Monthly Archives: May 2018

Holistic Health, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Anxiety Quiz

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Our mental health is so important as it casts a huge influence on how our days, months, and years play out overall. Just like maintaining physical health, keeping your mental health in good shape protects your energy levels, overall mood, and downplays different types of anxiety that many busy people experience in life. Some people may just turn a blind eye to not protecting their mental health, as it could be seen as a waste of time. Why keep up and care for a part of our bodies we can’t even see? I’m strong, why do I even need to seek therapy or online support to feel better? Those are questions that are often relayed through the minds of people who know they need help with their mental health or various anxiety symptoms, but don’t want to experience the stigma of shame and embarrassment that is attached it.

If you know you need help to deal with your anxiety symptoms or just want to know more about helping your mental health, there’s no need to feel lower than the average human being. The year is 2018 and everyone at this point has the right to seek out ways to better their health and lifestyle overall. Being stubborn, ignorant, and unhealthy is definitely not in fashion and you don’t want to end up in a hospital bed several years into the future. Here’s some quick and easy ways to better manage your anxiety symptoms and safeguard your mental health in general.

  • To protect your mental health, you need to first accept that not everything in life is under your control. Things like performance and success are somewhat held accountable by your actions, but a negative event or accident that causes you stress is most often never your fault. You need to put your stress and anxiety symptoms in perspective. Write down how you feel on a piece of paper and you’ll soon realize that there are worse things that could have happened.
  • Do your best and stop shooting for being perfect. We are humans and no one can have the perfect mental health, grades, love life, social events, and physique all the time. Focus on your own personal growth and stop comparing yourself to others who look like they have it all together. More often than not, you have no idea what struggles and pain other people are not showing behind their happy Instagram posts and snapchat stories.
  • Maintain a positive attitude when you can. You don’t have to be happy all the time, because then you would be better off as a robot. The point is to make an effort to keep track of your thoughts and minimize the negative ones before your mind spirals into a darker place. Practicing a more encouraging dialogue is often one of the most powerful ways to transform your mental health. You never know how much of a difference being kind to yourself can make instead of criticizing every move you make throughout the day.
  • Avoid drinking too much. Water is totally acceptable, as we need plenty of it to survive and stay hydrated. Limit how much alcoholic drinks and caffeine you take during the day, even if you need it to shave off the stress you’re experiencing. Those chemicals are stimulants that can aggravate your already existing anxiety and can even trigger brutal panic attacks. No one wants to have a sudden onset of emotions for having one too many lattes in the morning, so it’s best to stick to water, tea, or more gentle drinks in general. If water is too boring for you, there’s a variety of flavor drops you can purchase to make it taste just like your favorite juice! Additionally, you can add pieces of fruit into your water as well to get an extra boost of vitamin C which helps strengthen your immune system.
  • Eat and sleep well. This is a no brainer to think about but executing it every day with discipline is where many people fall short. We’re not invincible and we all need to fuel our bodies with the nutrition and rest it needs to function well. If you have been feeling especially struck with symptoms of anxiety during a week, think about how your diet has been like and if you getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep. Don’t skip any meals and always eat foods that are as natural as possible to help maintain your energy. The saying, “we are what we eat” rings true in the case of maintaining mental health so make sure to be as mindful as you can!
  • Take a time out. Many successful entrepreneurs, musicians, and athletes can attest to the benefits that meditation brings to their lives every day. You can practice yoga in the morning, listen to a calming music playlist, learning deep breathing techniques, or use your gym time as your window of reflection. You’ll get to know your thoughts better and you’ll feel comfortable spending time with yourself to grow. Even if it’s just a short mental break for a couple minutes, you will feel less anxious and stressed after the period is over.

Learn More

Hopefully these tips can get you started on the road to protecting your mental health in the midst of life’s most difficult struggles. If you’re not sure how serious your symptoms of anxiety maybe, you can also take an anxiety quiz online to learn more about what is going on in your body. It’s quick, easy, and can guide you into what steps to take to better prevent your stress levels from running high in the future!

