Mental Health Archives - Page 9 of 15

Can Drug Addiction Cause Mental Disorders?

Written by enlightened solutions on May 29, 2018. Posted in Drugs & Alcohol, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Many people use drugs as an escape from reality. Drug addiction can heighten underlying mental health disorders. Certain drugs can cause paranoia, depression, and anxiety. A person with depression, anxiety, PTSD, paranoia, or other mental health problems will experience elevated levels of these symptoms.

When a person uses drugs regularly, he or she will build a tolerance to the effects of the drug. The brain develops a dependence on the drug to function and using drugs can cause brain damage, liver failure, seizures, heart attack or stroke. Drug addiction leads to many physical and mental health issues. Drugs can cause a person to overdose or lead to an early death.

People who have a mental health disorder often use drugs to alleviate the symptoms of their mental illness. When people self-medicate, any mental health problems they have are temporarily masked. Some drugs can be associated with the development of certain disorders. Instead of bringing relief, drugs can lead to new problems.

Drug abuse can cause many types of mental health illnesses. Psychosis, delirium, amnesia disorder, and perceptual disorders can develop from regular drug use. Disruptive sleep patterns, shakiness, disorientation, irritability, anxiety disorders, and depression can stem from heavy drug use.

Some drugs affect memory and can cause persisting dementia or amnesia. Long-term drug use can cause an inability to retain new memories or access old ones. Drugs damage parts of the brain that control memory retention.

Not everyone reacts the same way to each drug. One drug may cause a person to experience psychosis, but another person taking the same drug might have symptoms of anxiety. Drugs such as cocaine have been associated with the psychotic disorders. Certain drugs or alcohol can accelerate symptoms of depression and anxiety.

People living with drug addiction and mental disorders have a dual diagnosis and need to stay in therapy for a long time. It can be hard to treat a mental illness that is covered by a drug addiction. Healing will take time, but recovery is worth the effort. Sometimes people will need medication prescribed by a medical professional who can manage and monitor the progress in recovery.

Recovery is possible and healing will take place in mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Recovery Solutions offers a holistic based, 12-step inspired, clinically proven program for alcoholism and co-occurring disorders. Call (844) 234-LIVE today for information on our partial care programs.

When Anxiety and Fear Make You an Enabler

Written by enlightened solutions on May 24, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

When your loved one has a drug and alcohol addiction, you could become full of anxiety and fear. The constant worrying can be detrimental to your physical and emotional health. The anxiety and fear can disrupt your normal daily routines and can make you an enabler. When you enable someone, you unintentionally encourage your loved one’s self-destructive behavior.

If your loved one has a drug and alcohol addiction, you need to avoid enabling his or her dangerous behavior. There is a difference between enabling and being a supportive. To avoid enabling, you need to set boundaries to protect yourself. Although this can be hard to do, you need to take care of yourself first. When you stand firm in your boundaries, your loved one with the addiction will know what is and is not acceptable.

Remind yourself that your loved one’s addiction is not your fault and you are powerless over their addiction. Accept that you cannot change his or her behavior. It is entirely up to your loved one to respect your boundaries, go to detox and treatment, and work on his or her recovery.

Anxiety and fear can unknowingly contribute to your enabling. When your loved one is addicted to drugs or alcohol, you can go through a range of emotions. The anxiety and fear can be overwhelming. When levels of anxiety and fear are this intense, you could feel emotionally drained. Enabling your loved one could reduce levels of anxiety and fear, but you are contributing to his or her destructive behavior.

To avoid becoming an enabler, learn more about the behavior of a person with a drug and alcohol addiction. Go to group therapy, attend AA or Nar Anon meetings, or join a drug and addiction forum online. Meet other people who have loved ones with an addiction to drugs or alcohol and listen to their experiences. Talk to families coping with their loved one’s addiction. Meet with a therapist or counselor who specializes in drug and alcohol addiction.

Do not shame or degrade your loved one’s behavior. That can lower their self-esteem and lead them to use more drugs and alcohol. Set boundaries, do not enable him or her, stay positive, and encourage them to get treatment. This will show that you care about and love them.

