Category Archives: Sober Living

In most cases, your doctor will reduce your dosage by 5% to 25% in the first week. Every 1 to 4 weeks after that, they’ll reduce your dose by another 5% to 25% of the original dose. In addition to the immediate health risk, benzodiazepine withdrawal can seriously affect your quality of life. Emerging research […]

Not only because not drinking is hard, but also because we live in a society where most everyone around us drinks. It’s normal to feel like the absolute worst person in the early days when you’re forced to deal with big emotions like guilt, shame, and regret. It’s hard to face that stuff when you’re […]

And don’t be afraid to reach out to friends and get some fresh air if being stuck at home feels triggering at times. It can help to view binge drinking as a habit loop made of a cue, routine, and reward. When you surround yourself with the same cues that trigger your urge to binge […]

Because they are able to prescribe medication, psychiatrists can be particularly helpful if you believe you have underlying anxiety or depression you are managing with alcohol. One common mistake for those who are new to alcohol and drug recovery is substituting a new compulsive behavior for their old one. People new to recovery can find […]

Over time, your brain’s reward pathway builds tolerance and requires more and more dopamine (via alcohol) to feel pleasure. This can lead to addiction and feelings of depression in the absence of the rewarding substance. Alcohol consumption can lead to feelings of depression due to chemical reactions. In the short term, drinking alcohol can make […]

Whether you exercise regularly, eat nutritious meals, or practice mindfulness, establishing healthy routines helps create structure and consistency. By making positive daily choices, you reinforce your commitment to change and reduce the likelihood of emotional relapse. This approach helps people determine and change negative thought patterns and actions contributing relapse prevention skills to relapse. It […]

One study (Wright et al., 2000) explored panic disorder, two studies (Lucock et al., 2018, 2021) focussed on depression and the additional resources did not specify whether they focussed on anxiety or depression alone or both. Two studies exploring the Self-Management after Therapy (SMArT) intervention (Lucock et al., 2018, 2021) reported qualitative findings derived from […]

In many settings, the value of prizes increases incrementally with each successive attended visit or negative drug screen, which further improves the efficacy of treatment 31,33,34. When substances are ingested, they are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and distributed to tissues of the body 9. Substances that are injected, inhaled or snorted bypass gastrointestinal absorption […]

Signs of overdose usually develop within four hours of a dose, which is the time when the drug concentration is highest in the body. The symptoms of an overdose may persist for 12 to 36 hours. Long-term Xanax abuse can result in cognitive impairments, memory problems, and increased risk of accidents or overdose. Those suffering […]

One factor contributing to the development of AUD may be the change in synaptic signaling in the caudate and putamen that could contribute to a bias toward sensory-motor circuit control of behavior and inflexible alcohol consumption 33, 34. As an important regulator of behavioral output, dysregulation of dopamine neurotransmission is implicated in theories of AUD […]