Anxiety symptoms are treatable.
Have a peace of mind and get over anxiety symptoms.
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Intervention Letter

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Writing a letter to a drug addict to express how you feel can be extremely difficult. For starters, you may feel awkward about bringing up the topic of their drug addiction since they become easily defensive. You may feel scared about making them angry and wanting to seek revenge for calling them out on their bad behavior. You may feel nervous about expressing a side of you that you haven’t before as you truly care about their wellbeing and long term health. Last but not least, you may feel very anxious about recommending a resource of drug addiction support for them to seek out. Whatever emotions you are going through, remember that you are not alone in this process.

Treat the addict in your life as anyone else. Just because they are being strongly affected by a drug in the present does not mean they get any sort of special treatment. You are not going to be an enabler and you are not going to allow them to feel like they’re off the hook. Even if they don’t agree with your opinion, it is not the end of the world! Your intervention letter is an expression of your concerns and might be the bus that hits their reality harder than the one that got Regina George in Mean Girls. This is a good thing, as you want a drug addict to wake up from their close off world of addiction and realize that they truly need drug addiction support.

Why A Letter?

Intervention letters play a huge role in the intervention process itself as each person involved can exactly express their thoughts. As a group of concerned people plan an intervention for an addict, they need to each write a personal letter that reflects their current feelings and points to a method of treatment. During the intervention, each group member can then read the letter out loud so the words ring in the addict’s ears. These letters also serve as a road map for the intervention as it keeps a person in check with their dialogue and personal emotions. Addiction affects several facets of a person’s life, so there likely will be laughs, anger, and even tears. It also prevents any person involved to become overly expressive and put their logical points at compromise. Make sure that you are reading your letter in a relaxed and positive manner to the addict for the best results possible.

By writing an intervention letter, you can also benefit from group feedback on what you plan to say. Usually, an intervention group will rehearse their words so they sound as smooth as possible when the right time comes to talk to the drug user about their signs of addiction. They can slightly alter their words to sound more clear, more genuine, or more caring overall so the addict isn’t too overwhelmed.

Starting Your Letter

It doesn’t have to be hard to begin writing your intervention letter! Follow these tips so you make a strong argument while still remaining true to yourself and genuine to the addict you’re talking to:

  • Be heartfelt. Let your addict know that you care about them deep down and have a sense of gratitude for having them in your life. Feel free to share a positive experience that you had with them that left a great mark on your memory. This reinforces the fact that you are coming from a place of warmth and not cold criticism.
  • Include a series of statements that reflect why you know their substance abuse and signs of addiction are a disease. You need them to grasp the fact that they are not defined by their addiction and can still behave as a good person. Explaining the role a drug dependency plays in a person’s body may pinpoint changes in their own behavior as well.
  • Tell them why you are hurt and want them to truly change. Aside from the fact that they are slowly destroying their bodies, you may want to bring up the toll their signs of addiction has made on your personal emotions, stress, and anxiety overall. You are constantly worrying about their safety and need to know that they can manage to get through the day without inhaling a dose of drugs.
  • Offer your recommended drug addiction support. This could be in the form of a detox specialist, a closed off rehab center in the country, or a rehab group in town that can build accountability for the addict. They may not want to take up advice at first, but if you plan an appointment or group meeting beforehand you can save a lot of time and trouble. The addict won’t have as much room to complain or find a way out of your help if you’ve already put in the money and effort to see them improve.

Know Your Limits

These tips are meant to guide you through forming a strong and heartfelt intervention letter. If you write it well and gain feedback from other people who really care about the addict, you’re more likely to hit a nerve in their system to stop abusing drugs and treat their signs of addiction. Make sure you time your intervention rightto perform your best. On the other hand, you are also not meant to be perfect and having a failed intervention is okay. We all aren’t trained for years to make sure the person we love treats their drug addiction. If needed, turn to the help of an intervention expert to form a stronger means of dialogue and treatment so the addict is pushed to make the right decision. You never know what the possibilities are until you try something new in life, so don’t be afraid to reach out to one for extra help!

