Neurofeedback and Young Adults

The clinical professionals at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows understand the enormous complexity of how the human brain functions in young adults, aged 18-26. Addictions, psychological trauma, and certain mood disorders often surface during this time period in a person’s life and may be connected to the presence of a dysregulated brain stem. In recognizing this crucial aspect of recovery, we utilize proven treatments to help regulate our patients throughout the healing process, which allows them to embrace long-term recovery.

Neurofeedback (NFB) is an integral part of our treatment plan and the core of our onsite Brain Center at the Claudia Black Center. In our Brain Center, our young adults have access to the latest and most efficient technology designed to promote “self-regulation” skills that can enhance and expedite the recovery process. Neurofeedback provides the patient with an opportunity to observe and influence the activity of their brain through practice and feedback. Both the addicted patient and those with a trauma history learn to self-regulate and develop a feeling of internal control and a sense of safety. Additionally, patients with ADHD learn how to produce the brain wave patterns associated with focusing, which cause the symptoms of impulsivity and distractibility to lessen.

Because of life stress, the brain creates unhealthy patterns that influence people’s everyday lives. With neurofeedback, individuals can reestablish healthier brain wave patterns that decrease anxiety, lessen depression, lessen emotional reactivity, and increase healthy emotional responses, improve mood, enhance learning, strengthen concentration, gain more restful sleep, lessen negative self-talk and increase self-esteem. In essence, neurofeedback is brain wave training and a means to overcome conditions and habits that interfere with everyday life. For neurofeedback to be effective, a minimum of 8 sessions and ideally 10 or more are required.

Once a young adult has completed the intake process at the Claudia Black Center, a brain mapping assessment is performed. During the brain mapping assessment, electrodes are placed on the patient's scalp to monitor brain activity for a short period of time. The data obtained from the electrodes provides a detailed brain map of the patient's brain waves and the specific locations of activity in the brain. This process takes a total of four minutes; one minute each for the first 3 mini mappings with eyes open and one minute for the last mini mapping with the eyes closed. This gives better insight into how the brain functions during different states of arousal.

Neurofeedback treatment follows the initial brain mapping assessment. During the session, which is typically 6-12 minutes, electrodes are applied to the client's scalp to collect brain wave data. Brain waves are translated into images and sounds via a specific computer. As patients watch their brain pattern on a monitor, they can begin to regulate the Alpha, Beta, and Theta waves with the use of breath, positive self-talk, and being present with a soft focus. Concepts are also suggested to the patient to think about to show the changes in brain activity. When certain thoughts arise or when feeling stress, the suggestions are then provided to help change brain wave activity. This teaches the patient skills to regulate the brain stem on his or her own outside of the neurofeedback session.

Sarah, a patient at the Claudia Black Center, came to treatment for substance abuse, depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicidal ideation and she was experiencing horrific nightmares. After 14 neurofeedback sessions, Sarah’s nightmares were gone and she was sleeping well. Her affect was brighter and her self-esteem clearly improved. This was demonstrated by how she carried her body, how she dressed, and her interaction with peers. Sarah was so excited about her neurofeedback that when her parents came for family week, she made a point of bringing them to the Brain Center to see the neurofeedback machine and to meet me.

Jon, another patient, was in treatment for substance abuse, predominantly alcohol and marijuana, and co-occurring depression. He, like most of the young adults at the Claudia Black Center, was struggling with poor self-esteem. He felt overwhelming guilt and shame about never being good enough: not manly enough to receive his father’s love. Jon was stuck in his obsessive negative self-talk. To help him, I implemented a protocol specifically for issues with self-esteem and being stuck. I used a neurofeedback game called “variable-dot mazes” which, in essence, is like Pac-Man. Jon’s Pac-Man was not moving, he was stuck, but as he started using positive affirmations of his self, Pac-Man began to cruise. We kept that protocol up for his last 5 sessions with excellent results. When he left after 10 sessions, he had reduced his Theta and Beta waves and increased his Alpha waves. Neurofeedback helped him feel better about himself; feel more empowered and helped him recognize that he had choices.

Neurofeedback is an incredible asset to the treatment process and allows patients to maintain a strong, clear mindful intention for their desired outcome.

