What To Do (And Not To Do) When You Have Cravings

Cravings are a natural part of recovery because they are such an intrinsic part of addiction. From day two to year twenty five, cravings can come on at any moment. It’s important to understand what your cravings are, where they are coming from, and how to handle them when they occur.

Don’t Panic

Cravings are normal. As recovery goes along and you earn more and more time sober, there will be a greater distance between episodes of cravings. It’s easy to fall into the false belief that experiencing cravings means you are somehow failing in recovery. Unfortunately, most people run with this fear and believe that cravings will never go away and mean they are going to relapse. Then, many people do. Cravings can come on subtly, happen like a flash of lightning, or appear through a using dream. When cravings come on, don’t panic. Remember that addiction is a disease that lives in the brain causing strange and irregular chemical reactions. Despite your hard work in recovery and the monumental changes you are making to your behaviors, the amount of time your brain has been sober compared to the amount of time it spent intoxicated is small. It’s like worrying a baby will never walk if they fall down once in awhile. Cravings are sometimes nothing more than the brain working out some kinks as you train it to live a recovery lifestyle.

To Investigate

Try not to hyper analyze the meaning of your cravings- leave that to your therapy sessions. In the moment your cravings hit, try to take a minute of mindfulness. Settle yourself down and connect yourself with a few deep breaths. After quickly doing a body scan to notice any tension, turn your attention inward. Is there anything happening in this moment, in the last few hours, or maybe the last few days that was particularly triggering? Remember, that your addictive behaviors were usually a response to challenging situations and painful emotions. Though you are learning to handle things differently the chemical responses in your brain are still catching up. Your cravings might be the result of enduring something you haven’t had to in a while.

Recovery is possible. It starts with you! Enlightened Solutions is here to provide an integrative approach to treatment which fuses clinically proven treatments with holistic healing modalities grounded in a spiritual 12 step philosophy. For more information, call us today at 844-234-LIVE

Beating Flu And Allergy Season With Essential Oils

Getting sick during treatment for recovery from an addiction and dual diagnosis issues is common. Not only are there seasonal illnesses to which everyone falls vulnerable, but there are ongoing exchanges of colds and viruses within the program. During the treatment phase for addiction, the body is still fresh from the last interaction with drugs and alcohol. Typically, the last moments of using for someone seeking treatment were not light. Years of abuse leaves the body weakened in its immune system and natural ability to heal. Specific areas of the brain which are chemically compromised due to addiction can contribute to sickness as well. For example, the production of dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, and vitamin D. Living in tight quarters, sharing bathrooms, and sitting in the same room for group therapy can cause a cold or a virus to spread quite quickly from one weakened immune system to the next. Eating a healthy and organic diet, getting enough sleep, maintaining hydration, and using holistic remedies can help stave off symptoms and improve immunity function.

How Essential Oils Work

The oils are absorbed through the skin or breathed in through the nose. Taking medications requires digestion and metabolizing the chemical compounds and waiting for them to work through the bloodstream. Oils administer their properties quickly, creating instant effects. You can use a roll on oil stick, put oil into a diffuser, or just open the cap to a bottle of oil and breathe it in for immediate healing.

3 Essential Oils For Cold Symptoms

• Peppermint: Peppermint oil naturally contains menthol which provides the cool, tingling sensation that peppermint gives off. You can use peppermint oil to soothe aching muscles, relieve tension from  tight neck, and help release blockages in the chest.

• Eucalyptus: Most menthol based remedies like Vick’s Vaporub have a bit of eucalyptus. Going straight to the source is healthier and easier. Use eucalyptus oil as a roll on around the sinus area. Both the skin absorption and breathing it in will clear a stuffy nose and provide relief for a crackling chest.

• Lavender: The worst colds come along with sleepless nights due to fevers, aches, pains, and stuffiness. Lavender is a calming agent which helps the entire body relax. Spray lavender oil on a pillow, use a lavender infused eye pillow, put it in a diffuser, or just breathe it in after rubbing it on your hands for instant relaxation.

Enlightened Solutions provides an integrative treatment program to help clients learn healthy holistic ways to care for themselves and sustain their recovery after treatment. Our unique approach to treatment provides the solution to the problem of addiction. For more information on our dual diagnosis programs of treatment, call 844-234-LIVE today.

3 Crystals You Need For Recovery

Crystal healing is an ancient spiritual practice. Beautiful crystals, gemstones, and minerals live within the depths of our planet. Beneath the surface of the ground, hidden within caves and stones, are stunning, energy harnessing crystals. Using crystals for healing in recovery is a holistic treatment method which relies on energy. Eastern philosophies of the body believe that we store energy in specific areas of the body, which creates stress. Within our bodies are natural channels and pathways for the energy to flow. Emotions, pain, grief, trauma, stress, and other negative factors can block these meridians causing both psychological and physical side effects. Crystals, along with other holistic treatments like acupuncture and chiropractic, help move or release that energy. Crystals can also provide pain relief, enhance creativity, sharpen focus, or bring good social connections.

For Goop, certified shamanic energy medicine practitioner Colleen McCann shares some of her essential crystals and some of their properties for healing. We’ll include why they’re helpful during the recovery treatment process.

Black Obsidian

Good for: grounding

Chakra: first (root)

Recovery: Anxiety is a highly occurring dual diagnosis with substance use disorders and can commonly be a side effect of withdrawals, as well as coping with difficult emotional work. Anxiety sets off the fight or flight mode, causing us to feel disconnected. Grounding is an important practice for being rooted in the present moment.