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health, Women's Health

The Defeat of Alcoholism

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If you have ever met someone who was a great actor, you’ll know that they can easily cover up their emotions, whereabouts, and other information for their benefit. If they’re an extremely good actor, they could probably take their chance and make it big in Hollywood like the rest of blockbuster stars. The same goes for people who are addicted to a substance and learn to thoroughly cover up their tracks. After learning by trial and error, an addict could easily mask their daily signs of alcoholism regardless of where they are. They also probably fell into a bad habit of lying to themselves throughout the process. If you know someone that you suspect to be practicing substance abuse and/or needs alcohol treatment, learn to observe the key giveaways that an addict may overlook.

Remember to never approach an addict and recommend alcohol treatment by yourself. There’s strength in numbers and hosting an effective intervention takes a professional, close family, and friends who genuinely care about his or her well-being. However, in the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to learn about the variety of signs that an addict expresses and the different forms of treatment they could pursue. Battling alcohol addiction is never easy so keep in mind that any treatment process will take a few weeks to a few months to fully complete. Even if they seem expensive to participate in or like a waste of time, knowing that you and the addict are properly educated about preventing substance abuse in the future is significantly helpful for success.

Signs of Alcoholism

Are you an alcoholic? Make sure to watch out for some warning signs that a person in your life is showing signs of alcoholism. Be aware that some red flags are shown from the start of the addiction while others may not become present until time passes as their body changes. Here are some of the most common ones to keep in mind:

  • Lying about drinking. Denial is extremely common with people who are experiencing problems with alcohol or other addictive problems. In order to avoid social rejection or protect their reputation with others who aren’t as into alcohol, they can easily lie about how much they consume so it seems like a more normal habit. Everyone has a drink from time to time, what’s the problem with it?
  • Drinks are used to feel better. Normal people seek comfort in people or experiences that bring positive effects on their body, while addicts are drawn to the smell and taste of alcohol to feel complete again. If the addict needs a drink to feel like they can wind down better, it’s often a huge sign that alcohol is being depended on as an emotional crutch.
  • Not being able to stop drinking. Some addicts have a hard to time controlling how much they consumer when they choose to drink. If they finish a bottle of wine or half a vodka handle once it’s opened, you better know that it’s not by accident. A person’s tolerance towards a substance like alcohol can build up over time and cause them to drink more than usual to get the same drunk effects.
  • They can’t keep up. If the addict is starting to run into problems at work, their classes, or with their tasks at home because of their habit of drinking, they definitely have an addiction. Alcohol should only be used something to treat yourself with or indulge every once in a while. When consuming the substance starts to impact the responsibilities one needs to finish every day, a huge line has been crossed.
  • Feeling symptoms of withdrawal. An addict who needs alcohol treatment will begin to feel extremely tired from the come down of drinking, depressed from their situation, or anxious about what will happen from their behavior. They could also have changes in their appetite, sleeping habits, and energy levels overall as they rely on alcohol to just get through the day. These signs won’t be immediate as it could take months for their body to get used to drinking so much so often. However, take a few days watch them closely can reveal how much their behavior has really changed compared to months before.
  • Not being able to quit. If the addict has realized that their signs of alcoholism is severe and has made several failed attempts to change, they need to get proper alcohol treatment. This sign demonstrates that their problem is much more serious than just an occasional night of binge drinking. They’ll need to be pointed to professional help so they can understand how to better control their withdrawals, mood swings, and environment to truly stay sober.

Getting Alcohol Treatment

If you’ve realized that an addict has tell-tale signs of needing alcohol treatment, it’s time to research what options would best benefit them. They could choose from detox or residential treatment programs for a monitored treatment experience or join an alcohol anonymous group to gain community support. These groups are great for cultivating meaningful relationships with other people who are experiencing alcohol addiction. They can share their tips and struggles while holding the addict accountable for abstaining from alcohol. Today, there’s many forums that serve as an online alternative to alcohol anonymous groups as well if the addict doesn’t want to go the meetings in person.

 

 

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Intervention Assistance

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No one wants to be an addict who has to go through an drug intervention. No matter what a person might say, the process itself is incredibly tough to experience. Even if the person deep down wants to become sober and seek drug addiction support, they need to feel encouraged enough by the people they care about to take real action. The point of having an intervention is to provoke an addict to change their negative behavior for good. Families and friends should come together and coordinate their course of actions for the best results possible in order for that to happen. Sometimes, providing the cold hard truth and exposing the person to the variety of consequences that sparked from their addiction is the way to go.

