Having a personality disorder is still misunderstood because there is a giant stigma around it. People would just prefer to think that those with a personality disorder are choosing to be this way and will never change. It is important for those who know someone with a personality disorder to practice empathy and compassion so…
Many of us struggling with addiction have at one time or another been confronted with all of the stigmas around addiction and the negative stereotypes about addicts. We ourselves may have been negatively stereotyped, judged, ridiculed or rejected because of our struggle with addiction. With addiction so common and widespread, why is it still so…
One of the most popular and effective approaches to addiction recovery is the Twelve Step program, originally created as the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous that is now used by multiple addiction programs around the world. It can be hugely helpful to follow the guidance of the steps, and one of the most powerful ones…
As we move through our recovery, there are various processes we have to go through in order to feel totally healed. Even if we’re able to abstain from our addictive substances and behaviors for a time, we don’t feel fully recovered if we still feel like they hold power over us. One of the first…
Many of us have a way of repeating our patterns unconsciously without realizing it. We perpetuate toxic and self-destructive patterns in recurring cycles. Our issues repeat themselves until we’re able to learn from them. Until we realize this, we tend to blame our issues on other people, or we feel victimized by life, powerless to…
Self-forgiveness can be one of the hardest but most important things we learn in the recovery process. We don’t feel deserving of forgiveness, and we replay memories of our mistakes and regrets constantly as evidence of our unworthiness. It’s almost as if we want to keep reminding and convincing ourselves that we’re bad people. Our…
Moving through addiction forces us to look deep within ourselves, to the truth of who we are. It requires that we take time to be alone with our thoughts without the numbing, distracting and self-medicating of addiction. We’re no longer zoned out, escaping and avoiding our pain. We’re forced to face our deepest fears and…
Millenials are a demographic of people who were born between 1981-1996. The stress of finding a job and being able to afford a place of their own is different than what previous generations before them went through. By making sure that you eat right, exercise, and use social media to help with career growth, those…
One of our biggest motivating forces to recover from our addictions is wanting to get back to who we were before addiction took over our lives. We want to rebuild the lives we lost. What are some ways in which addiction changes us? Addiction impacts us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Mentally we can be…
Anxiety is one of the most common and most debilitating mental illnesses we struggle with, and for many of us, it can be a major contributor to our addictions. What are some natural ways in which we can manage our anxiety so that we feel calmer, more centered and more at peace? Healing our anxiety…