Addiction is known for causing us to experience drastic highs and lows, and understanding them can help us have a clearer understanding of our experience. When we become addicted to a substance or behavior, what we often are most dependent upon is that feeling of being high that feels so much better than the pain…
Because so many of us struggling with addiction are in relationships with other addicts, a very common relationship theme that coincides with addiction is enabling. We enable each other’s unhealthy habits, emotional and behavioral patterns, and addictive cycles. We encourage each other to use. We exacerbate each other’s self-destructiveness. We compound each other’s self-sabotage. Enabling…
Our inner demons are the thoughts and feelings that we feel haunted by, the stressors and triggers that bother us the most. We can feel like our minds are controlled by them. We feel haunted, overpowered, even psychologically tortured by them. Our demons are our insecurities, our complexes, our obsessions. We develop anxiety disorders and…
Our fears have a way of overtaking our lives and destroying our health. When we’re ready to heal from our addictions and mental health issues, we take on the very important task of addressing the fears that have been contributing to our health issues. How do we stop our fears from controlling our minds and…
When we’re having a hard time healing our inner pain, our woundedness from past trauma, our deep sadness and grief, it is often our fear that is keeping us from healing and moving forward. We’re afraid of having to feel the same pain again. We’re afraid that we’ll always suffer. We’re afraid that we’ll always…
Our fears can impact our lives in all kinds of ways, many of which we aren’t yet conscious of. As we practice mindfulness and become more self-aware, we learn to take more notice of how our fears are showing up in our experience. One of the most common fears that impacts so many of us…
When we’re working to heal, we examine the fears and emotions that are contributing to our unwellness. We analyze and work to change our beliefs. For example, we can’t heal if we don’t believe we can. What we sometimes neglect, but which are just as important, are our habits. Our recovery will only be as…
At the root of our addictions and mental and emotional health issues is often a pervasive, all-encompassing feeling of self-hatred. We don’t believe in our own self-worth and our value. We see ourselves not as we truly are but with a self-image based on self-rejection and shame. We criticize ourselves at every turn and judge…
Family therapy is one of the most beneficial and useful tools available to us in recovery. Addiction doesn’t affect the addict alone. It impacts the entire family, so much so that addiction is often considered a family disease. We can inherit addictive traits and behaviors from our families, and even when only one family member…
It can be hard to be in a relationship when two people struggle with addiction. The chances of getting help decrease if your significant other is constantly around you abusing drugs. One real-life couple shared their story to Huffington Post about the obstacles they both faced in their relationship as a result of their drug…