Is someone you love drinking too much? Dealing with a loved one’s alcohol abuse or alcoholism can be painful and challenging for the whole family, but there is help available. How alcohol abuse affects family and friends Alcohol abuse and addiction (also known as “alcohol use disorder”) doesn’t just affect the person drinking—it affects their […]
Self-confidence is an attitude about your skills and abilities. It means you accept and trust yourself and have a sense of control in your life. You know your strengths and weakness well, and have a positive view of yourself. You set realistic expectations and goals, communicate assertively, and can handle criticism. On the other hand, […]
You can be kind to yourself by being mindful of negative self-talk, accepting that to err is human, and focusing on what lights you up. If you’ve ever downplayed an achievement or berated yourself for not doing better, you know that it can be hard to be good to yourself. For many people, self-compassion doesn’t come easy. […]
And it matters because choosing anything else will drive you up the wall! Peace of mind is important for your mental health because it helps you to make smarter choices, to manage stress and anxiety, and to stay positive even when life gets tough. When you feel calm and centred, you’re going to be much […]
Substance use disorders occur when an individual continues using the substance, whether it’s alcohol, cocaine, prescription pain pills or other drugs, despite significant substance-related problems. A person who has a moderate or severe substance use disorder may put substance use before family, relationships and career. He or she will continue to drink or use drugs, […]
Physicians have long recognized that different types of drugs affect people differently. Nonetheless, drugs may be categorized or classified according to certain shared symptomatologies or effects. The DRE categorization process is premised on these long-standing, medically accepted facts. DREs classify drugs in one of seven categories: central nervous system (CNS) depressants, CNS stimulants, hallucinogens, dissociative […]
Introduction Alcohol and drug abuse is an equal opportunity affliction. As a universal phenomenon, the abuse of mood-altering substances manifests multiple and related problems across cultures, ages, gender, races, and religions. Although the thread of addiction is traceable throughout the history of humankind, progress toward identification of a root cause continues to elude the scientific […]
Overview Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person’s brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you’re addicted, you may continue using the drug […]
Overview Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol […]
Recent advances in psychosocial research and neurosciences have provided new avenues for prevention of substance abuse at the individual and community level. A series of risk and protective factors affecting the likelihood of using and abusing substances have been identified. The scope of prevention has been broadened, allowing the prescription of different interventions for individuals […]