Written by Simone Mays, Neurofeedback Technician

Claudia Black Young Adult Center

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The Role of Community in a Treatment Setting

Nothing is more important in life than the connections we make with others. In recovery, having a tribe of people you can count on when things are both good and bad, is imperative for all ages.

For young adults, developmentally it is still their peers who have the strongest influence on them. This makes the need to cultivate a sense of community within their treatment setting vital.

At the Claudia Black Young Adult Center, our clients’ age group (18 – 26) the intentional use of community allows this aspect of their development to be utilized in a positive manner.

Community is built into the daily structure at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center; in fact, it’s the heart of the program. It begins upon admission with peer mentorship. An individual who has been in the program for a significant amount of time is designated to be the peer buddy for the newcomer. This person helps the newcomer become familiar with the geography of the program, and to allay any fears of being in treatment.

Community meetings occur each morning as peers and staff come together to share feelings, express gratitude, and set intentions for the day.

The evening Tenth Step gratitude meeting is the last group of the day in which they have the opportunity to engage in inward reflection, own behaviors that were harmful, and make self-amends or amends to peers within the support of the group. They often express gratitude citing healthy recovery risks they took that day, and acknowledge their peers, staff, and family.

Daily Opportunities

Our young adults come to treatment emotionally isolated and disconnected, with severe self-loathing and the belief that no one will ever see any value in them. Consequently, realizing their value and worth often stems from their connections with others with a similar history.

This can be seen in the case of Cassie. Cassie enters treatment agoraphobic, depressed, has urges to self-harm, and is afraid to come out of her room let alone attend group. She is adamant that she is in the wrong treatment setting. The staff invites the female community at the Claudia Black Center to hold a group meeting in her room to talk about their own fears of coming to treatment. As a result, Cassie feels less fearful, not so alone, and realizes that the other girls have huge fears too and later that evening she attends her first group and decides to stay in treatment. The girls that created this safe setting for Cassie also have their own experience of practicing a twelfth step, often for the first time.

Another example is that of Riley who spends the first two weeks in treatment telling his peers how he isn’t sure why he needs to be there despite his use of cocaine and marijuana which is threatening his college sports scholarship. Riley also distinguishes himself differently from so many others professing he comes from the “perfect” family with a story to match it. The group has witnessed him ignoring program policy by using a cell phone and sneaking visitors on campus after hours. In a regular morning community meeting, several of his male peers tell him how his behavior not only impacts his recovery but theirs as well. This use of community is a major influence in disrupting Riley’s denial and lack of accountability. As a result, Riley owned the many rules he was breaking, made amends to his peers, became tearful and revealed his father, in fact, was in prison and he had not had contact with his mother in months and she did not even know he was in treatment. The community responded by extending their hands to Riley and his roommate shared, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Riley.” Community helps our young people to not feel alone in their experience and to realize that many of their peers in the group have felt the same way.

Then there is Sam. Sam is scared to invite his dad to family week. His peers know this, and he asks a couple of the guys if they would come and sit next to him when he makes the call to his dad. Those guys told several others, and as Sam calls his dad he is surrounded with love, compassion, and the strength of his peers.

Community through Service

Community is also about having a sense of purpose larger than ones’ self and providing the opportunity to be of service to the outside community. We offer multiple opportunities for our young adults to give of themselves to those who are in need and less fortunate. On a monthly basis, a group of the Claudia Black Center’s young adults will go to a nearby city to participate in the preparation and feeding of over 500 homeless on a given night. When there are community activities such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt or Christmas giveaways for disadvantaged children in the local community the young adults are quickly asked to participate having already demonstrated their eagerness to participate. The experiences are most often humbling and they find it an honor to be of service. Such community service offers a different perspective on their own challenges, which fuels their gratitude for their own blessings.

In reality, at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center, we are creating a community that allows our young people to work through various challenges in treatment, which prepares them for the same challenges in which they will be confronted with on the outside.

Written by Sonia Buchanan

Originally published: http://recoverycampus.com/role-community-treatment-setting/

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Know with Claudia Black - Why you need to have addiction?

Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is defined as the obsessive and unmanageable use of alcohol regardless of its negative impact on a person’s life. Individuals suffering from alcoholism frequently drink to excess, leaving their bodies dependent on the substance and making their lives unmanageable.