Rose Quartz

Good for: positivity and love

Chakra: fourth (heart)

Recovery: McCann writes that rose quartz “enhances all types of love: self-love, love for others, and unconditional love.” Love and compassion are essential for recovery. Helping with self esteem, confidence, emotional regulation and more, rose quartz gives extra support in recovery.

Lapis Lazuli

Good for: communication

Chakra: fifth (throat)

Recovery: The first step in recovery is admitting we have a problem. Speaking our truth starts us on the path to recovery and carries us through as we learn to live by the suggestions of a program which “demands rigorous honesty” as The Big Book emphasizes. Maintaining honesty through open, healthy communication is an essential part of growth within recovery.

Enlightened Solutions offers a holistic treatment program which utilizes alternative eastern treatment methods in addition to evidence based proven western clinical modalities. For information on our partial care programs of treatment call 844-234-LIVE.

Understanding The Important Role Of Toxic Shame In Addictive Behaviors

Toxic: poisonous

Shame: a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior

Toxic Shame: painful feelings of humiliation or distress which can feel like a poison

Toxic shame is venomous. Getting caught in a spell of toxic shame can feel like getting stung by a stingray or a bee. The pain is timid at first, then rapidly spreads and intensifies until it feels like it’s taken over everything. We can’t see past the pain. Such is the same with toxic shame.

Role of Toxic Shame

Understanding toxic shame as playing an important role in addictive behaviors is important. Shame and guilt, both of which can be toxic, are driving factors in addiction. Addiction is in many ways a symptom of obsession and compulsion. We obsess over the painful feelings of humiliation and distress which were given to us somewhere in the past. Eventually, that obsessive thinking becomes too painful to bear, compelling us to take part in a familiar behavior. Addictive behaviors of any kind, from substance abuse to eating disorders, are often coping mechanisms to deal with uncomfortable feelings. Even if they don’t start that way, they usually end up that way. Substances, along with non-substance reliant behaviors, produce a feeling of euphoric relief. Surging levels of dopamine help calm the anxiety, panic, pain, and negativity produced by toxic shame.

According to Shannon Bradley-Colleary, an online 12 step coach who often works with individuals in codependent relationships, “toxic shame is always learned in childhood.” The “consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior” which comes with shame has to be learned. When we are young, we learn best from our parents. Shannon writes that “one or both of our parents either neglected us, or abused us, or made us feel we were somehow wrong or that we should never express or even have negative emotions.” In such homes, difficult feelings like anger, sadness, or fear are often shamed, rejected, and ridiculed. This isn’t because there was anything wrong with our feelings or why we were feeling them. Unfortunately, that is the message we receive. Truly, we had people in our lives who were insufficiently prepared to handle such feelings coming from a child. Most likely, they were ill-equipped to handle those feelings themselves.

Healing shame and codependency or other manifestations of shame is important for recovering from addiction and other addictive behaviors. Enlightened Solutions uses a range of clinical, 12 step, and holistic healing treatments to aid the grief process, create new coping mechanisms, and heal the pain of toxic shame while supporting recovery. For information on our partial care programs of treatment, call 844-234-LIVE.

The Importance Of Honesty In Recovery

Recovery begins with honesty. The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous describes the first step this way: “We learned that we had to fully conceded to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.” To concede means to “admit something that is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.” It also means to “surrender or yield”. Honesty is part of the first step of recovery because we have to admit that we are struggling with addiction and/or alcoholism. Often, we have been back and forth with ourselves about this part of our lives. We denied it in many ways, sometimes for many years. We resisted coming to the truth because we knew once we did, we would have to stop drinking and using, being forced to reckon with ourselves. Yet, we learned that we had to make a concession to our efforts. Honesty regarding our addiction is not something that just comes naturally. If we were suddenly enlightened with the idea that all we had to do was tell the truth about our struggles, recovery would look much different. The truth is, we were probably given the lesson over and over again. To learn doesn’t mean to just know. Learning is a process of gaining information. Overtime, we learned that there was going to be no other way to go about it. We had to get honest. We had to face the consequences.

Honesty is an integral part of recovery. We have to be honest about how we feel every day in treatment, or we lose an opportunity to heal. We have to be honest about our cravings and obsessive thoughts about using or else we risk relapse. We have to be honest about our fears and insecurities or we might fall into false pride and become delusional once again.

Addiction, in and of itself, is a lie. Addiction tells us that another hit, another pill, another dose, another drink, will make everything better. Addiction never bothers to be honest, letting us know that the next one will never be enough, that there is always going to be a next one. Honesty puts an end to the madness. It creates sanity where sanity has been lost. Recovery is your opportunity to find yourself and be found.

Start with honesty.

If you or a loved one are struggling with alcoholism and addiction and are ready for help, Enlightened Solutions has an answer. Call us today for information on our integrative treatment programs for men and women, 844-234-LIVE.

There’s A Healthy Way To Process Your Anger

Anger gets a bad reputation. Much of how we identify with, understand, and process anger has to do with what we were taught about anger when we were younger. Watching our parents handle their own anger gave us some ideas about what anger means. For example, some people have parents who got angry about everything, including the weather. Other people had parents who never got angry and shunned the child for ever displaying anger. ANger is widely misunderstood, which is unfortunate because it is an essential reaction. Anger is born out of stress, rooted in two primary emotional experiences: fear and sadness. We developed anger as a reaction. Anger is survival. When we get angry, our adrenaline starts pumping and we release other stress hormones in order to get through what we are going through. Unfortunately, we can’t get through it unless we have a way of releasing our anger.

