Let’s be honest. No one wakes up and decides, “I want to mess up my life.” Teen drug abuse rarely begins with rebellion; it usually begins on a whim. It grows out of everyday feelings like stress, boredom, anxiety, or just being tired of your own thoughts. You try something that helps you forget for a while, and it works, at least at first, and that is what makes it easy to try it again. Yet over time, a [...]
When we go through difficult times, we can deal with that in either a healthy way or an unhealthy way. For instance, if you’re feeling slightly anxious, you can decide to go for a walk or talk with a friend. On the other hand, you could also decide to use food to soothe or comfort yourself, which can feel good in the moment, but it has many negative consequences down the line. Similarly, if you’re struggling with emotional, social, or [...]
Americans face many challenges on any given day. One of the challenges that many Americans and their families face is chemical dependency and addiction. The 2023 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) indicated that around 48.5 million Americans aged twelve and older battled a substance use disorder in the past year. That same survey also indicated that about 10% of Americans twelve and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, and 20.4 [...]
If you’re already in therapy, are therapy groups necessary? You may already have a counselor, whether it’s for everyday life processing or something specific, such as trauma, an anxiety disorder, depression, or addiction. Here we explain what therapy groups are, how to know if one would benefit you, and what to expect. What are therapy groups? Therapy groups help a person heal in a group setting, and they are led by at least one professionally licensed mental health therapist. [...]
