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writers-potion · 23 days

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i was wondering if you could give some points and tips on writing about a character who is suffering from DRUG ABUSE

Writing A Drug Addict Character

Know Your Drugs

Was the drug invented? A scene using insulin set in 1820 is problematic since this treatment wasn’t discovered until the 1900s. Fentanyl shouldn’t be used in a 1930s scene since it wasn’t available for use until the 1960s—opium or morphine would be more accurate choices.

Was the method invented? Since insulin must be given as a shot, that scene is even less authentic as the hypodermic needle wasn’t invented until the mid-1800s. Older historical fiction could involve the use of poultices and mustard packs, while skin drug patches (transdermal patches) are only appropriate in more modern scenes.

The most common drugs abused by gangs are: Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Heroin, Cocaine

Or, it can be prescription drugs

Although many medications can be abused, the following three classes are most commonly abused:

Opioids—usually prescribed to treat pain;

Central nervous system (CNS) depressants—used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders; and

Stimulants—most often prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). (common example? caffeine)

Write In Stages

Stage 1: First Use

Some people use a substance for the first time out of curiosity, while others use substances due to peer pressure. People may also be prescribed medication, such as opioids, by their doctor. Individuals may view their first use as a one-time occurrence, but this opens the door for future use. Some people try a substance one time and never use it again.

You character will feel:

Angry and/or desperate

Miserable

Lonely

Trying to run away from a certain problem

Persuaded into doing drug

Guilty

Stage 2: Regular Use

If a person uses a substance and enjoys how it makes them feel or believes it will improve their life, they may start to use the substance regularly. They may use drugs or drink alcohol on the weekends while at parties or hanging out with friends. Occasional use may become a regular occurrence. It might become a part of a person’s routine.

Your character:

Will start getting in careless activities while doing drugs

Will probably be violent

Won’t think he has any issue whatsoever and shrug it off

Start associating themselves with harder drug users

Have a false sense of security that they’re able to quit whenever they want.

Stage 3: Risky Use

The next stage after regular use is risky use. A person will continue to use a substance despite the physical, mental, legal or social consequences. Their use likely started as a way to escape or have fun with peers but has now taken priority over other aspects of their life.

Your Character will feel:

uncomfortable around family members/friends who start to notice

Exhibit more reckless behavior

Driving under influence, stealing money to finance substance use, etc.

Underperforming at work or school

Experience tension in personal relationships

Stage 4: Dependence

The next stage is a physical, mental and emotional reliance on the substance. The individual is no longer using the substance for medical or recreational purposes. When a person doesn’t use the substance, their body will exhibit withdrawal symptoms, such as tremors, headaches, nausea, anxiety and muscle cramps.

Your Chracter Will:

Develop a sort of rountine/typical place where they abuse

Believe that the substance is essential for survival

Use substance even when it's unnecessary

Stage 5: Substance Use Disorder

While some people use dependency and substance use disorder interchangeably, they’re very different. Once a person develops a substance use disorder, substance misuse becomes a compulsion rather than a conscious choice. They’ll also experience severe physical and mental side effects, depending on the substance they’re using.

Your Character:

Has noe developed a chronic disease with the risk of relapse

Is now incapable of quitting on their own

Feel like life is impossible to deal with without the substance.

Lose their job, fail out of school, become isolated from friends and family or give up their passions or hobbies.

Research the Trends

Medical knowledge changes over time and with it the drugs prescribed. This then impacts the type of prescription drugs available on the streets.

late 1800s: chloral hydrate used for anxiety and insomnia > bromides > 1920s: barbiturates, barbital > benzodiazepines ("benzos") > early 2000s: opiod drugs > opiod drug bans led to growth of black markets: ilicit fentanyl > and so on...

Different countries/locations will have varying trends of drug abuse (depending on laws, availability, costs, etc.)

Research the Slag

look for "[drug name] trip report" on YouTube, etc. to get first-hand accounts of how drug addicts behave.

The main focus should always be to use the words your characters would use in ways that suit the world you have created.

The slang for certain drugs is a difficult vocabulary to maintain as it is ever-changing and varies based on country, region, town, even by streets. Some writers use what they know or have heard locally, others invent their own.

Resources

FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and DEA online databases and drug resources

Social networking groups focusing on related specialty writing topics, such as trauma or emergency medicine

Newspaper articles and medical journals are great places to find real cases.

The US national poison center

Helpful Vocab:

Addled - sense of confusion + complete lack of mental awareness

Crazed - emotional anguish experienced by the addict

Desperate

Despondent

Erratic

Fidgety

Hopeless

Impressionable

Struggling

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anarchywoofwoof · 5 months

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tomorrow will mark week number 3 without my vyvanse. needless to say, it has not been the easiest 3 weeks of my life.

that being said, this is probably a fitting time to remind everyone that there are quantifiable reasons for the ongoing stimulant shortage, which is projected now to last through 2024 despite federal attempts to remedy the problem.

first, while yes, there has been increased access to medications via telehealth, keep in mind that people with long COVID are using ADHD drugs to treat their symptoms. this is a proven medical approach that has not been accounted for in the ongoing production of ADHD medications.

about 41.4 million Adderall prescriptions were dispensed in the United States in 2021, up more than 10% from 2020, and it's anticipated that number will rise again.

but that is a problem, because US health officials are purposefully hampering production, not having considered the differences in treating an illness such as ADHD vs. disorders that may require opioids:

what’s different about ADHD is that the first-line treatment is a stimulant drug with the potential for misuse or addiction — and so it’s a matter not just for pharmaceutical companies but for law enforcement. The Drug Enforcement Agency has hedged on the side of keeping production of these drugs down to limit the potential for abuse. The fear is that Adderall would follow the same path as opioid painkillers: careless overprescribing would lead to an epidemic of drug addiction — this time, to stimulants.

...

