Category Archives: Holistic Health

Holistic Health, Mental Health, Women's Health

Chronic Inflammation And Your Lifestyle

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No one enjoys having chronic inflammation throughout the day, especially when it causes great discomfort. While inflammation is a completely natural process in the body which will help with injury, there’s no need to suffer when you can’t handle the discomfort of your symptoms.

Chronic inflammation, the bad kind of inflammation, happens when the natural process doesn’t get turned off by your body when it normally should. As a result, if it continues for years, your body can go down a bad road of disease. Inflammation is linked to causing cancer, as ample research show the inflammation is present well before tumors begin to develop and transform. With that in mind, we don’t want any inflammation lurking around in our body. Let’s look at the top ten ways to get rid of it so you can rest assured you’re as strong, healthy, and energetic as possible!

Ways To Overcome Chronic Inflammation

  1. Avoid overly processed foods. This means cutting out as much sugar, white flour, and high fructose corn syrup as possible in order to reap anti-inflammatory benefits. When we eat foods that are laced with harmful ingredients throughout their manufacturing process, our body can easily respond with inflammation and work against our internal system. Once you start making an effort to remove these foods from your everyday diet, you’ll not only feel more energetic but your skin will likely break out less too. However, don’t totally deprive yourself if you’re craving a bowl of ice cream or a few cookies. Treat them as a reward for your hard work and commitment to healthy eating throughout the week. As long as you aren’t going overboard, you still are making steps in the right direction!
  2. Lower your levels of nutritional stress. You can easily create high levels and chronic inflammation from nutritional stress if you eat foods that are not properly prepared. For example, if you don’t soak nuts before eating them or boil cruciferous vegetables thoroughly, anti-nutrients can make your digestion do a lot of extra work. I highly suggest that you look into planning a sauté, bake, or steaming session for your vegetables so that they do not cause any distress.
  3. Take out foods you’re allergic to. Eating foods that you have a history of issues with can cause inflammation, even if they’re considered “healthy”. Start paying very close attention to what you eat and how your body reacts to it. If you find yourself feeling dizzy or irritable after eating something in particular, take some notes and remember to not include it in your next dish.
  4. Drink enough water. This sounds so cliche but our bodies are constantly craving water to run the best it can. We are made up of 60% water, and most people still aren’t drinking enough water or drinking the best quality of water! Stop taking in sugar loaded lattes or fruit juice that won’t do anything beneficial for your body. Without enough water, your detox systems won’t be able to clear out the built up toxins circulating in your body as well.
  5. Are you constantly including lots of animal protein in your diet? Make sure you watch what sources you consume as eating too much protein can cause an inflammatory response in your body. If you are into fitness and are used to drinking whey protein shakes every day, think about exploring vegan options that are a little easier on the stomach.
  6. Get in enough fatty acids. Omega-3 and Omega-6 are noted as essential acids that our body desperately needs. However, Omega-6 fatty acids are the kind that can heavily increase chronic inflammation in our bodies, while Omega-3 fatty acids do the opposite to lower it. Unfortunately, we don’t realize that Omega-6 is found in seeds and nuts and the oils made from them. This is why we have to do our bust to cut out the packaged and heavily processed foods that incorporate those oils. The best kinds of fish to get enough Omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, cod, and tuna. Eat them straight from the grill or bake them with fresh veggies for a healthy and inflammation fighting meal!
  7. Get enough sleep. This is a no brainer that will you help you in almost every aspect of your life. If you aren’t getting enough rest each night, your mind and body will deteriorate because it can’t do its job. Just remember the last time you went to work or sat in class totally sleep deprived. How did you feel? Most likely you felt like your body was working against you. If you continually have nights where you aren’t prioritizing sleep enough, you’ll find yourself feeling weak and getting sick more often. Those signs are definitely not ones you want to experience if you already are struggling with chronic inflammation! Turn off notifications when it gets closer to your bedtime and create a night time routine so your mind is prepared to relax. This will do wonders for your mental health and you’ll find that falling asleep will be much easier!

