Addiction recovery is filled with hope and possibility – but you’ll also experience your fair share of down days. We all do. But how do you cope without jeopardizing your hard-won sobriety? Here are a few tips to help you survive those bad bays so you come out shining and even stronger in your recovery. Write it down. Journaling is a great exercise to help you process and put into perspective any negative feelings that are causing a down mood. In fact, studies show that expressing your feelings through words can decrease the power they have over you and your […]

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is quite common – with roughly 8 million people reported to have PTSD in the United States – and yet the condition remains fairly misunderstood. In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, we’re setting the record straight on some of the most common and damaging myths surrounding PTSD. Share this information and help to stop the stigma and encourage people with PTSD to get the help they need and deserve. Only military veterans can get PTSD. While PTSD does impact American soldiers, it can also impact someone who has lived through sexual assault, domestic abuse, a natural […]

Did you know that people with substance use disorders are less likely to seek regular dental care, despite having higher rates of tooth decay and periodontal disease than the general population? Going to the dentist is likely the last thing on your mind while you’re in active addiction. But now that you’re in recovery, caring for your oral health is an important part of self-care. Proper dental hygiene will make you look and feel good and it will also prevent conditions like heart disease or diabetes that can be caused by the chronic inflammation and bacteria in the blood that […]

Now that you’re in recovery, it’s natural to expect things to change for the better – but you’ll need to be careful that you don’t expect things to change too fast or too drastically. Recovery is a journey and the goal is progress, not perfection, after all. Setting unrealistic expectations during recovery can mean setting yourself up for failure. In fact, for many people, unrealistic expectations can lead to relapse. For example, a person can create a list of impossible demands for sobriety and, when those demands aren’t met, he or she can use it as an excuse to drink […]

September is Recovery Month and, as part of the celebration, people in recovery from across the country are celebrating their successes and sharing their personal stories in an effort to spread awareness, increase education and inspire others. There are plenty of ways to share your personal recovery tale. You can submit your story via Recovery Month’s “Voices for Recovery” on Recovery.org or you can share during a group meeting, with a trusted peer, friend or family member or via social media. Whichever way you choose, the benefits are vast and include helping to stop the stigma against addiction. Here are […]

Running on a treadmill for one hour, five days a week may be key to preventing cocaine relapses, according to researchers from the University of Buffalo. “Cocaine addiction is often characterized by cycles of recovery and relapse, with stress and negative emotions, often caused by withdrawal itself, among the major causes of relapse,” Thanos, senior research scientist in the UB Research Institute on Addictions and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said in a statement. According to the mice study, this type of aerobic exercise can help cause “memory clearance” that […]