Manufacturers are not mandated to report the reasons for a drug shortage and any public information they do provide can be vague. That has proven true with the Adderall shortage too. However, experts say that the role of the federal government in regulating one of Adderall’s active ingredients makes this shortage distinct. One of the active ingredients in Adderall is amphetamine, and therefore the drug is regulated as a controlled substance under federal law.

...

The DEA also sets annual production quotas for Adderall, as with other controlled substances that have recognized medical uses, based on estimates of legitimate medical and scientific needs, as well as the potential for diversion and abuse. However, those quotas are not well understood; while the agency announced in 2019 that it was allowing for more production of Adderall, given the apparent growing need in the patient population, we still don’t know exactly how much production has been authorized or the limits set for individual companies. “The DEA gives the companies a set amount of raw material ‘quota’ to manufacture these products, but we don’t know which company gets how much,” said Erin Fox, a pharmacist at the University of Utah and leading expert on US drug shortages. “Some companies say they’re short, but DEA says that they haven’t used it all, so lots of finger-pointing.” Indeed, the companies that produce Adderall and its generic version have cited both a shortage of the active ingredients and an increase in demand to explain their ongoing shortages. But another factor, new limits on the dispensing of the drug at US pharmacies, is making the situation worse. In 2022, drug distributors reached a settlement with most states over their role in the proliferation of prescription opioids that helped create an addiction and overdose epidemic. Bloomberg reported this week [in April 2023] that, as part of that settlement, secret limits were placed on the dispensation of controlled substances last July [2022]. That has in turn prevented pharmacists from filling the prescription of every patient who comes to their pharmacy with an Adderall order. According to Bloomberg, in essence, manufacturers are supposed to limit a pharmacy’s supply of drugs covered by the Controlled Substances Act, which includes opioids as well as stimulants. Pharmacists can only fill a certain number of prescriptions over a set period. But there has been widespread confusion over these rules because the pharmacists themselves don’t know what the limits are or when they are approaching them. Sometimes, they won’t know their access to Adderall has been cut off until trying to fill a prescription.

in other words, the ass-backwards failure that is America's "War On Drugs" continues to rage on, this time at a pharmacy near you.

rather than approaching a complex situation that requires a delicate understanding of the plight of the common person suffering with mental health issues or other disorders that affect their daily life, the US Government has chose a brute force, one-size-fits all approach. because when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

as i highlighted above, this problem will continue throughout 2024. in other words, no end in sight.

one side note, as someone who has the (misfortune) of working in the industry: the technology sector is going to feel this at some point, if not already, given their heavy reliance on Adderall to get anything done. the Class War eventually comes for us all, in one way, shape or form. tech bros are going to realize that they aren't as immune as they maybe once thought.

#text #war on drugs #adhd #adhd problems #mental health #united states

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world-of-wales · 9 months

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∘₊✧ 𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙲𝙴𝚂𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙴𝚂 ✧₊∘

⋆ Action On Addiction

Action on Addiction is a charitable organization that has been at the forefront of tackling addiction-related issues. Founded in 2007, the organization's mission is to find effective ways to help individuals struggling with addiction and to support their families in the recovery process.

Action on Addiction is dedicated to addressing addiction related issues and supporting individuals and families affected by substance misuse. Through their work, they provide evidence-based treatment, counseling, and rehabilitation services to help people overcome addiction and achieve long-term recovery.

Recognizing that addiction not only affects the individual but also their loved ones, causing emotional and psychological distress, the provide counseling and support services to families, enabling them to cope with the challenges and improve their own well-being.

The organization also conducts research and campaigns to raise awareness about addiction, reduce stigma, and advocate for better policies and resources for those struggling with substance use disorders. By working closely with communities, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, it strives to make a significant impact in tackling addiction and providing hope and support for those seeking to break free from the cycle of dependency.

In 2021, The Action on Addiction merged with Forward Trust and The Princess of Wales became the patron of Forward Trust.

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princesscatherinemiddleton · 1 year

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A Potted History of The Princess of Wales and the Early Years

I had an idea, at about 6 o'clock this evening, to go through everything Catherine has done with the Early Years before tomorrow and this has been rushed but let's go...

After marrying Prince William in 2011, the then-Duchess of Cambridge began working with a number of grass-roots charities, which focused on mental health, addiction, and hospice care. Her first set of patronages - announced in January 2012 - included three charities within this sphere: Action on Addiction, The Art Room and EACH. Early the following year, Place2Be joined her list of patronages. During this time, Catherine visited her patronages, as well as other charities, and began to develop an understanding of the importance of childhood and mental health. She also made a number of private visits to children's hospices and her patronages. In 2013, she became a mother for the first time, which she spoke about in a 2020 podcast with Giovanna Fletcher (Happy Mum, Happy Baby), allowing her insight into what new mums experienced. It was around the same time she first began to publicly support Children's Hospice Week.

Her work continued to develop and she began supporting the initiatives started by her patronages, such as M-PACT, which aims to improve the well-being of children and families affected by substance misuse. In 2015, Catherine began to engage in more "taboo" topics, such as fostering and the care system, as well as hospital schools, and women in prisons. By doing this, she was able to see how early intervention could positively impact on young lives. Catherine also undertook an engagement with Mind (her first engagement on World Mental Health Day) and began to meet with professionals, such as headteachers, to develop her knowledge.

In 2016, Catherine supported the first ever Children's Mental Health Week (fun fact, in 2021, Kensington Palace retweeted some CMHW work I did in school). She also guest edited the Huffington Post, promoting Young Minds Matter. She became Patron of both the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Familes and Action for Children that year (a representative from both patronages is in her recently-convened Early Years Advisory Group). 2016 also saw Catherine bring together her work along with her husband's and brother-in-law's to set up Heads Together, an awareness campaign focusing on mental health. The trio also continued to celebrate World Mental Health Day, which they would continue to do for many years.

The then-Duchess of Cambridge visted the Anna Freud Centre’s Early Years Parenting Unit, which works with parents who have personality disorders and aims to help them seek help and keep families together. Throughout this period, she undertook a number of engagements focusing on promoting Heads Together, including releasing a personal video alongside William and Harry for #OktoSay and appearing on BBC Radio 1. Heads Together culminated in the 2017 London Marathon, which she attended. 2018 saw Catherine begin to promote Mentally Healthy Schools. She also continued to expand her range of interests, attending the Headstart conference privately and visiting GOSH.