Conquering Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation can feel like a mountain to overcome if you’ve been taking medication, are trying every piece of advice online, and are praying for the best. Luckily, you don’t need to fret because you can easily talk to an expert who can give you advice based on your personal health history. Lots of the information posted on health sites is for general audiences, so what worked for the author might not be the same method that will best fit your needs. If you feel that you need more help with dealing with your inflammation, seek the opinion of a professional functional medicine doctor as soon as possible! You’ll learn more about yourself and how to cope along the way!

Eat the right foods to combat chronic inflammation.
Eat the right foods to combat chronic inflammation.

 

 

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health

Symptoms of Depression

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Our nation as a whole is experiencing a widespread epidemic of depression. The rates are growing quicker than ever, especially with teenagers who are combated with more stress than teens of the past couple decades. With the pressure of excelling in school, maintaining a proper social life, performing in extracurriculars, pleasing parents, and looking perfect on Instagram, there’s a lot to go through as an adolescent. Symptoms of depression can take a while to develop as they go through these motions in life, but not addressing them early can lead to seriously negative consequences.

When a teenager is feeling depressed, his or her mental suffering isn’t the only reason it’s important to get professional help. In addition to the depression disorder itself, there are several other effects that may cause lifelong issues if it’s left in the dust to deal with. From extremely low energy, poor concentration in class, to a drop in social and academic motivation, the consequences are brutal for a young person to work through alone. If you remember how you thought in middle or high school, you’ll find that your confidence and self-image was still pretty weak because fitting in was the most important at the time. If you mix in long term symptoms of depression, that already wobbly sense of integrity can shatter and impact a potentially successful future. If you happen to know a teenager in your life who has depression, make sure you are educated enough on the types of depression there are and the causes of depressionto ensure you can point them to the best treatment possible.

Symptoms of depression can be cured.
You can get through symptoms of depression.

Causes of Depression

Depression in teenagers can be traced from several different causes. The variety of negative effectsof teenage depression go far beyond just having a mood that is more sad than usual. Depression can basically destroy the basics of your teen’s personality, lead to an overwhelming feeling of sadness, frustration, and fatigue. Many rebellious and unhealthy behaviors in teenagers are key signs of depression as well since they are trying to cope with changes happening in their body. In turn, they tend to act out their problems by replying to questions with anger, hiding their whereabouts during the day, turning to secret behaviors of drugs or alcohol, and hanging out with friends who cause trouble.

To deal with these behaviors, make sure to act as compassionate and curious as much as possible. You don’t want to come across as aggravating or too judgmental. Ask your teenager more open ended questions about their mood in a gentle manner, without acting too emotional. Even friends or parents who have the best intentions will have trouble realizing that they’re being too critical. The biggest mistake to make here is to try to solve their problems are pry into the people who make up their social life. Teenagers want to have a listening ear but still want their privacy as well to feel confident in their own skin. This way, you’re letting them know that you are hearing them out and aren’t trying to fix their personal concerns. No one likes to feel like the submissive party so be sure to treat them as an equal despite their odd behavior. By the time they feel ready enough to open up and talk, then you’ll have a better idea of what types of treatments you can recommend.

Types of Depression

Understanding the type of depressiona teenager is experiencinghelps doctors and their family determine what treatment is best. And for those who diagnosed with depression, knowing more about their specific disorder can be extremely helpful. More than 16 million Americans in a given year experience the most common type of depression: it is  known as major depression or clinical depression.

In order to be diagnosed with this disorder, a person must have at least five symptoms occurring for at least two weeks or longer to be diagnosed. Those symptoms can include feeling extremely sad during the day, feelings of  emptiness, worthlessness, low energy, little appetite, and zero interest in activities that were once enjoyable. If a person isn’t responding well to anti-depression treatment, they are then diagnosed with “treatment resistant depression” from their doctors. This can be due to medication not being strong enough or having a genetic trait from their parents that are more prone to developing the disorder in general. Helping people overcome treatment-resistant depression calls for an extremely thorough check up to ensure a proper diagnosis for their physical and mental symptoms.

On the other hand, a teenager who has a few of the classic symptoms of depression but not  quite check all of them calls for a diagnosis of “subsyndromal depression.” This means that the person may have only three or four symptoms that have been occurring for a period of time shorter than the usual two weeks. If the person can still carry on with their everyday responsibilities, experts won’t classify the disorder as one that is severe as simple lifestyle changes can be made to improve their health. However, if the person is indeed struggling, they can still benefit from a customized treatment plan that involves the use of medication.

