If your life is tangled up in substances and a separate mental health issue at the same time, you’re not alone. You could be trying to suppress symptoms of bipolar disorder, clinical depression, anxiety, or another mental health issue with substances like alcohol, cocaine, or marijuana. But the negative consequences of those substances might be [...]
You may worry that you or someone you love has started to rely on alcohol just to regulate their emotions. Perhaps you find yourself unable to sleep without it, or you've noticed that you can’t enjoy a night out without a drink. But while it might feel helpful in the moment, alcohol can also trigger [...]
Finally connecting the dots between your drinking habits and poor gut health may feel disappointing, especially when you’re dealing with ongoing stomach discomfort, poor digestion, or unpredictable bathroom habits. In this article, you’ll learn what gut health means, how drinking can affect it, and how St. Joseph Institute can help you restore balance with nutrition [...]
Holistic treatment in recovery means looking at yourself as a whole person, not just focusing on substance use or how to avoid it. At St. Joseph Institute, we combine physical, emotional, spiritual, and social care so that healing can touch every aspect of your life, always making sure that we recognize how your environment, relationships, [...]
Have you or a loved one ever experienced frightening shakes or tremors upon cutting alcohol out of your diet? Or maybe you’ve been discouraged from going substance-free because the shakes are too distracting or alarming. You may feel your body trembling right now while in early recovery at our Port Matilda-based location. If you’re in [...]
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is categorized as a sustained, noticeable behavior on the part of an individual that involves being unable to control how much they drink or being unable to stop drinking despite the consequences. Examples of AUD behavior can include binge drinking, drinking and driving, or losing a job or custodial privileges due [...]
While many people may not automatically realize it, nutrition can be the thread that ties mind, body, and spirit together. If you’ve struggled to nourish yourself with a healthy, diverse diet during or after substance use, you’re not the only one. At St. Joseph Institute in Pennsylvania, your health and wellness are always a top [...]
If you’re already in residential treatment—or newly out of it—you might be wondering why you’re breaking down emotionally. When you live with substance use disorder (SUD), the brain’s reward and stress systems often change. For example, alcohol can seem helpful at first, activating pleasure systems and dialing down emotional pain. But with repeated use and [...]
Returning to a behavior you’ve worked to stop, like drinking, using, or gambling, is often called a relapse, and it can feel devastating in the worst of cases and defeating in the best. Still, relapsing may look different for everyone. For some, it’s one rough night that won’t be repeated. For others, relapse is one [...]
The process of recovering from substance use disorder (SUD) has no finish line. Understanding that can be overwhelming at first, especially during the early stages of recovery. But the lack of an end date also means that the chances to grow, improve, and build a life you love living continuously present themselves. At St. Joseph [...]
