Addiction treatment is never a “one and done” experience. Recovery is a life-long process of day-to-day maintenance. It becomes routine and it gets easier, but it always takes work. You have to take recovery one day at a time, no matter what. There will never be a day where you’ve “completed” your recovery journey. The [...]
Summer is here! While the warm weather and fun activities of summer may make you excited to get out there and soak up the sun, many people in recovery - especially those in early recovery - find that summertime months can be very triggering. With so many parties, get-togethers, picnics, beach days, BBQs, camp [...]
By now, I think we can all agree that virtual doctor’s appointments are very convenient. At Shanti Wellness and Recovery, our patients love the convenience of being able to access cutting edge, evidence based addiction treatment via telemedicine. It wasn’t always this easy to seek care for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in general or [...]
As we discussed last month, neurodivergent people - including Autistic people and people with ADHD - are more likely than “neurotypical” people to suffer from Substance Use Disorder. The neurodiversity movement continues to gain momentum and visibility. As it does, many advocates with lived experiences have begun speaking out about the failures of [...]
“Addiction” is a word that is used pretty casually in common speech. We all say we’re “addicted” to something, whether that’s Starbucks, a television show or a certain candy. What we really mean is we enjoy those things a lot and we go out of our way to enjoy them on a regular basis. [...]
Have you been struggling to find a treatment “spot” for yourself or a loved one who is struggling with addiction - also called Substance Use Disorder (SUD) - in Portland, Oregon? This problem is widespread as we continue to wade through the opioid epidemic and the mental health fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, [...]
When most people think of addiction treatment, they think of residential treatment, colloquially referred to as “rehab.” In the popular imagination, addiction is a problem with only one solution. You’ll hear things like “she needs to go to rehab,” “I’m trying to get him into rehab,” and “they’re trying to make me go to rehab.” [...]
There’s a well-known link between addiction and anxiety disorders. One often quoted statistic is that 20% of folks with an anxiety disorder also suffer from Substance Use Disorder and 20% of folks with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) struggle with anxiety disorder of some kind. This leads to the question: Does anxiety cause SUD? It [...]
The use and distribution of fentanyl is on the rise in Oregon and in Portland, in particular. Five Oregonians die at the hands of fentanyl every week. During the pandemic, drug overdoses - largely owing to an increase in the use and availability of fentanyl - increased by over 40% in the state of [...]
Structure. Routine. Discipline. What do these words mean to you? For some, they represent safety, sameness, predictability. Others feel stifled or even oppressed by what these concepts represent. Our previous experiences - or lack of experience - with structure and routine will often color how we feel about embracing these tools in recovery. Whatever these [...]
