Him: "I feel no emotion, that's the reason I do this". Her: *I close my eyes and just feel the pain melt away*. In this doc series you get an insight to what heroine addiction looks like. Anne and Digger are parents and both addicted to heroine.
Read MoreAll the things we do, eat and take to avoid any uncomfortable emotion. How many of us are guilty of this, even without having what can be diagnosed as a full-blown addiction?
Read MoreAlcohol, drugs and many eating disorders cause damage to the stomach lining. If this is not fixed, discomfort will remain. Digestion disorders always follows addiction. So what can we do to damage control?
Read MoreAddictive behaviors, such as certain eating disorders like binge eating, overeating and addictions to sugar, alcohol, smoking, chronic masturbation, sexual addictions, etc. all have their root in the brain. A toxic and nutritionally deficient brain is far more prone to addictive behaviors. Heavy metals like mercury can totally screw up our dopaminergic system and make us more likely to engage in addictive behaviors unable to quit them.
Read MoreKeeping our blood sugar balanced is absolutely crucial to avoid cravings triggered by simple blood sugar dips. This is also why we need to pay attention to getting our facts about fat right. Fat is the buffer that protects our blood sugar from the aggressive spikes and dips. When we combine fats with otherwise high glycemic foods, it neutralizes the effect and instead gives us a slow release of energy.
Prince passed away a couple weeks ago, and it is now clear that he too struggled with an addiction to painkillers - likely what killed him. Prescriptions for opioid painkillers have risen by 300 percent over the past 10 years. Deaths from overdosing on these drugs now far surpass those from illicit street drugs.
Read MoreOur current state of balance, can change yearly, monthly, daily and even minute-to-minute. Knowing our current state of balance is an essential tool for figuring out what needs attention right now. We can then feed those needs, rather than continue in a state of suppression and denial - all of which only leads to further imbalance and built-up. You don't fix needs by ignoring them, you fix needs by listening and caring for them.
Read MoreOne of the most undealt with aspects of recovery is how to release trauma in the body. Our previous thoughts, self-destructive ways and negative past all reside within our body. Our body has memory. Our cells in change send of messages of health or disease based on this mental energy that takes on a physical aspect. Genetic research has demonstrated that the matrix composing our bodies' cells (DNA) possess a complex information storage system. This also explains why happiness is tied to health. People have less disease when they are happy.
Read MoreNest time you feel like you are about to do something that you have promised yourself not to do - ask yourself this simple question: Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? This is one of the most easy tools to begin to replace bad habits, step by step. So simple that many refuse to do it - because "it is just too easy" and thus a waste of time, because everything else in life seems like a battle. This is the lie we tell ourselves to NOT take action: if it is not hard, it must not work. Yet it is the simple things in life that works best.
Read MoreRecovery involves a personal recognition of the need for change and transformation. Recovery is a process through which we gradually achieve greater balance of mind, body and spirit in relation to other aspects of life, including family, work and community. Each person’s recovery process is unique and impacted by cultural beliefs and traditions. Our cultural experience often shapes the recovery path that is right for us. The take-away here is that no one single thing is enough to focus on, not the abstinence, not the trauma, not the nutrition and not the spiritual aspects of connecting with self, others and God. Recovery is complex and requires us to focus on all aspects simultaneously in order to get all the legs on the stool stable.
Read MoreRecovery is not just about quitting past destructive behaviors and addictions. We might like to think that recovery is simply being abstinent - being clean, not engaging in bad habits and not taking xyz. Recovery that lasts, however, is not passive. It is not us sitting it out, waiting for the craving magically to just disappear over time. The most frequent relapse happens, when we think our recovery is about focusing on just NOT doing that or taking that. This will simply exhaust our willpower over time and we will give in. We will give in to the craving, because we are not creating a space for the recovered new self, we are just abstaining - and life feels empty when we go about it this way.
Read MoreOur emotional health is closely tied to our physical health. For every emotion there is a biochemical equation. As an example, when we are under stress, we store fat and crave sugar, carbs and stimulants. We also store “molecules of emotion” in our fat cells.
Read MoreI am not a big fan of so-called cheat days. And anyone with a history of addiction issues likely want to avoid this black-white pattern of planning their eating schedule as well. Cheat days easily turn into binge days. And this leaves us in a mental state of feeling like a failure - we went overboard, we felt like we lost control and allowed our impulses to completely take-over. This is a red flag situation for anyone to relapse back into their primary type of addiction. Simply because our MINDSET is now one of "whatever", "I can't control myself" so "I might as well xyz".
Read MoreA study reveals this anxiety medication is reaching an all-time high of deaths now. Scott Disick has revealed his anxiety medication addiction. This is an addiction that hits every age group and wealth group. It is not harmless and it causes tremendous damage to the body and brain - it basically rips your gastrointestinal tract to pieces and causes multiple chronic health issues in its waters. Not to mention, highly deadly especially when combined with alcohol, as it often is in cases where one needs to "calm the nerves". So how do you figure out why you are anxious in the first place and thus, what the right actual treatment for you is, rather than mask it with drugs shown deadly?
Read MoreAccording to a 2008 study in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 38.7% of women report decreased libido as their primary sexual health concern. What has sex got to do with addiction and recovery you might think? Well, the biochemical imbalances following an addiction often leads to a complete wipe out in sex drive.
Read MoreIs it all or nothing - what do you think? I like to think that most things in life can be enjoyed in moderation. Although learning to embrace parts of something that has once controlled one, can be difficult. And indeed for some substances it is not possible, as the biochemical component is too strong to ever gain a sense of how to enjoy in moderation again. Yet, from my years of having worked in the addiction field, I am convinced that the deeper lesson of addiction is to embrace the gray zone.
Read MoreHello, my name is xyz and I am an addict. Not something anyone ever wants to have to say out loud. Therefore, we often make excuses, explanations and elaborations for our destructive habits, as to not have to attach ourselves with the term "addict". When we are scared of change, when we fear we won't make it through to the other side, when the light seems so far away and we feel weak... That is when we will often tend to deceive ourselves. We will lie in an attempt to survive in the midst of the misery. We will often lie so much, that we convince ourselves, that we do not have a problem. That everything is OK. We are OK. This is OK. What we are doing is fine - everything is just fine. When in fact we are slowly drowning.
Read MoreNew insight has been gained into how the brains of drug addicts may be wired differently. The findings show that while drug users have very strong motivation to seek out ‘rewards,’ they exhibit an impaired ability to adjust their behavior and are less fulfilled once they have achieved what they desire. This disconnect between the craving for a drug and inability to regulate behavior may be key to breaking the cycle of addiction.
Read MoreGut damage, post-addiction depression and serotonin issues related to liver and gut damage are well-known obstacles in spite of managing to quit alcohol. However these health troubles are almost unbearable for many, because now the digestive and mood balancing biochemical markers really become obvious in daily life, when not numbing out from the mental and physical discomfort on the regular with alcohol. Researchers are finding that L-Glutamine plays a critical role in healthy digestion and brain function. Glutamine has been shown in studies to protect against mucosal breakdown in the gut. There are even studies looking into how glutamine can aid in reducing side-effects of chemotherapy treatments.
Read MoreOne of the first things, that will always be affected prior to the relapse, will be a blood sugar fluctuation. Blood sugar is a driver for other biochemicals parameters, such as serotonin and beta-endorphins, which drive addictive behaviors. So what is the takeaway lesson here? Understanding that managing your blood sugar is a constant focus point throughout recovery. Addicts have a very low stress tolerance level, and this translates to being exceptionally sensitive to blood sugar imbalances.
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