Mental Health articles and news
Mental health challenges are worsening in workplaces, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take depression for example. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that depression causes 200 million lost workdays each year, costing employers a total of between 17 and 44 billion dollars. Unfortunately, the prevalence of mental health problems is underrepresented because of … Read more
Wellness means being healthy in many dimensions of your life, including the physical, emotional, social, occupational, and financial spheres. These different aspects are interconnected, therefore wellness means you are balanced and functioning in all these areas. Focusing on any one of these areas at the expense of another may not bring about ideal outcomes. Wellness … Read more
Do you have a loved one who is struggling with drugs or alcohol and wonder if you have enabled them down that path? This is an important question that family members and parents rarely ask themselves. Addicted individuals may have used deception or coercion to get you to inadvertently further their addiction problems. This is … Read more
Many people are aware that trauma can have a long-lasting negative impact on people’s physical and mental health. The effects of some traumas can linger for a lifetime. Did you know people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are three times more likely to develop substance use disorder? Yes, trauma and substance abuse can form a vicious … Read more
Are you a regular user of social media? Do you wonder if social media will interfere with your recovery? Recovering individuals should watch out for media immersion which tends to have negative effects on your emotions. More and more research shows that social media has aggravating effects on mental health. For this reason, many treatment … Read more
As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a second winter, and with case numbers and death tolls still high, depression is bound to set in for many recovering individuals. It is important to be prepared for what the combination of COVID-19 isolation and winter months brings in terms of mental health. Mental Health Challenges in the Winter … Read more
For people with social anxiety disorders, everyday social interactions may be a source of significant stress. This is often caused by heightened self-consciousness, nervousness, and embarrassment one feels when stepping into social events. To avoid the intense stress and emotions associated with social interactions, one might choose to self-isolate, which tends to worsen one’s mental … Read more
The debate as to whether addiction is a genetic disease or acquired behavior has not been settled among scientists, but both can be true. Within the family, both genetic and relational factors impact one’s risk of addiction. More discussions have focused on how environmental factors increase the risk of addiction, but it is just as … Read more
If you are concerned about your own substance use issue or that of your loved one, understanding more about what causes it and what symptoms might co-occur can help you take steps forward. This is especially important for people who experience or observe compulsions that might accompany addiction. Compulsion and addiction have an intertwined relationship … Read more
Emotional vulnerability and loneliness are two major challenges people face in addiction treatment and recovery. Pets can alleviate some of the stress associated with these challenges. By the time you began detox treatment, you may have already distanced yourself from old contacts who also led an addictive lifestyle. You have entered a new recovering community … Read more
