If you or a loved one may be suffering from bipolar disorder, it is crucial to learn more about the condition. In this article, we will provide details on what bipolar disorder actually is. However, for a diagnosis, it is imperative that you seek help from a mental health professional. What is Bipolar Disorder? Bipolar disorder is a complex mental health condition. Also considered a mood disorder, it is characterized by significant periods of extreme mood states, including emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). These states can affect sleep, energy levels, behavior, judgme ..read more

Does the prospect of recovery from drug addiction seem daunting? If you’re considering starting your recovery journey, it may seem like the odds are against you. But millions of people have done it before, and there are concrete steps you can take. This guide will detail these steps so that you’re no longer flailing in the dark. The choice to seek treatment for drug addiction is seen as more complicated than it should be. Despite decades of medical consensus that addiction is a disease, many people still consider it a moral failing. People struggling with addiction often deny themselves treatm ..read more

The term co-occurring mental disorders has become ubiquitous in the field of substance use treatment. But what are co-occurring disorders and how important to recovery are they? Addiction treatment has come a long way over the past twenty years or so. While models like the 12-Step Program are still extremely popular, there are now far more options available. Even treatment centers that still use the 12-Step Program provide supplemental therapies based on recent research. The understanding that addiction often co-occurs with other mental illnesses has been a huge factor in this shift. Experts h ..read more

There’s a question everyone around an addict asks: how do I know if my loved one needs to go to rehab? There’s no easy answer to this, but the good news is that there are signs to look out for. Here’s what you need to know. Having worked in the field of substance use for more than two decades, I have the knack of recognizing the signs of addiction. Sometimes, it is impossible to deny, especially if the person has physical conditions due to their excessive use of substances. More often, it is a lot less subtle. But even the most experienced expert in substance abuse can miss the mark. Addicts b ..read more

The trend of including art therapy in addiction recovery has been growing in the past few years. But many people wonder how art can help a person stop using drugs. What does art therapy actually do and why do rehab centers offer it? The first time someone mentioned art therapy to me, I was skeptical. Having worked in the mental health industry for a few years, I knew how much hard personal work went into treatment. Art just did not seem like it fit the bill. However, the field of psychology is always evolving and anyone not open to new approaches is potentially depriving their patients of effe ..read more

These days, everyone knows about 30-day rehab programs – or at least they think they do. We’ve seen residential treatment portrayed on TV for decades, after all! Having both attended and worked in rehabs though, I can tell you that fiction is rarely representative of real life. There are certain things they get right. Group therapy is an essential part of the process. Residents can build deep relationships. And tough love is sometimes necessary. But they also get a lot wrong, creating many misconceptions and potentially putting people off the idea of rehab. To help you understand how you can b ..read more

Any use of substances that is not done responsibly and in moderation is dangerous. However, the danger can become a lot more pressing when multiple substances are used together. One combination that is being used in 2024 is the mix of methamphetamine (meth) and alcohol. To those using substances, their use together can appear helpful in the moment. But it actually comes with extreme risks, and can lead to severe physical and psychological consequences. We’re going to discuss what happens when you mix meth and alcohol in order to provide an understanding of just how dangerous this is. Let’s sta ..read more

What is acute stress disorder (ASD)? Is it different from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Let’s explore the terminology to understand what these responses to traumatic events have in common and where they differ. In a recent episode of his podcast series, Things Fall Apart, journalist Jon Ronson discussed the terminology of trauma. He questioned whether the word ‘trauma’ was losing its meaning with too much usage. There’s a lot to be said about how the terminology is used in a societal sense, but in mental health discourse, the distinctions are very important. Definitions are used for d ..read more

The first time someone suggested that I try mindfulness and meditation to help with depression, I didn’t take them seriously. I had suffered major depressive episodes that had felt worse than anything I could have imagined. How could deep breathing possibly make a difference? In fact, by sitting and ‘doing nothing’, I would surely be making it worse! Problem was, I’d tried everything else by that point. Medication and therapy made a big difference, but it felt like a matter of time before I suffered another major depressive episode. And so, I gave the philosophy of mindfulness, which includes ..read more

Does the setting in which you receive mental health treatment actually impact the journey to recovery? It may sound trivial to some, but both experts and individuals with mental health disorders understand just how heavily the environment can affect outcomes. While the expertise of healthcare professionals and the quality of treatment programs are paramount, the location of a mental health facility actually does play a crucial role in shaping the treatment experience and its outcomes. In fact, the concept of “healing environments” is not new in the realm of mental health care. Studies have sho ..read more