Tag Archives: Mental Health Issues

5 Things That Make Anxiety Worse And Tips To Help It

Find Calm Amidst the Chaos-Anxiety Tips-NewBeginningsRecoveryCenter Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for some, anxiety can be both debilitating and detrimental to daily life. This kind of emotion can keep rolling once it starts, and many people tend to do things that make their anxiety symptoms worse, likely without realizing it at the time.

For those of you who are in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, anxiety that is not dealt with appropriately can lead to decisions that can put you on a downward slope, leading to a relapse.

The good news is there are things you can do to help your anxiety and stop this train of emotion from getting away from you, but first, let’s bring to fruition five things that can actually make anxiety worse.

5 Things That Make Anxiety Worse

1. Avoiding The Situation Or Thing That Scares You

When you are anxious about something, avoiding it only gives the place, situation or person more power over you, making you feel worse. Dealing with it by taking steps to visualize a “peaceful” version of it, talking about it with a professional, realizing that “the worst possible outcomes” that you usually expect won’t and don’t happen, and facing it, can all greatly help your anxiety.

2. Looking For Reassurance

Asking other people for reassurance may feel good in the moment, but its effects don’t last for long. Insistently looking for comfort and reassurance from others rather than from yourself or from your Higher Power will keep you in a circle of uncertainty and can create problems with your self-confidence.

3. Drinking Or Using Drugs

Trying to “numb out” your anxiety with substances will only make your anxiety worse over time. Self-medicating anxiety symptoms can be a very vicious cycle. If you find yourself in this cycle, make sure to seek professional help, like our effective dual diagnosis treatment program.

4. Complaining About The Situation

Complaining about the situation may let off some steam, but it doesn’t address the underlying issues at all. It’s better to be grateful for what you do have (remember, there are people who are praying for what you have right now).

5. Hoping For A Miracle

Hope is always a good passion, but like complaining, hope without taking action does nothing to improve your situation.

Tips To Help Your Anxiety

Get Active

Who You Are-Anxiety Tips-New Beginnings Recovery Center Regular exercise will help to relieve your anxiety and promote relaxation. The best type is aerobic exercise, so find something that will get your heart rate elevated.

Find an activity that you can enjoy three times a week for 20 minutes at a time.

Walking is a good one to start with, since it you don’t need any special equipment, but you can also dance, tackle some housework vigorously, go cycling, jogging, take the dog to the park for a peaceful walk, etc.

Get Plenty Of Sleep And Eat A Balanced Diet

When you are anxious, you may not sleep well, which can make you crave salts, sugars, fats and other unhealthy choices. Trying to eat a balanced diet of vegetables, lean protein and whole grains will help you to start feeling better physically; which is a start to whole-body health and healing.

Seek Counseling

New Beginnings Recovery Center’s Florida mental health and substance abuse services offers integrative therapies including counseling for anxiety as well as other disorders. We help you get to the root of both your addiction and your mental health disorder. Once the cause is found, we will work on successfully overcoming both issues. We also focus on teaching effective, real-life strategies to prevent relapse and help you develop self-confidence and a positive outlook.

If you’re interested in a personalized strategy to help you break free from anxiety and addiction, contact us today!

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Are You Struggling With PTSD And Addiction?

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a type of anxiety disorder that can come about after a traumatic event. If you have experienced a traumatic event in your life, your body may heal much more quickly than your mind and emotions. This process can take much longer, and for some people, through no fault of their own, find that certain sights, sounds, smells or words trigger fear memories that bring them back to the original event.

Struggling With PTSD And Addiction-NewBeginningsRecoveryCTR.com People with PTSD may start to avoid environments where they may encounter the “triggers” where they have experienced flashbacks, nightmares, or persistent anger guilt or shame.

Someone with this mental health condition may find it difficult to experience positive emotions or feel that they are a bad person or cannot be trusted in the aftermath of being a victim of, for example, a violent assault, sexual assault or child molestation. Accident, natural disaster or combat survivors may experience guilt that they were spared when others were not.

PTSD Facts And Statistics

Approximately seven or eight out of every 100 people in the United States will develop PTSD at some point during their lifetime, according to the National Center for PTSD.
Eight million adults have PTSD, during any given year. This number represents a small number of those who have experienced a trauma.
Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men. About 10 percent of women will develop it during their lifetime, compared to four percent of men.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder And Addiction

Many people with this anxiety disorder start using drugs and/or alcohol as a way to try to self-medicate. If you have been living with the symptoms of PTSD, you know how difficult they can be. Since the symptoms may not start immediately following the traumatic event, it’s possible that you did not immediately connect them to the trauma.

