Mental Health Disorders Archives - Christian Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers

Change the way you think, do and feel; or DIE!!

May 3, 2015

Mental Health Disorders, Substance Abuse

Upon first glance of this title, you may be thinking to yourself that this is a really harsh statement. Unfortunately for the majority of most addicts, this heading is all too real as death becomes the only solution to their problems. Anxiety and fears only heightens for the addict as the pain of change freezes the addict like a deer in headlights. Besides the medical explanation of the “disease” model of addiction; this fear of changing is exactly what keeps the individual suffering from a life-threatening drug or alcohol problem…“STUCK”. Is doom and gloom the only possible outcome for the addict? If addiction is a disease and hope seems so far away, what is the solution to such a devastating situation? Beyond the absolute need...

Fight or Flight

April 15, 2015

Addiction and The Family, Mental Health Disorders

As I think about times I have faced fear in my life a number of things come to mind. The fear I had the first time I pointed my skis down a snow covered hill, fear I felt standing on top of a red covered cliff above the water just before jumping, the fear I had as I walked up to ask a beautiful girl to dance, and the fear I had as I drove my first son home from the hospital. There are many fears we face in life on a daily basis. Fear is something that most people dread. The feeling that comes over our whole body that makes the hair on our neck stand and a lump in our throat form, is something...

Daily Personal Inventories

April 6, 2015

Mental Health Disorders, Substance Abuse

Taking Inventory and Keeping Fit Step 10 from Alcoholic Anonymous states, “We took moral inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it”. It is important that we evaluate whether we are “Staying Fit” in our recovery on a daily basis. One simple tool that we can use to gauge how we are doing is to do a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual inventory each night. Physical: What am I doing to take care of myself physically? Am I eating healthy? Am I exercising regularly? Am I practicing good hygiene? How do I feel about myself physically? What can I do to improve tomorrow? Emotional: What am I doing to take care of myself emotionally? Am I sharing my emotions with someone who is healthy and safe? Am I...

Small Group Sizes Help Improve Sobriety

January 6, 2015

Addiction and The Family, Mental Health Disorders, Substance Abuse

We know how important it is to help our client feel comfortable enough to open up and disclose their personal trauma. Trauma that is also known as an underlying cause is usually a key factor that keeps you or a loved one’s addiction alive. Discussing, processing, and overcoming the underlying causes of addiction cannot always be done in a large group setting because more often than not, it is a very painful and emotional task. Small group sizes allow our clients to feel comfortable enough to discuss their personal trauma that they have kept hidden for so long. This openness then allows us to better treat them with a loving, specialized, and individualized approach. Drawbacks of Large Group Therapy Small groups can prevent members from getting lost...

At The White House, Learning How Not To Talk About Addiction

December 13, 2013

Addiction and The Family, Mental Health Disorders, Substance Abuse, University

We don’t refer to someone who has anorexia or bulimia as having a “food abuse” problem. We say they have an eating disorder. So why do we refer to someone who is addicted to alcohol or pain pills as having a “substance abuse” problem? Harvard’s John Kelly, director of the new Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital, made that point this week at what was billed as the first-ever White House summit on drug policy reform. The Obama administration has moved far from the old “war on drugs” model. The current federal drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, wrote in his email invitation to the summit: “Drug policy reform should be rooted in neuroscience, not political science.” And “it should be a public health issue, not just a criminal justice...

Religion, Spirituality, and Mental Health

January 10, 2010

Addiction and The Family, Mental Health Disorders, Substance Abuse, University

Until the early 19th century, psychiatry and religion were closely connected. Religious institutions were responsible for the care of the mentally ill. A major change occurred when Charcot1 and his pupil Freud2 associated religion with hysteria and neurosis. This created a divide between religion and mental health care, which has continued until recently. Psychiatry has a long tradition of dismissing and attacking religious experience. Religion has often been seen by mental health professionals in Western societies as irrational, outdated, and dependency forming and has been viewed to result in emotional instability.3 In 1980, Albert Ellis,4 the founder of rational emotive therapy, wrote in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology that there was an irrefutable causal relationship between religion and emotional and mental illness. According to...

The Role of Antidepressants for the Treatment of Bipolar Depression

November 4, 2009

Addiction and The Family, Mental Health Disorders, University

Although rapid-cycling bipolar disorder has been linked to the use of antidepressants, these treatments may still have a role in the management of patients with bipolar depression, said Stephen V. Sobel, MD, clinical instructor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in a presentation at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in Las Vegas. Patients with bipolar disorder spend most of their time in depression, and antidepressants can alleviate these symptoms, said Sobel. “That’s why it’s so tempting to treat these patients with an antidepressant. But it’s important to be familiar with recent studies on the development of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and to weigh the risks and benefits,” he said. The use of antidepressants may increase a patient’s risk of rapid-cycling bipolar...