Anger can be released in healthy ways and anger can be released in unhealthy ways. Most often, anger comes out in a toxic, violent manner because that is what we have been shown about anger. However, anger can be processed in a more calm and rational way which acknowledges and validates the anger without letting it completely take over.

First, You Need To Reduce The Stress

Once those stress hormones start flowing, you cannot objectively assess your emotions until they have calmed down. Calming down during anger is not contradicting or condoning whatever it is you are angry about. Instead, it is giving you the space and opportunity to process your anger. Try a breathing technique, take a shower, or go for a walk.

Second, Understand Your Anger

You Have a right to be angry about whatever you are angry about, because you have a right to all of your emotional experiences. It’s important to identify what exactly it is you are angry about. Often, what seems like the perfect victim of your anger on the surface is not what is really going on underneath. Furthermore, you might be more angry about the fact that you've been caused to feel afraid or sad than what has actually happened.

Create Mindful Reality

Taking the time to identify the true source of your anger helps you separate rage from reality. We want anger to punish someone for our own pain. We often here that anger is the poison we drink, intending to hurt someone else. Being mindful of your emotions helps you to identify what is real from what is not real. From there you can move forward and heal.
 

Anger management is an important part of the recovery process. Enlightened Solutions has created a program that helps clients become integrated with their emotional, physical, and spiritual selves. For more information on our treatment programs for addiction and dual diagnosis issues, call 844-234-LIVE.

Essential Oils To Aid Brain Health During Recovery

Addiction and alcoholism are matters of the mind. Quite literally, the neuroscience model of addiction shows that mind altering substances take over the brain in such a way that all of the essential functions change, becoming focused on drugs and alcohol. Recovery and treatment for addiction includes varying practices which help the brain heal, learn, and grow. Approaching thoughts, behaviors, habits, are all scientific processes as much as they are emotional ones. Emotions are chemical responses in the brain. Using therapeutic methods from psychotherapy to alternative holistic therapies are all ways to reset the flow of the brain and help with holistic healing.

Healing the brain means working to replenish various neurotransmitters and important brain chemicals which contribute to daily functions as well as the functions critical to relapse prevention. Serotonin is a brain chemical which helps regulate emotion. Cortisol is a hormone which is produced in reaction to stress. GABA is a focus of addiction research as it is being found to regulate anxiety and reduce cravings. Various endorphins stimulate feelings of happiness and wellbeing.

According to Belief Net, “Scientific research has revealed that essential oils possesses myriad beneficial phytochemical properties such as anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anti-stress, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and analgesic…” Certain essential oils can be used in aromatherapy to stimulate the production of brain chemicals and help the mind heal during recovery and treatment. The article lists these essential oils as helpful to the specific brain chemicals:

Serotonin: lavender, lemon, rosemary

Cortisol: lavender, ylang ylang, bergamot

GABA: citronella, lemongrass, white verbena

Endorphins: clary sage, clove, lemon

What Are Essential Oils?

Belief Net writes that “Essential oils are volatile molecules obtained from the seeds, leaves, bark, resins, and other materials of nature’s most generous botanicals.” Blended into a purified oil, there are many uses for the substance. Diffusers help put the aromatic essences into the air of a room. Many essential oils can be applied directly to the skin or scalp. Add essential oils to a bath, or pour a dilution into a spray bottle for your pillow. Essential oils can even be added into food or tea for flavor and holistic healing properties.

Enlightened Solutions believes in the healing power of alternative treatment methods when used in conjunction with traditional clinical and twelve step treatment. We have found a solution for addiction that works with clients to develop their own sense of recovery and self. For more information on our treatment programs, call 844-234-LIVE today.

5 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Your Sleep

5 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Your Sleep

Sleep is essential to healing. When you are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, it is critical to get a deep sleep every night for at least 6-8 hours. Some doctors believe that 8-10 hours is better for recovery. During sleep your body and your mind are healing. Sleep is a time for the body to rejuvenate and mend itself back together. In the brain, all of the information from the day is being sorted out and organized. Addiction and alcoholism are disease of the mind, the body, and the spirit. Sleep has a great influence on spirit as well. Without a good night sleep during treatment, you will be less focused, less aware, less present, and likely very cranky. Enduring ongoing symptoms of withdrawal requires you to have energy and endurance, a great deal of which can be sourced from sleep.

1. Your room is chronically messy: Most treatment centers with residential living, or sober livings where you stay while attending a partial care program, will ask you to keep your room clean and make your bed. This is for a few reasons. First, they are likely to conduct tours for other clients. Second, it is a good practice in discipline to keep your room clean and make your bed every day. Third, having an organized room helps maintain a calm energy in your room. If you go to sleep with a messy room, you’ll likely sleep without the deepness you need to be fully rested.

2. Your sleeping environment has too much light: Some people like to sleep with the lights on. Others feel that they need total darkness. Certain kinds of light can be stimulating to the brain. Though you might sleep, you won’t be getting the deep states of sleep that you need.

