Author Archives: Alta Loma

How Can I Build My Quality of Life in Recovery?

How Sugar Can Affect Your Mental Health

When we talk about quality of life (QOL), we’re talking about an important aspect of addiction recovery because over time, you’re going to want to build a life that is conducive to your happiness and health. You’ll often hear people talk about QOL if they are in the field of psychology, but it’s also important […]

What Encompasses a Co-Occurring Disorder Like PTSD and Alcoholism?

What’s the Difference Between Craving and Mental Obsession?

When we’re faced with a traumatic event, stress kicks in. The hippocampus (the area of the brain that stores memories) holds onto the trauma of what happened even years after the event occurred. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very serious condition that can develop in a person soon after a traumatic event, and it […]

Why Sharing in 12-Step Meetings Is Crucial to Your Success

The Risks of Prescription Opioid Addiction

As you pursue sobriety, you’ll find that it requires consistent dedication and effort in order to achieve excellent results. 12-Step meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, are fantastic support groups to help you build an maintain motivation in both your recovery journey and in strengthening your relationship with God or another Higher Power. […]

Is There A Connection Between Trauma and Mental Health or Substance Abuse?

What Can a Study About a Sea Slug Teach Us About Drug Addiction?

There are millions of people across the world who have battled with mental health problems or substance abuse and there are just as many, if not more, who’ve also endured trauma. For some people, that could involve a car accident while for others, it could have involved growing up with an ill, abusive, or neglectful […]

What Are the Two Most Prevalent Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms?

Can Journaling Help with Recovery?

There are two incredibly painful, unhealthy coping mechanisms that our society seems to push on each other over and over again: denial and suppression. Even when we’ve been caught red-handed, right in the middle of a mess of a storm, we’ve been shown and raised time and time again to pretend that it didn’t happen, […]

Why Personalized Treatment Is Important

Seasonal Affective Disorder and Substance Abuse

It is important now more than ever for those in our family, friend circle and community group to seek help for addiction. This is especially the case with the rise of substance abuse and a general lack of knowledge of the dangers of substances. Unfortunately, substance abuse has become a “norm” in our society as […]

What Role Does Social Media Have in Recovery?

Coping With Opiate Addictions During COVID-19

Social media is pervasive at this day in age: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other evolving platforms constantly fill up hours of the day until we’ve scrolled through other people’s lives so extensively that we’ve lost track of our own responsibilities. Of course, we all have different reasons for why we utilize social media. Some of […]

Challenges That Come With Borderline Personality Disorder

How Do I Know if My Relationships Are Unhealthy?

If you were to ask most people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), they’d probably tell you that at times they feel too much while, at other times, they feel nothing at all. BPD affects millions of people across the world, and it’s hard to navigate daily life with this disorder if treatment isn’t sought. Undiagnosed […]

Are There Recovery Tools for Trauma in Recovery Programs?

Don’t Let Fear of Failure Undermine Your Recovery

One of the most surprising aspects of trauma is that it has the ability to either make or break you. It can define who you are and bring you down or strengthen and help you build more resilience. Studies have found that around half of those who seek out recovery have also battled with trauma […]