Texas Addiction Recovery Blog
Addicted to Energy Drinks—A Different Kind of Substance Use Disorder
A young man named Josh McKee was recently forced to remove half of his teeth. The problem? Not disease or infection, but an addiction to energy drinks. The high level of sugar managed to cause decay in about half of his teeth. He's a young man in his 20's, yet his...
What’s the Deal with Dual Diagnosis?
As late as the 1990's, an addict would enter a treatment facility and not receive the help they really need. Let's say they had depression as well as issues with alcohol abuse. They'd be sent away, and told to take care of the mental health problem. Luckily, since...
Trauma and Substance Use Disorder
At first, it might seem that we’re lucky if we don’t usually discuss trauma. That’s because this means there’s a good chance we haven’t experienced trauma and don’t know anyone else who has. If we have suffered trauma, we still might not discuss it. We could be afraid...
The Complexity of a Sleeping Pill Addiction
Do you suffer from insomnia? I do sometimes. Sometimes, it involves trouble falling asleep. More often, it involves staying asleep. For a lot of us, when we wake up in the middle of the night, we begin to worry about a lot of things. Some of those things include...
Wary about Diet Pills
I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear about diet pills, it always reminds of the 1960s and 1970s, of Valley of the Dolls and big hair and loud clothes. But despite my dated references, the diet pill industry and related substances are still very much a thing....
Down with OTC (Over-the-Counter Drugs)?
When I have a headache or an injury, I often take a pain reliever. When I have allergies, I take a pill. When my digestive system is bothering me, sometimes I take something for that. Writing these statements reminds me that I use medication to care for common...
Think Positive Thoughts and Combat Drug and Alcohol Abuse
We all have negative thought patterns, and often, we don't know it. We attempt to cover them up by distracting ourselves: we eat bad food, we watch TV every day, we sit on our smartphones, we don't get outside. More and more, we protect our negative thoughts by...
How to Find Support for Substance Use Disorder
It can be a lonely time, first entering recovery. You're not quite sure who to turn to, or who can help you. Maybe your family and friends have turned away—they don't know how to help you out with your addiction. They might not be entirely to blame. It's difficult to...
4 Addictions That Don’t Involve Substance Use Disorder—How Does That Work?
Did you know that there are addictions that don't involve using substances? You can become addicted to a hobby or activity that most people do on a modest, regular basis. When your habits seem to border on the extreme and are out of your control, this is a signal that...
Drugs and Alcohol Can Play Tricks on People
Recently, on April 1st, many people celebrated April Fools’ Day. They celebrated by playing jokes, pranks, and hoaxes on other people. They may have put sugar into salt shakers, or published fake news stories in newspapers or on the Internet, or played other jokes to...