She continued to develop her interests and began looking into neuroscience and its impact on mental health and early development. She also, for the first time, began showing an interest in the perinatal, with her also becoming Patron of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In mid-2018, Catherine attended a symposium on the importance of early intervention. That year, she also convened an Early Years Steering group - showing the beginnings of her current work - and attended the Mental Health in Education Conference.

Alongside William, she met with the BBC, where she spoke about children's wellbeing and the positive impact media can have. She also undertook a two-week private work placement at Kingston Hospital, on the maternity wards. In 2020, Catherine launched 5 Big Questions, and promoted this with a UK-wide tour, including a return visit to HMP Send. The questions were in the form of a short survey, open to the public.

The afore-mentioned Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast aired in early 2020. During the chat, Catherine confessed to feeling upset and scared after the birth of George, and spoke about the importance of mums' seeking help. During the pandemic, she chaired a Zoom roundtable of health professionals and joined a number of calls with midwives. Throughout the pandemic, a number of her Zoom calls and phone meetings were held with medical and mental health professionals, as well as with schools, children, parents and young families. She leant her public support to the BBC's Tiny Happy People project, as well.

Catherine used her resources to pull together donations for Baby Banks in the summer of 2020, and confessed to volunteering for her local Norfolk branch in her own time. The partnerships created by Catherine continue to this day. She met with parents and peers who have been supported by peer-to-peer parent-led support programmes, as well as representatives from Home-Start UK and the National Childbirth Trust. She continued her work with the Scouts, with whom she had been volunteering from the early days of her marriage, and continued to promote the importance of the outdoors, an area she really focused on when producing her Back to Nature garden in 2018. The Duchess of Cambridge also looked at miscarriages, during a visit to Tommy's. The results of her 5 Big Questions survey were shared as 5 Big Insights later that year. Catherine met with First Lady Jill Biden in 2021, with whom she co-hosted a roundtable discussion with a number of representatives from the early years sector.

In 2021, Catherine finally launched the Royal Foundation's Centre for Early Childhood. Since the launch of the Centre, she has continued to develop her understanding of early neurodevelopment, and travelled to Denmark - world leader's in childhood mental health - to learn how they promote early years wellbeing. Catherine continued to focus on young people, with a long-awaited appearance on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, where she read The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, a book she later shared was one of her childhood favourites. During the year, she became Patron of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, adding to the other child-focused patronages she had gained over the years (including Family Action and Evelina London). Catherine hosted another roundtable to learn about the progress made by the Centre for Early Childhood and recently convened an Early Years Advisory Group. Throughout the past few years, she has attended regular "Early Years" meetings.

#mine #kate #royaltyedit #shaping us: an early years campaign

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mentalhealthhelpsblog · 4 months

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What is psychosis?

Psychosis is disconnection from reality. People may have false beliefs or experience things that aren’t real. Psychosis isn’t a condition. It’s a term that describes a collection of symptoms.

Two important types of psychosis include:

* Hallucinations. These are when parts of your brain mistakenly act like they would if your senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste) picked up on something actually happening. An example of a hallucination is hearing voices that aren’t there (auditory hallucination).

* Delusions. These are false beliefs that someone holds onto very strongly, even when others don’t believe them or there’s plenty of evidence that a belief isn't true. For example, people with delusions of control believe someone is controlling their thoughts or actions remotely.

Psychosis may be a symptom of a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. However, a person can experience psychosis and never be diagnosed with schizophrenia or any other disorder.

Other causes of psychosis

* Misuse of alcohol, prescription medications or recreational drugs

* Severe head injuries (concussions and traumatic brain injuries).

* Traumatic experiences.

* Complex PTSD

* Unusually high levels of stress or anxiety.

The following medical conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people:

* HIV and AIDS.

* malaria.

* syphilis.

* Alzheimer's disease.

* Parkinson's disease.

* hypoglycaemia (an abnormally low level of glucose in the blood)

* lupus.

* multiple sclerosis.

How is psychosis treated?

*The treatment of psychosis depends mainly on the underlying cause. In those cases, treating the underlying cause is often the only treatment needed.

For psychosis that needs direct treatment, there are several approaches.

* Medications. Antipsychotic drugs are the most common type of medications to treat psychosis, but other medications, such as antidepressants or lithium, may also help.

* Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This type of psychotherapy can help with certain mental health conditions that can cause psychosis or make it worse.

* Inpatient treatment. For severe cases of psychosis, especially when a person may poses a danger to themselves or others, inpatient treatment in a hospital or specialist facility is sometimes necessary.

* Support programs or care. Many people experience psychosis because of other conditions such as alcohol or substance use disorders and personality disorders. Treating these disorders or helping people with social, work and family programs can sometimes reduce the impact of psychosis and related conditions. These programs can also make it easier for people to manage psychosis and their underlying condition.

#symptoms of psychosis #mental health #pyschosis #mental health advocate

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csa-survivor-confessions · 9 months

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Coping Skills: Emotional Flashbacks

What are Emotional Flashbacks?

An emotional flashback is when we are triggered into living in the emotional/psychological state we experienced during our traumatic childhood experiences. We experience a regression to the emotional state of a child in trauma. This can be an experience that we are not aware of, either thinking it is about the current situation or knowing that our emotions are all over the place/disproportionate but unsure where the feelings are coming from.

Example A) You could be in a situation where you can’t easily leave (IE leaving could negatively affect a job, can not get out of a social situation or traffic). This can cause you to feel trapped. This trapped feeling is elevated beyond a normal amount and causes you to be dysregulated and negatively impacts the situation. You then might spend hours in a state of feeling trapped and the knock-on emotional effects like helplessness, fear, agitation etc. This could be because you were often or always physically or emotionally trapped in a situation of abuse as a child.

