Stress can be a major contributing factor to drug and alcohol abuse. Family problems, financial troubles, and life in general generate daily stress. It seems the more stress you're under, the more you want to escape. Stress can either push one deeper into and addiction, or be a motivator to [...]
Opiate addiction has claimed the lives of millions of people for centuries. For a long time, there were no medical treatments for addiction to drugs like morphine or heroin. Science, however, has caught up to the problem and has given us medical solutions to addiction. The two most widely used [...]
Addiction can create a tangled web of behaviors and actions that are harmful to everyone involved. Those closest to addiction often experience behaviors like compulsive lying and manipulation that are very damaging to relationships. They also see the addicted person exhibit: Denial - Failing to admit that that there is [...]
With St. Patrick’s Day ahead of us this weekend, it’s time to celebrate all things Irish! But for those in recovery, this boozy holiday can mean trouble. Most holidays are a time for celebration and cheer and while alcohol is usually present, it’s not the key ingredient for getting in [...]
With recent stories about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s being charged with first-degree solicitation, so many questions are raised. How could a man with such a reputation, such an incredible net worth and such a winning legacy do such a thing? Kraft’s charges include solicitation for sex acts at [...]
Anyone who has experienced addiction or the addiction of a loved one knows that manipulation is an extremely damaging behavior. Addicts can use many tactics to get what they want and in the end they end up hurting themselves and the ones closest to them. These manipulations can often feel [...]
Add one more thing to the list that frequent heavy drinking can do to damage you. Not only can it destroy your liver, relationships, and bank account; new research has found that it can alter you DNA. Researchers from Rutgers University recently published a study that found that people who [...]
A new year means a “new you.” So many of us promise ourselves that this is the year we conquer our bad habits and emerge a new person. We make a plan longer than our holiday shopping list of all the unhealthy or bad habits in our lives and try [...]
A very dangerous and pervasive outcome of addiction in the tendency to isolate. Circumstances like conflict between friends and family members over one’s addiction can cause the addicted person to seek solitude. Warped thinking caused by extended substance abuse can rationalize the need for one to be alone because it [...]
Shame and guilt are present in nearly every case of substance abuse and alcoholism and they are powerful and painful emotions that can hinder recovery. We feel shame as a natural emotion that not only affects our behavior, but creates a physiological response to the automatic nervous system. We blush, [...]