But how do truly great interventions  happen? Let’s walk through the important steps for designing a conversation that will hopefully change your addict’s life in the long term. It’s definitely an awkward and uncomfortable encounter for both parties to sit through. Tears may flow and hearts may be pumping, but the more realistic the intervention is for the addict, the more inclined they’ll be to jumpstart their journey back to health.

Planning a drug intervention takes several steps.

  1. Who even needs an intervention? The fact is that any person who is addicted to illicit drugs and alcohol or consistently abuses prescription drugs needs one, especially if they often reject the idea of seeking addiction treatment. It’s highly crucial for family and friends to host a drug intervention as soon as possible, as abuse of strong substances dramatically lowers a person’s mental awareness. Over time, the damage can snowball into extremely damaged financials, weakened relationships, health problems, conflicts with the law, and harm possibly done to the community. The point of a drug intervention is to foster the addict’s sense of control again and reinforce their desire to get help. Sometimes, what an addict needs is to be reminded that they’re still a good person and the addiction doesn’t define them. They have the power to change the course of their life and the belief that they are stuck in their situation is completely false.
  2. Do you need a team? The answer is yes, as you’ll want as much support as possible to host an effective drug intervention. Form a strong group of organizers made up of family, friends, and a professional interventionist if you can. Professionals offer the benefit of being highly experienced in helping addicts and can point them to a strong treatment plan. Only people who have a close relationship with the addict should be included as they genuinely care about his or her well-being compared to an acquaintance. If a person who’s interested to be part of the team happens to struggle with an addiction themselves, make sure they seek their own help before trying to help the addict first.
  3. What about planning? Once you form a group who is willing to coordinate with each other to help the addict, you’ll need to lay out a detailed plan of how the drug intervention process will play out. This includes what day and place the intervention will happen, as well as what each person will say to the addict. Once you have those details set, everyone should write their own form of an impact statement that describes how they feel the substance abuse harmed the addict that they care about. These words should be compassionate, honest, and caring as we want the addict to realize that people in their life truly want them to get better. Avoid any phrases that are either highly critical or personally attack the addict which will destroy the process altogether.
  4. How do you choose a treatment plan? After you have written your statements, formed your group, and are ready for combat, make sure you focus on recommending a single treatment plan to the addict as the drug intervention takes course. Being too vague or offering many alternatives will confuse the addict, which is the last thing we want to happen. Find a treatment center that has great reviews from their former clients and book an appointment for them early on so the addict doesn’t have to figure out those tedious details themselves. Even if they’re reluctant to go at first, pushing them to take the first step and seek an expert’s insight will truly make a difference.
  5. Practice! Treat the drug intervention like any other important even in your life. Rehearse what you’re going to say and avoid coming off as condescending to the addict. Make sure that everyone in the group is on the same page prior to the conversation taking place as well. This way, each member will feel confident about their delivery and can become better prepared for any emotions that may run high during the process.

You Can Do It

Hosting an intervention for drug addiction support can be intimidating at first, but if you play your cards right you can change the addict’s life for the better. They may respond with anger or embarrassment, but deep down they will know that you are coming from a place of love if you are careful to watch how you speak. Spend enough time to find an interventionist to help you if your resources allow it, find a core group to form statements with, and practice your action plan to be as persuasive as possible!

Drug interventions can prevent further damage to an addict's life.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Process of Addiction

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Addiction is hard to come by, especially when you feel like you’re stuck dealing with it on your own. It’s natural to wonder if you can possibly become an addict if you were raised by a parent with alcohol or drug addiction symptoms that they couldn’t get over. Sometimes, they can have a huge substance abuse problem but don’t seek out the help they need to become healthy again. Genetic and environmental factors do play a factor on how individuals can develop a type of addiction, but rest assured that they can’t determine your entire fate. If your parent or someone who’s close to you is an addict, it’s wise that you become more thoughtful about their relationship to drugs and alcohol so you can learn from their experience firsthand. Being vigilant can ultimately prevent the vicious cycle of alcohol or drug addiction from being passed on by example to your future. The most important thing you must remember is that you can control your choices, actions, and future outcomes. The decisions that you make each and every day shape your life entirely, not your friend’s or parent’s decisions. So while children of individuals who are addicts are more likely to abuse substances themselves, there is no guarantee. As the daughter of a parent who struggled with an alcohol addiction, I took their experience as a lesson for myself to live a life that’s healthy, sustainable, and substance free.