3. You eat a lot of sweets before bed: Sugar is a stimulant that not only keeps the brain awake, but causes cravings and dehydration. Though you might fall asleep after a bowl of ice cream, you’ll wake up in the night to drink some water, or you might have restless sleep. Try to drink a calming herbal tea before bed or have some sugar free dark chocolate, which will help your body digest and detoxify through the night.

4. You are using your phone while in bed before going to sleep: Social media, email checking, and engaging with various apps on your phone all stimulate the brain in different ways. What is most problematic about using your phone during the time you are trying to fall asleep is the blue light. Ideally, you should put down your phone at least an hour before your bedtime to help your brain destimulate and prepare for rest.

5. You don’t help yourself sleep: There are many luxuries for sleep which are actually helpful. Ear plugs, eye masks, weighted blankets, aromatherapy, sound machines- all of these small luxuries can greatly enhance your night’s sleep. Try investing in some of these items and your payoff will be ten times the reward.

Enlightened Solutions takes a holistic approach to addiction treatment by bringing together various disciplines to create an effective program for mind, body, and spirit. For more information on our partial care programs, call 844-234-LIVE today.

Three Key Ways Social Media Can Lower Self-Esteem, Cause Depression

Social media use is not always healthy. During the early months of recovery and addiction treatment, it is best to leave social media to itself while you focus on healing.

Comparing Your Insides To Others Outsides

It’s always newsworthy and deemed revolutionary when someone posts something real to social media. Something about the bad day they are having, the amount of hours it takes to create the perfect shot, the “reality” of their lives behind their carefully curated social media profiles. What we often see on our newsfeeds are just small chosen moments to depict the best of the best rather than the realest of the real. Spiritually, we are reminded to consider what is behind every person’s smile. It isn’t always happiness. We aren’t aware of what happens beyond a photo, in real life. When we start to make assumptions and judgments, we set ourselves up into a trap of false beliefs- not just about someone else’s life, but about our own. Comparing what we see in other people’s “outside” to what we see within ourselves and how we feel about our own lives can lower our sense of self-esteem and cause feelings of depression.

Scrolling And Posting For Dopamine

Dopamine is that tricky neurotransmitter which communicates pleasure to key areas of the brain like the reward center. Numerous brain imaging studies have found that various components of interacting with social media cause a spike in the production of dopamine. For example, scrolling through the news feed of any social media platform can cause dopamine production which mimics stimulation from cocaine. Getting a “like” or a “comment” on something we post gives us another big boost of dopamine, as well as a boost of ego. There is more to the psychology of social media than meets the eye. Some studies have even suggested that the impulsive need to check social media devices is causing dopamine production as well. Before you even start to scroll, your brain is happier. Thus, once you put it down and have to go another set of hours without social media, your brain lacks in dopamine production, which can simulate feelings of depression.

Other Negative Influences

Social media is a breeding ground for lies, judgments, bullying, and false realities. Fake news, political arguments, and offensive comments can be common. Social media is a public landscape meaning very little is private. Instead of having healthy, regulated conversations in real life with people, everyone has the opportunity to hide behind their keyboards. Losing out on human interaction, people can begin to feel isolated and alone.

Recovery is an opportunity to redefine every area of your life from mental health to substance abuse. Enlightened solutions wants to show you how. Our unique program blends proven areas of treatment together to create a meaningful, holistic partial care program. Recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. Call 844-234-LIVE for more information.

Spiritual Practices To Enhance Your Recovery Every Day

Spirituality is an important part of recovery. Religion and spirituality do not have to be the same. Instead, recovery offers you the opportunity to create your own spirituality and connection to yourself as well as the greater existence.

Immerse Yourself In Inspirational Words

Spirituality is best learned and practiced. You can choose a religious text, a self-help book, spiritual poetry, or whatever else inspires you. Try starting and ending your day with a few minutes of inspirational text. Having the messages, chewing over the meaning, and creating the energy the text provides will help you walk along a spiritual path for the day.

Put Your Thoughts To Action

Prayer, intentions, meditations, hopes, wishes, goals- whatever the term is you want to use to describe the power of positivity, use that throughout the day. The universe is full of fascinating energy between humans, their minds, and their thoughts. What we think creates energy and our energy has a great effect on the world around us. Spend some time each day putting your thoughts to action through prayer, meditation, journaling, or whatever method feels the most spiritually aligning to you.

Integrate More Mindfulness

You can call it walking with the Holy Spirit. You can call it being mindful. You can call it being enlightened. There is a spirituality to the practice of mindfulness when it specifically focuses on noticing the mystery and magnificence of life around you. Pay attention to the way the sun hits the grass, the air moves the flowers, and how the earth smells after it rains. It doesn’t have to be a “God” or any other kind of force that creates such detail. The act of noticing these things means taking the time to connect to the wonderment of being alive.

Be Kind

Kindness is not a character trait, it’s an intrinsic human condition. Great spiritual leaders define themselves by their dedication to kindness. Kindness moves in two directions: inward and outward. In order to be truly kind to others, you must also learn to be kind to yourself. Self-kindness, along with self-compassion is essential to recognizing the humility in being human, just like everyone else.

Share Your Experience, Strength, And Hope

Everyone needs a little extra hope when they are in treatment to recover from an addiction and a co-occurring disorder. When you start to integrate spiritual activities into your daily life, you have a lot to offer other people. You don’t have to preach, but you can humbly offer someone your experiences, encourage them with the strength you are finding, and offer them the hope which helps get you through the day.