Example B) At a performance review at work you receive feedback on areas where you could improve. Instead of feeling moderately discouraged, you feel terror and shame even to the point of having trembling hands or crying. You feel a consistent level of fear hanging around. This could be because criticism or not meeting a level of “perfection” often resulted in shaming or punishment.

Emotional Flashbacks In The Brain:

When we experience chronic childhood trauma we have our neurology and biochemistry altered. So when we have external or internal reminders of our trauma those old patterns are activated. We can end up in the emotional state we were in during childhood. We are “hijacked” by our amygdala, the emotional and survival parts of our brain.

Our stress response system is activated (Fight/Flight/Freeze/Fawn) and we are thrown out of our window of tolerance (hyper/hypoarousal). The neurochemistry of our brains and the hormonal chemistry of our bodies during stressful events cause our brains to encode information differently. Experiences of trauma can leave our body unable to properly process trauma and leave us vulnerable to living in stress constantly. The change in the way our brain encodes information leads to us being able to be triggered into flashbacks.

The repeating of mental and behaviour patterns from our traumatic childhood are also in part facilitated by our Implicit Memory System.

Sings You Are In An Emotional Flashback:

When our emotions are not matching the current situation we are in or the intensity is disproportionate to what we are going through right now is a good clue that you have been triggered into an emotional flashback. Your body is flooded with the brain and body patterns of a younger you.

Common Feelings:

Childlike

Fragile

Helpless

Hopeless

Intense shame

Lost

On edge

Rage

Small

Terror

Unstable

Common Thought Patterns:

Black-and-white thinking

Can be tied to intrusive thoughts

Catastrophising

Confusion

Difficulty finding words to communicate

Distrusting people or situations you have trusted

Judgmental of other

Mind going blank

Self judgmental

Trouble interacting with other people

Common Behaviours:

Disordered eating behaviours

Binge eating

Purging

Restricted eating

Endless scrolling

Getting into fights

Getting lost in fictional stories to the detriment of your relationships and ability to to do self-care

Isolating

Utilising substances to excess:

Alcohol

Misuse of OTC medications

Misuse of prescriptions

Unregulated drugs (heroin, cocaine, etc.)

Triggers of Emotional Flashbacks:

More information and the breakdown of coping under the cut

Triggers can be internal or external and don’t even always make sense right away.

External:

Being in a place where traumatic things happened

Being drunk and/or high

Being somewhere that looks like where the trauma happened

Being with the people who were involved in trauma

Criticism

Crowds

Facial expressions or body language perceived as threatening

Facial expressions or body language perceived as disapproval or disgust

Loud voices

Media depicting events similar to your trauma

Medical with characters who remind you of the perpetrator of the abuse

Others engaged in fighting

Passive-aggressive behaviour or perceived as passive-aggressive

People who are drunk and/or high

People who look like those who traumatised you

Physical touch of any kind

Smells that remind you of trauma

Sounds that remind you of the trauma

And anything else that our brain has linked to trauma

Internal:

Daydreams that drift into visualising traumatic situations

Illness

Injuries

Intrusive thoughts

Physical pain from any source

Rumination on personal faults

Rumination of feelings of vulnerability

Thirst and hunger

and others

Coping With Emotional Flashbacks

These steps are adapted from the work of Pete Walker (LMFT)

These skills do not all need to be done every time, sometimes skipping a step might be necessary or repeating a step.

1) Say To Yourself: “I am having a flashback”

When you realise you are feeling a flashback it can feel very frightening and placing yourself in time can be very hard. You can feel helpless, by acknowledging you are in a flashback you can know you are in the now

2) Remind Yourself: “I feel afraid but I am not in danger”

You are scared, but that does not mean you are in the same place you were when you were hurt. You are in the now, and you have the power to make decisions now.

3) Own Your Right to Have Boundaries

You can explain to people that their behaviours are upsetting you. You also have the right to leave situations that are causing distress.

4) Speak to Your Inner Child

Imagine your inner child and tell yourself what you needed to hear in the past. Emotional flashbacks are pulling from past fears, your inner child deserves to be treasured with unconditional love. Tell the little you that you will be there for them now. They are not abandoned. If there are specific messages you ache to hear from others, offer those reassurances to the inner child.

5) Deconstruct Eternity Thinking

Challenge the idea that this feeling will last forever. The pain was long in the past and now you can be in charge of moving forward. Again try and hold that this is a flashback and therefore not forever.

6) Remind Yourself You Are In An Adult body

You have control now, you are bigger and can make your own choices. You have the power to act now in ways you didn’t have in the past. Like with eternity thinking you can practice reminding yourself of this regularly to increase the ability to hold this truth during flashbacks.

7) Ease Back Into Your Body

Work through the dissociative state that flashbacks put you in.

Breathe deeply: focus on the pace of our breathing and how it feels.

Gently work with your body to promote relaxation: Try progressive muscle relaxation: Tighten each muscle group starting from the feet or forehead. Breathe in and hold as you tighten and then breathe out as you release the tension

Slow down your movements: Try to reduce the stress you’re putting on your body and move out of protective mode.

Get to a safe place: If you can get to a place where you feel relatively safe and can take time to soothe your body. Warm blankets, calming music, stuffed animals, and low-sensory environments can all help.

Feel fear without acting on it: Let the energy in your body move while in a place that feels safe. Attempt to not act out to the point of harm on the strong emotions. If to remain some action is necessary try to make sure the movement is not overexercising. You want to discharge the activation without hurting yourself. and then have plenty of time to rest. The goal is to be able to feel the fear without compulsive activity or shutdown.

8) Resist Drasticizing & Catastrophizing

Use thought-stopping: When thoughts that are degrading to yourself or trying to predict that things going forward will be horrible think stop and/or say stop. Putting pressure on your body as you think it, clapping your hands, or stomping your foot can help this be effective.

Use thought substitution and correction: Over time you can learn to replace the negative thought patterns with statements you memorise to counter the automatic thoughts. Statements that promote your self-efficacy and accomplishments.

