Once you become physically dependent on heroin, you’re likely to experience heroin withdrawal symptoms upon reducing your dose or quitting it altogether. Heroin causes tolerance as well as dependence on your chronic substance abuse. This means that your body needs increasing amounts of it in order to provide the desired high. Very uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms…
Your loved one has an alcohol use disorder. You’ve tried everything you can think of to help. So far, you haven’t succeeded. But do you know how to help an alcoholic? Free Yourself from Guilt and Responsibility You might feel responsible for your loved one’s drinking problem. In fact, they might say something to this…
Anxiety is a debilitating condition. Frequently, people dealing with it don’t get the help they need. Instead, they self-medicate with the abuse of drugs or alcohol. This explains the connection between anxiety and addiction. Did the Link between Anxiety and Addiction Entrap You? When your brain triggers anxiety attacks, you experience sudden bouts of irrational…
Not everyone who uses drugs or alcohol becomes addicted, but about 164 million people worldwide have. Addiction is a progressive disease. It can hijack your brain, and your life. Genetics and certain challenges make some people more prone to addiction, but anyone can become addicted.
“Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” ~ Robert Downey Jr.
When most people hear the word codependent, they associate it with addiction or behavioral disorders. In fact, the term was coined nearly 40 years ago in context with alcoholism. Codependency can manifest in many ways, but the common factor is that coping mechanisms become mutually destructive.
Prescription opioid abuse has reached an all-time high and new mothers are joining the ranks of accidental addicts who are prescribed too much opioid medication after a C-section.
The loss of property, businesses and personal possessions, coping with life-threatening illness and tragic deaths due to natural disasters are well-documented. Although peer-reviewed articles, blogs and memoirs have been written on the impact of natural disasters on drug users, this important issue is not engraved in the collective public conscience.
The differences between substance addiction vs. process addiction are substantial. Most people have never heard the term “process addiction” and erroneously assume it is the same as substance addiction. Here is what you need to know about substance addiction vs. process addiction.
Children of drug-addicted mothers face unique challenges that can persist through adulthood. Not only are children of drug-addicted mothers exposed to elements of a dark, adult world, but they are often deprived of learning basic social and survival skills that children of healthy mothers acquire naturally.