Drug addiction signs include huge financial loss.
High Cost of Healthcare

Drug Addict Symptoms

Just about anyone can develop their own version of substance addiction. The same sensors that are triggered by pleasurable experiences in our brains cause individuals to become addicted by a variety of things. People who have higher risk to developing a drug addiction are often experiencing other mental health issues like anxiety or depression. For example, according to Brain Facts, many studies over the past few decades demonstrated a strong link between schizophrenia and addiction to nicotine. It’s been shown that nicotine can even temporarily lessen some of the symptoms of schizophreniawhich speaks to why people can become addicted to using it.

Addicts are also sometimes more adventurous and risk-taking than others, feel somewhat disconnected to others in their life, are obsessive, and have trouble self-regulating their decisions throughout the day. People who thrive in taking risks usually have little impulse control when it comes to taking part in dangerous activities like abusing highly addictive prescription drugs. I’ve seen so many students throughout my time in college take part in doing intense drugs to escape all the stress that school causes. Cocaine, marijuana, or Adderall are just the tip of the iceberg of drugs that help students escape their reality and feel somewhat closer to their peers. Over time, that social bond doesn’t outweigh the high price tag that drugs bring, the painful withdrawal symptoms, and possibly legal consequences that using illicit substances bring. Symptoms of a drug addict are also pretty obvious to your sober peers so you don’t want to risk losing your reputation. Make sure you’re aware of all the negative events that can happen in your life before spiraling down the road of drug addiction. It’s easy to fall into but extremely difficult to get out of unless you play your cards right.

Less Discussed Addictions

Drugs and alcohol don’t have to be the only addictions that people can fall into. Some other popular addictions are gambling or video games, especially in men. Gambling addiction, also called gambling disorder, refers to any and all types of gambling or choices that can seriously endanger a person’s life, professional career, or even family. It could mean going to the casino every night and playing poker with hope to win big, or staying up for all night for a luxurious game of sports betting. You’ll know you have this addiction if you’re placing bets more than usual, “chase” losses by betting even more, feel extremely angry when you can’t gamble, or are staying up for hours just thinking about a game.

Video game addiction comes into play when you’re stuck holding a controller for hours of your life. As games today are constantly getting better, more people than ever are playing the newest versions around the world. Communicating with headsets and shooting the enemy gives off a happy feeling that so many can’t shake off. Similarly, taking on the role of someone else in an alternate universe with no consequences can be alluring. Compared to a substance abuse addiction, video game addiction may sound harmless as we’ve all played a type of game at some point in our life. However, compulsive play interrupts a person’s social life, mental health, sleeping habits, work productivity, and physical health overall. Anyone who doesn’t get enough treatment could be isolating themselves from reality and lose their ability to function completely.

Get Help

If some symptoms resonated with you about dealing with either drug addiction symptoms or another process addiction, it’s not too late to get help. Contact your local rehab center to get more options about how to detox your body, form your own treatment plan with a specialist, and live a healthier lifestyle for the long term. Going to online forums or taking online addiction quizzes are also helpful for quicker feedback about your current addiction and what steps to take to conquer it. These are free and are easily done from the comfort of your own home, the bus, sitting in drive thru, or waiting for the next task during work. If you truly want to see results and get better you’ve got to your research on options that work best for you. One treatment plan certainly does not fit the lifestyles of everyone else so it’s best to look at your personal goals, health history, and daily schedule.

Overcome drug addict symptoms with online resources.