As prolonged drug use continues, it can develop into treatment for drug rehab that can severely impact an individual’s brain chemistry. When the brain begins to signal an intense physical need to continue the use of drugs, what once was recreational use becomes an urge that can rule one’s life.

Alcohol and drug addiction are two addictions that have destroyed half of the young population America. Teenagers and youth think it is cool to have the intake of alcohol which is converted into addiction. It is way to destroy life. Thus, Claudia Black is Arizona Inpatient Drug Rehab Center that helps you overcome all kinds of traumas and addictions with a soothing environment. We heal patients in such a way that it lasts for the lifetime. Also, many times it may have happened that previous treatments have failed. Thus, Claudia Black Alcohol Rehab Center Az helps the patient to overpower addiction. It is the perfect solution for all kinds of addictions and disorders.

Claudia Black is one of the best young adult Addiction Treatment Centers in Arizona.

Content Source:-  https://goo.gl/LbH37u

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The Real Impact of Rape Culture and Sexual Trauma

When bystanders pulled Stanford University swimmer and Olympic hopeful Brock Turner away from the woman he was sexually assaulting behind a fraternity house dumpster, he laughed.

When the judge in the resulting sexual assault trial handed down a sentence much more lenient than the recommended six years of jail time, citing the “severe impact” he feared a harsher sentence may have on the 20-year-old, many felt that he might as well have laughed.

Both reactions to Turner’s crime make light of the traumatic and often devastating impact that rape and sexual assault has on its victims. The Brock Turner case opened up many fraught and painful discussions about rape culture and the way that society tends to blame victims of sexual assault and normalize sexual violence.

Many of those same wounds are being reopened this week with the news that Turner will be released from jail after serving only 3 months of a 6 months sentence. The news is not surprising—most expected him to only serve part of his sentence on a presumption of good behavior—but, for many, it’s serving as an unwanted reminder of their own sexual traumas and the ways in which their pain was silenced, ridiculed, or ignored.

The Long-Lasting Impact of Sexual Assault

Researchers aren’t sure why, but rape seems to have a more severe impact on a person than other types of trauma. It’s normal to feel some symptoms of traumatic stress for a few weeks after any experience with violence. Those who develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), however, can continue to experience problems with sleeping, nightmares, panic, severe anxiety and depression that last for months or years. As time goes on, if the person does not receive Treatment for the Disorder, the symptoms can get worse and worse, and even become debilitating.

People can develop PTSD after any number of horrific events including combat, car accidents, and life-threatening injuries, but rape victims have been found to be more likely to struggle with long-term psychological and physiological issues. They also have a higher risk of developing PTSD and related disorders.

In addition to PTSD, women who were raped have also been found to be more likely to suffer from sexual dysfunction, pain during intercourse, menstrual problems, and inhibited arousal.

Why Does Rape Have a Stronger Impact Than Other Types of Trauma?

Though no one has yet been able to determine the reason why rape has such a heightened traumatic impact, some theorize that both brain chemistry and rape culture play a role.

Cortisol, a hormone that is released in times of stress, was reported in a 2011 study to be found at higher levels in rape victims than in those of people otherwise traumatized.

The exact reason is unknown, but some researchers believe that it could be that the physical closeness of rape prompts the body to respond differently to rape and sexual assault than it does to other types of trauma.

Another possibility is that rape victims’ levels of cortisol are elevated due to the level of shame they experience—shame has been found in some studies to be linked to higher levels of cortisol. If the shame theory holds true, it further illustrates the importance of changing the way we treat rape and sexual assault victims as a society.

Recovery from Rape and Sexual Trauma

Many women who are traumatized by rape experience a secondary traumatization through the harsh scrutiny, blaming, and shaming they receive from law enforcement, family, peers, and others are often reluctant to ask for any further help. Men who are raped or sexually assaulted may be even more unlikely to report the crime or ask for help from the resulting trauma, due to stigmas related to men, sex, and powerlessness.

More must be done to help lift the burden of shame from both male and female victims of sexual assault, and raise awareness about treatment options for PTSD and other mental health issues that often result from the emotional trauma of sexual assault.

If you’d like to talk to us about treatment options for sexual trauma and related disorders, please give us a call at 866-286-0105. Our specialists are glad to answer any questions you may have and understand the importance of keeping your call strictly confidential.

