Category: Malaysia

PTSD and Substance Abuse

PTSD and Substance Abuse – Understanding How The Two Go Together

Articles, Australia, International, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

PTSD and Substance Abuse – This is part one in a two-part series about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – A Simple Definition 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that develops as the result of someone witnessing or experiencing a serious trauma or injury. PTSD is considered a serious psychiatric disorder, but it does not necessarily represent a lifelong condition. People who experience PTSD can recover from their diagnosis and go on to live normal and fulfilling lives.

However; those who are in the grips of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder find that the condition is all-consuming and interferes with their daily lives. Many who suffer from PTSD turn to drugs and alcohol a way to cope with the disorder, which not only makes the symptoms worse, it creates a whole other monster to deal with.

What Situations Cause PTSD?

Many people associate PTSD with soldiers who have served in combat, but anyone who has undergone a serious traumatic event can experience the debilitating symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For example, many of the people who experienced the tragic 2004 tsunami in Thailand suffered with PTSD for many years afterward.

Here are just a few situations that can cause PTSD:

  • A car accident
  • Sexual assault
  • Physical assault
  • Witnessing a crime like a robbery or an assault on someone you care about
  • A severe weather event like an earthquake, tsunami, flood, or hurricane
  • Living in a combat zone
  • Being a soldier who fights in a war
  • Witnessing the death of a loved one
  • Surviving a terrorist attack
  • Being a child who lives through physical, verbal, or emotional abuse

Anyone who witnesses or experiencing an event that results in injury or tragedy is likely to experience at least some degree of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD and Substance Abuse – Symptoms of PTSD

When someone experiences trauma, the mind has a difficult time making sense of the event. The trauma is so upsetting, it will cause the person to question everything they think they know about life and reality. Their sense of safety and comfort will be disrupted because life as they once knew it no longer exists. It can cause someone to question their spiritual beliefs, their existence as a human being, and their very place in the world. 

As a result, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder plays tricks on the mind. It will try to make sense of the event or events that have taken place by working them out through a series of uncomfortable symptoms.

Here is how PTSD expresses itself:

  • Depression
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Flashbacks to the event
  • Repeatedly thinking about the trauma
  • Sleep disturbances like insomnia or too much sleeping
  • Nightmares where the event is replayed during sleep time
  • A heightened sense of awareness and distrust of the environment
  • A lack of motivation or inability to perform daily tasks
  • The absence of joy and a loss of interest in daily activities
  • Problems with important relationships
  • Difficulties at work
  • Challenges carrying out basic responsibilities
  • Substance abuse to cope with all the symptoms listed above

PTSD and Substance Abuse – Needless to say, someone who struggles with PTSD can find it difficult to deal with life after a traumatic event because the symptoms can be so overwhelming. 

Be sure to check out the second half in this two-part series about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

sex addicts

Sex Addiction

Articles, Alternative Treatment, Australia, Celebrity Rehab, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Sex Addicts – While Sex Addiction is not officially recognized as a distinct addiction such as alcoholism or heroin addiction, it is quite real and it can be devastating. Experts and treatment professionals generally agree that there are a cluster of symptoms which constitute sexual addiction. Sex addiction, or hypersexuality, is difficult to diagnose largely because the line between a healthy and active libido and problematic sexual behavior is hard to define. Essentially, if one is so preoccupied with sex and engages in sex to the extent that these thoughts and behaviors negatively impact one’s life or get in the way of normal daily activity, then one is in danger of being addicted to sex. The difficulty is that psychologists have been reluctant to use the term “addiction” for this type of issue. Just a few symptoms may help a person decide if they are wrestling with this problem:

If one experiences continual and prolonged sexual fantasies to the exclusion of other thoughts.

Time spent engaging in sexual thoughts and fantasies interferes with regular activities.

If sexual thoughts and urges come as the result of other problematic feelings (anxiety, depression, etc.)

Engaging in sexual behavior without regard for social and legal consequences.

Sex addicts are generally vexed with a constant and unrelenting preoccupation with sex. Their thoughts about sex and engaging in sex persist to the exclusion of nearly every other aspect of their lives. It is normal to have sexual fantasies, but for the sex addict, engaging in sexual fantasies is on the order of an obsession. Their thoughts about sex interfere with other activities.