 

Holistic Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Treating Scar Tissue

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Scars can be the bane of your existence. They’re itchy, ugly, and leave a glorifying dark mark on your skin for what seems to feel like ages. Even the smallest facial zit or bump on your knee can leave a scar that never fails to go away. I’ve tried almost every product on the market to get rid of my acne scars, as they always leave a pesky mark on my face once they’re healed.

Acne scars take on many different forms on a variety of people. You might see tiny pockmarks, a swollen keloid, or a discolored area on the skin after your pimple wears away. And just like our bright and unique personalities, each scar needs its own custom treatment to effectively disappear. Your dermatologist may recommend that you use a combination of treatments including lasers or chemical peels, but what if you can’t afford the steep price tag that comes with it? I’m a college student and definitely want to save money as much as I can, even if I’m trying improve the look of my skin. Here’s some of the best methods that have helped me accomplish the scar removal process once and for all.

Scar tissue removal can be done with natural remedies.

Light Therapy

Using light therapy isn’t new knowledge to get rid of scars, but it hasn’t been on the market for customers to buy at the drugstore until a few years ago. My favorite product of all time is the Neutrogena Light Therapy mask for a couple reasons. One, it looks like a mask straight out of a science fiction movie because I look practically unrecognizable to my roommates when I put it on. Secondly, it is slightly on the pricey side but I have seen real results after using it every night for ten minutes at a time. The device is easy to use, free of chemicals and UV light, and ultimately harnesses the power of clinically proven technology to allow skin to heal itself. If you’re struggling with pesky acne scars like me, definitely give it a go before seeking out a more invasive option.

Natural Ointments

I’ll be honest and let you know straight off the bat that some of these natural ointments can smell funky at first. However, they work wonders for the scar healing process because they contain extremely high concentrations of vitamins that the skin needs to regenerate new cells. Some of my favorite ointments to use are tea tree oil and solely vitamin E oil on my scars when I wake up during the day. As I’m brushing my teeth or taking a shower, I leave it on for ten minutes at a time to let the ingredient soak into my skin. I’ve noticed that it’s helped calm down my inflammation and improve the harsh discoloration I usually have from newer scars. Vitamin E oil is also widely known to block free radicals from the body, which plays a large role in the aging process of our skin. If we can fight off free radicals from our environment, wrinkles can be reduced and the overall look of your skin can be kept youthful.

Additionally, honey is also a great ingredient from nature that heals your skin. I can remember as a little kid my mother was applying honey to her facial scars to help them fade. Honey is a natural moisturizer and perfect for scar removal, as it prevents the accumulation of dead skin cells stimulates growth just like vitamin E oil. Apply some honey on your scar and cover it with a bandage so it won’t transfer to other surfaces. Then, leave it on during the night as you sleep so it can work its magic. In the morning, wash it off with some water and go about your day as your skin as absorbed the calming antioxidants it provided.

Talk to A Professional

In most cases you will only have to provide copay if you visit your dermatologist. This is usually best when your scar is from a deep gash or puncture from a long time ago and won’t go away. They’re trained to look at the context of your health history and your current skin’s situation to form the best treatment method possible. A good dermatologist won’t immediately prescribe costly or harsh medications at first because they understand the delicate tolerance each person’s skin has. Better yet, experts who are part of compounding pharmacies can provide an even more customized treatment method for scar removal. Unlike other resources, they treat each patient on a case by case basis so no two treatments are exactly the same. If you can spare more time to figure out how to treat your scar, it’s definitely worth a shot.

Be Proactive

I know dealing with scars is pesky and talking to other people about them can be embarrassing. No one wants to shed light on their flaws, especially if they have to go bare faced to a doctor in town. The best way to go about scar removal is to treat it as soon as possible. Start with using natural ingredients that provide vitamins and antioxidants like the ones I mentioned above. They can be applied every day and provide some type of result over the course of a few weeks. Otherwise, don’t be afraid to try light therapy from the drugstore that can treat your skin with clinically proven technology. Again, consistency is key to make a change in the situation of your skin. If all else fails, consult an expert who can direct you to the next best treatment or discuss other alternatives that you might have overlooked. Nothing beats having peace of mind and closure for scar removal!

Do your research for the best scar tissue removal process.