Chronic or Acute Anxiety? How to Tell the Difference; Signs & Symptoms
Anxiety sucks. Pushy and distracting, it weaves its way into your mind and gets in the way of your life. Everyday discomfort feels dangerous and disquieting. Your thinking is less focused, your experiences less joyful, your world less secure, and your relationships less fulfilled. Living is interrupted too often as your thoughts race from one worry, fear, or panicked response to another. Some people live with general anxiety that just never seems to dissipate. Nothing really appears to brings it on or shut it off. Every day is generally...
read moreGaming Addiction: It’s All Fun and Games — Until It’s Not
Games are supposed to be fun. Today’s technology keeps you climbing levels, rescuing captives, and creating worlds for as long as you can stare at the brightly colored screen and grip the controller. But lately, it may seem that all that’s being controlled is you. Games aren’t supposed to steal your time and wreck your relationships. They aren’t supposed to use your imagination and their mind numbing graphics to draw you away from reality and flesh and blood friendships again and again. You know it’s gone too far. So, why don’t you just get...
read moreHow to Keep Facebook From Becoming Your Life
How do you feel about Facebook? Honestly? Does the blue background and the white logo emblazoned across the screen excite you? Is that lower case “f” widget calling to you again and again from a minimized screen on your desktop at work? Do your spouse and kids groan every time you pick up your smartphone? Yes? Well then, Facebook is probably a bit too important to you. Here are some ways to start dealing with that. Admit it, you love Facebook. You’ve got to tell yourself the truth. Then you can gain some perspective. Reality check. Log every...
read moreLearning It’s Not Just About Me: Empathy Building for Addicts
Addiction is a disease of uncontrollable need. The cravings rule. Drugs, alcohol, illicit sexual activity, gambling, or whatever an addict craves, simply smothers thoughts of other people and their needs. A life driven by addiction is characterized by dishonesty and destructive behavior that far outweighs any capacity to be other-oriented. No person, goal, value, or emotion overrides the pursuit of the high. Addiction kills understanding. It steamrolls empathy. It’s no wonder then, that the ability to relate to loved ones, friends, and...
read moreWhat is Brainspotting and How Can It Help with My Addiction?
What do you know about “brainspotting”? It sounds like a serious problem, or maybe even a disease, but it’s actually a highly effective, research-based treatment solution for many people in psychological and physiological pain. Brainspotting is a relatively new treatment and one of the fastest growing mental health developments of its kind. After serving his clients with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy for some time, Dr. David Grand, brainspotting pioneer, noticed a deeper connection between the places his...
read moreAre Anxious Feelings Controlling Your Life? Tips to Overcome Anxiety
How anxious are you right now? Are you anxious most of the time? All of the time? Did you sleep well last night? Or were you unable to shut off your worrisome thoughts? Does it feel like you are constantly on edge or pushed into overwhelm by the slightest upset? Anxiety is fine when it performs the way it is meant to: as a life preserver, an alarm bell, or wise internal advice to fight or flee. But your anxiety is controlling much more than those rare, truly dangerous moments. Your anxiety is taking over your life and getting in your way. It...
read moreInternet Addiction: Knowing When It’s Time to Unplug
You know you should get up. The clock on your screen was supposed to remind you to only spend a few minutes surfing, gaming, posting, clicking, and chatting. Instead you barely glanced at the clock and now you’re alarmed to find that letters on the clock are no longer the same: “PM” is now the wee hours of the “AM”… and you still want to keep going… just a few more clicks. That’s internet addiction. You know you should get up, log off, unplug. But you don’t. No matter how many people try to get your attention or how many responsibilities call...
read moreOvercoming the Shame of Sex Addiction
Do you wonder how you could have gone so far? Looking at the havoc wrought on your life, your relationships, and your self-esteem by your sex addiction, are you struggling with devastating shame? How in the world can you get through this? You probably knew that, eventually, your double life would catch up with you. But you might not have known how intense the shame would be. To go on, you’ll have to learn tools to manage shame as part of your recovery. Consider the following ways to cope with the shame of your other life. Define your terms:...
read moreLeaving the Black Clouds Behind: 10 Ways to Ease Depression
Is your depression blue? Possibly, but it’s probably darker than that. Maybe it’s gray and stormy. Maybe it’s black clouds, hovering over everything. Depression blocks out joy, pleasure, and most of the things you once found meaningful. It’s as though the distinct, vivid details of your life are blanketed in a dull, heavy haze. How long has it been since you had a light-hearted, cloudless day? It’s time to clear things up. Ease your depression in the following 10 ways: Seek help right away. With support and proper attention, rays of hope can...
read more8 Signs You’re a Facebook Addict
Check the clock in the corner of your computer screen. How long have you been on Facebook? Two or three hours? All day? Is your smartphone in bed with you? Are you constantly “liking” posts or scrolling through fabulous selfies of countless “friends”? How much time have you spent composing yet another carefully-crafted status, designed to show your wit and depth of thought? Close the Facebook tab, if you can. Now, take a look at the following list. You may be Facebook addict. Here are eight ways to know: 1. You’d rather check Facebook than...
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