9) Allow Yourself to Grieve

If you are in a place where you are safe, bringing grief into the moment can be efficacious in reducing the power of flashbacks. Feel the emotions brought up and offer yourself compassion. It’s okay to recognize and over time validate the pain and unfairness you have faced in the past. If helpful for you can imagine consoling your inner child.

10) Cultivate Safe Relationships & Seek Support

It’s good and healthy to learn to be able to handle flashbacks on your own. However, this does not mean it’s wrong or weak to reach out to others. Co-regulation, being with another person who helps you come back to a calmer and more engaged state, can be very powerful. Having people who you can reach out to during tough times with emotional flashbacks will help you to internalise the ability to manage yourself as well as be a lifeline if your symptoms are more overwhelming than normal.

You are not a burden by asking for help and sharing what helps you cope. It is important to be reciprocal with the help if the person is a friend, partner or family member (as opposed to professionals), this does mean that needing support makes you selfish or a bad person. Healing through bonds with other people is part of being human.

11) Learn The Triggers That tend to Provoke Emotional Flashbacks

Pay attention to what situations, people and thought patterns precede emotional flashbacks. Keeping a log can often be very helpful.

It can also be efficacious to consider which of these are non-essential activities, situations, and relationships (in the case of internal feelings or thoughts that can learn to deal with). The triggers that are not necessary for your life can be avoided or minimised. It’s not cowardly or wrong to step back from things that are only causing distress and not giving you anything you need.

Things that are necessary or unavoidable can be learned to be coped with or even modified. Learning coping skills to deal with different aspects of flashbacks, anxiety, dissociation, intrusive thoughts and sensory distress is key here. Managing the symptoms will make life easier as you learn them, generally before you can get to processing the more narrative aspects of trauma. Dealing with nervous system distress and vulnerability is generally very useful to do during recovery.

You can also figure out if the situation would allow you to bring aids like fidget toys, other stimming aids, ear defenders, things to colour/write with etc. If the situation itself can be modified, like allowing you to take more breaks. You can also request to be warned if triggering subject matter, flashing lights, group projects or other triggers are going to be a part of lessons/work so you can prepare yourself.

If the situation is with a job, reaching out to HR or a disability coordinator can be helpful or if in school there are usually offices that deal with disability and accommodations. However, a diagnosed mental illness might be necessary to make these options open to you. But the above-mentioned things like stimming aids, warnings and other things might be able to be negotiated with people without a diagnosis.

If you are dealing with interpersonal relationships you can do internal work to set up boundaries. This can start with what you will do to handle specific upsets and what actions you are willing to do. If safe you can share some of your boundaries so they are aware of where you stand. And you can even figure out if they are someone you can work together with to strengthen your relationship through ongoing dialogue about boundaries and supporting one another’s health and well-being.

Dealing with people who are not going to work with you or are very hurtful to you can be very hard. One way to deal with this is to decide how much of yourself you are going to invest. If it is unavoidable that you have to be with them, like extended family or colleagues, you can back away from putting in more time and feelings. You don’t have to put in extra work or hours than you have to. You can share less of your emotional world and perspectives. Conversation can be kept to a minimum. This does not mean you need to be rude or mean, you can be polite, but you try to make your emotional wellness not tied to them.

You can also figure out what is intolerable for you, what will cause you to leave an interaction with them or even cut off contact completely. It’s good to know what behaviour violates you psychologically and/or physically. It’s important to think this through, to make sure the line is drawn at a reasonable point and that you have ways to keep yourself safe should people cross it.

12) Figure Out What You Are Flashing Back To

This step should be done with caution if you are not out of the traumatising situation (IE living with the perpetrator[s] or with other abusive parties).

What triggers flashbacks and what emotions are being experienced can give you clues as to what wounds you are carrying with you. Our community has generally experienced CSA, but it is still important to learn what emotions these experiences have left in you. Recognizing the emotion can help you work through it in conversation, writing, art, and finding the best coping skills. If you seek professional help it can lead to what treatment might work best. Knowing what feelings you have and their origin can also help you grieve and offer yourself compassion and understanding. It can make working with your inner child and/or inner world more healing.

It can help with re-parenting, if this is something you need to do, to know what deficits and abandonment you are still carrying with you.

Knowing what triggers bring up with strongest responses, and the kind of response can make metabolising these memories easier. Being able to reconnect the emotional, somatic, and narrative properties of experience can help us feel more fully human and healthy.

13) Be Patient & Kind to Yourself During Your Journey

Recovery takes different amounts and time and styles of coping for every person. The trauma was individual, your DNA and body are unique so is the help (or lack thereof) you got after the trauma. Do not be mad at yourself for having flashbacks and other trauma responses. Work to combat blaming and shaming thoughts when they come up. Let yourself move through all the facets of your story and heal as slowly or quickly as is right for you.

You can heal and will get there, and it’s okay whatever that looks like.

Citations:

Braman, L. (2022, May 5). The Difference Between Emotional Flashbacks & Flashbacks. Lindsay Braman. https://lindsaybraman.com/emotional-flashbacks/#what-are-emotional-flashbacks

Bruce Duncan Perry, & Oprah Winfrey. (2021). What happened to you? : conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing. Flatiron Books.

Davis, S. (2019, July 1). The Living Hell of Emotional Flashbacks. CPTSD Foundation. https://cptsdfoundation.org/2019/07/01/the-living-hell-of-emotional-flashbacks/

Der, V., E R S Nijenhuis, & Steele, K. (2006). The haunted self : structural dissociation and the treatment of chronic traumatization. W.W. Norton.

East Bay Therapist. (2005, October). EMOTIONAL FLASHBACKS | Healing & C-PTSD. Healing and C-PTSD. https://www.healingandcptsd.com/emotional-flashbacks

Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the tiger – healing trauma : the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. North Atlantic Books.

Levine, P. A. (2015). Trauma and memory : brain and body in a search for the living past : a practical guide for understanding and working with traumatic memory. North Atlantic Books.