Does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Lead to Substance Abuse?

Written by enlightened solutions on May 18, 2018. Posted in Drugs & Alcohol, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

A person’s mental health condition can influence his or her drug or alcohol abuse. Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety can contribute to a person’s substance abuse because he or she can temporarily escape reality. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental disorder that causes depression, intense anxiety, and intrusive memories or flashbacks that interfere with life. Many people develop PTSD from childhood abuse, military combat, natural disasters, and sexual assault. First responders are at risk of PTSD because of on-scene tragedies, accidents, or crimes.

People with PTSD often turn to drugs or alcohol to suppress his or her pain. Abusing drugs or alcohol with PTSD creates a dual diagnosis – one from an impairing psychiatric disorder and the other a substance addiction. A person with PTSD abuses drugs or alcohol as a way to seek temporary relief from the reality of daily life. He or she uses more and more to escape from painful memories and flashbacks, and increase the risk of drug or alcohol addiction.

A person with PTSD and substance addiction has a dual diagnosis and needs to get treatment immediately for his or her mental condition and addiction. A medical professional or medical team monitors the combined treatment and medication if needed. Many drugs can worsen symptoms of PTSD and cause physical impairment, overdose, or death. Alcohol abuse damages the brain’s function and causes physical damage to major organs in the body. Alcohol affects a person’s critical thinking, vision, speech, coordination, movement, and can cause overdose or death.

A person with PTSD is at high risk of substance abuse but when a medical professional treats the PTSD, the risk for substance abuse lessens. When a person has PTSD, he or she can have angry outbursts, feelings of helplessness, aggressive behavior, and restlessness. Individuals who are diagnosed with PTSD and drug or alcohol abuse often experience other disorders such as depression, chronic pain, chronic illness, or attention deficit disorder.

People living with PTSD often relive the traumatic event, have nightmares, and can become socially withdrawn. A person with PTSD can feel ashamed or guilty from the trauma and be reluctant to seek help. When a person with PTSD and substance abuse goes to treatment, he or she needs intense support and encouragement from family and friends. A dual diagnosis can be difficult to treat, but recovery is possible.

How to Help a Loved One With Addiction and Depression

Written by enlightened solutions on May 14, 2018. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

When your loved one has an addiction to drugs or alcohol and a mental illness such as depression, he or she has a dual diagnosis, which is more difficult to treat. Coping with a loved one’s addiction is very overwhelming and stressful for family and friends. When your loved one has an addiction and depression, things get even more complicated.

When a loved one has a dual diagnosis, there are ways you can help. Listen and learn about addiction and mental disorders to educate yourself. This allows you to better understand your loved one’s dual diagnosis. Setting boundaries is important. If you live with your loved one and are not comfortable with drugs or alcohol being around, set boundaries and stick to them.

Plan an intervention when your loved one is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Include family and friends who are impacted by the individual’s behavior. Everyone involved should write down how the loved one’s addictive behavior makes them feel. When a person is addicted to drugs or alcohol, he or she might not realize the serious consequences of their actions. Talking about it in intervention can help. Use positive and encouraging words to let your loved one know how much you care. When people use negative, belittling, or shameful language, that only reinforces any guilt, depression, or shame the person already feels.

Many people with anxiety or depression turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with their condition. Anxiety is a persistent, dreadful fear that a person cannot control. Depression can linger for years and puts a person in a constant, overwhelming sadness that interferes with sleep, work, family, friends, and his or her self-worth and self-esteem. When a person has anxiety or depression, he or she might turn to drugs or alcohol to cope. The problem with that is drugs or alcohol can heighten the psychological symptoms of mental illnesses.

When you understand the relationship between addiction and depression, you can help your loved one in his or her recovery process. Being there for your loved one will help him or her see that you are there for them in their time of need. Compassion, understanding, and encouragement will help your loved one on his or her journey to recovery.

How Depression Influences Drug or Alcohol Addiction

Written by enlightened solutions on May 10, 2018. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Depression is a mental illness that interferes with many aspects of a person’s life. Everyone has a bad day every now and then, but depression is more than that. Depression controls the way a person thinks and feels. It consumes a person’s perception of reality and distorts everything the individual does, thinks, and feels.