Another important feature of sex addiction is the problem of engaging in sexual activities without regard for social and legal consequences. Sex addicts, as opposed to those who engage in normal sexual activities, will engage in sex in the work place, in public, and other places and times in which there can be severe social and legal consequences.

Psychological experts generally agree that sex addiction arises from other issues and problems. Depression and severe anxiety issues are just two of the conditions which professionals have linked to what we now call sex addiction. Essentially, sex addicts are driven by deep psychological problems which are by and large untreated and they seek to escape from these difficulties by engaging in sex and endlessly obsessing about sex. Doctors have met with some success in treating sex addiction with antidepressants as these medication alleviate the underlying cause of sex addiction.

An unfortunate consequence of sex addiction is the prevalence of STDs and HIV/AIDS if people who have been diagnose as sex addicts. One of the stand out feature of sex addiction is indiscriminate sexual encounters. Many of these people do not use protection. The result is an tremendous increased risk for STDs and even HIV/AIDS. People who demonstrate the signs of sex addiction should find help as soon as they can. There is Sex Addicts Anonymous, as 12 step recovery program much like AA, which can help people recover for sex addiction. There are also an increasing number of treatment programs which specialize in sex addiction.  

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

Battling Depression In Recovery

Battling Depression In Recovery

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States
Depression Accompanies The Early Days Of Recovery – It’s A Normal Part of The Process

Battling Depression In Recovery  – One of the most difficult things about the early days of recovery is the depression – heavy, soul-crushing, disruptive, unbearable depression.

Though it doesn’t feel like it belongs in your body, and that it has no business creeping into your day, depression is (unfortunately) part of the recovery process. It doesn’t feel like you should be experiencing it now that you are clean, but you absolutely should be. If you are new to recovery, and you are feeling depressed – you are right where you are supposed to be. Depression is completely normal in the first year of sobriety.

Depression doesn’t completely lift until up to one year after you stop drinking and drugging. This news itself may seem depressing, but, ironically – it should give you some hope. Without understanding that depression is a normal part of the restoration process, you might have been thinking that you’re “not doing something right.” It’s not that you are doing anything wrong. It’s simply that you need time to get your mind right.

Why You Are Experiencing Depression

Battling Depression In Recovery  – The reason why you are experiencing depression is because you are no longer using drugs and alcohol. Depression is part of the withdrawal process.

After months or years of surging your body with chemicals, the neurotransmitters in your brain are misfiring. They are looking for cocaine, heroin, marijuana, alcohol – or whatever drugs you were feeding your body with. The problem is, those chemicals aren’t there anymore. Now that you are sober, your brain is confused. It is trying to form new neural pathways and re balance itself. This takes time.

The main reason why you are experiencing depression is because your brain lacks the chemical Serotonin. Serotonin is responsible for creating feelings of wellness, contentment, and happiness. When you were using drugs and alcohol, you were chemically inducing Serotonin, so the brain stopped producing it properly on its own. Now, it is depleted of Serotonin and your brain is working to begin making it without outside chemicals.

Don’t Let The Depression Take You Back To Your Addiction

Battling Depression In Recovery  – Many people end up relapsing simply because they feel they cannot walk through the depression without some kind of drug to pep them up and get them to a place of normalcy. It’s easy to convince yourself that taking some kind of mood or mind-altering substance is a solution for depression.

This is a mistake.

Going back to the drugs or alcohol will only make things worse. It will set you back and force you to start your recovery all over again. Then, you will have to face the depression again – only this time, it will be more difficult. Ultimately, to experience the gifts of sobriety, you are going learn how to walk through the depression to get to the other side……and you WILL get to the other side.  

When walking the road of recovery, you have to remember that things get better with time. This includes the experience of depression. You didn’t get where you are over overnight and you certainly won’t heal overnight. You will have to continue to walk your recovery journey with the faith that, with time, your mind and body will be restored to a place of wellness and your brain will begin to produce Serotonin naturally so you can feel better.

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

Sober Living

Choosing To Go To Sober Living After Rehab

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States
Recovery Can Be Overwhelming Right Outside Of Rehab

Sober Living – By the time most people get out of rehab, they are ready to go home and sleep in the warmth and comfort of their own bed. They believe they have overcome their addiction to drugs or alcohol and are convinced they can stay clean for the rest of their lives. We say, “Not so fast!”