Reference Source: Addiction Rehab Centers in Arizona

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Marijuana Addiction is No Joke

Can a person really become addicted to marijuana? 

You never hear of any dying from daily pot use. You certainly don’t hear about it in the same way you hear about deaths and other tragedies caused by alcohol and other “harder” drugs. And, there are some serious medical conditions for which marijuana is now believed to be an effective treatment. Additionally, the movement to legalize marijuana seems to be growing—25 states have legalized medical marijuana, while four states plus Washington, D.C. have gone even further and legalized recreational use of pot.

So, what’s the big deal?

Well…The big deal is that like any substance or activity that has the ability to alter your mood or neurological responses, marijuana can be addictive. And, like all other addictions, it can have a devastating impact on your life.

Nowhere to Turn

When people do start to feel that their marijuana use is interfering with their lives and relationships in a negative way, they often have trouble asking for and getting the support they need. Molly Hankins, in a personal essay for Nylon magazine, put it like this: “Being a junkie or an alcoholic who turns themselves over to a 12-step program, the sober lifestyle, God, whatever, registers at the David Bowie end of the addiction spectrum. Being addicted to weed barely registers as laughable and there’s no one in my life I feel comfortable talking to about it. As the era of marijuana prohibition in this country seems to finally be coming to an end, what is the popular discussion surrounding appropriate use? How much is too much? How do I stop if I want to but can’t?

Among the many excellent pointsMolly makes in her essay, her point about the need for a discussion around marijuana and addiction really hits home. The low rate of fatalities directly related to marijuana use, as opposed to heroin or alcohol use, for example, may have contributed to a general societal complacency around Marijuana addiction.

It’s important to note that even though weed may not be as fatal, statistically speaking, as heroin or alcohol, depression is often co-occurring condition that goes along with marijuana addiction. And, withdrawal from marijuana can exacerbate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Many people—like “Jake” who wrote a letter to Scientific American in 2012 describing his marijuana addiction—often end up having suicidal thoughts.

This means that the drug can, in a way, be indirectly tied to some fatalities. The drug may not be directly responsible for deaths related to suicide, but it certainly doesn’t help to prevent them. Here’s how Jake describes his experience:
“Over time, the proportion of high time to clean time became steadily more heavy on the high side. I went through several periods of suicidally. During my last six months of use the possible necessity to kill myself always seemed just a week or two away. My plan while I was at school was to jump off of a nearby parking garage. At home, I would use my dad's shotgun to shoot myself in the head. I didn't want to feel what I felt when I wasn't high. Luckily, I always got high before I was ready to actually kill myself.”

How Much is Too Much?

For those who become addicted to marijuana, "recreational use" of the drug slowly stops being fun or relaxing. The need to smoke in order to cope with life’s ups and downs and the need to hide how much you’re smoking (or ingesting) from others can have the same isolating and disruptive effects on a person’s life as any other addiction. Here are a few of the signs that someone may be dependent on the drug:

1. CravingPeople who are addicted to pot often think that they aren’t "really addicted" if they don't smoke it every day. While it’s true that marijuana addicts can go a few days between smoking again before they suffer any symptoms, it’s important to note that that’s because the chemicals in marijuana can stay in a person’s system for days. Once all of those chemicals are out of their system, subtle but serious withdrawal symptoms can start to set in. The first sign is a craving powerful enough to drive the addict to use the drug again.

2. Irritability and DepressionPeople who are addicted to marijuana find themselves becoming increasingly irritable and depressed if they go many hours without another hit. Often they don’t recognize the connection between their mood changes and the drug. After several days without the drug addicts can begin to develop severe depression accompanied by frequent crying spells. Many in recovery from marijuana addiction say the experienced a rapid and immense drop in self-confidence and self-esteem along with intense feelings of worthless and anxiety. Some even developed suicidal thoughts.

3. Loss of Ambition
While some pot users may continue to function at their jobs and their personal lives, addicts may end up accomplishing a lot less than would if they were not addicted to the drug. People who were once active and ambitious may stop participating in work, school or social functions, and lower their ambitions or drop them altogether.

4. Physical Changes
Withdrawal from marijuana can also include physical symptoms like nausea and loss of appetite. People in withdrawal often also report having sleep disturbances and nightmares that can continue over a period of months.

