The Role Of Digital Devices In The Recovery Process

When technology and addiction are discussed together, the former is usually understood as a driver for the latter.

Digital technologies can promote alcoholism and drug addiction as these substances can easily be acquired online or via text messages. Technology can also be used to fuel addictions to gambling, shopping, pornography, and other forms of addiction or compulsion. Even addiction to technology itself is a possibility.

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Traditional addiction centers ban mobile devices while patients are undergoing treatment because there is fear that this can cause distraction from the recovery process. Contrastingly, there are recovery centers that have been using mobile devices to facilitate rehabilitation or recovery from addiction. Some of the ways that these technologies have been helpful in recovery processes are the following:

Recovery essentials: There is a variety of mobile apps that can help patients develop healthy habits, track treatment goals, write down their experiences during the recovery process, and receive other recovery essentials.

Meditation and affirmation: Helpful in recovery or rehabilitation are self-awareness, reducing stress, a healthy lifestyle, and recovery communities. There are also apps that can provide meditation, affirmation, and means to receive support from other people.

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Multimedia: In some cases, books, movies, or music can create a healthy environment for recovering patients. For this reason, smartphones or other digital devices play an important role in the recovery process.

For 13 years, Morningside Recovery has been helping people from all over the world achieve lasting sobriety, health, and renewed passion for life. For more information about its programs, visit its official website.

Why you should consider the holistic approach in addiction therapy

Traditional approaches to addiction therapy have been a little linear in that healthcare givers would focus on one specific school of thought for treating addiction. 

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Such perspectives include biological (in which medication was prioritized) to complete cognitive-based therapy (wherein patients were fully exposed to psychological assessment). There have been success stories for each, but new research is now providing evidence to the sustainability and effectiveness of a holistic approach, not only in terms of addiction treatment but in preventing relapse. A holistic approach tackles the addiction both as a biological and psychological problem.

Patients are often compelled to "get better" or to "snap out of it" by well-meaning, but misinformed, people. While there are triggers to addictive behavior, often the substance abuse and mental changes that occur transform the addiction into a compulsion. It is a never-ending cycle in which a person cannot change because of the addiction and the addiction itself feeds compulsive behavior. Those with very severe cases of addiction or mental health problems often do not recover with therapy because their brains cannot or do not have the neural connections necessary to process new information. This is where medication helps. 

That being said, medications can only take a person so far. It heals the symptoms but does not address the root of the addiction. This is why health professionals seek a root-preventive form of therapy, involving many different types of treatment plans to ensure that patients do not relapse.

Holistic forms of therapy often take longer than traditional methods and require much patience and diligence on the patient’s part. However, it is hoped that they would consider this option on their respective paths to recovery. 

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Morningside Recovery approaches addiction treatment in a holistic manner, encouraging patients to wean themselves from their difficulties through constructive and safe methods. To learn more about the group, visit this blog.

Overcoming The Isolation Trigger During Early Recovery

The reinforcing effects of group behaviors may encourage behavioral conformity, which can compromise the ability of an addiction patient to overcome persistent habitual patterns. Thus, addiction patients are often cut off from previous social groups that may have had to help them break the cycle. However, this itself poses its own challenge. Feelings of isolation are a common trigger in addiction relapses and is one of the potential risks patients and their care providers could face during the initial stages of recovery.

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Because the tumult of the early stage of recovery can vary in length, minimizing the trigger risks for relapses. Ensuring that loneliness doesn’t become a trigger is a key task in the early part of the recovery process. One of the ways to prevent this relapse is through community. Socialization with other members with similar life experiences has been a staple in addiction recovery and continues to play an important role in recovery.

Fostering a sense of community alongside other recovering individuals can not only provide the much-needed social interaction and rapport to prevent the onset of loneliness but also empower patients through mutual support. Pets can also be used to help reduce feelings of anxiety, particularly for those who face initial difficulties talking to other people.

The kind of contact matters. Friendships, a common source of solidarity and camaraderie, are the key relationships that should be fostered during the first stages of recovery. Many authorities encourage addiction patients to put off more romantic socialization well into a year in the recovery process.

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Constant interaction can lay the foundation for a new social network, allowing the patient to connect with peers more supportive of the new lifestyle choices they make post-addiction.

A pet-friendly facility, Morningside Recovery utilizes both conventional and complementary treatment and therapy in its recovery programs. For more on its programs, visit this website.

The Common Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a psychological illness that has made life difficult for those afflicted with it, causing a lot of strain in relationships that they have with their co-workers, friends, and loved ones. The stinging experience with a bipolar disorder-afflicted individual comes when the person drastically shifts between extreme behaviors. Here are some symptoms.