It’s natural to want to either minimize the disturbing symptoms or to shut them off altogether, but trying to treat yourself or self-medicate is not the best way to deal with the situation.

Don’t be ashamed that you need professional help. It takes the bigger person to realize and admit they need help.

Outpatient Mental Health And Addiction Treatment

New Beginnings Recovery Center offers outpatient mental health and addiction treatment to clients living with PTSD and substance abuse issues. This program is a good fit for individuals who want to seek help but who have work, school or family obligations which cannot be interrupted.

We believe that treating the entire person (mind, body and soul), including any mental health issues and the addiction offers the best chance for full and effective recovery. We will create a personalized treatment plan based off of your specific needs and goals

Our caring and professional staff is just a phone call away.

Why Wait? It Can’t Get Better Until You Get Help – Call Now!

Struggling With Addiction And Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

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Many people deal with a mental health condition such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression or anxiety. Unfortunately, many of these people either do not fully understand their condition or aren’t even aware what’s wrong with them. Many also turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to self-medicate their difficult mental health symptoms.

When someone is diagnosed with a mental health disorder and is struggling with addiction, they are considered to have a dual diagnosis.

How OCD Affects A Person’s Life

In the case of OCD, it affects a person’s brain as well as their behavior. OCD can cause severe anxiety, which leads to obsessions and compulsions that, in more severe cases, takes time away from the activities of everyday life.

Obsessions can be images, thoughts or impulses that occur repeatedly. They feel as though they are outside of a person’s control. Someone with OCD does not want these obsessions and they are not welcome. A person may feel afraid, disgusted or have a feeling as though they must do something in a specific manner as a result of their obsession.

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that a person with OCD uses to try to counteract their obsessive thoughts, images or impulses. The person feels driven to perform these rituals.

How A Dual Diagnosis Can Occur With OCD

When OCD symptoms first start to appear, it’s possible that an affected person may not understand what these signs and feelings are. Someone who is experiencing this level of anxiety may turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to self-medicate. The chemicals are many times used to try to dull or turn off the obsessions so that they don’t have as powerful an effect on the person’s life.

Outpatient Dual Diagnosis Treatment

If you need help for obsessive-compulsive disorder and addiction but cannot take time away from work, school or family responsibilities, New Beginnings offers outpatient dual diagnosis treatment services where we effectively treat both your mental illness and the addiction concurrently. You can get effective treatment from our psychiatrists and mental health staff at a time that works with your schedule.

We can also offer other mental health services on an outpatient basis:

Individual therapy
Mental health counseling
Psychiatric services

Would You Like To Get Started With Our Outpatient Dual Diagnosis Treatment Program? Call Now!

Program Spotlight: Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

At New Beginnings Recovery Center (NBRC), our Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program is available to clients who are enrolled in any of our treatment programs as well as to people who are looking for mental health counseling services independent of drug or alcohol treatment. Our mental health staff have been selected for their high levels of education, training and experience in clinical practice.

Our mental health counseling program is conducted by counselors who have the skills required to provide client-oriented therapy. They know that each person who comes to them for help is an individual with a unique background, emotional makeup and treatment goals.

Florida Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program-New Beginnings

Our approach to treatment is a combination of traditional psychotherapy, in which the counselor provides a supportive environment where clients can identify the thoughts and behaviors that are keeping them from feeling well and content with their lives, and a practical approach where clients learn problem-solving skills.

This powerful treatment combination is a one-two dynamic where the client doesn’t get stuck in continuing to simply talk about negative feelings or events, but is encouraged to do something to change his or her circumstances for the better.

Florida Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

We offer a variety of proven and effective programs in our Florida clinical mental health counseling program, including:

Client assessment and diagnosis of mental health concerns
Psychotherapy (counseling for mental health issues)
Treatment planning and effectiveness review
Solution-based therapy
Psycho-educational and relapse prevention programs
Personal crisis management
Treatment for alcoholism and substance abuse-related issues

Treating The Whole Person, Not Just The Problem

We here at New Beginnings Recovery Center take care to treat the whole person, not simply focus on the problem that brought the client through the door to seek treatment. We have the insight to understand that mental health concerns do not exist in some type of a vacuum; our clients are people who have developed the thoughts, attitudes and coping strategies they have for specific reasons.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Change Your Thoughts, Actions Will Follow

Our clinical Florida mental health services program uses cognitive behavioral therapy as one of our treatment techniques. In this therapeutic approach, the counselor works with the client to help them identify negative thoughts and beliefs about themselves and the world around them. Therapy involves replacing these negative thoughts with positive ones.

