgive others can be especially hard when they are still hurting us, when they are no longer in our lives, or when we have a hard time connecting with them because the conflict feels insurmountable. Here are a few suggestions you can implement in your efforts to forgive.

Compassion

When we hurt others, it is usually because we are in pain ourselves. Can we choose to see the suffering inside the person who hurt us? Pain is something we all share. The people who have hurt us are no exception. Try to remind yourself that their pain is likely what caused them to act in hurtful ways in the first place. When we believe in the interconnectedness of humanity, we know that having compassion for other people’s pain goes a long way in healing the division between us.

Understanding

Along with compassion comes understanding. We can try to understand what caused people to behave in the ways they did. We can try to put ourselves in their shoes. Even if we are convinced we would never do what they did, we can remember that we all have made mistakes and hurt the people we care about. This is a universal truth, and no one is exempt from it. Instead of focusing intently on how they hurt us, we can choose to look at their pain and understand that their pain drove them to do things they might not have done otherwise.

Love

The people we are most hurt by are often the people we love the most. We’re not nearly as affected by the hurtful actions of people with whom we have no connection. While we are working to forgive, can we focus on the love we share rather than the conflict in question? Try to recall happy memories you shared. Conjure up the love you felt. Hold onto that feeling and meditate on it. Yes this person hurt you, and it might still hurt just thinking about it, but can you allow your love to be your primary focus instead?

Directing our energy towards compassion, understanding and love can transform us from the inside out, make it easier to forgive those who’ve wronged us, and bring us a sense of peace.

Forgiveness is an important part of our healing. The staff at Enlightened Solutions has years of experience helping people work through the various issues that come up in recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on how we can support you.

Choosing Forgiveness for Our Own Peace of Mind

Written by enlightened solutions on October 19, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Addiction Recovery. Leave a Comment

Addiction and mental health issues bring along with them all kinds of other challenges that are connected and related- conflicts, toxic relationships, unhealthy interpersonal dynamics. Because we experience a great deal of inner turmoil, we manifest relationships and experiences that reflect that turmoil back to us and that create even more turmoil. We have all kinds of problems with the people in our lives, and we can find ourselves feeling anger on a regular basis. We hold onto resentment and bitterness. We hold grudges. We have a very hard time letting go of the ways in which people have hurt or offended us. We obsess, fixate, and replay the difficult memories even when we know that causes us more distress. We are consumed with anger.

Forgiving something doesn’t mean we condone it, and forgiving other people doesn’t mean we excuse their behavior. It means we make the choice to be at peace with what happened, rather than continuing to carry it. We often let the painful energy of anger fester within us, sometimes because it feels better to be angry than to be sad, sometimes because anger is our go-to emotional response. We might never have learned how to resolve conflict and instinctively choose anger over reconciliation. Sometimes we hold onto anger for years rather than deal with the anxiety that can come with confrontation. We choose silence, we choose to cut people off, we choose to hate them.

How much lighter and more liberated would we feel if we chose to forgive instead? Choosing forgiveness means we take the bitterness and anger that were festering inside us and replace them with peace. This process brings space to the issues at hand, and in that space we are able to find healthy detachment and release. We’re able to finally let go. We are no longer consumed and tormented by the painful weight of our anger. The constant mental replay of the conflict starts to subside.

All that energy that once went to resentment is freed up to focus on joy and healing. Whether or not we ever reconcile the situation or resolve the conflict, we are giving ourselves love and care when we choose forgiveness. We are prioritizing our inner peace. We are choosing to be happy. As our energy shifts, we manifest more of the same- more relationships and experiences that make us happy. Making the choice to forgive is one of the best things we can do for our mental and emotional wellbeing.

We all need support during the recovery process. At Enlightened Solutions, we offer therapy, mentoring, trauma healing, recovery planning, and more. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Counting Our Blessings

Written by enlightened solutions on October 18, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

One of the major factors contributing to our mental health issues is our mindset. We often direct our energy towards thinking and feeling the things that cause us the most pain and fear. We can even become fixated on them. Examples include our tendency to dwell on the things we want but don’t have, the ways in which other people’s lives are better than ours, the situations in our lives we’re unhappy about. We engage in thought patterns that deplete us of our energy, bring us down and block our ability to think positively. We instinctively hold ourselves back and close ourselves off to happiness and healing.

Our subconscious minds are designed to keep us safe, but this sometimes translates into keeping us confined to the habitual thought patterns of lack and negativity, to keep us from expanding and pushing out of our comfort zones in search of something more. What would happen if instead of focusing on all that is wrong or difficult in our lives, we gave more energy to thinking about everything that is life-affirming, positive and beautiful?

We may have heard the advice to “count your blessings,” but we often pass this over or forget it altogether when we are struggling and caught up in our painful thoughts. Sometimes when we are depressed, we almost instinctively want to stay depressed, because it can be easier to stay in that place than to do the difficult work of tackling the mindsets that are keeping us stuck.

When we are ready to start pulling ourselves out of that place, we can implement changes that may seem small but which have hugely transformational effects. Counting our blessings is one of these tools that we can introduce to start changing our mentalities. You woke up today. That is a blessing. If your mind responds with thoughts like “well, I wish I hadn’t woken up at all, I wish I weren’t alive,” try to counter those thoughts with affirming reminders that you have the capability to heal. It takes time and practice, but it is so worth it. Did you have enough food to eat today? That is a blessing. Were you able to see the sky, the sun, trees, birds flying? Those are blessings.

We can choose to see anything in our lives as blessings, including our challenges. Depression is a blessing in that it forces us to heal our pain. Without depression, we might just ignore our pain and live an emotionless life. We could choose to see it as a catalyst for deeper healing.

Listing our blessings can ease our anxiety, help us to think more positively, and allow us to live in gratitude.

Changing our thought patterns is a powerful, effective tool for holistic healing. Call (833) 801-LIVE to get the support you need.

Tag: addiction