Author Archives: Alta Loma

Identifying a Role Model for Recovery

role models in recovery|role models in recovery

Recovery is filled with so many ups and downs, and it’s truly a learning process for everyone involved. For many people, role models are considered an excellent way to strive towards their goals in recovery. By finding someone you can look up to, there’s a lot more space for inspiration and motivation in achieving one’s […]

How Do You Find the Right Person to Help You?

Overcoming mental illness is a long and arduous process. On this journey, the people that surround you make a significant impact on your recovery. Finding the right support professional is a critical decision. Just as each individual’s journey in recovery is different, each support professional is also different. They each bring their own unique approach […]

How Does Anxiety Lead to Alcohol Abuse?

anxiety and alcohol

Alcohol is not notorious for its ability to solve problems. Therefore, it may seem counter-intuitive that people would turn to alcohol when suffering from anxiety. Yet, seeking release is a natural behavior for any person, especially people seeking shelter from their worries. Leaving anxiety untreated dramatically increases the chances of addiction and substance abuse. Of […]

Focusing Your Anxiety

focus

Understanding anxieties and learning to cope with them are massive undertakings. For some, the goal is to live alongside their anxiety using a healthy outlet, rather than seeing stress as a purely antagonistic force to be beaten and overcome.     While anxiety and panic seem all-encompassing in their overwhelming presence, they are much more than […]

How Do We Mentor and Lead Ourselves in Recovery?

mentoring

The journey to health and wellness is dynamic, challenging, beautiful, and unique to every one of us. Many of us are blessed to have support systems, mental health professionals, or other recovery resources that empower and support us on this path. Still, our ability to navigate our own internal world is just as important as […]

Visualizing Addiction

visualizing addiction

People suffering from addiction never set out to become addicts.  Addiction is a process that happens over time, without a person’s conscious awareness. An individual doesn’t realize how many drinks they are having, cigarettes they are smoking, or drugs they are buying.  By the time an individual starts questioning if they may be addicted, the […]

Reaching Out to Someone With Depression

Depression can easily cut a person off from everyone in their lives, so providing help when they need it most can be difficult. The depressed individual may react very little when addressed or may be unresponsive to questions entirely. This does not mean that helping is futile, or that by trying to help, one is […]

Don’t Cheer Up

Yes, being happy is the ultimate goal here. Still, there is a difference between being happy in life and being happy at all times. Forcing a smile, or trying to “just cheer up” could actually be counterproductive to reaching the end goal kind of happiness. Not to mention, it’s just kind of annoying to hear.  […]

When Does Stress Become Anxiety?

stress and anxiety

Stress and anxiety are two words that are commonly used as synonyms, completely interchangeable with each other. While the symptoms can appear to be the same, there are critical differences between the two that can help to identify the source of the symptoms and seek appropriate help.     The symptoms of stress are very similar […]