Make A Move

Teenagers are known to be the most stubborn humans on Earth, but don’t let their aggressive behavior stop you from pointing them in the right direction for treatment. If he or she is displaying some key signs of depression, make sure to sit down with them to talk about their situation so you can explore what options are available!

 

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.
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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health

Dual Diagnosis Programs

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Have you ever wondered about how many people struggle with drug addiction or mental illness each year? How about both? Out of all the people I know, there’s at least a handful that I know who are having difficulty with one of those disorders and are seeking help as quick as possible.

Within the United States, the drug and mental illness epidemic is growing at an alarming rate. One of the most mentioned drugs in the news lately has been opioids, as thousands of drug overdose deaths are happening to people just like you. Driven mainly by addiction to prescription opioids and heroin, drug overdoses reportedly claimed around 64,000 lives within the year of 2016 alone. If you know your history, that’s more lives taken than the entire duration of the Vietnam War. If we look at America on the macro lense, around 27 million of all American adults are considered drug users. Out of that group, at least 8,000 people are trying drugs for the first time each day on average!

It’s no secret that spreading word about the dangers of drugs like opioids and its link to mental illness is crucial to help others. They might not speak about it, but many people who experience addiction are either having serious mental issues as a result or are using hard drugs to numb their emotions instead. Before you take the next dose to conquer the pain of your reality, please remember that you’re not alone. Your circumstances don’t define you and there’s always room to stop what you’re doing if you can take the following steps to make change.

Drug and alcohol self medication is rampant today.

Get Honest

I know that facing the facts aren’t fun, but the sooner you realize your situation, the better your recovery process will be. It’s not easy to suddenly drop whatever drug you’ve been taking to cope with life’s events. When there’s feelings of depression, anxiety, or paranoia in the mix, stopping yourself from self-medicating is especially difficult as it helps you forget about the controlling emotions. In other words, you might be using substances like drugs or alcohol to mask symptoms of a mental health issue you can’t get over. Stimulant drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, or Adderall are often used to combat feelings of depression and increase focus or energy levels that are lacking. On the other hand, maybe you’re using Xanax or prescription sleep aids like Lunesta to elevate your mood, escape reality, or to feel sociable again around other people. No matter what drug you’re using, the high it offers is short-lived and will only serve to make matters worse over the months. From oncoming health problems, weakened relationships, and to decreased discipline, you won’t live a sustainable lifestyle while using drugs as a crutch to function.

Stress Is Real

Are you stressed? Often a person can turn to using drugs after they feel stressed enough from an event, sight, smell, or even a person that triggers their feelings. You could have had a fight with your boss, suffered a divorce, got involved in accident, a bad grade on a test, lost your pet, or experienced anything that often leads to increased stress. To a person who is in such a vulnerable state, drugs can look like the knight in shining armor to save them from feeling like they’re in the pits of hell. It’s attractive, works quickly, and provides that insanely joyful moment some just can’t get enough of. Yet, paired with an already stressed out mind and body, people can experience dangerous spikes in their adrenaline and neurotransmitters. Over time, they’re likely to build up a tolerance which warrants doses that seem to grow larger by the week.

You Can Find Help

You can get the help you need if you’re willing to take action. Lots of people aspire to make a change, but it’s only the doers in our world who actually get the results they want. You’ll need discipline, time, and energy to turn to positive outlets instead of drugs. The journey will be tough, and you may feel that all the effort isn’t worth the blood and tears. Yet, after staying consistent and sticking to your goals to become an improved human being, the strength and health you’ll be left with will be so much more worth it. As a former drinker, I can speak from experience that it took months of tough commitment to staying sober and using exercise as an outlet for my stress and depression to improve my lifestyle. However, I feel so much better now about not only myself, but my relationships, work ethic, and the direction my career is going now.

