Laura Millán

Recovery from alcohol use or abuse is a journey. This journey involves a transition to sober living and coping with daily life after recovery. Usually, people find it quite hard to stay on track. This is where sober houses come in. Sober houses are designed to give physical and emotional support to recovering alcoholics. Without these facilities, a sober house may be unable to offer much-needed assistance. Therefore, the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing (MASH) certifies sober homes to ensure they meet specific standards, primarily focusing on oversight and certification. In general, MASH-certified sober houses provide a comfortable environment for

January 27, 2022

Making amends is one of the vital steps to addiction recovery. It is not enough to feel sorry for your past actions. When people get addicted, they start to care less about anything else. They could steal, lose interest in work, choose solitude, or lash out at people who offer help. So, they hurt themselves as well as the people around them. However, as a person continues the journey of sobriety, repairing those broken bridges becomes necessary. To fix these messes, you have to offer more than apologies. You should make living amends. What are Living Amends? Living amends means

January 25, 2022

Alcoholism affects the mind and body in many ways, especially the brain. Usually, most body functions work when our brain communicates with our body. For instance, your tummy could rumble or feel uncomfortable when you are hungry. This signals to you that you need to eat. However, the chemistry between your brain and your body gets altered when you consume alcohol. So, after the alcohol has cleared off your system, it can take a while for your body chemistry to go back to normal. As a result, you could experience clumsiness, a cloudy mind, or more commonly, alcohol brain fog.

January 23, 2022

If you are in a relationship with an addict or loving an addict, you may often find yourself feeling sad and helpless. Addicts usually take advantage of their loved ones by lying or pretending. For example, they could steal your money to buy drugs, become irresponsible at work, or keep bad company. This can be very damaging for their relationships, especially when they lose interest in everything else. While it’s pretty normal to feel distressed or betrayed by their behaviors, you must understand that they cannot help themselves. People who suffer addiction to substances like alcohol, drugs, and other habits

January 21, 2022

Addiction recovery is a life-long affair. It is a process that requires you to make drastic life changes and decisions while working towards sobriety. However, this process is different for everyone. Some people have family and friends with them through thick and thin. On the other hand, some people only have themselves and their determination. Gradually, every recovering person starts to feel lonely even when they have moral support. There’s no getting around it – loneliness is part of recovery. Unfortunately, this can discourage anyone who is trying to amend their lifestyle. Such people can slowly slip back to old

January 19, 2022

Self-control is often regarded as a natural way of displaying our inner strength. However, the ability to limit and control our actions and desires is characterized as willpower, which requires us to stand firm and take charge of the things we do. It is even more vital that we exercise willpower to keep our usage in check with drugs and alcohol. The moment we feel out of control with drugs and alcohol, and it starts to creep into our daily lives, this is an impending problem. Example of being powerless over alcohol A perfect example of powerlessness over alcohol can

January 17, 2022

The holiday season is a necessary time where friends and family gather to celebrate the past year’s achievements. In the spirit of thanksgiving, you may find yourself thinking about your life and feeling thankful and happy. Unfortunately, not everyone feels that way. Other people may feel depressed or anxious, especially when in recovery. Now, gratitude has proven to be one of the primary keys to alcohol addiction recovery. Apart from helping you overcome addiction, being grateful has many benefits. This article explains the importance of gratitude in recovery and tips to help you stay grateful. What is Gratitude? Gratitude is

January 15, 2022

This article is to provide you with the necessary information you need to know about why you sweat after taking alcohol. Have you thought of that uneasy feeling each time you drink with your friends? You are just remembering how you sweat after drinking some bottles of alcoholic drinks. Hold your breath, being sweaty after consumption alcohol happens every time and there is no need to beat yourself over it. Though sweating and feeling heat after drinking alcohol has an impact on your health, you need to know the reasons why you sweat and how you can have a grip

January 13, 2022

Alcohol intolerance, in short, is a genetic condition that is inherited. Alcohol intolerance will cause one who consumes alcohol to quickly feel hot, nauseous, and generally very sick. While these symptoms aren’t guaranteed to indicate a genetic intolerance to alcohol if you experience these symptoms the best way for you to avoid these symptoms is to just stay away from alcohol. What is Alcohol Intolerance? Alcohol intolerance is an inherited genetic condition. It mimics symptoms of being drunk and can be often confused as being drunk. As this is an inherited condition, those that have it have never had any

January 11, 2022

Alcoholism is a terrible disease. It plagues the people that have to live with it, but it also seriously harms the relationships that alcoholic individuals have. These relationships can be stressed even further if alcoholism enters the picture after a serious commitment has been made. In a complicated relationship such as this, it’s critical to realize that the cause of their AUD is not you, nor do you possess the ability to completely remedy them. You, as a support system for them, can take certain steps to aid in the process but must also be mindful of your own situation

January 09, 2022

Alcohol, like everything that you put in your body, has an effect on your body. Often, people will ask if consuming any amount of alcohol will contribute to weight gain. Like most questions related to alcohol, the answer is a complicated “yes.” So let’s get into exactly what makes this a complicated question and what exactly contributes to weight gain when consuming alcohol. Alcohol Has Lots of Calories This might seem obvious, but it’s true. Alcohol will make you gain weight just because it has calories in it. The type of alcohol will affect the amount of calories, but other

January 07, 2022

In order to answer this question, we need to first define mental illness, the broadness of the entire claim, then determine if alcoholism fits within those set categories. In short, it is considered a mental illness, but one with specific characteristics. Statistics show that 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness, with a troubling increase in those numbers for adolescence. The current DSM-5 which is used to categorize mental illness and help determine if one is suffering from a specific mental illness categorizes Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) as mental disorders. Alcohol Use

January 05, 2022

Though teens aren’t legally allowed to drink alcohol in the U.S., that doesn’t stop many adolescents from trying their first sip for one reason or another and not being able to put the bottle down after that. Alcohol is the most pervasive drug in the world, and as such it infects all parts of our society including our children. Whether teens are exposed to alcohol through their parents or from friends at school, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that unless a teen is living on a deserted island with their family, they will be exposed to alcohol. In

January 03, 2022

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), known commonly as “Wet Brain” is a syndrome that affects the brain due to specific imbalances in the brain. The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a very dangerous condition that can lead to permanent muscle damage, chronic confusion, and at worst, hallucinations. Below we will go over what exactly is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, its specific causes, how alcohol relates to wet brain, the treatments that can be done, and how important it is to recognize the symptoms before they get out of control and cause permanent damage. Wet Brain: a Quick Summary The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a life-threatening condition

December 30, 2021