How Do I Stop If I Want To But Can’t?

Many people with addiction and substance use problems are afraid to ask for help because of the stigma associated with the disorder. This can especially be true for those struggling with marijuana addiction. Since many harbor the belief that marijuana is a completely harmless drug, many addicts might assume that their friends and or family members will dismiss their concerns, especially if they are marijuana users too who don’t feel that they have experienced any ill effects from the drug.

So, it’s especially important for those who fear that they may be dependent on pot to know that they are not alone - many people struggle with this particular drug in the same ways that they do. They are not imagining things—marijuana addiction is real and it can be treated. And, They are not weak - anyone can become addicted to marijuana.

Help for Marijuana Addiction

If you think that you or a loved might have a problem with marijuana, reach out for help from a therapist and a local Marijuana Anonymous (MA) group.
If the addiction is severe and is accompanied by other disorders such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder—and it often is— inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment may be needed. If so, look for a program that provides treatments that can begin to heal both the emotional and neurological aspects of addiction through trauma work, experiential therapies like equine therapy and art therapy, and brain-based therapies like biofeedback and neuro feedback.

Our specialists at The Meadows would be happy to answer any questions you might have about addiction treatment. Please call us anytime at 800-244-4949 or chat with us through our website.

Reference Source: Addiction Treatment Center In Arizona

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Identify Your Triggers to Avoid Relapse

By Claudia Black, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Clinical Architect of the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows

The following is an excerpt from Claudia Blacks Audio CD “Triggers.” You can find it in The Meadows online bookstore or on Amazon.com.

Triggers are specific memories, behaviors, thoughts and situations that jeopardize recovery - signals you are entering a stage that brings you closer to a relapse. The process is much like riding a roller coaster that loops over itself. Once the roller coaster car gets to a certain spot in the track, a threshold is met, there is no turning back, and it starts the downward loop. Just as gravity has a motivating effect on a roller coaster, brain chemistry has a similar effect motivating triggers. When people use substances or engage in escape behaviors the brain releases neurotransmitters such as adrenaline and dopamine that trigger the brain’s pleasure/reward center; or it may release serotonin which lessens anxiety and depression.

Will power alone is not a defense against a relapse. Recovery is achieved, maintained and enjoyed through a series of actions. Learn to identify your triggers, and with each one identify a plan that anticipates and de-escalates the power of the trigger. With that, your reward is another day of sobriety and endless possibilities.

Five Common Triggers

Romanticizing the Behaviors

Romanticizing involves a tunnel focus only on the positive feelings you associate with the behavior, it is glamorizing using behaviors and in the moment totally forgetting about the negative consequences.

Getting overwhelmed at times is to be expected, but it’s very easy to slip into romanticizing without any insight as to how you got there and at that moment you enter a slippery zone, touching the trigger. While romanticizing is in and of itself a trigger, it is often in tandem with an external trigger such as noises, sights, sounds or even tastes. You could be watching a movie and the next thing you know it is depicting the power of alcohol, drugs and sex in a positive way and you are off into romanticizing. Or you’re listening to the radio and an advertisement for a drug comes on, and you think about your pain pills as the commercial goes on to tell you how much better you’ll feel, and off you go. Or you’re watching a ball game on TV and as you watch you can almost smell the popcorn and peanuts and you see the spectators drinking large cups of beer and everyone is smiling like it’s only a good time.

Take a few moments to think about how you romanticize your addictive behavior: What do I find yourself thinking about? What is the romanticizing covering up? What am I forgetting to take into account?

Feelings

Recovery is the ability to tolerate your feelings without the need to medicate, engage in self-destructive or self-defeating behaviors and thoughts. Addicts have used their behaviors and substances for years to separate from their emotional states. And there is so much to feel about—guilt for how your behavior has hurt others; sadness for your losses; anger with yourself; fear of what is in front of you; shame for thinking you are inadequate, not worthy. You can act out in response to every feeling imaginable.

Any person or situation can trigger threatening feelings. You are upset when you realize your friends are reluctant to include you on a weekend outing because you created a scene last time. You want the people you work with to like you but you are anxious that you will be rejected, or not welcomed. Your sister won’t let you babysit her kids anymore and you feel guilty, sad and angry. You just met with your ex-wife and you walk away angry, like always when you see her.

