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Entering Recovery – When someone says you should take care of yourself many people feel like that would be a selfish move, but it is not selfish in any way. Taking care of yourself is a necessary part of life. This goes beyond basic care to physical health and mental well being. We tend to show favoritism of the body over the mind and while physical health is important, it is not the only aspect of ourselves that needs care. We spend thousands of dollars a year on health care products, good food, and the occasional treat, but little time is spent taking care of our mental needs. Maintaining our mental health is just as important as caring for our physical health.

Failure and rejection are mental injuries, but we tend to ignore them and they can get worse. When entering recovery we are often fraught with concerns of failure and rejection. This could be one of multiple attempts at recovery or simply a big step into the journey of recovery, but the concerns are often the same. These issues should be cared for just as you would a cold or the flu as they can cause damage as well. Another psychological concern is loneliness as it can cause further psychological damage if left unchecked. Now that you understand why emotional first aid and self care is important, let’s move on to how to take care of your psychological needs.

Keeping the mind healthy starts with paying attention to emotional pain and treating it before it becomes overwhelming. Redirecting gut reactions when you fail is a good start. Everyone fails or makes mistakes from time to time, but focusing on these failures can damage the psyche and create emotional turmoil. If you fail, try to correct the mistake and take another approach. If this approach also fails then change directions again until you get it right. Disrupting negative thoughts is another good move to improve mental health. As negative thoughts occur, take them captive and change your line of thinking. Many times if you can distract yourself from the negative thought you will avoid ruminating on things that can bring you down. If negative thoughts are left unchecked they can get out of control and lead to depression and possible relapse. Another idea to improve mental health is to not let excessive guilt and anger build. If something has you feeling guilty, admit it and apologize when possible. If nothing can be done to correct the action then it is simply a waste of time to obsess on the thought. This is also true of anger. If someone has hurt you or you are angry then calmly express that anger and hurt and try to find a solution. If no solution can be found then it is time to move on and let the anger go.

Entering Recovery – Since every individual is different it is important to learn what treatments work best for your emotional wounds. Some may benefit from talk therapy while others can learn to take care of themselves with practice. The thing to remember is that emotional first aid will keep the mind healthy just as first aid keeps the body healthy and both are equally important.

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Battling an Addiction – This is part two in a two-part series about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In part one of this series, we defined PTSD, discussed the situations that can cause the disorder, and listed the symptoms. Now, let’s talk about why people often turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of Pots-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD Causes Painful Memories That Can Become Overwhelming 

Usually, the symptoms of PTSD show up immediately after someone has experienced trauma. However; someone can repress memories of whatever trauma they experienced. When that happens, those memories can resurface years after the traumatic event has taken place and begin to haunt the person like an old ghost.

In either case, it is usually the memories of the trauma that are the most disturbing aspect for a person who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. These are experienced as vivid flashbacks of the trauma.

Someone with PTSD will reexperience the event over and over, in spite of the fact that they don’t want to. This usually happens in the form of violent pictures that appear quickly and suddenly in their mind. These disturbing images are very painful and can cause someone to feel as if they are going insane. As much as they try to push these mental photographs out of their head, they are simply unable to do so.

These flashbacks are the mind’s way of working out the event and trying to make sense of it, but this doesn’t matter to the person who is experiencing these painful memories. They just want an escape – and they usually turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.

Battling an Addiction – PTSD And Substance Abuse Often Go Hand-in-Hand

Because PTSD is such a disquieting and uncomfortable experience, it’s no wonder that up to 75 percent of all people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to cope with their condition. It is not uncommon for people with PTSD to get drunk, abuse prescription medications like Hydrocodone or Oxycodone, shoot heroin, snort meth, or smoke crack – ANYTHING that will numb the pain of the painful experience of having to relive their trauma over and over again.

This is unfortunate. The use of drugs and alcohol will never be a solution for treating PTSD. In fact, studies show that alcohol and drugs only make the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder worse.

When someone is abusing mood or mind-altering substances and has PTSD, they develop what is called a co-occurring disorder. This means instead of having just one mental health issue, they now have two. By developing a substance abuse problem in conjunction with PTSD, they require help for their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder AND their addiction to drugs or alcohol, which really complicates matters.

If You Have PTSD, Get Help – Don’t Turn To Drugs Or Alcohol As A Solution

If you have been struggling with PTSD, it can feel like all hope is lost, but it’s not. You can get help for your problem. There are a lot of options available for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and medication treatment. Talk to a doctor and see which one is right for you.

If you are currently battling an addiction to drugs or alcohol, you need to get help for your substance abuse problem before you can address your PTSD. You may want to consider an in-patient treatment program that specializes in co-occurring disorders.

With time, things will get better. Keep fighting the good fight.

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

PTSD and Substance Abuse – This is part one in a two-part series about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – A Simple Definition 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that develops as the result of someone witnessing or experiencing a serious trauma or injury. PTSD is considered a serious psychiatric disorder, but it does not necessarily represent a lifelong condition. People who experience PTSD can recover from their diagnosis and go on to live normal and fulfilling lives.

However; those who are in the grips of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder find that the condition is all-consuming and interferes with their daily lives. Many who suffer from PTSD turn to drugs and alcohol a way to cope with the disorder, which not only makes the symptoms worse, it creates a whole other monster to deal with.

What Situations Cause PTSD?

Many people associate PTSD with soldiers who have served in combat, but anyone who has undergone a serious traumatic event can experience the debilitating symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For example, many of the people who experienced the tragic 2004 tsunami in Thailand suffered with PTSD for many years afterward.

Here are just a few situations that can cause PTSD:

• A car accident
• Sexual assault
• Physical assault
• Witnessing a crime like a robbery or an assault on someone you care about
• A severe weather event like an earthquake, tsunami, flood, or hurricane
• Living in a combat zone
• Being a soldier who fights in a war
• Witnessing the death of a loved one
• Surviving a terrorist attack
• Being a child who lives through physical, verbal, or emotional abuse

Anyone who witnesses or experiencing an event that results in injury or tragedy is likely to experience at least some degree of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PTSD and Substance Abuse – Symptoms of PTSD

When someone experiences trauma, the mind has a difficult time making sense of the event. The trauma is so upsetting, it will cause the person to question everything they think they know about life and reality. Their sense of safety and comfort will be disrupted because life as they once knew it no longer exists. It can cause someone to question their spiritual beliefs, their existence as a human being, and their very place in the world. 

As a result, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder plays tricks on the mind. It will try to make sense of the event or events that have taken place by working them out through a series of uncomfortable symptoms.

Here is how PTSD expresses itself:

• Depression
• Suicidal thoughts
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Flashbacks to the event
• Repeatedly thinking about the trauma
• Sleep disturbances like insomnia or too much sleeping
• Nightmares where the event is replayed during sleep time
• A heightened sense of awareness and distrust of the environment
• A lack of motivation or inability to perform daily tasks
• The absence of joy and a loss of interest in daily activities
• Problems with important relationships
• Difficulties at work
• Challenges carrying out basic responsibilities
• Substance abuse to cope with all the symptoms listed above

PTSD and Substance Abuse – Needless to say, someone who struggles with PTSD can find it difficult to deal with life after a traumatic event because the symptoms can be so overwhelming. 

Be sure to check out the second half in this two-part series about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.