Recovery starts with you, so start your recovery with us at Enlightened Solutions. Our partial care programs are rooted in twelve step philosophy, holistic healing, and proven clinical therapy methods. We have the solution. Call 844-234-LIVE today for more information.

Taking Yoga From Treatment To Life

Yoga is a scientifically proven treatment method for addiction and mental health recovery. Physical, spiritual, and psychological benefits can come from just 5-20 minutes of yoga a day.

Remove Judgment

Remember that you aren’t a yoga professional and your practice is in its youth. When you go do to your practices at home, don’t expect to be perfect! Approach yourself with the same non-judgment your teachers in treatment would have encouraged you to use. You’re doing yoga to help your body and your mind- not to impress anyone, including yourself.

Use Intention Setting For Each Practice

Routine is good and healthy which is why you’re bringing yoga home. Doing the same thing every day can get repetitive and boring, inspiring you to leave the mat behind instead of stick to your practice. Make each practice unique by setting a different intention. Intentions are the energy you put into your practice so you can focus.

Allow Yourself To Be Guided

Until you get your sequences down it will be helpful to have a guide. Thankfully, the internet is full of yoga teachers, gurus, and lovers who are happy to show you their favorite yoga sequences. Have a neck ache or a back problem? You can look up yoga sequences for almost every kind of benefit you need.

Modify, Modify, Modify

The simplest mistake people make in their at home yoga poses is trying to force themselves into positions their body is not prepared to be in. Modifying a pose helps your body ease into the position rather than crash into it. Modification isn’t about success or failure but about protection. Yoga is meant to help the body heal, not hurt itself.

Don’t Skip Savasana

Savasana, also called corpse pose, is the resting pose at the end of the yoga practice where you can finally rest and let the energy of the practice flow through your body. Savasana is a time for meditation and reflection as well as rest. Doing yoga at home can inspire you to skip this critical resting period and carry on with your day. Complete your practice in its entirety and don’t skip your chance to breathe deeply and rest.

Enlightened Solutions fuses the proven healing power of holistic and alternative treatments with evidence based clinical treatments to provide a transformative program for mind, body, and spirit. If you are in need of treatment for a mental health or substance use disorder, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

The 4 Common Types Of Depression

Depression is a globally experienced mental health disorder on every level. Coping with depression which goes undiagnosed or untreated can result in substance abuse or other harmful behaviors. If you are living with depression there is hope.

Major Depression

Major depression is the most common diagnosed form of depression. Also called chronic depression or clinical depression, it is the stereotypical type of depression which is ongoing. Major depression is characterized by feeling as though one is being swallowed by darkness. Feelings of being numb, emotionless, and uninspired are common. Other symptoms can include:

• Weight gain

• Loss of energy

• Loss of interest in hobbies and passions

• Fatigue

• Suicidal Ideation

Treatment for major depression can include antidepressant medication therapy and traditional psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven to be helpful for treating depression. Often, a change in diet, exercise, and wellness can reduce symptoms of depression.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

Though persistent depressive disorder is as ongoing as major depressive disorder it is not the same in terms of severity. Symptoms of depression can last for two years of more but never reach the all-encompassing darkness that major depression can. People living with persistent depressive disorder are usually highly functioning, simply carrying the burden of depressing thoughts of feelings. Symptoms can still include:

• Changes in appetite

• Changes in energy

• Problems with self-esteem

• Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder and depression are separate, yet connected. Formerly called “manic depressive” disorder, bipolar disorder includes bouts of mania and depression. After a manic episode, people with bipolar tend to come “crashing” down into depression. Their symptoms reflect the opposite of what they experienced during mania. Bipolar depression is often characterized by feelings of worry, discouragement, loss of self-worth and hopelessness.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Caused by a change in time and season, the brain creates more melatonin during the day because of a lack of sunshine. Low energy, low mood, and depressive symptoms like hopelessness are common for people to develop during the winter months. Usually, the depression symptoms disappear as the weather starts to change. During the dark days of the year, people can feel incredibly down and even suicidal.

Are you coping with depression by abusing drugs and alcohol? Enlightened solutions offers day treatment programs which are certified in treating co-occurring disorders for mental health and substance abuse. Start your healing with us. Call today for more information at 844-234-LIVE.

5 Tips For Setting Goals

For those in recovery sometimes “what are your goals” only has one answer: staying sober. Living life sober gives you an opportunity to go after whatever you wnt in life. Here are some suggestions for getting started.

How Do You Want To Feel?

Most often, our goals come with a feeling. When we achieve that goal, we imagine feeling a certain way about ourselves and as ourselves. Perhaps more confident, more capable, or more accomplished. Envision your goal in mind. How do you imagine you will feel once you achieve it? Are there feelings assosciated with this goal that you think you can only have if you achieve it?

Keep Yourself Inspired

Goals, no matter how big or small, can seem impossible when we are in a negative mindset. Stay inspired about your goal by setting little reminders of why you’re working so hard for it. Focus on that moment where you achieve your goal and how good it will feel. Leave yourself encouraging notes. Read stories of others who have gone after a siilar thing. Everyone experiences feeling discouraged and afraid of failure.

Get A Goal Buddy!

Accountability is key to achieving your goals. Have some who is working on the same or a similar goal to help cheer you on and give inspiration to as well. Sometimes it is our pep talks to others that we personally need to hear the most. Your goal buddy will help you stay on track and keeping working toward what you want.

