As family members and friends of an addicted loved one, you have probably observed this person fail to establish clear boundaries. You may also have a hard time establishing the boundaries that would protect you from this person’s behavior. Learning healthy boundaries is an essential aspect of self-care. Boundaries help us know who we are [...]
Overeating processed foods is one of the most common ways to replace a drug or alcohol addiction. Pamela M. Peeke, MD, MPH, has worked with addiction treatment centers across the country to educate residents about “hyper-palatables”—sugary, fatty, or salty foods—and how they hijack the brain and trigger compulsive behaviors, making relapse even more likely for [...]
Addiction among seniors is a growing problem. Unfortunately, this problem often slips under the public radar, and the government does not provide seniors the education, attention, and funding they deserve. This article looks at 10 barriers to age-appropriate treatment for seniors. The barriers come from all sources: families who are embarrassed by the problem or [...]
What does yoga have to do with recovery? Quite a lot, according to Google. Search “yoga for addiction,” and you will find countless articles from professional sources about the benefits of yoga in recovery. Yoga is not just for women, hippies, or the extremely flexible. It has been found to effectively regulate stress hormones that, [...]
Guilt. Resentment. Anxiety. Exhaustion. If you have an alcoholic or addict in your life and feel one or more of these feelings consistently, you are probably engaging in enabling behavior. What is enabling? Enabling is the illusion of help, the illusion of love. Enabling is what we do when we want to control outcomes, when [...]
We have shared many blog posts about recovery as a process, as a habit that takes daily practice and attention. We’ve talked about the many triggers of relapse, from stress to poor health to depression. Another major trigger for relapse is a feeling of restlessness, of being scattered, of losing control over our circumstances or [...]
All residents at St. Joseph Institute learn about breath work: what it is, how to do it, and why it helps. But breathing is one of the easiest practices to overlook. We breathe without thinking about it, and we often “forget to breathe” when we experience stress. When our residents finish treatment and return to their [...]
“Don’t believe everything you think.” This short, simple phrase is the key to managing negative thoughts. Why manage negative thoughts? Negative thinking supports negative emotions, and the two together lead to feelings of stress, powerlessness, and the need for escape. In short, negative thinking can lead to relapse. Our training materials at St. Joseph Institute [...]
FACT: Addicts in active stages of using drugs and alcohol are malnourished. FACT: Good nutrition actually impacts cravings for drugs and alcohol. Residents at St. Joseph Institute learn these two facts (and many more!) in classes about how to replenish their bodies with nutrients that addiction has depleted. But it’s easy to live a healthy [...]
Recommended Reading: Comfort Food: No One Brings Dinner When Your Daughter is an Addict By Larry M. Lake, Slate, November 8, 2013 Do you have a son or daughter who struggles with addiction? Do you feel free to talk about your child’s addiction and its effects on your family with your friends and neighbors? More [...]