As a client learns to think more positively, making better choices becomes an easier process. This technique can be used to increase self-esteem, treat anxiety and depression, improve personal relationships and more.

Call us now to discover how our mental health counseling and other programs can help you or your loved one lead a happier and healthier life today!

How Do Drugs And Alcohol Make Anxiety Worse?

For a person living with an anxiety disorder, just getting through each day can be very challenging. Those with this mental health disorder can easily get wrapped up in their thoughts and worries of their personal safety, health, job, bills, etc. Since no one enjoys feeling anxious, it’s normal to want that feeling to go away and some people turn to drugs or alcohol in an effort to self-medicate. At New Beginnings Recovery Center, we treat addiction and anxiety together through our Florida mental health and substance abuse services.

How Using Drugs And Alcohol Can Make Anxiety Worse

Gazing-How Do Drugs & Alcohol Make Anxiety Worse-New Beginnings Using drugs and alcohol can change the level of neurotransmitters in the brain like serotonin. These chemical changes can make anxiety worse after the initial “feel-good” effects of the alcohol have worn off.

A number of people turn to alcohol to relieve stress or “to unwind” at the end of a long day. If they are living with anxiety, they may be even more drawn to drinking or using.

Turning to alcohol as a way to deal with anxiety can be very dangerous. Someone who is taking medication for anxiety may find that using alcohol adversely reacts with the medication, causing dangerous side-effects including:

extreme drowsiness
decreased heart rate
decreased and difficulty breathing
medication and alcohol overdose

A person with social anxiety already finds dealing with situations where other people will be present extremely challenging. If that person gets in the habit of having a drink or two or using drugs before attending an event “to relax” instead of getting psychological treatment to learn tools to deal with the anxiety, it’s likely they will start drinking more and more before going out. The more a person drinks, the more likely they will say or do something inappropriate in public. Having to apologize after the fact to friends, family members, or work colleagues for what happened the night before (or worse, trying to remember whether an apology is needed) is a certain way to increase anxiety.

Help For Anxiety And Addiction

We here at New Beginnings Recovery Center have psychiatrists and mental health staff available to provide mental health counseling and other traditional and alternative addiction treatment methods to clients who are living with mental health disorders like generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or social anxiety disorder as well as addiction.

We believe that in order to treat both concerns effectively, mental health disorders and addiction must be treated at the same time. Our dual diagnosis treatment offers individualized treatment programs based on each client’s individual needs. We are here to help, call now!

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Program Spotlight: Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment

Mental health disorders are common, especially for those with addictions. All clients seeking help from our Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program offered here at New Beginnings Recovery Center start by undergoing an initial evaluation. Once the initial evaluation has been completed, they are given a personalized schedule for periodic visits to the center for ongoing treatment and consultation.

During the consultation, a client is seen by a psychiatrist to assess his or her current state. Some psychiatrists also provide medications or psychotherapy, as appropriate to a client’s specific treatment needs.

At New Beginnings Recovery Center, psychiatric clients are also seen at a frequency that takes into account the type and severity of their condition. A particular client may be seen on a daily basis, if they require that level of support, while another may only need monthly follow-up.

Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment- newbeginningsrecoveryctr.com

Additional Treatment Therapies

A number of psychiatrists have decided to focus their professional services on prescribing medications and do not offer additional treatments such as talk therapy to their patients.

Talk Therapy

At New Beginnings Recovery Center, we make sure to to not only discuss how medication(s) are working for our client but we also offer talk therapy as part of our mental health counseling program in Palm Beach Florida. Talk therapy gets to the root of the issue and helps teach clients tools for healing, and helps with changing their thoughts and behavior.

Benefits Of Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment

Our outpatient psychiatric treatment has many benefits including:

Flexible Treatment: Clients can attend appointments for the treatment they need, while still being able to return to work, family and school life.

Helps to Deal with Everyday Stressors: Work, school and family life are full of everyday stressors. Clients can discuss specific issues with their psychiatrist and learn tools to deal with specific situations, triggers and cravings. They can then practice what they have learned and get feedback at their next scheduled session.