Set A Time Limit

Goals aren’t indefinite- they’re definite and finite things we want to accomplish. How much can you work toward your goal each day? Each month? In six months? You’re capable of accomplishing more than you know. Don’t make your goals indefinite. Set a reasonable amount of time to achieve it and you will.

Choose Something Realistic

We can’t change our body types, become millionaires in a day, or excel in a hobby we’ve never tired before when we try it for the first time. There are rare occurrencesof these things happening, but such miracles aren’t common. Make sure you know what you are going after is a realistic opportunity. It doesn’t mean you can’t dream big- dream as big as you want- but separate your dreams from fantasies.

Enlightened Soltuions is here to help s=you reach your goal of lifelong recovery. Our dual diagnosis problems serve those in need of treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. Call us today for inofrmaiton on how we can help you achieve your goals 844-234-LIVE.

Do We Need Our Compulsive Behaviors?

In any 12 month period, reports the National Institute Of Mental Health, 18%of adults in the united States will experience anxiety so severe it could be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. About 7% of adults will experience major depression. Anxiety is a pervasive problem which threatens people’s sense of security. Anxiety causes us to feel that we are being threatened in some way if by nothing else than our own thoughts. Often, addictions and addictive behaviors are coping mechanisms for anxiety. New research suggest that the majority of our compulsions- from drug use to checking our social media sites- could be rooted in anxiety.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “...compulsions...are born in anxiety and remain strangers to joy. They are repetitive behaviors that we engage in repeatedly to alleviate the angst brought on by the possibility of harmful consequences.” Symptoms of withdrawal like obsession and craving, for example, can feel like harmful consequences because the brain is convinced that it cannot survive without drugs and alcohol. For other anxieties, however, the brain is convinced the absolute worst will be the result of not engaging in a compulsion. Not checking social media, for instance, could mean we miss out on important news from a friend.

Compulsions, the article argues, are a form of self-reassurance. “Suffused with and overwhelmed by anxiety,” the author explains,  “we latch onto any behavior that offers relief by providing even an illusion of control.” That is because “the roots of compulsion lie in the brain circuits that detect threats and generate a profound feeling of anxiety…” Meaning, that compulsions cause our anxiety and anxiety causes our compulsions. Compulsive behaviors are a form of self-soothing, self-care, and survival.

The Difference Between Compulsion And Addiction

Where does a compulsion become an addiction? As the author points out, compulsions are “strangers to joy” whereas an addiction is rooted in pleasure. Neuroimaging research of both addictive and compulsive behaviors shows a distinct difference in this way. Of course,someone receives a reward from feeling relieved from their anxiety. Such reward would stimulate the areas of the brain which process pleasure. But the greatest activity is in the anxiety circuitry. Behaviors are not the same as substances. Though they create pleasure, they satisfy a different need.

Enlightened Solutions is a certified co-occurring disorder treatment facility offering partial care programs of treatment for both anxiety and co-occurring anxiety. If you or a loved one are struggling to cope with anxiety and compulsive behaviors call us

11 Changes You Experience When You Stay Sober

In the beginning it can feel as though nothing is going to change. With time, you’ll notice everything about you has changed and it's all changed for the better.

You Manage Your Thoughts And Feelings

You’re no longer ruled by your every whim and whimsy. Depression, anxiety, cravings, and more are manageable to you now because you’ve put in the work to understand your own mind. Through meditation and practicing cognitive behavioral therapy you’ve learned to detach from your thoughts and free yourself from the bondages of your mind.

You Can Give Yourself Credit

Recovery has boosted your sense of self-esteem and self-worth. Today, you are aware of the good things you do and the good things about you. You can look on your life with healthy pride. More importantly, you have a lot of humility in understanding how far you’ve come and how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are today.

You Make Emotional Choices

Therapy and treatment has taught you that it isn’t about what happens to you but how you react to it. Your reactions are completely within your control. Not every day is going to be perfect and thankfully neither are you. When you set your mind to experiencing the day a certain way, you do. You decide what effects you, how much it affects you, and the way in which it does. Emotionally empowered!

You Live In The Present Moment

Anxiety over the future is fleeting and ruminating on the past doesn’t happen as often. Prayer, meditation, and mindfulness are all tools you use to help stay in the present moment- awake, alive, aware, and grateful.

You Have Quality Friends

The people around you are dedicated to something positive in their lives and constantly work to better themselves. Every now and then you find yourself in astonishment as to just how cool your friends are today and how lucky you are to have them. They’re lucky to have you, too!

You Stop To Smell The Roses

Life is full of wonder and awe for you today. You’re able to notice the little things without sweating them and take life for all that it is. After years of darkness, you live fully in the light and you wouldn’t trade it for another drink or drug.

You Have Goals

Staying sober, one day at a time is still your daily goal. Now that you've been in recovery for some time, you’re setting your sights a little higher. Going back to school, traveling, getting a job, advancing your career- you’re setting goals and crushing them.

We know there’s a better life for you waiting on the other side of addiction. Let Enlightened Solutions show you the way. Through holistic healing, clinical treatment, and creative arts, supported by 12 step philosophy, our treatment program will help you heal and change into the amazing person you are. For more information call 844-234-LIVE today.

Relapse Red Flags

Telling The Truth...Later

There’s a difference between keeping secrets and lying. People who are on the verge of relapse tend to dance right in the middle of these two versions. Though they don’t keep the lie long term, they keep a lie short term. After something has happened of which they have been lying about, they tell you later on, so that they can at least be honest. Honesty is a key to sobriety and their admittance of their lie is important. However, if this happens increasingly it's a sign that you just don’t know when they’re lying and when they’re not. The next truth might be that they relapsed and didn’t tell you.