Make Your Own Treatment

The first step to gaining help and recovering is finding an integrated treatment plan that can help you understand your triggers and form a plan to manage them. You can also look to support groups either online or in your area to communicate with other people going through the same experiences. If your experiencing a mental illness and addiction, seeking a dual diagnosis treatment center will also help you address both problems simultaneously. Many treatment centers offer highly customizable programs for patients to add to their already hectic lifestyle. They also offer services like individual counseling, meditation, or yoga, but it all comes down to what each person enjoys. You’ll benefit from their input, build lifelong relationships, and gain a sense of accountability to not turn back to your old ways. With a revitalized diet full of healthy foods, plenty of water, and staying active everyday, your body will feel naturally much more energetic. The world is at your hands to explore and you’re strong enough conquer it!

You can treat dual disorders with discipline and staying active.

 

 

 

 

Holistic Health, Mental Health

Overcome Smartphone Addiction

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The Problem

Have you gone through an extended period without using your smartphone or having Internet? To most people, being completely disconnected from the rest of the world sounds like a nightmare. In our digital age, online addiction and smartphone addiction is a real issue as people are checking it constantly throughout the day, relying on notifications to stay entertained, and going into shock when they don’t feel it in their pockets. While hard to break, smartphone addiction can be helped with enough self-discipline and online addiction support groups who can help bring a community to detoxifying from the dependence. With practice and time, the physical and mental strains that come from a heavy dependency can wane so a healthier lifestyle can come to the forefront.

How Does Addiction Start?

Most people fail to realize the smartphone addiction is a real problem that is affecting millions of people around the world. It’s getting into the way of our daily activities, conversations, and intimate moments with the never ending buzzing. With the rising demand for mobile phones and the necessary use of it to keep up with the news, social media, and communicating with others, battling addiction with smartphones will be faced by many. Include the rapid advances that today’s smartphones have to access information at all time high speeds, and addiction is sure to develop. Approximately 72% of people in a recent study stated that they are rarely more than five feet away from their smartphones at any given time during the day! Experts call this issue by the name nomophobia, which describes the incredible fear that being away from your phone will cut you off from your friends, family, and the rest of the world. 

Smartphone and online addiction is also a problem that often stems from other underlying emotional and psychological issues. It can be a side effect of major mental disorders like depression or OCD, also known as obsessive-compulsive disorder! Using a smartphone too much – whether you are an adult or adolescent – can create a dependency. This addiction typically leads to high levels of stress, loss of focus, and even anxiety disorders.

Online Addiction Consequences

There’s no issue with using your phone at a healthy level. However, if you are spending more time talking to your Instagram followers than your actual friends, it might be the right time to take a step back and reflect on managing what could be an addiction. Smartphone addiction, especially among children, is completely changing the dynamic that we communicate with each other throughout the day. Face to face human interaction helps a young child and even teenagers to develop emotionally in a way that phones can’t match up to. Speaking, listening, and displaying gestures with a real human helps a child to see the other person’s emotional reaction and decide the appropriate response. Yet, texting, talking or browsing Facebook threads on a smartphone does none of this. Meanwhile, grown adults are no less likely to become addicted and end up feeling excessively tired on a daily basis from staring at a screen.

How To Fight Addiction

Battling a smartphone or online addiction is not easy in any sense. To be successful, you have to acknowledge you have an issue as the first step. This type of addiction, unlike being drawn to physical drugs or alcohol, is difficult to pinpoint as we all use our smartphones so often each day. However, watch out for a few key symptoms that characterize an addiction. One that many people may have experienced is phantom cellphone vibration, describing the feeling our body has become conditioned to anticipate when we carrying our smartphone around. Even if no new texts, emails, or calls are actually coming through, our minds begin to imagine the same sensation as a heavy dependence becomes established. The most basic step that some experts suggest for weaning time spent on your phone is literally setting alarms specifying how often you can check it. Start with 15 minutes and move up to eventually an hour. When your alarm sounds, spend one minute going through all your notifications and then reset the timer. This will build restrictions in your lifestyle and help reduce your habit of checking them so often. Another trick is to seek online addiction forums, who speak about keeping addiction apps like Facebook or Instagram in hideable folders on your phone. This way, you’ll be able to prevent getting distraction from endless videos, pictures, and focus on more important tasks.