Many people with depression turn to drugs or alcohol to escape from the intense feelings of loneliness, worthlessness, and fear. The pleasurable euphoric feelings are temporary and the drugs or alcohol can worsen the symptoms of depression. Drugs and alcohol increase the risk of suicidal thoughts.

Depression is treatable with the appropriate medication prescribed and managed by a medical professional. A person with depression should not do drugs or drink alcohol, especially while on medication. All medication comes with a warning label that lists side-effects and dangers of mixing the drug with alcohol. Harmful or deadly interactions are caused by mixing medication with drugs or alcohol.

Alcohol is a depressant and causes lethargy, sadness, and hopelessness. Many people with a mental illness or disorder drink alcohol and put their lives at risk for health complications.

Alcohol affects a person physically and mentally. When a person is addicted to drugs or alcohol, the neurotransmitters in the brain release dopamine and creates a pleasurable euphoric effect. Drugs and alcohol eventually take over the brain’s control of body movement, thinking, coordination, and memory.

When a person loses control of his or her body, there is an increased risk of accidents and death. He or she needs to go to a specialized treatment program for depression and drug and alcohol addiction to avoid the devastating effects. Depression is treatable with help from a medical professional. Individual counseling, group therapy, and medication are some of the useful tools for treating depression.

The individual also needs to enroll in a program designed to treat drug and alcohol addiction. Programs are tailored to the person’s individual needs because everyone is different, and so are the effects of the drugs and alcohol. Depending on the amount used and type of drug, the duration of treatment can vary from person to person. Depression and addiction to drugs and alcohol are treatable. Everyone deserves to enjoy living a healthy, substance-free life.

6 Reasons Why Childhood Trauma Can Lead to Drugs and Alcohol

Written by enlightened solutions on May 7, 2018. Posted in Drugs & Alcohol, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

When a person experiences trauma at any age, he or she might turn to drugs or alcohol to cope. Some trauma can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and put a person at risk of developing a drug or alcohol addiction. Traumatic events can bring back painful memories or flashbacks so people with childhood trauma often turn to drugs or alcohol to escape reality.

Abuse in any form is traumatic for a child. Sexual, physical, emotional, and mental abuses are very traumatic and can impair a child’s development. Fear, bad memories, and safety are some reasons why childhood trauma victims turn to drugs or alcohol.

For a teenager with childhood trauma, the risk of developing an addiction is increased. Teens often engage in risky, impulsive, or dangerous behavior and teens are easily influenced by peer pressure to try addictive substances. A teen with a traumatic history is likely to use drugs or alcohol to relieve painful memories of his or her childhood abuse or trauma.

Here are 6 reasons why childhood trauma can lead to drugs and alcohol:

Escaping memories. People with childhood trauma abuse drugs and alcohol to escape the memories of their trauma and suppress any thoughts that lead to reminiscing about the event.
Feeling good. Drugs and alcohol change the brain’s function and cause the neurotransmitters to release high levels of dopamine. The dopamine gives the person a temporary pleasurable effect.
Seeking safety. People who experience childhood trauma can feel safe when they abuse drugs or alcohol because their moods, emotions, and feelings change. They can feel safe now as opposed to the vulnerable child they once were.
Control. A person who goes through childhood trauma can feel like they are in control when they use drugs or alcohol. The temporary shift in attitude allows the person to freely express his or herself and be in control of what they do.
Stress relief. Sometimes people with childhood trauma turn to drugs or alcohol to relieve stress and anxiety. Substance abuse can actually contribute to more stress and anxiety.
Develop social relationships. Childhood trauma might have affected the person’s social relationships as a child. Using drugs or alcohol can make a person feel more social.

Seek medical treatment if you have PTSD or experienced childhood trauma and are using drugs or alcohol to cope. Mental health and addiction are treatable and recovery is possible.