Individual Counseling Techniques: Our mental health counseling services are a combination of psychotherapy and traditional practices which is geared to each client’s specific needs and treatment goals.

Cost-effective: Outpatient psychiatric services are less costly than inpatient options because clients don’t have to pay for the cost of being housed while treated.

Call us today to learn more about our outpatient psychiatric treatment program and how we can help you or someone you love.

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Program Spotlight: Mental Health Services

Addiction is a complicated illness to treat, in part because it has both physical and mental components. For many of our clients, there are elements from their past, stressors from their present or anxieties about the future that influence their recovery.

In some instances, clients have turned to drugs or alcohol in an effort to “deal” with the symptoms of a mental illness on their own. Other clients come to us because of a drug or alcohol addiction that has triggered mental health issues.

As part of our mental health program we provide psychiatric and mental health services to those in need.

Mental Health Services At New Beginnings Recovery

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program

Mental Health Counseling Services-New Beginnings Recovery We offer outpatient mental health treatment starting with an initial evaluation to determine our clients’ specific needs. Consultations are then scheduled based on the results of the assessment.

Through our psychiatric rehabilitation program, clients are treated at a frequency based on the type and severity of their personal condition(s).

Co-Occurring Disorders Services

New Beginnings Recovery Centre provides co-occurring (dual diagnosis) treatment for clients who require addiction treatment along with help for mental health concerns such as:

Major Depressive Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
Panic Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Social Phobia
Agoraphobia
Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Binge Eating Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Medications may be prescribed to treat the mental illness or current medications may be changed or updated to better treat a client’s current condition.

Mental Health Counseling Services

Our mental health counseling services are available to clients enrolled in any of our treatment programs. We also provide services for people seeking mental health counseling alone. Our program includes the following services:

Initial Assessment and Diagnosis
Mental Health Counseling (Psychotherapy)
Treatment Planning and Practical Review
Short-term, Solution-based Therapy
Counseling for Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Issues
Psycho-educational/Prevention Issues
Crisis Management

Our caring and extensively-trained counselors utilize a number of tools and techniques to treat every client’s specific situation, needs and goals.

Would you like to find out more about how our mental health services program can help you or a loved one? Call us now!

Finding Help For Bipolar Disorder And Addiction

Bipolar disorder, which is also called manic depression, is a type of mental illness that is characterized by extreme mood swings. While everyone has times when their mood shifts over the course of weeks and months depending on the events of their lives and their own thoughts and feelings, for a person with bipolar disorder, these mood swings are so pronounced that they interfere with the person’s ability to think and function.

The States Of Bipolar Disorder

This long-term condition is usually made up of three states:

Mania, where the person has an abnormally elevated or irritable mood that lasts for at least four consecutive days. During this time, they may have racing thoughts, be unusually talkative, and need little to no sleep. They may also do things that are more reckless than usual or have the potential for negative consequences, such as going on shopping sprees, making ill-considered business investments, or committing sexual indiscretions.

Depression that lasts at least two weeks. The depressed mood must be present most of the day, nearly every day. People in this phase report feeling empty, sad or hopeless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable. Fatigue, lack of energy, difficulty getting to sleep or excessive sleeping are also all characteristics of this phase of the illness. Thoughts of death or suicide may occur, and some people may actually attempt suicide.

A well state where the affected person’s moods are normal and they function well.

About one-two percent of the adult population has bipolar disorder, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Depending on the affected person, the mood swings can range from mild to severe. Rapidly-cycling Bipolar Disorder occurs when a person has four or more cycles of depression, mania or mixed states within one year. People in this category are at especially high risk for developing a substance abuse issue.

Bipolar Disorder And Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is very common among people with bipolar disorder. Someone who is living with a mood disorder may find the experience very uncomfortable and/or unsettling and look to drugs or alcohol as a way to self-medicate in an effort to numb or temporarily alleviate the symptoms.

Certain drugs, such as marijuana, opiates, barbiturates and alcohol, which are known for their sedative properties, seem to slow down the mood swings, at least temporarily, but cause negative effects later. Other substances only serve to exacerbate the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Someone who already has manic tendencies who turns to something like crystal meth, methamphetamine or cocaine is only going to push themselves toward that type of mental state.

Florida Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

At New Beginnings Recovery Center, we recognize the specialized treatment needed for bipolar disorder and addiction issues. Our Florida mental health and substance abuse services focus on getting at the root of both the mental illness and the addiction while creating a personalized recovery plan. Call us today to find out how we can help you or a loved one!

