According to Psychology Today, stress contributes to increased addiction and relapse rates. If you have stressful events in your life without the coping skills needed to deal with them, you may respond by self-medicating. At Bayview Recovery, we understand that it’s impossible to avoid stress, and we give you the tools you need for effective stress management.

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What Stress Does to the Body

When you face adversity, your body reacts. Your blood pressure rises and so do the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Adrenalin pumps through your body and blood rushes to your muscles in a classic flight or fight response. Consequently, those with poor stress management skills can develop problems with their heart and other impacted organs.

Chronic Versus Normal Stress

Normal stress includes moderately challenging situations of limited duration. Cramming for an exam or preparing for a track race induces helpful levels of stress that can enhance your performance. If you are an adrenalin junkie, you may actively seek out stressful activities such as riding a rollercoaster or skydiving. However, long-term exposure to stress hormones may result in depressive symptoms.

To help our clients learn stress management, we offer mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment programs that provide support and teach you coping mechanisms. Without healthy coping skills, stress can lead to depression and chronic illnesses such as influenza, tension headaches, and relapse.

What Causes Chronic Stress?

For those placed in extremely stressful environments, chronic stress may become a defining element of their personality. It can even rewire your brain to crave stress. For instance, high levels of stress due to instability early in life can alter your genetics. Through a process called methylation, key genes that control your stress response take control — it’s your body’s way of coping with uncertain circumstances as a norm.

Here are typical triggers that can tax your stress management skills:

Trauma in early childhood
Chronic stress in the workplace
An extremely stressful event such as becoming a crime victim
Traumatic life events such as the death of a loved one or loss of a job

Stress and Substance Abuse

Constant stress can lead to substance abuse as a coping mechanism. Physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, and neglect in early childhood all increase the risk of addiction. If you have an unhappy marriage or working environment, you may turn to drugs or alcohol as a means of escape. However, substance abuse carries its own perils.

At Bayview Recovery, we use traditional evidence-based approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy to help you build positive coping mechanisms. We also use holistic approaches, including yoga therapy and meditation mindfulness that teach you to focus on the moment and process situations without internalizing negative feelings and thoughts.

Taking Back Control with Stress Management

Avoiding stressful situations can help you avoid relapse after recovery. However, you also need to learn impulse control and effective ways to channel your energy. You’ll learn these tools at our drug and alcohol addiction treatment center.

Here’s what stress does to your brain. Relentless stress reduces your brain’s gray matter, which controls cognitive abilities and stress regulation. In fact, your prefrontal cortex shuts down, effectively killing your deliberative cognition.

Overstressed people often become very reactive, leading to impulsive habits such as:

Smoking
Overeating
Drinking
Taking drugs

Stress Management and Substance Abuse Therapy at Bayview Recovery

Take the time to assess the way you deal with stress. Has poor stress management led you to drug and alcohol abuse? Contact Bayview Recovery at 855.478.3650 to start your journey back to sobriety and to learn more about our innovative approach to substance abuse rehabilitation. We offer programs to help yourself or a loved one better manage stress or substance abuse. These programs include:

Don’t wait any longer to get the necessary help. Reach out to Bayview Recovery today.