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Sudden shifts between opposite moods: These mood fluctuations are highly unpredictable. One moment the person is sad and gloomy, and not more than a few minutes later, he’s as bright as the sun. This shift in mood can cause confusion among people around him and can even lead to conflicts.

Mania: Mania is characterized by periods of great excitement and over activity. This could show a person acting unusually upbeat and agitated for no clear reason. He may also display an exaggerated sense of well-being or self-confidence, otherwise known as euphoria. This may include atypical talkativeness and unsettled, misdirected thoughts.

Depressed mood: Feelings of despair, hopelessness, and emptiness manifest in a person with bipolar disorder. These feelings could lead to a marked loss of interest in typical activties, weight loss, or decrease in appetite. At its worst, the feelings evolve into a strong sense of worthlessness with inappropriate guilt, and in some cases, suicidal tendencies have also been observed.

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The solution to bipolar disorder is treatment, which cannot be done without any proper diagnosis. While the solution is within reach, it requires that the individual acknowledges his condition.

Morningside Recovery is a place where persons afflicted with psychological disease can be treated and transitioned back into normal living. For more information, visit this website.

Beating Addiction With The Help Of a Support System

The condition of a drug user is a very serious one. It is a rarity when a drug user successfully removes himself from the situation on his own, without the concern and support of family and friends. In the life of a drug abuser, there is no better ally than an active support system that helps to keep him on track on the road to recovery.

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A support system is any group of individuals who are available to show concern and encouragement to a drug user who wishes to reform, which makes this a very noble task.

The biggest support that a drug user can get is from the immediate family. There are no other people more interested in the success of reformation than the members of a unit whose survival purely thrives on the love and affection that its members have for each other.

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However, drug use is a rather complicated thing, and this has even left family members with strained relationships. Where the efforts of family members fall short, the support of friends can come in. Concerned friends often do not express their judgment as heavily as parents tend to do, which is why the role of friends is crucial. There is comfort in the presence of friends who reserve their judgments more than family members who tend to wield this more liberally.

Another source of support comes from that of like-minded individuals who can relate most with each other. There are a lot of anonymous groups out there whose members are going through the same pains of reformation from drug abuse, and this becomes a very powerful support system for each member.

Morningside Recovery is a place where drug and alcohol abusers have found a new hope. For more information, visit this website.

Treating Addiction By Eliminating The Social Stigma

Alcohol and drug dependence must be seen as a normal illness, which can be managed with medication and therapy. Unfortunately, treatment and awareness about the condition are to a large extent incumbent on how society treats its patients. Addiction is seen as a failure or weakness of mind. This perception severely undermines treatment because it reduces the number of patients who willingly go to centers, or even admit the problem to themselves.

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Medical studies have shown that social stigma directly impacts how long a person stays in therapy. Those who feel a great sense of shame typically spend two to six months longer in therapy than a recovering addict who feels understood. Moreover, the less accepting patients are of the condition, the more resistant they are to change. It is not unusual to have ashamed patients sink into a depressive state, further exacerbating their condition.

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There are initiatives both at the community and national level aiming to reduce the pervasive social stigma of addiction. These mainly involve educating the public about the reasons for addiction, how it develops, and how anyone – regardless of severity or circumstance – can manage it and eventually recover.

Complete recovery may not be possible for all cases. A lot of patients are made aware of their condition and work through managing it. Even this, however, is a formidable task that requires focused and extensive therapy. It is also a step in the right direction, one that allows the recovering addict to transition back into society.

Morningside Recovery is a trusted alcohol and drug dependence treatment center. Learn more about treating drug and alcohol dependence by visiting the center’s official website.

Preventing Substance Abuse Relapse Through The Buddy System

Recovering from an addiction is often a team effort. The medical community accepts substance addiction as a form of mental illness: addicts are not fully aware of their actions when they are under the influence of substances. Neurological studies also concluded that recovering patients have different brains and neural pathways compared to those who never did drugs. Given such unique patients conditions, medical treatments have adapted to include the biological and psychological aspects of addiction.

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The main goal of addiction recovery is not only to detoxify the body but also to teach patients resilience against relapses. It is hoped that rates of relapse would decline with proper education and support systems.

It is essential that newly discharged patients have a strong support system. Addiction centers have specialized environments, where patients acclimatize to habits and procedures. Outside of treatment centers, patients are once again exposed to various temptations.

Therapists suggest setting up a buddy system for at least three months for patients continuing their recovery outside addiction centers.

The buddy should be a person who understands the person’s conditions and triggers. The buddy is not a therapist but someone available during the harder periods after recovery. Most of the time, patients just need someone they can talk to. The buddy should never act as a medical professional. If he or she suspects the patient of being dangerously close to relapsing, he or she should immediately contact the patient’s therapist.

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Morningside Recovery is known for its well-rounded treatment strategies for recovering addicts. Learn more about the center by visiting this website.