Addiction is an illness that leaves many people withdrawn and isolated from their loved ones and family. One of the main characteristics of addiction is that people will continue to use drugs even when their lives are falling apart. Although it can be very difficult taking the first step towards treatment, there are numerous reasons why entering rehab very often saves lives.

When someone is codependent, it means that they are completely influenced by another person’s behavior. This can be to the extent where they try and control their actions which is usually for the best intentions. However, many people with addiction are also involved in codependent relationships which can serve to make their problems much worse.

Addiction is a deeply personal illness that affects people in very different ways. This has much to do with the many different factors that influence a person’s choices including family history, genetics and socio-environmental pressures. These days there is a darker side to addiction that is fast-becoming an epidemic in America: prescription drug abuse.

When someone has been through the challenges of rehab from addiction, they still have work to do when they return home. Rebuilding relationships with family and loved ones is an important part of addiction recovery and allows people to sustain sobriety for the long-term with their support. Healthy relationships are an important aspect of life for all of us and can include family, professional, romantic and social connections.

The New Year is traditionally the time when we review our lives and make resolutions to improve it. The majority of people come out of the holiday season with a little extra weight or bearing other signs of over indulgence. However, many of us fail to stick to our resolutions, perhaps because we tend to put a bit too much extra pressure on ourselves.

Addiction is a complex illness that is made so because of the damage drugs do to the brain. Substances create the pleasant effects people seek by making chemical changes in the brain, some of which can result in long-term mental health problems. There is a strong correlation with substance abuse and mental illness and yet many people are unaware of the dangers of long-term substance abuse.

Many people take the New Year as an opportunity to take a personal inventory and assess their lives to find how they can improve themselves going forward. For people in recovery, they have achieved a great deal and so taking a recovery inventory and acknowledging those successes is important.

Alcohol or drug abuse during pregnancy increases your risk of stillbirth or miscarriage. When you consider that a proportion of everything you consume passes through you to your unborn child it is not difficult to imagine that there are many other negative consequences. The effect of alcohol abuse on pregnancy is harm to both mother and unborn child.

Alcohol and drug abuse wreak havoc with your body. Alcohol hampers the breakdown and absorption of nutrients; opiates can cause gastrointestinal problems; and stimulants suppress your appetite which may result in a lower intake of calories and nutrients than is healthy. An alcohol addict may derive as much as 50% of their daily calorie allowance from alcohol.

Thanksgiving is here again and while it is something many people look forward to, if you are in recovery, staying sober in the holiday season in the face of temptation could be something to dread. There are ways to prepare so that you can relax and enjoy yourself. A little forward planning can make all the difference, and we here at Capo Canyon Recovery want to offer some tips to help you get through the event.