Walker, P. (2021). Complex PTSD : from surviving to thriving : a guide and map for recovering from childhood trauma (first Edition). Azure Coyote.

#blog post #info #informational article #coping skills #our post #ptsd #cptsd #childhood trauma #trauma #flashbacks #emotional flashbacks #abuse recovery #trauma recovery

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neuroticboyfriend · 6 months

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don't know how to put this into words that make sense but addiction feels like a really long train ride. you just get farther and farther from home. you know you have to go back. you know the farther out you go the more time, money, and energy it'll take to get home. you know you have things to do at home. you have people you miss and hobbies to do and things to take care of. but you're already so far out. so you just keep going and telling yourself it's better to never look back. you try to find comfort and joy gazing out the window at all the new places and scenes, but you really just keep getting more lost. nothing is familiar anymore - except for the train. except for the mother fucking train.

you know every nook and cranny of that god damn train, but nothing about yourself or your future or what you really want out of life. and the worst part is, if you don't turn around, one day you'll hit the end of the line. but there will be no train back. you'll never go home again. you'll never go anywhere again.

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 7 months

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A top House Democrat has reintroduced a bill to federally legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, with provisions to expunge prior cannabis convictions.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, refiled the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act on Wednesday. There are 33 initial cosponsors—all Democrats.

The comprehensive legalization legislation has passed the House twice in recent sessions—but this marks the first time it’s being introduced with Republicans in control of the chamber, raising serious questions about whether it will move. The Judiciary Committee, which is the primary panel of jurisdiction, is chaired by anti-cannabis Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Even the prospects of a modest marijuana banking bill that’s set for committee action in the Senate next week are uncertain in the House under the GOP majority. That said, a GOP-led House panel did advance legislation on Wednesday to prevent the denial of federal employment or security clearances based on a candidate’s past cannabis use.

In any case, advocates have long touted the MORE Act as an example of the type of wide-ranging cannabis reform legislation that would not only end prohibition but take steps to right the wrongs of prohibition and promote social equity.

Here are details about the key provisions of the MORE Act:

“Nadler’s MORE Act would deschedule marijuana by removing it from the list of federally banned drugs under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). However, it would not require states to legalize cannabis and would maintain a level of regulatory discretion up to states.

Marijuana products would be subject to a federal excise tax, starting at 5% for the first two years after enactment and rising to 8% by the fifth year of implementation.

Nobody could be denied federal public benefits based solely on the use or possession of marijuana or past juvenile conviction for a cannabis offense. Federal agencies couldn’t use 'past or present cannabis or marijuana use as criteria for granting, denying, or rescinding a security clearance.'

People could not be penalized under federal immigration laws for any cannabis related activity or conviction, whether it occurred before or after the enactment of the legalization legislation.

The bill creates a process for expungements of non-violent federal marijuana convictions.

Tax revenue from cannabis sales would be placed in a new 'Opportunity Trust Fund.' Half of those tax dollars would support a 'Community Reinvestment Grant Program' under the Justice Department, 10% would support substance misuse treatment programs, 40% would go to the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) to support implementation and a newly created equitable licensing grant program.

The Community Reinvestment Grant Program would 'fund eligible non-profit community organizations to provide a variety of services for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs…to include job training, reentry services, legal aid for civil and criminal cases (including for expungement of cannabis convictions), among others.'

The program would further support funding for substance misuse treatment for people from communities disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization. Those funds would be available for programs offering services to people with substance misuse disorders for any drug, not just cannabis.

While the bill wouldn’t force states to adopt legalization, it would create incentives to promote equity. For example, SBA would facilitate a program to providing licensing grants to states and localities that have moved to expunge records for people with prior marijuana convictions or 'taken steps to eliminate violations or other penalties for persons still under State or local criminal supervision for a cannabis-related offense or violation for conduct now lawful under State or local law.'

The bill’s proposed Cannabis Restorative Opportunity Program would provide funds 'for loans to assist small business concerns that are owned and controlled by individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs in eligible States and localities.'

The comptroller general, in consultation with the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), would be required to carry out a study on the demographics of people who have faced federal marijuana convictions, 'including information about the age, race, ethnicity, sex, and gender identity.'

The Departments of Treasury, Justice and the SBA would need to 'issue or amend any rules, standard operating procedures, and other legal or policy guidance necessary to carry out implementation of the MORE Act' within one year of its enactment.

Marijuana producers and importers would also need to obtain a federal permit. And they would be subject to a $1,000 per year federal tax as well for each premise they operate.

The bill would impose certain packaging and labeling requirements.

It also prescribes penalties for unlawful conduct such as illegal, unlicensed production or importation of cannabis products.

The Treasury Secretary would be required to carry out a study 'on the characteristics of the cannabis industry, with recommendations to improve the regulation of the industry and related taxes.'

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would be required to 'regularly compile, maintain, and make public data on the demographics' of marijuana business owners and workers.

Workers in 'safety sensitive' positions, such as those regulated by the Department of Transportation, could continue to be drug tested for THC and face penalties for unauthorized use. Federal workers would also continue to be subject to existing drug testing policies.

References to 'marijuana' or 'marihuana' under federal statute would be changed to 'cannabis.' It’s unclear if that would also apply to the title of the bill itself.”

Some advocates say that the MORE Act’s time has passed, however, and that it doesn’t realistically grapple with the need to enact truly justice-focused legalization through a fair and equitable market.

“The MORE Act was never meant to be a bill to address the real needs of federal regulations,” Shaleen Title, founder and director, Parabola Center for Law and Policy, told Marijuana Moment. “It was a historic bill when it was first introduced to address systemic racial disparities and demonstrate that social justice must be addressed in federal reform, but has never fully addressed the economic justice side of the equation.”

“We’re in a period of rapid corporate consolidation, with a real possibility that big pharmaceutical corporations will be entering the industry in the near future,” she said. “Outdated legalization bills like this would quickly allow for monopolization, putting small farmers and mom-and-pop shops out of business and undermining the public health and racial equity goals of most state cannabis programs. They should all be updated with an intentional regulatory structure and a thoughtful plan to transition to a national market.”

