Category: Addictions & Compulsions
The Good Therapy Blog
January 5th, 2011 |
Some problems manifest themselves differently for women than for men. Alcoholism is one of them. While both genders can suffer equally from the ravages of this disorder, women often abuse alcohol for different reasons, metabolize alcohol differently, and suffer unique health consequences. Approximately one-third of alcoholics in the U.S. are women, and compared to men, those with the most severe dependence tend to develop more serious problems. Women alcoholics may be treated more harshly by our society, carry more shame about their behavior, and show a more rapid progression of the disorder... Read More
December 20th, 2010 |
Lately we've been getting calls from high school students worried about their supposed "Facebook Addiction". There are now marketing sites as the traditional treatment industry trolls for yet more victims for their phony "programs" for phony "diseases".But for worried adolescents, and their parents, there is some cause for concern. Why?
Because Facebook and similar "social networking" sites are a very tempting substitute for actually getting a life. All the teen angst can be successfully drowned out in the cacophony of internet posting that allow people to defer actually living for yet another... Read More
December 13th, 2010 |
Richard came to treatment feeling angry, sad and resentful. He was scared that the man he was living with was getting ready to dump him.
“That always happens,” he said. “Just when I feel my life turn around, I get dumped. What’s wrong with me? Why am I always the one who gets left? I think we were in love, he says he’ll never leave me, but in three months he’ll be gone and I’ll be a fool.”
This was the third serious relationship that was not working out. Richard is handsome, smart, funny. He would seem to be an ideal mate, but he has a fatal flaw. He is very controlling,... Read More
December 9th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Once a person becomes addicted to a substance, be it alcohol, tobacco or drugs, the addiction becomes a biological and medical problem. But how as person thinks about quitting, and often, why they started using the substance in the first place, is far more psychological. It’s because of this that substance abuse is so often grouped with mental health rather than physical health. For example, the government agency concerned with addiction is called the Substance and Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. And a person... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Encino Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
November 29th, 2010 |
Did you wake up Saturday morning flashing back to Friday and how many times you took your credit card out of your wallet to purchase something? Are you having difficulty remembering all that you bought and even more disconcerted at trying to recall the reasons you gave yourself to buy certain items? Did you wake Saturday morning curious about the hoards of items lying on your closet floor? Or are you oblivious to what you may have endured Friday, the most anticipated, built up in your mind, shopping day of the year?
Each of these scenarios is common for most of us and also indicative of... Read More
November 22nd, 2010 |
I have two very different teenage clients who use drugs. The first we'll call Brittany, a seventeen year old girl whose parents are divorced but who both are kind and available to her. She gets good grades, hopes to become a marine biologist and smokes weed with friends on the weekends. The second we'll call Brett, a sixteen-year-old boy whose now-estranged father had been physically abusive to him and to his mother when Brett was small. His mother sees her husband in the boy and treats him erratically, sometimes with love, sometimes with harsh criticism. Brett smokes weed everyday, sometimes... Read More
November 10th, 2010 |
Many of the fall and winter holidays are associated with feast-like meals and generous sweets. While joyous for many, the next few months can also be stressful for people who struggle with compulsive over-eating. The emotions tied to the holidays can make this even harder. Holiday memories can revive the grief of a loved one who has passed away in recent months. And people who feel lonely or disappointed during this time of year may turn to food to mask their pain. Even daily stress, felt year-round, tempts us to self-soothe with cookies and candies, which are especially available around the... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Miami Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
November 8th, 2010 |
When I write articles for GoodTherapy, I usually write about my views on recovery from disordered eating and body image concerns, and about things I’ve learned from my professional experience. This article is different: it’s about my personal experience. This month’s article was originally due the day after Halloween. For reasons I’ll mention shortly, I hadn’t started writing it by Halloween day. On Halloween afternoon, I pondered this aloud, and my son asked what the article that I had to write was about. I told him, “disordered eating,” and he said, “You have to write it about... Read More
October 22nd, 2010 |
John, our favorite Australian correspondent, wrote to note that a lot of people don't really want to hear that their alcohol abuse is a choice - and so is fixing it. That came as no surprise to us. After all, what better excuse for continuing drinking than having a "disease" over which you are "powerless"? And for parents wanting to avoid dealing with their adult children's behavior, well, why not decide that it's a "disease" rather than a choice? All in all it's no surprise that many people prefer this option but it doesn't come without costs.
First, since it isn't true, there is always... Read More
October 19th, 2010 |
Since my last blog post several of you (all female) have logged onto my website and then called to express relief that I’m writing about something – women and pornography addiction – that many people and the popular media don’t recognize as a real problem. The Washington Times recently published results from a 2006 Internet Filter Review poll which found that 9.4 women access adult websites each month, and 13 percent of them admit to accessing pornography at work. And remember folks, this was 4 years ago!
Another sobering fact has surfaced as I continue to help women who have been... Read More
September 6th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Seeing a counselor to quit smoking has been previously shown to be quite affective (more so than nicotine patches and gum alone), and now, addiction counseling for smokers will be more accessible to several groups of the population. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) this week announced that Medicare, both parts A and B, will cover treatment for those who want to find a counselor to help quit smoking. Since smoking-cessation counseling has evidence-based proof of effectiveness,... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Lake Oswego Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 30th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
A common belief holds that some teens smoke cigarettes as a way to “self medicate” against depression or depressive thoughts. A new study shows this to be true. But the study also shows that teens who use tobacco for mood enhancement then experience greater rates of depression in the long run. Interestingly, teens who smoked for other reasons (besides emotional self-medication) did not experience such a rise in depression. They also had higher rates of... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist St. Louis Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 18th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Quitting smoking or overcoming reliance on other behaviors—such as eating, drinking alcohol, drinking caffeine, sex, excessive exercise, and others—can be difficult. From addiction counseling and group therapy to nicotine-reduction aids and cold-turkey self motivation, there are any number of approaches for how to quit or reduce a habit. One mental strategy that many rely on is suppressing their thoughts of that specific habit. So, for example, suppressing thoughts of cigarettes and smoking when they arise. A new study sought to explore... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Seattle Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 12th, 2010 |
Social Networking is a great way to connect with so many individuals! It connects you with your family, friends from the past, current friends and even allows you to make new friends. With so many benefits, are there any potential dangers with social networking? Well, not if you are someone that has good boundaries, is careful in what you share with others, and gets your emotional needs met in a healthy way. However, if you are someone that has struggled with being inappropriate on the Internet or in relationships, has received false intimacy in unhealthy places, or taken advantage of relationships... Read More
Page 7 of 9« First«...56789»