Enlightened Solutions offers a clinical, holistic and 12-step approach to the road to recovery. If you’re struggling with addiction and/or mental illness, our program is specialized in dual-diagnosis treatments. Don’t hesitate and call today: 844-234-LIVE.

Have You Developed Codependent Behaviors? Part Two

Written by enlightened solutions on April 27, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Codependency is common among those who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Thankfully, recovery is possible. See if you have any signs of codependency in your life by reading through the list below.

You put yourself last in everything you do: If you’re not first, you’re last. This sentiment couldn’t be more true in codependency. Codependent behaviors place everyone and everything else high above oneself. When you are struggling with codependency, you struggle to give yourself any value because you do not know how to give yourself value. As a result, you put everyone else’s needs before your own. This is one of the most dangerous parts of codependency. The more blind you become to your needs, the more likely you are to engage in other harmful behaviors to have them met. Substance abuse, eating disorders, and other self-harming behaviors are common for people with codependency in their lives. Since you cannot meet your own needs or ask others to meet your needs, you find ways to perpetuate your feelings of low self-worth as a way of meeting your needs.

You enable people’s bad behaviors just to keep them close: Low self-esteem and low self-worth are two common characteristics of people who have developed codependent behaviors. People attach themselves to others because they do not believe they are worth sticking up for themselves. Often, people who are codependent do not voice their opinion, get their needs met, or even know what their needs are because they categorize them as non important. Even when relationships are abusive and toxic, someone who has become codependent will stay in them. Problematically, codependent behavior enables others’ problematic behaviors.

Your life suffers as a result of your codependent behaviors: Most people experience small forms of codependency in their relationships, but their lives don’t suffer as a result. Codependency can become extreme and damaging. You might place other people’s lives so far above your own that you stop caring for yourself. Your hygiene suffers. You don’t eat. You push people away. You don’t show up for your job. You lose your ability to be accountable or responsible for your own life because you are too busy doing so for others. If your codependency has started to have a negative effect on your life, the time is now to change. Through therapy, twelve step work, and a commitment to transformation, you can recover your relationship with yourself.

The best move to make for recovery from drug abuse is the quickest move by calling and asking for help immediately. Recovery is possible and healing will take place in mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Recovery Solutions offers a holistic based, 12-step inspired, clinically proven program for alcoholism and co-occurring disorders. Call (844) 234-LIVE today for information on our partial care programs.

Have You Developed Codependent Behaviors?

Written by enlightened solutions on April 26, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

You can’t stand being alone. At the most extreme, people who are codependent stay in harmful, abusive, toxic relationships and situations just to avoid being alone. Codependency means becoming completely dependent on other people in order to feel whole. If you have developed codependent behaviors, you have found subtle ways to make sure someone else is included in everything that happens in your life, and everything you do in your life. Recovering from codependency is challenging, but it is possible. Look for some of these signs to decide if codependency recovery is right for you.

How you feel depends entirely on how other people feel: One of the most common traits of codependency is not being able to feel your own feelings, but base your feelings on those of others. When your friends are sad, you are sad. When your romantic partner is stressed, you are stressed. This isn’t empathy or even sympathy. You have placed the value of other people’s life experiences far above your own for so long, you cannot connect to your own life experiences anymore. When somebody asks you, “How are you?” You find it difficult to answer. Instead, you talk about how everyone else in your life is doing.

Making decisions for yourself is hard to do: How can you trust yourself? That is a question most people with codependent tendencies ask themselves. When you become so used to relying on other people, it feels as though you cannot rely upon yourself. Autonomy is one of the many gifts of recovery, but becoming autonomous is hard to do when you find it hard to make decisions for yourself. Everyone in recovery is suggested to take suggestions in the beginning because the addicted/alcoholic mind cannot be trusted. Eventually, you have to learn to trust yourself.

Abandonment issues feel beyond your control: Even if someone is leaving the room without telling you, you feel a certain twinge of fear and panic that they don’t like you, they’re hiding something from you, they’re leaving you, and they’re never coming back. You’re not paranoid. You’re just codependent. Most people who develop codependent behaviors have experienced some form of abandonment in their life, including neglect. Abandonment issues make themselves most evident in all forms of relationship.