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duskcecropia · 2 months

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Dawg I am BEYOND tired of seeing people romanticizing Bpd and people with Bpd. It is genuinely disturbing to me how normalized it is too. A quick scroll on TikTok and you will find people being like “When she’s literally obsessed with me 💕” or “POV: I have a girl with Bpd so she’s utterly in love with me and never leaves” or some other TikTok slideshow bullshit.

(I have made this partly factual, but a lot of it is very personal. please read at your own leisure.)

To me, it is utterly dehumanizing. As someone with Bpd, I wouldn't wish this on ANYONE. I struggle almost every damn day to control and regulate my emotions so I don't blow up at someone or breakdown over something I MADE UP to sabotage myself. I am not some fucking character who will do anything to have you or will kill just to be with you. I am a REAL PERSON with a VERY REAL AND MENATLY CRUSHING MENTAL ILLNESS. I am not some one-sided person with only one goal. I am just like literally everyone else on this goddamn planet!!!!! I just act and think differently!!!!!!! And honestly, do any of you people realize what you are asking? Do you REALLY know what you are getting into? Because it’s uneducated people like that who romanticize Bpd to the point where others think it’s “only obsession”.

And boy do I have a HORRIBLE surprise for you. Lets have a little psychology lesson, shall we?

According to NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health)*, "Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness that severely impacts a person’s ability to manage their emotions. This loss of emotional control can increase impulsivity, affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationships with others." (This is sectioned under "What is Borderline Personality Disorder?")

"People with borderline personality disorder may experience intense mood swings and feel uncertainty about how they see themselves. Their feelings for others can change quickly, and swing from extreme closeness to extreme dislike. These changing feelings can lead to unstable relationships and emotional pain.

People with borderline personality disorder also tend to view things in extremes, such as all good or all bad. Their interests and values can change quickly, and they may act impulsively or recklessly.

Other signs or symptoms may include:

Efforts to avoid real or perceived abandonment, such as plunging headfirst into relationships—or ending them just as quickly.

A pattern of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones.

A distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self.

Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance misuse, reckless driving, and binge eating. However, if these behaviors happen mostly during times of elevated mood or energy, they may be symptoms of a mood disorder and not borderline personality disorder.

Self-harming behavior, such as cutting.

Recurring thoughts of suicidal behaviors or threats.

Intense and highly variable moods, with episodes lasting from a few hours to a few days.

Chronic feelings of emptiness. Inappropriate, intense anger or problems controlling anger. Feelings of dissociation, such as feeling cut off from oneself, observing oneself from outside one’s body, or feelings of unreality."(This is sectioned under "What are the signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder?")

I am no expert and I do not claim to be, but I know for a FACT that most if not majority of people who romanticize Bpd don't know ANYTHING about what actually goes on in someone with Bpd's head. From my experience, it is never quiet. In the back of my mind I have a small but convincing "voice" that tries it's hardest to make me crack. And by crack, I mean believe it's false and twisted words. For a hypothetical example, Say one of your friends goes a while without texting you. a rational mind would say "they're probably busy, or not going on their phone at the moment". Someone with Bpd would probably think this too at first, but their very unhelpful little voice in the back of their head would chime in. "But what if they're doing this on purpose? What is they think you're annoying? You are annoying. That's why they won't talk to you. You're being too much of an inconvenience so they've found other people to talk to." People with Bpd tend to become more irrational due to a false sense of distrust via these thoughts. it can be extremely devastating to one's mental health and make them feel insecure. it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

BUT!!!!!!! While this mental illness is absolutely terrible to deal with, there are ways to treat and cope with it. While it seems like hopeless and never-ending, there's always a way to make the best of it. You just have to discover what works best for you. ^^

In conclusion; Bpd is no joke, and it shouldn't be taken as such. I would go into more depth, but it is very late while I'm typing this and I need some sleep. Please do your research before making this heinous shit online, if anything it just shows idiocy, immaturity, and lack of understanding. Of course I know I cannot change other's opinions and there will always be people like this, but I can only hope this post sheds at least a little light on this topic. If you've made it this far, thank you for taking time to read this, and have a wonderful rest of your day/night.

*source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder#:~:text=Borderline%20personality%20disorder%20is%20a,impact%20their%20relationships%20with%20others.

#bpd #borderline personality disorder #rant #mentalheathawareness #mental heath issues #mental health #actually bpd

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reimeichan · 25 days

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Trying so hard to get back on my ADHD meds but good lord does everything about the process feel so anti-ADHD. I have to have the executive functioning to actually call my doctor? Schedule an appointment? Have insurance information ready? Listen I need my meds so that I can DO these things. I've been struggling to do this for half a year now why is it so fucking hard.

Doesn't help that my doctor's office is run by ADHDers, which on the one hand is great because they understand why I keep missing calls and stuff, but on the other hand makes it so difficult to actually have someone there to schedule the appointment or get back to my email and stuff. We ADHDers really do just be struggling trying to exist in this world huh.

Fucking sucks that because I'm low on this particular happy chemical in my brain that I struggle with basic life functions that everyone else around me seems to take for granted. And the only way to actually be functional is to artificially have drugs that give you said happy chemical, except it's easily abused and misused so it's a controlled substance. And it shows up in drug tests too! So if I finally get a job again I'd likely need to show my employer that yes I'm taking this legally and I have a prescription for it. Absolutely humiliating and an invasion of my fucking privacy. They should NOT have it on record that I've been prescribed Adderall and I have ADHD as a mental health disorder. Fuck that noise.

Just. Ugh I'm in a really bad mood and I wish my ADHD was the type that I can manage even a smidge or one I can work with while trying to get my life back in order without drugs.

#adhd #actuallyadhd #actually adhd #by green #by purple

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jess-moloney · 4 months

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For The Anon Who Seems To Think Non-Alcoholic Wine/Beer is "Safe" For Alcoholics:

Here's a whole bunch of sources explaining why it's not.