Suddenly Busy

You’re used to hearing from the regularly. When you’re around them they’re always on their phone and answering it immediately. Suddenly they’re just not available. Routine texts and phone calls go without answer and they’re letting you know they aren’t available to talk. While they might be using at the moment, they could be contacting connects. Worse, they might be struggling with cravings so intense they don’t want to talk about them anymore, which is always a sign relapse is around the corner.

Not Taking Accountability

You’re noticing a change in their attitude and behavior which is offensive to you and to other people. Confronting them only leads to arguments, defensiveness and a reversal of blame. Everything they learned about looking for their part and taking responsibility seems to be slipping away. Relapse is an ultimate way of not having to take accountability for one’s thoughts, actions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Slacking In Their Program

Typical treatment programs are usually followed by aftercare which is a one to three time a week meeting where treatment alumni can process and check in about what they are going through. Most have opportunities to continue meeting with therapists, continue attending meetings, and keep up with their routine of recovery. Changes in those areas can snowball quickly into a relapse when they don’t get the support they need or continue to stay accountable with their peers.

Acting Out

Relapse doesn’t always mean drinking and using. Compulsive sexual behavior, self-harm, starvation, binging, breaking rules, and more are small rebellions which can lead to a relapse. Acting out usually occurs when someone is getting uncomfortable, likely because of the changes and growth they are experiencing.

Fantasizing About Using

The brain can handle only so much euphoric recall about drugs and alcohol until it starts to experience cravings. If they are suddenly talking about drinking and using without remembering how bad it got in the end, they are stuck in a cycle of euphoric recall which can trigger obsession and craving.

Criticizing Recovery

As if to justify their reasons for relapsing, they suddenly turn sour towards recovery. All sign of gratitude and appreciation for their new sober life is gone as they criticize sobriety, sober people, and their program of treatment. Sadly, they’re going out of their way to convince themselves that drinking and using is a better option, even if they don’t believe that to be true.

Convincingly “Fine”: Sometimes the most obvious sign of an impending relapse is the least obvious sign- they’re doing really well. If they are going through a hard time, have been through recent trauma, or are processing something challenging in therapy they might compensate for their difficult feelings by being “fine”. Perfectionism is a defense mechanism. Problematically, it is easy to be convinced that one is so “fine” that it would be “fine” if they took a drink or used drugs.
 

Enlightened Solutions focuses on relapse prevention by helping clients create a new way of living which supports a healthy, happy, holistic lifestyle. For information on our partial care programs of treatment for men and women, call 844-234-LIVE.

5 Reasons To Stay Out Of A Relationship In Early Recovery

Emotions run high in early recovery and many people seek comfort through a relationship. Here are our top five reasons to stay out of a relationship in early recovery.

1. No Harm Will Come To You If You Don’t Date: Loneliness is not an ideal prospect. Falling in love can feel good- really good, but it can also be a distraction. Though you might feel lonely, longing for attention, and cravings for physical intimacy, living without those things won’t cause you any damage. They are manageable triggers that don’t include the overwhelming stimulus of another person. You can live without it, the same way you’re learning to live without drugs and alcohol.

2. Harm Might Come To You If You Do: Unfortunately, you’re at greater risk for desperation in a relationship than you are out of one. People are complicated and so is love. In early recovery, you’re sensitive and not completely in touch with your feelings yet. Dating another person in early recovery, or anyone, can bring up stuff you aren’t ready to work on, put you in tough situations, or, in the event of a break up, cause inconsolable heartbreak. Sadly, many people relapse and overdose because of their inability to cope with rejection, abandonment, and codependency which comes from a break up.

3. You’re Just Getting To Know Yourself: Being in a relationship is about more than being in a relationship. Romantic partnerships are about meeting someone else’s needs and your needs in a healthy way. Most people in early recovery are only just beginning to discover what their needs are. You’ve just started the journey of getting to know yourself and how you work as a person. Trying to balance that with a whole other person and all of their ‘stuff’ can be really hard to do.

4. You’ve Had Abusive Relationships In The Past: If you've had abusive relationships in the past and are in early recovery, you might miss the signs of an abuser. Repeating patterns is easy to do in early recovery. You're Dedicated to healing and changing your life in a way you never have before. There’s no need to suffer more abuse or stay in a situation that might inspire you to relapse.

5. It’s About You Right Now: Balancing your time and energy with another person is hard when you’re in such a selfish place. Right now, compared to the past, you’re in a  good selfish place. It’s all about you, your recovery, and your fight to save your life. When you are ready for a relationship, you will have new standards in who you want and how you want to be in a relationship with them.

Enlightened Solutions is a certified co-occurring treatment center, offering treatment and support for both substance use disorders and mental health disorders. If you are struggling to get sober and need help recovering, call us today for more information at 844-234-LIVE.

Why Talk Therapy?

Millions of reasons exist for why talk therapy works. If talk therapy wasn’t ass effective as it is, it wouldn’t be a major part of treatment plans for recovering people all over the world. Therapy works for people who are able to get honest, open up and receive the help they need from their therapists. Treatment programs for recovering addicts and alcoholics include a lot of therapy. Individual therapy sessions, group therapy sessions, therapy activities, groups dedicated to specific therapy types like cognitive behavioral therapy- there is a lot of therapeutic work that takes place.