You are working hard in your recovery and you know you are doing pretty well, but it still isn’t easy to have these feelings and not be reactive. You lessen or get rid of feelings when you own them, talk about them, or in some cases engage in problem-solving. It is when you try to divert, ignore, and numb that you get into trouble. Feelings are a part of the human condition and you can’t escape them, so the goal is to learn how to tolerate the feelings.

Recognize the gifts that come with feelings. Feelings are cues and indicators telling you what you need. Loneliness tells you in your humanness you need connection, fear can offer you protection, sadness offers growth, guilt is your conscious, offering direction for amends. It is critical for you to have this insight, and more importantly to start to take ownership of recognizing the feelings when you have them. It is vital to learn how to be with the feeling and how to appropriately express it. It is also necessary to find safe people in which to share your emotional experiences.

So when you recognize your feelings ask yourself …

What do I need? What feelings are ones I go to any length to avoid? What is the price you pay for hiding or masking those feelings?

Loss

Coupled with the trigger of feelings is the fact those feelings are often associated with loss. By the time you get to recovery you have had multiple losses in your life, often losses related to childhood, many times due to being raised with abuse, addiction, mental illness, etc. While you may have experienced trauma within your original family, the pain of loss may be from a specific situation; You may have experienced the loss of relationship with your parents or children; or the death of friends, family; or abortions, career or work opportunities missed. As an addict, you are likely to have losses related to health issues. Perhaps you have Hepatitis C, or HIV, or injuries due to accidents.

The goal is not to dwell on your losses, but to not live in the pain and anguish of them which is what happens when you don’t acknowledge them and what they mean, triggering you back to your using behavior. With some loss, you can only grieve, and ultimately come to find some meaning from your experience, with others in time, you can attempt to repair damaged relationships.

Resentments

Resentment is also a feeling but I think it warrants its own place as a significant trigger. Resentments are often built on assumptions, When you don’t look at me I assume you think you are better than me. When you don’t include me in a social gathering, I am assuming you think I am not good enough to be with you and your friends. They are also built on entitlement, which is a form of unrealistic expectations and impatience. 

For example:

I have been in recovery six weeks now. I resent the fact that my wife still doesn’t trust me. Now that I am clean and sober my boss should give me that promotion I deserve.

The attitude in both examples is not just that you should be rewarded for doing well, but that you should be rewarded for the sacrifices made. After all, you have given up your alcohol, your drugs, and/or the addictive behavior and therefore deserve to be rewarded. The problem here is that you are still more connected to the loss than to the gifts of sobriety. Ways to move from resentments are – when assuming, check it out; put yourself in someone else’s shoes (it may allow expectations to be more realistic); identify and own the feelings the resentment is covering (often it’s a cover for feelings of inadequacy and/or fear); be willing to live and let live.

Some questions to consider:

What does it mean for me to hang onto resentments? What would it mean to accept that I have been hurt or wronged and that I can no longer change that? What does it mean to take responsibility for my own feelings? Ultimately who pays the price for hanging onto resentments? Today am I willing to let go of resentments?

Slippery people, places or situations

You need to identify specific triggers that are people, places, and situations that are high risk. Slippery people could be your ex-lover, certain family members, past using/party buddies. A slippery place might be a bar you used to frequent, a casino or an area in your community where you cruised. Slippery situations could be an emotionally charged social gathering, such as a wedding, a family event, or vacation setting. In essence, any place that triggers a positive association with the use of your drug of choice.

Medication may be also a trigger for which you need to be accountable. While there are situations where medication is needed, you are at high risk of abuse. You need to be proactive in how you are going to cope with this situation because it is likely your brain is going to remember a good feeling, saying more is better. Just because you are agitated, doesn’t mean you need a prescription pill. Again, there are situations where medications are necessary, but self-diagnosis and/or self-prescribing only create a recipe for disaster.

What are the people, places or situations that are potential triggers? What creates the greatest safety for me to not get triggered? What triggers can I avoid? If I can’t avoid a certain place, can I lessen the contact or time? Is going into this slippery situation worth the risk?

