A substance use disorder can have many negative effects on your life, damaging your relationships, finances, career, and health. Perhaps most disturbing is the way substance use changes your brain. Your neurotransmitter levels change to adjust to the presence of the substance and brain imaging studies suggest the structure of your brain actually changes with… Continue Reading 7 Ways Addiction Can Change Your Personality
Substance use disorders are complex and unpredictable. If two people have similar risk factors for addiction, one may have a serious problem while the other doesn’t and the reason for the difference may not be apparent. While there probably isn’t anyone with zero risk for developing a substance use disorder, there are certain people with… Continue Reading Are You Ever Safe from Developing a Substance Use Disorder?
Impulse control has a lot to do with addiction. It’s no coincidence that many mental health issues that involve impulse control also increase your risk of addiction. ADHD, OCD, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder all have a significant impulse control component and higher risk of addiction. What’s more, the longer you live with addiction,… Continue Reading How Can You Control Your Impulses in Addiction Recovery?
This is the second of three posts based on the work of writer Johann Hari, whose search for answers about his own depression led to his book Lost Causes: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression–and the Unexpected Solution. In the first post in this series, we looked at some problems with the idea that depression… Continue Reading Depression Isn’t All in Your Head, Part 2: Meeting Psychological Needs
One thing most people don’t realize about depression is that people who are depressed typically make worse decisions. Faced with some problem or opportunity, depressed people more often make a choice that will be worse for them in the long run. There are several reasons for this. One reason is that they typically have a… Continue Reading How to Make Better Decisions, Even if You’re Depressed
When we think of depression, we typically think of prolonged sadness, lethargy, disturbed sleep, and suicidal thoughts. However, depression has effects beyond your energy level and mood. One of these effects is that depressed people have a harder time making good decisions. Interestingly, antidepressants don’t appear to improve decision making even when they improve mood.… Continue Reading How Does Depression Affect Your Decision Making?
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition caused by a traumatic event such as abuse, assault, an accident, a natural disaster, combat stress, or the unexpected death of a loved one. People suffering from PTSD often become tense, irritable, or jumpy and prone to angry outbursts. They may re-experience the trauma through flashbacks or nightmares. They… Continue Reading 3 Myths About PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a condition characterized by flashbacks, avoidance, anxiety, disturbed sleep, nightmares, memory impairment, and excessive feelings of guilt following a traumatic event. The traumatic event could be combat in war, a natural disaster, a sexual assault, a robbery, an accident, or the unexpected death of a loved one. Studies show… Continue Reading Why Do Some People Get PTSD While Others Don’t?
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a condition that can lasts months or years after a traumatic event. Although it is typically associated with combat soldiers, PTSD more often affects civilians. It may be caused by an accident, a robbery, a sexual assault, domestic abuse, the unexpected death of a loved one, witnessing violence, or… Continue Reading How Does PTSD Affect Your Brain?
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects about one percent of people. Schizophrenia is characterized by psychosis, which may include hallucinations or delusions. Psychosis is considered a positive symptom of schizophrenia, as opposed to negative symptoms, or the absence or disruption of normal mental functions. These positive symptoms are what usually come to mind… Continue Reading Is Schizophrenia Different in Men and Women?
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