Although it may not seem like it, rehab is the easy part when it comes to maintaining sobriety. Of course, we recognize that in-patient treatment is no walk in the park. It is not easy. It is a very painful, challenging, and difficult process. Nevertheless, when you are in rehab, you are safely tucked away in an environment that keeps you in check. 

In treatment, you don’t have the stress and triggers of everyday living to worry about. All you have to do is focus on your recovery. You don’t have to worry about the daily responsibilities that come with work, raising a family, paying bills, and everything else that comes with being a human being.

Many people leave rehab feeling solid in their sobriety and ready to take on the world. Only to return home and find that they cannot manage everything that comes with being sober. This is quite common. For this very reason, sober living is often the right choice for people just leaving rehab.

What Is Sober Living?

Sober living houses are residential homes that have been designated as sober living facilities. There are a number of different types of sober living houses.

Some sober living houses are covered by insurance and associated with treatment facilities. They offer a very structured and formal setting that feels very much like a rehabilitation center. Other sober houses are privately owned and much more informal. They function as roommate kind of situation where several sober people live together and split the living expenses.

In sober living, you would have your own room, but share your living space, bathroom, and kitchen with other sober people. Many people think it’s fun and exciting to share a sober living house with other people who are walking the same path they are.

Why Choose A Sober Living Environment?

Most people choose to go to a sober living house right when they leave rehab and stay there while they complete Intensive Outpatient treatment or Aftercare. This allows them to acclimate to living outside of rehab while maintaining sobriety – without making the full leap back into their regular lives.

Some people find a sober house after they have been out of rehab for awhile because they find that living alone is just too difficult and they want to room with other people in recovery.

In sober living, you get to fellowship with other recovering people so you can get the support you need. This will help you stay clean and sober while working your program and getting used to life outside of rehab. This is the right choice for people who want to build a more solid foundation in their recovery. 

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

Learn To Trust Yourself

Learn To Trust Yourself

Articles, Australia, Education, International, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Learn To Trust Yourself – Addiction robs the person who is using of many things. The addict can often pay for addiction with his or her life at times. Most will lose their pride, time, conscious, emotions, and trust if the addiction does spare their lives. While life and time cannot be regained, time, pride, and control over emotions can be with practice. When most people finally make the decision to move out of addiction and into recovery the hardest battle is learning to trust. This applies to trusting self and others. Each person may experience this in different ways and at different times during recovery. However, lack of trust will always come into play at some point.

First you must learn to trust yourself. This is no small task as your judgment skills while using are flawed by whatever substance you chose to put in your body. When you enter recovery you must learn to once again use your core values and trust your own judgment to start making better decisions. Sometimes we get caught up in the drama of life and circumstances and forget we are capable of making positive decisions for ourselves. This is something that must be overcome as part of recovery. You can rise to the challenge of trusting yourself and earning the trust of others. This is where core values come into the mix. Core values are those things that you believe as true. These are your fundamental beliefs about what is right or wrong. Addiction allows people to forget their core values and beliefs because the focus is always on the next hit or drink. Once in recovery these core values can be reestablished and used to further recovery and rehabilitation. To reestablish these values a list is often helpful. Write out ten to twenty things that you believe are fundamentally true and acceptable. Is honesty best and necessary? Is breaking the law something that is unacceptable for everyone? Write out what is true for you as a way to remind yourself of what you believed and adhered to prior to addiction.

As these fundamental or core values are accessed you will continue moving forward in recovery. As you move forward there will be daily decisions that need to be made and your core values will likely nudge you in a certain direction. These gut feelings are the things you should listen to when making a decision. You must learn to trust yourself. If you do choose incorrectly, then deal with the consequences without giving up.

As you learn to trust yourself, your core values you will gain strength and insight. To begin the process answer these three questions: What is important? What do you enjoy? And What frustrates you? The answers to these questions will be very personal and different for everyone, but they hold the key to staying in recovery, especially in the beginning. Knowing what is important to you will guide you through the rest of your life. Knowing what frustrates you will help offer insights into your triggers and help you know what to avoid or when to relax and unwind. Finally, knowing what you enjoy can allow you to understand how to unwind. This is all part of learning to trust yourself. Once you gain self trust you can rebuild trust with others. You have the ability to better yourself or become your own worst enemy, which will you choose?

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.