Posts by Faith Recovery

The Significance of International Overdose Awareness Day

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held every year on August 31st. The largest campaign of its kind, its purpose is to help prevent drug overdoses by raising awareness, reducing stigma and recognizing the grief of those who have lost loved ones to overdose. Begun in Australia in 2001, it has been run by the Penington Institute since 2012, and is now observed in over 40 countries worldwide. As the overdose death toll has risen greatly since it started, and as the opioid epidemic in particular has become one of the world’s public health crises, the hope each year is to involve the greatest number of people internationally in its observance.

Long-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Kidneys

While plenty of us are familiar with alcohol’s effects on the liver, what about the long-term effects of alcohol on the kidneys? Moderate drinking here and there doesn’t do much harm, but people with more severe drinking habits may increase their risk of an addiction to alcohol and kidney disease, as well. Everyone who chooses to drink alcohol should be aware of the alcohol’s effects on the kidneys and why it’s worth it to stop while you’re ahead.

How Our Kidneys Work

To understand the long-term effects of alcohol on the kidneys, you have to know how they work. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs – about the size of a fist – located just below the rib cage on either side of your spine.

There are many different approaches to helping people find sobriety. And each of them has their own upsides and downsides. The main point that people should know is that any effort toward living a life free from alcohol and drugs is beneficial. Living beneath the cloud of addiction is a life littered with chaos and pain for the addicted and his or her loved ones.

However, even though any action toward sobriety is advantageous, there are parts of the traditional rehab process that stand to be improved upon. Elements of Christian alcohol and drug rehabs directly address these deficiencies.

But how has that been accomplished? And what has been left out from traditional drug rehabs?

The journey to recovery is long and difficult. Every day is a struggle, some more than others. On your sobriety anniversary, you celebrate every day where you said “no,” every day that you stayed committed to your goals, and everything you have accomplished. Because of your sobriety, you have made your future bright. This is a huge accomplishment! Take time to invest in your future even more by celebrating your sobriety anniversary. There are numerous ways for your celebration to not lead to relapse. Keep reading for a few ideas on how you can celebrate your sobriety anniversary with those who matter most, including yourself.

Thank the People Who Supported You

Recovery is a huge personal accomplishment, but the likelihood is that you could not have gotten there without other people’s help.

Living with mental illness or a substance use disorder (SUD) can create a range of issues for someone including the toll they can take on your personal, social, and professional lives. From poor physical health to damaged relationships to negatively affecting work, SUDs and mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and trauma can wreak havoc. Fortunately, effective treatment options do exist and recovery is possible. So how do you get to that point?

Navigating the treatment process to get to recovery can be daunting for some, but it doesn’t have to be. While family and friends can be most helpful, understanding, and supportive, knowing what steps to take with your employer, your rights, and your benefits aren’t quite as clearcut.

For people recovering from alcoholism, managing alcohol cravings can be a daily struggle, but what you eat can help. The key is to choose foods that improve digestion, promote steady blood sugar throughout the day, or support brain chemistry and cognition. While health digestion optimizes the body’s ability to absorb amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that can reduce cravings, steady blood sugar normalizes hunger-causing hormones, such as insulin and leptin. Additionally, getting enough lean protein contributes to the production of chemicals associated with reward and well-being, such as dopamine and serotonin. If you or someone you know is in recovery from drinking, here are the best foods that reduce alcohol cravings.

Even if we love our family more than anything, they can be trying. It can be difficult to accept someone for all of their positive attributes as well as their faults. We try, but we occasionally fall short. And that’s okay. Because at the end of the day, we’re all human. We’re doing the best we can and that’s all that can be asked of us.

But what happens when the things being asked of us seem beyond our control? What if these things legitimately are beyond our control?

Addiction is a disease that takes and takes and takes. It takes away identities, families, jobs, passions, and lives. It’s a three-fold disease that impacts the person physically, mentally, and spiritually. In order for the addiction to heal, all three areas need to be treated.

Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation backs this up. Put simply, Maslow believed that people have the intense desire to be all they can be; basically, doing what you are meant to do.

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy,” wrote Maslow. “What a man can be, he must be.”

There is a desire for change when a person enters an addiction recovery program. The habits and tendencies that previously drove their decision-making have been deemed unhealthy, unproductive, and they are unwilling to continue down the same road.

This leads many to seek addiction recovery treatment. Many people struggling with addiction are lost and a curriculum based on teachings found in the Bible help them to recover from their sickness.

But it all begins with a dream of starting over and living a new life.

Addiction is one of the most difficult things one may go through or heal through. Where other problems or health issues can be helped with medications or financial expenditures, addiction therapy has to take place primarily in your mind! The following mindsets will help you work through addiction recovery in a positive and effective way.