Bring Springtime Into Your Aromatherapy

Written by enlightened solutions on April 25, 2018. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

April showers bring May flowers, which means it is time to start bringing more flowers into your life. Aromatherapy is a great way to bring more flowers, and their healing essences, into your recovery to connect to the season of awakening.

Flower Essences For Spring

Essential oils of flowers can be healing, soothing, invigorating, and simply delightful during the springtime. You can use essential oils in many ways to maximize flower based aromatherapy. Essential oils can be used in diffusers, which spread the smell throughout your home or space. You can also apply essential oils directly to the skin as an alternative to perfume. In addition to smelling like the purest essence of flowers, you’ll also be giving your mind, as well as your body, a wealth of benefits. Some essential oils can be used in cooking. If you’ve never had rose or lavender flavored ice cream, spring is the perfect time to try a new recipe. Add lavender or rose essential oils to chocolate treats for a flowery touch. Sip on flower based tea and breathe in the aromas.

Here are some of the most healing flower essential oils to use as aromatherapy this spring:

Lavender: Lavender is a healing wonder of nature. You can use lavender on wounds, acne, scars, and more. What lavender is most well known for is its soothing, relaxing scent. Lavender can reduce anxiety and induce a lovely state of calm.
Rose: Perhaps no flower scent in the world is as immediately recognizable and wonderfully potent as rose. Rosewater is becoming a popular beauty trend. Just like lavender, rose essence can have a calming effect.
Jasmine: Springtime can be a time of romance, possibly thanks to the Jasmine flower which is known to be an aprhodisiac. Feelings of love can benefit your recovery in more ways than romance. Spark a romance with yourself by sipping on Jasmine tea or using jasmine oil.
Ylang Ylang: With a name like that, ylang ylang can only mean happiness. This bright and happy flower scent is known for being uplifting.

Other ways to bring in the flowers

Fresh flowers are always a guaranteed way to bring aromatherapy into your life. Springtime is full of beautiful blooms which you can bring home or go visit. During the spring, many local farms or botanical gardens put on beautiful displays of flowers and invite the public to tour the grounds. If you can’t make it to flowers, simply bring a fresh bunch of seasonal flowers home. While walking around your house, make sure to stop and smell the flowers.

Can Grief Be Used As Inspiration?

Written by enlightened solutions on April 24, 2018. Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

On February 14th, 2018, what should have been another average Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 17 students and faculty lost their lives. A school shooter opened fire with an assault rifle. Unbeknownst to the shooter, a national movement would be sparked. In just the couple of months since the event, there has been an uprising of student activism with school walkouts, protests, and a national march held on March 24th. The Generation Z students have accomplished an impressive amount of change. Laws are being changed, processes are being reviewed, and radical improvements are being made which might have otherwise taken years.

Interviews have revealed what is inspiring these young people to take such adult action: their grief. These children are experiencing trauma, PTSD, watching friends struggle in the hospital, and to cope, they are putting their grief into action. Some students have become international icons, their speeches being played around the world, their bravery recognized by millions. Rightfully, many are concerned for the students’ mental health. Should they be taking time to grieve? Sometimes, acting on inspiration is a healthy way of grieving.

The Atlantic wrote on the varying opinions about how the students are handling their grief. “After a traumatic event, a person has no choice but to move forward–where she might have a choice is is in where she will move.” Citing a professor of psychology, the article cites that “‘When something like this happens, you can’t continue your same path. You have to choose a new path’ And a person has lots of roads- healthy or dangerous or something in between- to choose from.”

Getting sober is traumatizing. Addiction is traumatizing. Despite the traumatizing experience of addiction and initial sobriety, there is grief. Grieving the loss of addiction, the loss of a substance of choice, is common for people in recovery. As The Atlantic explains, we have to move forward after addiction and we have to choose in which direction we want to go. Though we are grieving, our recovery can be action we take as inspiration from our grief. We cannot continue the same path. We have to choose something new. Hopefully we choose sobriety. We choose recovery. We choose action in our own lives which create radical improvements.

Tag: Mental Health