Final Takeaway

Going through any kind of addiction is tough without implementing a supportive community base, enough discipline, and temptation preventions. When it comes to battling online addiction and smartphone dependency, the process takes the willingness to plug in more into the real world and interact with the humans who are actually physically around you. While it will feel painful at first to detach from the addicting buzzes and “like” notifications, your body, mind, and relationships will thank you as you begin to function more normally as a human being. You’ll also appear much more engaged, friendly, and open when you’re around others who are talking to you or desire to strike up a conversation!

 

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

High Functioning Addicts In Stress

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Thousands of students graduate from college and begin full time careers each year in the professional workforce. Most are excited and unaware about the levels of extremely high stress workers can go through to manage performance expectations and pressing deadlines in their industry. After months to years of difficult work and anxiety from life wearing on their mental health, many people become vulnerable to alcohol dependency as a method of stress management.  One recent health study found that almost 8.7 percent of professional workers from the ages of 16 to 64 consumed alcohol in extreme amounts during a one month period. It also found that at least 8.6 percent used illegal drugs as well to cope with their mountains of stressful work. A high percentage of the wealthy and student population also turn to drugs to fit in a desired social group or to seek a thrill from an otherwise mundane lifestyle they feel stuck in. Over time, harsh consequences come with self-medicating for stress using alcohol and illicit drugs.

Wine glass and Bottle on a wooden background

Wealth, College, and Addiction

Not all substance addicts are obvious, as they can come from all walks from life. Often, living in constant stress to finish heavy workloads, having disposable income, and consistently making impulsive choices leads to alcohol dependence and drug abuse over time. On a college campus, I’ve witnessed many students start their taste of alcohol with a few mild drinks here and there for stress management. Drinking alcohol is considered socially acceptable and doesn’t have the same stigma attached to it as addiction to harsher drugs like marijuana or cocaine. Since many wealthy individuals also have a lot of spending money and unwarranted financial freedom, they easily fall into a vicious cycle of purchasing drugs out of spontaneity and seeking social support. When money is a given freely from a family name, it becomes difficult to find one’s personal passions and discover genuine friends who don’t just value their wealth. Combined with stressful assignments and social pressure, these factors lead to low self-esteem and boredom which spark the fire of alcohol dependence and harmful self-medicating with drugs. Substance abuse is a long term problem and no one is completely safe to preventing it seeking trained help.

Stressful Careers and Addiction

No matter their age, many workers unexpectedly turn to alcohol dependency to manage their stress and anxiety. People in professions like advertising, music, general labor, cooking, and especially bartenders are all up to two times more likely to die to substance abuse. An estimated 10 percent of all healthcare professionals are also prone to abuse drugs with sectors ranging from pediatricians to anesthesiologists. That’s a scary statistic to think about, as these are the professionals the mainstream population turns to for aid with their own health related issues. With the rising acceptance and romanticizing of alcohol dependency in the media, there is no room for wondering why the number of alcohol and drug related fatalities are climbing on an annual basis.

High Cost of Healthcare

High Functioning Addicts

If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulty with a drug or alcohol addiction, first make sure to recognize that it is a significant problem. Almost a fifth of all young adults who frequently consume alcohol as a form of self-medicating are considered a highly functional addict. High functioning alcoholics are hard to identify since they can mask it easily. Some tell-tale signs of one, especially if they’re a student, is if that they imbibe alcoholic drinks on a daily basis, become more confident at larger social gatherings, drink alone for no reason, desire to black out, run into legal consequences for their behavior, or often joke about having an addiction to others. Chronic drinking can lead to a negative change in how they look physically, think mentally, or interact with people who may not agree with their destructive lifestyle. Although some lucky high-functioning alcoholics might never experience severe problems with their repeatedly harmful choices, they need to be exposed to some form of an addiction recovery program to know how they could be sabotaging their future.

The Next Steps

If you feel that you have an alcohol dependency problem to deal with stressful work, explore the resources that are out there to learn more about how to implement positive habits. While making changes are hard, healthy choices and a better lifestyle can reinforced after enough consistency, dedication, and faith is applied over time. Just as the saying goes, “We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take”, one will never improve and see results if they don’t put in the effort to reevaluate their life themselves. Start being proactive and pursue holistic, group, or exercise based recovery through a program that fits your lifestyle. The best part is that by joining a rehab program that fits your needs, you won’t have to sacrifice any of the activities that you love. Make the leap and you’ll never want to turn back!

