Addicted young people

About teenagers and college students additions

Alcohol Impacts People With ADHD

by

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects attention, impulse control, organization, motivation, and emotional regulation. Alcohol affects many of these same brain functions. When ADHD and alcohol use overlap, the combination can create challenges involving decision-making, relationships, work, school, medication management, and mental health. Some people with ADHD may initially experience alcohol as relaxing. It might seem to … Read more

Body Image, Shame & Addiction

by

Body image is more than simply liking or disliking the way you look. It includes the thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and behaviors connected to your body, weight, shape, and appearance. When someone develops persistent body dissatisfaction, the emotional distress can influence eating, exercise, relationships, self-esteem, and sometimes substance use. For some people, alcohol or other drugs … Read more

Mood Disorders and Substance Use

by

Mood disorders and addiction frequently overlap, creating a complicated cycle in which emotional symptoms and substance use can intensify one another. Someone living with depression or bipolar disorder may turn to alcohol or drugs hoping to escape sadness, anxiety, emotional pain, insomnia, or overwhelming mood changes. What begins as temporary relief can eventually create additional … Read more

Social Media and Compulsive Use

by

Technology helps us stay connected to family, friends, work, entertainment, and communities around the world. A smartphone can provide companionship during a lonely moment, information within seconds, and opportunities to maintain relationships that distance once made difficult. But what happens when connection becomes compulsion? For some people, checking notifications, scrolling social media, gaming, messaging, or … Read more

Is Your Job an Addiction?

by

Working hard is often praised. Staying late, answering emails after hours, skipping vacations, and always being available can even be viewed as signs of dedication. But what happens when working stops feeling like a choice? For some people, work can develop into a compulsive pattern sometimes described as work addiction or workaholism. The person may … Read more

Jada: Addiction to Healing

by

Jada Pinkett Smith has spoken publicly about periods in her younger life when alcohol, drugs, and other compulsive behaviors became problematic. Her story provides an opportunity to discuss how addiction does not always look the same from one person to another. Someone can maintain a career, relationships, and public success while privately recognizing that certain … Read more

Celebrities Seeking Recovery

by

Celebrity life is often associated with wealth, success, glamorous events, and seemingly unlimited opportunities. Yet behind the carefully managed public image, celebrities can experience the same substance use disorders, mental health challenges, trauma, grief, relationship problems, and emotional distress as anyone else. In some cases, the pressures surrounding fame can create additional barriers to recognizing … Read more

Is It Burnout or Addiction?

by

Feeling exhausted, emotionally drained, unmotivated, or desperate for relief can make someone wonder: Am I burned out, or is something more serious happening? Burnout and addiction can sometimes look similar from the outside. Both may involve changes in mood, declining performance, withdrawal from other people, disrupted sleep, irritability, and difficulty managing everyday responsibilities. They are … Read more

Spot Manipulative Triggers

by

Manipulation is not always easy to identify because it may be subtle rather than openly controlling or threatening. It can appear through guilt, excessive compliments, silence, blame, fear, pressure to act quickly, or comments that cause you to question your own judgment. These emotional triggers may be used intentionally or unintentionally to influence how you … Read more

Dax Shepard’s Sobriety Journey

by

Actor, comedian, and podcast host Dax Shepard has spoken openly about his struggles with alcohol and other drugs, as well as the challenges of maintaining recovery. His experience provides an important reminder that addiction recovery is not always a straight path. Even after many years without alcohol or illicit drugs, vulnerability can remain, and relapse … Read more