Battling With Emotions During Recovery

Recovery is an emotional time as you wrestle with a mix of feelings that may have been kept inside for years during active addiction. One day, you may feel angry and the next lonely – and it’s all perfectly normal. That said, a big part of a successful recovery is to understand and accept these feelings so they don’t jeopardize your hard-won sobriety. 

Here’s a look at a few common emotions you may be struggling with.  

• Stress and anxiety: Many women battle with stress and anxiety during rehab. You’re going through a big life change and you're likely experiencing a sense of loss and worry. If your anxiety worsens, you could be struggling with an anxiety disorder and will need professional help.
• Anger: Any time we're angry and we're feeling anger, we know that underneath that anger there's a hurt. There's something that's hurting us inside. Typically when we cut ourselves off from anger, we begin to feel depression. In fact, many experts says that depression is nothing more than anger turned inward.
• Fear: The unknowns of recovery and of your new sober life can be downright scary. What’s more, you may be struggling with a fear of failure due to a lack of self-confidence. 
• Shame and guilt: It’s natural and healthy to feel shame or guilt over your past behavior or action during active addiction, but know this: Constantly beating yourself up over the past can prevent you from moving forward in your recovery. 
• Loneliness: If you feel alone, misunderstood or uncared for, well, you’re not alone. Loneliness is an emotion that can stick with you long after recovery, even when you’re supported by loved ones.

Managing Your Emotions 

At Rising Roads, we focus on the unique needs of women in recovery. We help our female clients discover new coping strategies to manage (not run from) their emotions, so they can continue to heal and reclaim healthy, sober lives. To learn more, call today: 866-746-1558. 

5 Fall Foods to Add to Your Recovery Diet

Fall is perhaps the perfect season to head to your local farmer’s market and load up on some of the season’s nutrient-packed produce. And it’s not just about pumpkin (which does pack a host of health benefits) – but a variety of fruits and vegetables that can help reenergize and rejuvenate your body to do the hard work of recovery. Plus, they taste great! 

Here are a few fall favorites to add to your recovery diet:

1. Apples: One crunchy, yummy apple packs roughly 20 percent of your daily fiber – if you eat the skin, that is – so it’s the perfect food to keep your regular and fend off any food cravings throughout the day. Plus, an apple is bursting with immune-boosting vitamin C.
2. Beets: Sweet and earthy beets boast vitamin C and fiber as well as essential minerals like potassium (for healthy nerve and muscle function) and manganese (good for your bones, liver and kidneys). 
3. Artichokes: From the leaves to the heart, the humble artichoke is a nutrient powerhouse full of antioxidants, fiber, vitamin K (for brain and bone health), folic acid and potassium (for blood pressure).
4. Brussels sprouts: Each mini cabbage is full of antioxidants, vitamin K and C, folate and filling fiber. Plus, they deliver lutein and zeazanthin, known for their age-fighting properties.
5. Pomegranates: These powerful little bulbs have a short season but a long list of health benefits, including protection against certain cancers and Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and bad cholesterol. Plus, pomegranates have more antioxidants than green tea.

Let Us Fuel Your Recovery
Rising Roads offers weekly nutrition classes, in addition to shopping preparation and cooking classes. The camaraderie of cooking together, gaining new skills, learning new recipes and enjoying the process is a positive move forward. To learn more, call today: 866-746-1558. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held each October in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer risks, the value of screening and early detection, and available treatment options. More than 249,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer every year, and nearly 41,000 die from the disease.

Numerous studies have found that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer in women by about 7 percent to 10 percent for each one drink of alcohol consumed per day on average, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Women who have two to three alcoholic drinks per day have a 20 percent higher risk of breast cancer compared to non-drinkers. 

If you have an alcohol abuse problem, getting help is perhaps the best thing you can do to safeguard your breast health. 

Tips to Lower Your Risk of Breast Cancer
While there’s no one sure way to prevent breast cancer, making healthy choices, like eating right and staying active, can help lower your risk. Here are some tips from the ACS: 

• Get screened. Regular screening will make it more likely that, if you do have breast cancer, it’s diagnosed early. The ACS guidelines state that women of average risk (ask your healthcare provider about your personal risk factors) should have yearly mammograms and clinical breast examination starting at age 40. Women in their 20s and 30s, need a clinical breast exam done every three years.
• Quit smoking. Limited but accumulating research indicates that smoking may slightly increase breast cancer risk, notes the ACS. This has been particularly found among long-term, heavy smokers and women who start smoking before their first pregnancy.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity increases the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, says the ACS. And risk is about 1.5 times higher in overweight women and about 2 times higher in obese women than in lean women.
• Make exercise a priority. Growing evidence suggests that women who get regular physical activity have a 10 percent to 25 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who are inactive, notes the ACS.

Alcohol Abuse Treatment for Women 

Rising Roads Recovery is dedicated to helping women who are struggling with alcohol use disorder and/or a co-occurring mental disorder. Our treatment center was created to inspire women to thrive in recovery. To learn more, call today: 866-746-1558.

Do You Know the Warning Signs of Mental Illness?

It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week, which was created by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and takes place each year during the first week of October. The goal: to educate, raise awareness, and stop stigma surrounding mental illness. 

According to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7.9 million people in the U.S. experience both a mental disorder and substance use disorder simultaneously. Either disorder — substance use or mental illness — can develop first. 

Due to a mix of hormones, cultural pressures, and a higher risk for physical and emotional abuse, women are particularly susceptible to depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder, note experts. And yet you might not always be aware of the warning signs. 

While each illness has its own symptoms, the NAMI recommends watching for the following red flags:

• Excessive worrying or fear
• Feeling excessively sad or low
• Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
• Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
• Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
• Avoiding friends and social activities
• Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
• Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
• Changes in eating habits, such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
• Changes in sex drive
• Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality)
• Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
• Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
• Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
• Thinking about suicide
• Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
• An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance 

Take Back Your Mental Health

Perhaps the best way you can celebrate MIAW is to seek help if you or someone you love is struggling with a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder. At Rising Roads, our staff is here to help you take your physical and mental health back. To learn more about our psychiatric consultations, call us today: 866-746-1558.