Are You Ready For Freedom From Mental Illness And Addiction? Call Us Now – We Are Available 24/7

What Is Major Depressive Disorder?

Major depressive disorder is also called clinical depression or major depression. It is not the same thing is feeling, “down” or “blue,” nor is it the same type of sadness that someone experiences when faced with grieving a loss. Depression has been described in different ways by those who have experienced it, but one theme that comes up over and over is the lack of interest in and enjoyment of life that comes with this mental health disorder.

Symptoms Of Depression

Get Mental Health Treatment Now- New Beginning Recovery CTR According to the DSM-5(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), a major depressive episode is when the following criteria have been met:

Five or more of these symptoms have been present for two weeks and represent a change from a person’s previous functioning. At least one of the symptoms must be either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure.

Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day. Children or adolescents may appear irritable instead of sad or low
Lowered degree of interest or pleasure in almost all, or all activities most of the day, nearly each day
Increased or decreased appetite, or significant weight loss without dieting, or weight gain
Difficulty sleeping or wanting to sleep more than usual
Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day
Feelings of guilt or worthlessness almost every day
Difficulty thinking or concentrating, having trouble making decisions
Feeling either agitated or as though things are slowed down nearly every day
Frequent thoughts of death, thoughts of suicide without a specific plan, a suicide attempt or a specific plan for taking one’s own life

Who Is At Risk For Developing Major Depressive Disorder?

Clinical depression can affect people of any age. Women tend to be diagnosed more often than men but many people who are depressed are not diagnosed simply because they do not seek treatment. Researchers have identified factors that increase the likelihood that a person is at higher risk for developing an episode of major depression.

Low self-esteem and being self-critical or pessimistic
Depression that started as a teen or young child
Family history of blood relatives who had depression, bipolar disorder, alcoholism or suicide
History of anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or borderline personality disorder
Serious or chronic illness, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or being in chronic pain
Addiction to drugs or alcohol

Major Depressive Disorder And Substance Abuse

Alcoholism can produce symptoms of depression as the disease develops. The longer a person continues to drink, the worse the symptoms will become.

Someone who is already feeling depressed may start to use drugs as a way to try to self-medicate. They may not know or realize that depression can be treated.

Outpatient Mental Health Services

We here at New Beginnings Recovery Center provide personalized outpatient mental health services to clients living with a mental health issue and an addiction. We are here for you!

Don’t Wait One More Day To Seek Help – Call Us Now!

What Are Mood Disorders? And What’s The Relationship To Substance Abuse?

Mood disorders are a category of mental health disorders where a person’s mood is not appropriate to his or her situation. They include the following:

Major depression
Cyclothymia (a mild form of bipolar disorder)
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
Mania (a state where a person is euphoric, hyperactive, has unrealistic optimism and an overinflated ego)

Approximately 20 percent of the US population reports experiencing at least one symptom of depression in any one month; 12 percent report two or more symptoms each year. Bipolar disorder is less common; it occurs in about 1 percent of the population. Some experts believe that it is under-diagnosed, since the manic state is not usually reported as an illness.

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Relationship Between Mood Disorders And Substance Abuse

Mental health issues like mood disorders have been linked to substance abuse. When a person struggles with addiction and a mental illness, which includes a mood disorder, they have a dual diagnosis.

Some people who are experiencing symptoms of a mood disorder may turn to alcohol or drugs in an effort to self-medicate. A depressed person may be looking for something to help improve their mood, and someone who is manic and is having trouble settling down to sleep at night may turn to alcohol or drugs to try to slow down enough to get the rest they need. Many people who suffer from mood disorders also experience some levels of anxiety, and they may look to substances to deal with these symptoms as well.

In some instances, the substance abuse starts first. Over time, continued use of drugs can trigger symptoms of mental illness in some people.

Depression And Physical Illness

Physical illness and depression are also linked. A number of chronic medical conditions are associated with depression, including heart disease, cancer, stomach issues and diabetes. Between 25-50 percent of patients living with chronic pain are also depressed. Since chronic pain patients may also be taking prescription medications on a long-term basis to help control their pain, they may be at higher risk for prescription drug addiction because they have access to narcotics and other medications.

Treatment Programs For Addiction And Mental Illness

Mental health disorders and addiction is treatable. New Beginnings Recovery can provide lasting help, hope and peace. Contact us today to find out how our effective and individualized outpatient and inpatient treatment programs for addiction and mental health issues can help you or your loved one today!

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