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health

Benefits of Yoga For Men and Sobriety

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Drug addiction may be difficult to get through, as the decision to stop using drugs once addiction has developed is unnerving to make. Successfully overcoming any dependency on an addictive substance takes time, energy, and enough patience. The risk of relapse can be high if a person doesn’t gain enough education about staying sober after detox, relapse prevention coping skills, and helpful sober mentoring programs. While many individuals report having less intense cravings as sobriety continues, there will be times when the body remembers the drugs it once received and will carve more.  These cravings can cause a disturbing relapse if there is not a proper plan set in place to handle them at any notice. While this doesn’t mean that the person is a failure or that their long time participating in rehab was a waste.  It simply means that the symptoms of their disease have reappeared at the time and tweaks need to be made to their treatment model.

The best way to stop relapses from happening is practicing holistic medicine by diving into activities that positively strengthen the relationship between the body and mind. Instead of just conforming to what traditional rehab programs offer, holistic medicine considers what you specifically need to get better. One method of ensuring that you can learn how to control the gray area in sobriety and regain your control is by training in programs like yoga and meditation.

Learning about the many benefits of yoga for men may help those experiencing symptoms of relapse and need help to stay sober. Many professional sports teams, pro athletes, and other prominent male figures are incorporating yoga into their daily routines and have found success!

The Physical Improvement

When you learn about yoga, you are learning a lot about connecting mentally to your body, your mood, and your overall spirit at the same time. This treatment is an incredibly positive and calming technique to alleviate or discourage the risk of relapsing, and provide addiction and depression help. Some of the most important benefits of doing yoga include an improved ability to breathe, lowered blood pressure throughout the day, deeper feelings of relaxation, and boosted athleticism in muscles. For men, they can especially benefit from the improved flexibility that yoga provides along with more consistent sleep patterns each night. Yoga movements stretch the muscles and other soft tissues in the body, releasing any types of lactic acids that can build up in the joints and normally cause stiffness and fatigue.

The Mental Benefit

Strong relapse prevention coping skills are best practiced with a strong mind to match. Along with helping the body improve, yoga relaxes your racing mind and levels of stress throughout the day that can come from staying sober. Any headaches or migraines that you may have once experienced can be eased as you learn to master different yoga movements over time. Doing yoga helps to keep anxiety hormones down to a minimum and boost mood improving chemicals instead. Since yoga primarily focuses on clearing the mind, men who often have struggled with attention problems can easily see an improvement on caging their monkey thoughts throughout the day as well. Most importantly, yoga helps a person rebuild their intrinsic sense of self confidence as they attain a new level of fitness. This builds an unshakable foundation for a person to stay sober after detox and shy away from people in their lives who may not approve of their new and improved lifestyle.

An Aid to Healing

Men practicing yoga often report feeling strong and empowered after each yoga session. No matter what someone’s religious or spiritual beliefs are, they can easily intertwine the yoga philosophy into their lives for a better mindset on life. The philosophy is focused on emptying the mind of intrusive thoughts and finding a true balance within the nervous system. Even if you’re not the most experienced, don’t be afraid to try out a couple of yoga poses yourself to see how you feel. Remember to start the process slowly and safely, accept your limits, and think positive thoughts as you begin to strengthen your body. When combined with a sober mentoring program, healing is done effectively and in an organic manner so results are developed in the long term.

The Bottom Line

Often men who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol are escaping their own kind of pain, whether it is physical or emotional. However, having healthy alternatives like yoga and meditationhelp to ease the discomfort of the initial pain or trauma that led them to abuse substances in the first place, and create a real and lasting impact for a successful rehabilitation.

Men who actively participate in the exercise as an alternative medicine find that it helps reconnects them with their body, reintroduces them to a more healthy and natural mindset, lowers their anxiety levels, and provides them a strong sensation of inner peace and satisfaction. Although addictions can have a way of stealing everything you have in life, you can take action by not allowing yourself to go to ruin. Take the time to learn how to regain control of your present and move towards a stronger, positive, and motivated future!