addiction help thousand oaks

Learning How to Delay Gratification in Recovery

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One common characteristic of addiction is that the addict wants to satisfy their desires now. They want their cravings satisfied immediately. They want their needs met instantly. There is little patience, endurance, and serenity. Instead, an addict’s focus is on life’s demands (cravings, pains, triggers) and meeting those demands as soon as possible with drugs and alcohol that can self-soothe.

There are a few contributing factors that create this pattern in someone. The first is the way that drinking or drug use might have started. It’s common for men and women to turn to drugs and alcohol if they are feeling pain. When there is depression, anxiety, shame, anger, or any psychological state that is uncomfortable, it’s easy to want to turn to substances to soothe themselves. As the addiction develops and gets worse, the need to self-soothe might get stronger and stronger. The need to satiate your emotional, physical, and psychological pains becomes more intense, weakening the ability to delay gratification.

Another reason why someone might not be able to delay their gratifications is because they may be impulsive. Impulsivity is also a common trait among addicts, and it might be the very pattern that contributes to an addiction in the first place.  Being impulsive makes it difficult to take a step back from cravings and wait until it passes. Instead, those who are impulsive tend to jump on what their feeling in the moment.

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Addiction and Its Effect on the Brain

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Addiction | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.com

It wasn’t until recently that the illness of addiction has been seen as an illness of the brain. In other words, addiction can have such a severe effect on the brain that it can continue to deteriorate one’s life. This article will review the relationship between addiction and the functioning of the brain.

Brain research has revealed that a healthy brain is one that can continue to make new neural connections and release old ones. The connections between neurons are important in a person’s learning, behavior, communication, memory formation, mood regulation, and overall mental health. Yet, when a drug enters the brain, it locks onto the receptors and activates the nerve cells. However, because the drug is not the neurotransmitter that is intended for that receptor, the neurons end up sending abnormal messages throughout the brain. Of course, this leads to hallucination, abnormal thoughts, and change in perception.

And this is precisely what brings pleasure. It’s fun at first to feel a buzz from alcohol or a high from marijuana. These experiences lead us to go back again and again for more of those pleasurable experiences. But returning again and again to a drug begins to create a physical and psychological dependency, and this is where the trouble starts.

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Talking to Your Teenage Daughter About Addiction

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Addiction | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.com

Today, teenage girls see addictions all around them, whether it’s hearing about it in a song on the radio, watching it on TV shows such as “Breaking Bad”, or even seeing it among their peers at school. It is important to talk to your teenage daughter about the dangers of addiction so that she will be prepared to make educated decisions. Here are a few points to cover when having the addiction talk with your daughter.

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Five Common Relapse Triggers

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Five Common Relapse Triggers | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comComing home from rehab can be an exciting an empowering event but as you work to get back into the swing of life you will encounter obstacles that can trigger a relapse if not dealt with in the correct way.  Below are five common relapse triggers to watch out for.

  1. Old Places and Friends – Once you get home from rehab, it is important to continue to focus on your recovery. Being home and around old friends can remind you what times were like before rehab and this can trigger a relapse.  It is best to surround yourself by sober friends and avoid places where you used to partake in drugs or alcohol.
  2. The “Just Once” Thought – Having just once glass of wine might not seam like a big deal at first but that one glass of wine can easily turn into a full bottle of wine.  Having only a little bit of a drug or alcohol can trigger the urge to fall back into old habits.  It is important to stay in control and think about how the “just once” thought can quickly send you into relapse.
  3. Toxic Relationships – Relationships are not an easy thing for anyone but a toxic relationship can be extremely detrimental for a recovering addict.  Toxic relationships, whether it be with a roommate, boyfriend/girlfriend, or parent, can create feelings such as anger, jealousy, or depression and these feelings make it easier to relapse.  People often resort to their addiction in order to deal with these negative feelings.
  4. Unhealthy Choices – Living a healthy lifestyle can help a recovering addict stay sober.  On the other hand, constantly making unhealthy choices can be harmful.  Choices such as eating junk food, not exercising, and staying up late every night can effect your health, mood, and trigger a relapse.
  5. High Pressure Situations – Stressful situations are just a part of life.  Whether it’s enrolling for college or interviewing for a job, we can expect to feel a little more pressure than normal during these times.  The important thing for a recovering addict is to not overdue it.  Be in control and make sure you do not get to the point of feeling too much pressure that you can’t handle it.  Feeling too much pressure can turn into a relapse.

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