Some people who suffer from addiction can feel that the personal transformation involved in achieving and sustaining recovery is a little too daunting, despite the evident misery of their current circumstances. Faced with this, their motivation to change may weaken and they may put off taking the life-saving action that is so urgently needed. They may see the […]
Learn moreAftercare refers to the formal engagement with therapeutic resources or self-help activity following an episode of addiction treatment, whether that has been undertaken on an in-patient or out-patient basis. The main idea is to identify ways the patient can sustain and build on any treatment gains. To maintain momentum, a break in the process of recovery should be […]
Learn moreExhaustion is what people experience when they not only run out of mental and physical energy but also any reserves they thought might have been available to them in such circumstances. They find they no longer have the capacity they took for granted. Phrases such as “nothing left in the tank” and “running on empty” […]
Learn moreAddiction to sugar involves compulsively excessive consumption of free sugar, the term for the sugar included in processed food and drinks, as well as that found in honey, syrup and fruit juice. These sugars are called “free” because they are not contained within the cells of food we eat and lack extra nutrients, such as […]
Learn moreWhen someone finds they have no reserves of energy left, no matter how hard they try to keep going they have succumbed to exhaustion. Physical, mental and emotional resources are spent. This can be quite alarming to people used to “firing on all cylinders”, especially as collapse can happen quite suddenly. In most cases there […]
Learn moreIt can take some years for the mood altering qualities and therefore addictive potential of certain behaviours to be fully understood. This has been and remains true of internet and technology-based activity. Although the recognition of the possible emergence of a new addiction dawned almost a quarter of a century ago, hardly any of the apparent disorders […]
Learn moreMany people suffer from depression. However, not everyone experiences the condition in the same way. Although more people are now prepared to admit to suffering from depression, many others still conceal their state of mind for fear of being stigmatised. This serves to isolate them; itself a common and risky symptom of depression. The onset of […]
Learn moreAddiction is rooted in the urge to “fix” mental and emotional states quickly. In contrast, an important factor in any rehab treatment is the extended time needed for maintaining wholehearted commitment to the purpose. For a variety of reasons, addiction treatment programmes do not always sufficiently take long-term rehab for drug and alcohol abuse into […]
Learn moreGambling was the first behavioural addiction – that is, one not related to use of substances —to be officially classified as such. It was included in the diagnostic manual DSM 5 under Addictive Disorders. This set an important precedent that led to Internet Gaming Disorder being included under the “Emerging Measures and Models” section; effectively the waiting […]
Learn moreOpiates, like morphine and codeine, occur naturally and are extracted from the opium poppy, while the term opioid covers drugs that are either partially synthetic (e.g. heroin and oxycodone) or wholly synthetic (e.g. methadone and fentanyl). However, for convenience and because they work in the same way on the brain’s receptors, opioid is the term now […]
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