Recovery as Healing
Recovery is not just about physical sobriety. It’s a lifelong process of healing mentally, emotionally, and physically. It means addressing the reasons you drank or used in the first place, and learning how to cope with the ups and downs of life sober. Many of us in recovery find that even when we take away […]
4 Healthy Ways to Cope with Seasonal Affective Disorder
Winter can be hard. Some leave for work before the sun rises and come home after it sets, barely seeing the sun all week. December 21st is the winter solstice—the shortest, darkest day of the year.
What Is Seasonal Depression?
Seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a type of depression linked to changes in the seasons. It usually occurs during winter and ends in spring, and usually occurs perenially. However, it is more than just “winter blues” since the symptoms can be quite distressing and overwhelming and could affect your normal […]
How Do You Feel Your Emotions?
At over six years sober, I’ve found that one of the most challenging—and rewarding—parts of recovery is learning to sit with feelings sober. So many of us with addictions get used to numbing or distorting our feelings. During active addiction, we used drugs or alcohol to do this, but even in sobriety we can rely […]
3 Tips To Manage Seasonal Depression
Seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a type of depression associated with changes in the seasons. SAD often affects people in the fall or winter months and fades in spring. SAD can have a significant effect on your mood and energy levels. During this time, you may experience symptoms such as […]
What is Self-Medicating?
In recent decades, there’s been more of a consensus that addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders should be treated together. This is in part because people who have an untreated mental health disorder may self-medicate with alcohol or drugs. Self-medicating is using substances to cope with the symptoms of a mental health disorder. For instance, […]
Addiction and Wanting to Be Elsewhere
I’ve heard addiction described as (in part) the desire to be somewhere else—whether that’s literally a different place or a different emotional state. This passage from the book Boundaries and Protection by Pixie Lighthouse really stuck with me: “The desire to be somewhere else is the phenomenon of craving that addicts report feeling beholden to…Perhaps […]
Kid Cudi
The rapper Kid Cudi is candid about his struggles with anxiety and depression. He first opened up about his mental health in 2016, when he wrote a letter to his fans saying he was attending treatment for anxiety and depression. In this letter, he said, “My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as […]
Coping With Stress in Recovery
Intense stress can cause people to seek drugs or alcohol as ways to self-soothe. A big part of recovery is learning to manage stress and other difficult emotions sober. This can take time and practice, and that’s okay. First, remember that using drugs or alcohol does nothing good for stress levels. When your emotions are […]
What are the Links Between Depression and Alcohol Use?
Alcohol use disorder and depression often co-occur. People who are struggling with symptoms of depression may use alcohol to self-medicate. Then, chronic alcohol use can cause or exacerbate symptoms of depression. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, meaning it slows your system down and reduces stimulation. It interacts with—and throws off the balance of—various […]
