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Venting to a friend or family member after a rough day at work is normal and can often make people feel better. Talking through negative situations is a healthy way to process emotions, but when...
Abandonment trauma can occur when an individual has been neglected emotionally or physically, resulting in a persistent fear of being abandoned by people they’re close to. Significant abandonment issues can cause severe emotional pain and...
Extreme stress can impact all areas of life. When stressful events undermine someone’s feelings of basic safety and security, a person can experience emotional trauma. The result is a feeling of helplessness, constant danger, unworthiness,...
Childhood trauma stems from a traumatic event that takes place during childhood. However, the adverse effects of that event don’t disappear when the childs grow up — typically, they can linger well into adulthood. Identifying childhood...
Trauma refers to a person’s emotional, mental, or behavioral state after experiencing an event that caused physical or psychological harm. To simplify, trauma is what’s left behind after someone experiences something distressing. Trauma doesn’t just...
Trauma experienced during childhood or even as an adult can linger and may not end with the individual who experienced the trauma. Research has shown that these adverse experiences may pass from generation to generation,...
The relationship between depression and addiction can be a vicious cycle. This is because people with depression are more likely to abuse substances to self-medicate, while in turn substance abuse increases a person’s risk of
Bipolar disorder sufferers are more likely to self-medicate and choose substance abuse, and when this occurs a dual diagnosis is likely. To recover from their addiction, the person will typically need effective treatment for both
Is Addiction a Mental Illness? Is addiction a mental health issue? The answer is “yes.” Addiction can even make a person more likely to develop other mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Why am I so Impulsive? What Causes Impulsive Behavior? Occasional impulsive behavior is normal, but if it becomes regular or excessive it can signal deeper and untreated mental health issues. Impulsive behavior can take a
Dual Diagnosis: The Link Between Narcissism and Addiction A narcissist is a person who struggles with an inflated or heightened sense of self. Someone who is considered to have narcissistic tendencies will often possess an
Trauma or adverse life (or childhood) experiences can look like overt and/or covert methods – sometimes without the individual fully comprehending what has happened to them – but that they know something is ‘not quite...
What is Trauma? According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is defined as “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are
DBT Treatment for Addiction and Mental Health Disorders DBT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy, has been an interesting treatment choice for individuals who suffer from addiction and mental health disorders. Marsha Linehan developed DBT primarily
Dual diagnosis affects millions of people in the U.S. every year. One study found that one in every four individuals with a serious mental illness also suffers from dual diagnosis. What is a dual
Understanding how to help someone with PTSD is challenging. Life is unpredictable and full of experiences that shape and define us. Whether positive or negative, most of what we go through in life will build
By Elizabeth Ossip, LCSW, CAP, ICADC Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is a form of depression that occurs seasonally, most often during the winter months, and is linked to shortened exposure to daylight, maladaptive circadian