You Have Options in Recovery

While some decisions around triggers are absolute, others are not necessary for your entire life. Know your triggers and make a plan accordingly. In the face of a trigger, what do you need to do? What do you need to tell yourself? Who can you reach out to for support and or problem solving?

1) Practice staying in the present, don’t sit in the past or project into the future

2) Validate the gifts of recovery for the day – practice gratitude daily

3) Identify, build and use a support system – you need to stay connected. History and experience has proven time and time again, that recovery is not a solitary process, and cannot be sustained in isolation.

4) Trust your Higher Power is on your side

Need Help Achieving or Maintaining Sobriety?

 

Whether you are new to treatment or transitioning from inpatient treatment, you may need a program that helps you to build skills for maintaining your sobriety. In addition to its “mainstream” intensive outpatient program, The Meadows Outpatient Center offers a program designed specifically for young adults, ages 18 – 26. The Claudia Black Young Adult Outpatient Program is designed to foster the development of the individual while helping them build skills to prevent relapse as they transition into a more fulfilling and self-sufficient life. Call today for more information: 800-244-4949.

Reference Source: Identify Your Triggers to Avoid Relapse

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Is Pokémon Go Really the Best Medicine for Depression?

If you spend any time at all on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, chances are that you’ve heard of Pokémon Go, the smartphone-based augmented reality game that is taking the world by storm. You’ve probably seen many exclamatory posts from players of that game about snagging “gyms” and hitting “Pokéspots” along with many pictures like this one…

… and thought, “What the heck are they talking about?”

What is Pokémon Go?

We’ll leave it to some of the many explainers available online to give you the finer details of this phenomenon. For our purposes, suffice it to say that Pokémon Go is a game that uses the GPS capabilities on your smartphone to create a virtual world full of imaginary creatures that appear on top of the real world around you. So to play the game, you have to actually walk around, explore places, and look for Pokémon to appear through the screen on your phone.

Many Pokémon enthusiasts have said through social media posts, that the game is helping to improve their mental health. Those struggling with depression seem to be most likely to tout the game’s benefits, saying that it’s motivated them to go outside, get some exercise, and socialize with others.

Can Pokémon Go “Cure” Depression?

Some research does seem to indicate that games can help people become more motivated and more resilient when facing day-to-day challenges. The two regions of the brain that are most stimulated by game play, the reward pathways and the hippocampus, are the same regions that tend to be under-stimulated in the brains of people who are clinically depressed. So, people who are struggling with depression may often feel better when they are playing games like Pokémon Go and others.

It’s important to note, however, that relieving the symptoms of depression is not the same thing as “curing” the depression. What also is unclear in many cases is whether the game is truly improving the depressed person’s overall mental health, or if they are simply trying to self-medicate with the game.

People who live with unresolved trauma often self-medicate in multiple ways. Many addictions we treat in The Meadows programs, from drugs and alcohol to sex and pornography can be described as attempts to self-medicate. Turning to substances, processes or behaviors (like, gaming, gambling, or sex) to soothe the symptoms that result from your trauma or depression can be dangerous.

If you use Pokémon Go to “escape” from your pain or discomfort, to block negative feelings, or to avoid facing your problems head-on, you may end up making things worse.
In order to truly recover from depression, you have to uncover the root causes of any negative beliefs you hold about yourself and the world. Often, they are rooted in childhood trauma that needs to be addressed and resolved before you can truly experience long-lasting recovery.

Otherwise, the relief you originally experienced from the game will start to fade, and the more depressed you feel the more time you will spend playing the game. The more time you spend playing the game, the less time you’ll spend addressing the real problems that both cause and accompany your depression. In the worst cases, you may end up struggling with a full-blown gaming addiction. Get Help for Depression

If you’re experiencing symptoms of depression, and playing Pokémon Go has helped you to feel a little more hopeful and a little more like yourself, that’s great! But, it’s important not to rely on the game alone for relief. Recovery from depression requires a multi-faceted approach to treatment which can include therapy, neurofeedback and biofeedback techniques, trauma work, and sometimes medication. The Claudia Black Center for Young Adults at The Meadows (and all of The Meadows programs) offers all of these options at their treatment centers in Arizona, along with a thorough assessment to determine which might work best for you.

Give us a call today at 855-333-6075 or send us a message through our website to learn more.

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