Source one

So, are Non-Alcoholic Drinks Safe for Alcoholics to consume? The short answer is NO! Because it is virtually impossible to get drunk on non-alcoholic beverages, it is easy to assume that they are safe for the alcoholic. However, since they do contain small amounts of alcohol, they can trigger the release of endorphins–the “feel-good” chemicals in your brain. For someone who has spent substantial amounts of time drinking, the release of this feel-good chemical may be enough to trigger the desire for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th drink. Or worse–a full-blown relapse.

Source Two

Though it’s nearly impossible for non-alcoholic beer to make you intoxicated, the drink can be a powerful trigger, creating cravings that set up the circumstances for a relapse. The risk is not worth sacrificing your sobriety over.

Source Three

Some of the dangers of consuming alcohol-free drinks include: Triggers. Even without the alcohol content, the memories associated with consuming this type of beverage can be an addictive trigger. Alcohol cravings and triggers can increase the risk of relapse. Low-alcohol is not no-alcohol. Alcohol-free beer and alcohol-free wine are slightly misleading in their names, as they do contain small amounts of alcohol. While this may seem like an improvement over prior consumption, using these replacements during recovery is risky and can lead to relapse. A slippery slope to binge drinking. Self-awareness in addiction recovery is crucial. When one is aware of their triggers and has set boundaries for their addiction recovery, relapse is less likely to occur. Using alcohol-free drinks may be safe at some point during recovery for those who are no longer triggered by this type of influence, but it should be approached with caution. Consuming mocktails or alcohol-free beer and wine too soon could result in binge drinking.

Source Four

Many recovering addicts find they need to make new friends who don’t drink or use drugs and who help them support their sobriety goals. After all, as the studies cited above show, a few sips of non-alcoholic beer might be all it takes for some people to undo all the hard work they did in their recovery program. As a recovering alcoholic, going out to a bar with your old drinking buddies is a slippery slope. Even if you don’t get drunk, you will probably feel the temptation to drink, and that can be a powerful relapse trigger that pulls you back to a time when your life centered on alcohol misuse.

Source Five

Substance use disorders do not discriminate. If you begin to activate old habits, thoughts, and patterns when it comes to drinking, even if you only drink non-alcoholic drinks, your brain and body may begin to fall back into addiction, causing you to act more compulsively and crave alcohol making this one of the Dangers of Non Alcoholic Beer When alcoholics drink non-alcoholic beer, it acts as a behavioral crutch. When in recovery, you should be moving towards creating new habits, meeting new friends, going to new places, and doing new activities. If you go to the same old bar with the same friends and order a near beer, you are placing yourself in harm’s way, inviting cravings and urges to trigger you into drinking again.

On top of all of this, Jamie just a few months ago posted he did not feel supported in his sobriety. Someone who feels they are still struggling that much should not or would not want to be surrounded by these things and their alleged partner should not or would not want to have them around it. I never said Jamie is going to smell one drop of booze and go insane, I said it's a very slippery slope and could lead to a relapse. He's spoken out on this himself, which I guess (much like Jess) you'd prefer to ignore because you'd rather defend the toxic behaviour of his terrible girlfriend than face the reality that none of this is right. Before giving me a lecture on this again, do some research, it takes about 30 seconds.

#jess moloney #jamie campbell bower #jamie bower #thoughts

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reasonsforhope · 1 year

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Thanks to @gardening-tea-lesbian for posting about this and bringing it to my attention!

The Biden-Harris Administration wants to make substance abuse treatment more accessible for all prisoners in the U.S. Addiction is common among people in prison, and treatment helps fight recidivism and reduce overdose rates.

From Federal Prisons To State Prisons

By this summer, all federal prisons will offer addiction treatment, Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said last week.

Federal officials want states to follow suit. Starting this spring, Medicaid funds will be set aside for states to use in their own jails and prisons to provide mental health services, including SUD treatment.

Approximately 25% of all Americans received Medicaid benefits in 2022. For people with low incomes, Medicaid is the largest provider of funds for healthcare services.

The Biden-Harris Administration has shown a commitment to helping underserved communities receive addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

This includes services for rural populations and Tribal populations along with people who are incarcerated.

Addiction In Our Prisons

It’s hard to know precisely how many incarcerated people have an SUD, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that about 65% of all inmates do.

NIDA estimates that another 20%, who didn’t meet the official criteria for an SUD, were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they committed a crime.

Overall in America, about 40 million people ages 13 and over are living with addiction, or about 12% of the population, according to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

How Treatment Helps Prison Populations

Drug abuse treatment is effective. For people in prison, receiving treatment can mean the difference between staying out of jail once released or returning behind bars.

It can also provide them with the mental clarity and tools to meet the challenges of life, improve their mental health, and succeed in their relationships and work.

Aids Long-Term Recovery

The Biden-Harris Administration is focusing on evidence-based treatment methods to help people who are incarcerated get and stay on the path to addiction recovery.

This includes medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which combines the use of medications like buprenorphine with behavioral therapy to treat opioid abuse.

Buprenorphine, the first medication that could be prescribed by physicians to treat opioid use disorders, helps people overcome addiction in a few ways.

Using buprenorphine helps with recovery by:

reducing cravings

diminishing opioid withdrawal symptoms, which include flu-like symptoms and severe anxiety

improving safety, if overdose occurs

lessening the chance of misuse

One study in support of buprenorphine’s effectiveness showed that participants receiving the medication were almost twice as likely to remain in treatment and not relapse.

Prevents Overdose Deaths

According to U.S. News and World Report, the leading cause of death among people newly released from prison is drug overdose.

This is partly due to the fact that their tolerance levels decrease while incarcerated, so they aren’t able to tolerate the same amount of the drug as before they were in prison.

The buprenorphine study mentioned above also revealed that people not receiving the treatment had a 20% mortality rate."

-via Addiction Resources.net, 3/9/23

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