September is National Recover Month

Everyone has an addiction or vice they struggle with — whether it's something like coffee (which I am guilty of being addicted to), texting or shopping, or more dangerous, such as alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, cutting or gambling.

Or you could be addicted to feeling a certain way — such as love addicts, suffering from what is nicknamed "affection deficit disorder." And yes, love addicts, although addicted to an inanimate object, can also feel the sting of withdrawal.

Many addicts become dependent on an object (most likely a substance). With addicts of love or sex, they become addicted to a person, or the need to be validated by another person.

I'm not quite sure which is worse.

Once someone becomes addicted to something, a person no longer ingests a substance or performs an action to feel good. Instead, it is only done to prevent yourself from feeling bad.

And the "feeling bad"  is pretty darn  bad — which may include sweating, shakiness, anxiety, nausea, weight loss, paranoia and preoccupation (side note: those who have gone through a bad break-up may have felt similar symptoms as well).

That sounds pretty miserable.

But many of us live this way.

I think, for many people who suffer from a mental disorder such as depression, the depression either stems from the withdrawal (which can feel a lot like depression) or they use the addiction to try and numb their depression — which in turn leads to withdrawal, which only makes it worse!

It's a vicious cycle.

But the time to get help is now — especially since the upcoming month of September is National Recover Month.

The Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority theme this year is “Join the Voices of Recovery: It’s Worth It.” With this, they are raising awareness of their services offered all year long — helping people recover from mental health and/or substance use disorders.

In 2010, 31.3 million adults across the country, aged 18 or older, received services for mental health issues. More than 2 million people, aged 12 or older, who needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem received treatment at a specialty facility.


So, see,  you're not alone. Not by a long shot. And those are only the people who actually went to get help. There are so many other people who are just living, day by day, hoping they can get over the addiction or depression.

Oakland County residents who have a mental health or substance use disorder and want to start their path to recovery can contact the OCCMHA Resource & Crisis Helpline at 800-231-1127 for support and service information. More information about National Recovery Month can be found at recoverymonth.gov. OCCMHA is located at 2011 Executive Hills Blvd. in Auburn Hills.

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1 comments

  1. This is encouraging post for suffering people. There is not easy to get back them into real life.
    Thanks!
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