Psychological Bulletin recently published a study of over 200 psychological studies on the changes people experience over time. Self-improvement is a popular subject these days as everyone is on a mission to be happier, healthier, and more productive. Overwhelmingly, the research found, the surest and most time efficient way to achieve personal change is through therapy. Reporting on the study, the lifestyle website Bustle explains that the change in therapy over the course of three months is significant. That same change can be achieved without therapy; however, it would take 30 to 40 years. Left to our own devices, change can help. Self-help books, podcasts, meditations, activities, and retreats, can all help create effective change. However, therapy proves to be the fastest and most profound method for growing.

Finding A Therapist

Treatment is not always an option for people in need of support for mental health. Due to financial strains or personal life responsibilities, any level of treatment might be hard to come by. Finding an hour to two hours a week to work with a therapist is manageable for most people. You can find a therapist by searching for someone local nearby with the specialties you need. If you have insurance, you can call your insurance provider to get information on what your behavioral health benefits are and what local therapists are covered in your area. Referrals from friends is always a great place to look for therapist recommendations as well.

Fighting The Stigma

Mental health and mental health care still face a lot of negative stigma in today’s society. Reaching out and taking time to help yourself grow in positive ways is nothing to be ashamed of. By the time everyone else has changed over a lifetime, you’ll have changed a hundred times more.

Enlightened Solutions offers a variety of partial care day programs with options for customization to meet the needs of each client. If you are ready to make a positive change in your life and are ready to ask for help, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Coping With The Idea Of Death In Recovery

Death is a human experience. The unfortunate condition of our life on earth is that eventually we will die. Until science confirms a way to sustainably live for longer amounts of years, if not eternally, this is the end that every human will come to. Drug addiction and alcoholism can make this end arrive sooner than necessary, or drag it out for a very long time. Intravenous drug use with heroin or cocaine can take a  life with one shot. Alcoholism can damage critical organs so severely it causes cancer illness, and death. For years, an addict or an alcoholic might feel as though they are dying. Many people describe recovery as a rebirthing process. People feel as though they are given a second chance to live, are born again, and experience life truly for the first time.

Cunning, Baffling, Powerful

However, drugs and alcohol are insidious substances. “Cunning, baffling, powerful!” is how The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous describes the insanity of alcohol. The various “bottom” to which most alcoholics and addicts fall is enough for them to be convinced that lifelong sobriety is worth the struggle so that they never have to feel so sick and miserable again. Unfortunately, alcoholism and addiction are cunning, baffling, and powerful. For so many, death becomes the only bottom. Addiction and alcoholism have a way of convincing people that another drink or drug won’t hurt. In the end, many people are convinced that death is the only option and dying would be easier than living.

Each day, addiction and alcoholism claim dozens of lives. Accidental overdose or intentional overdose, liver diseases, cancers, heart failure, stroke, and more, are the results of drinking and drug use. Being in recovery among other recovering addicts and alcoholics will sadly mean having to witness death. With each passing friend is a sore reminder of the reality of the disease. Though dying might sound like a better alternative, though relapsing might sound like relief even though death could be a guarantee- there is no coming back for a second chance.

Sometimes, the loss of a fellow recovered can be triggering and cause others to relapse out of fear. The logic is nonsensical, but so is addiction. Staying sober isn’t always easy, but it is one hundred percent possible with treatment, support, and healing.

If you are ready to change your life and live the life of recovery, call Enlightened Solutions today. We are here to help you heal. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

The Power Of Music Therapy

Music is a series of sounds put together in a composed way. Sound is energy and vibration. We hear sound and we emit sound. We can feel sound. Certain sounds can make us feel a certain way. Opera can bring a tear to the eye. Heavy metal can raise the heart rate and help express anger, frustration, and energy. For thousands of years, music has defined cultures, societies, and civilizations. Today, music is an integral part of life. What once had to be an attended concert or performance is now accessible with the touch of a finger. Music is literally at your fingertips all the time. We can hear it through the radio, through our digital devices, and our cars. When we need to hear that one song, get lost in the sound of an instrument, or listen to the words of powerful lyrics, music is there. We receive healing from music not just by listening to it but by making it as well.

Music therapy can include listening to music, singing, writing lyrics, playing instruments, attending shows, and dancing- anything having to do with interacting with music. During a music therapy session any kind of activity with music might be present, or many at once. However someone needs to find their expression through music is made possible in a music therapy session. Unlike art therapy which is primarily psychological, music therapy has an intensely physiological effect. Music gets the body moving, the blood moving, and the heart moving. How the heart beats in terms of heart rate has a working relationship with emotions. Music can simulate stress or relieve stress.

Making Music New

During treatment, there is an opportunity to redefine yourself musically. You can learn new kinds of music and dive into new worlds of genres, redefining what you thought you liked. You can also redefine music that once meant something to you but is dangerous today. Sometimes, old music which talks about drinking and using drugs, or the kind of music someone listened to while they were drinking and using drugs, can be triggering. Even in highly triggered states, music can help someone work through the challenge of cravings by using sound and lyrics to inspire strength, cope with difficult emotions, and release suppressed feelings.

Enlightened Solutions believes that there is healing power in the arts. Our unique program fuses together creative arts with holistic healing modalities in addition to traditional clinical treatment methods and therapies. For information on our programs, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.