Suffering Silently: Using Self-Injury as a Coping Mechanism Mental HealthBy Promises Behavioral HealthMarch 6, 2012Self-injury is when an individual cuts, burns, hits, or bites themselves as a way to cope with emotional pain. This practice is often unnoticed- hidden by long sleeves and silent mouths. Not many people disclose that they have a self-injury problem, yet a study revealed that 1 in 12 teenagers practice or have practiced self-injury.
Parenting Teens: Prevention in Action FeaturedBy Promises Behavioral HealthMarch 5, 2012When it comes to parenting teenagers, it may seem like a three ring circus. Sex, drugs, and the pop music scene all threatening to undo all the hard work you’ve done until this point to help guide your children to grow up into responsible and safe young adults. During the teenage years, though, it is…
Understanding Identity Disorders Mental HealthBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 29, 2012Meeting with a therapist can help an individual navigate life challenges and develop skills for dealing with everyday or more severe problems. In some cases, however, patients are meeting with a therapist to receive help for more severe problems. When it comes to some conditions, however, therapists are cautioned to avoid certain techniques.
Enlightening Discussion on Sex and Entertainment Sizzles at IITAP Conference Sex AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 28, 2012In February, Promises Behavioral Health, The Ranch and the Sexual Recovery Institute hosted an event designed to help clinicians attending the 7th Annual IITAP Symposium understand how media portrayals of sex addiction have changed over the years and how desensitized we have become to the sexual images we regularly see.
Child Abuse Linked to Alcoholism, Drug Addiction AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 27, 2012Children who have experienced abuse and maltreatment show changes in important parts of their brains. These changes are linked to depression, drug addiction, schizophrenia and other mental health problems, according to a new study from Harvard University.
Treating Addiction Without Treating Trauma Often Leads to Relapse Addiction RecoveryBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 24, 2012Treatment specialists stress that in order for patients to completely pull away from an addiction, any underlying trauma in the patient must first be identified and healed. If the patient has no other means of coping with the trauma than with drugs or alcohol, than the cycle repeats itself, sometimes even years after a person…
Understanding a Workaholic AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 23, 2012Work is a blessing, whatever type of work we do. We can find satisfaction and self-esteem through performing any task well. Hard work is a worthy character trait. But sometimes, when a good thing gets out of balance, it can become a bad thing. This is true for the workaholic. A healthy commitment to doing…
Relationship Patterns Might Also Reveal Substance Abuse Issues AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 22, 2012According to a recent blog, people who have addictions to drugs or alcohol also usually have unhealthy relationships. With the recent death of popular singer and pop star Whitney Houston, there has been a lot of talk about addictions and relationships in the media. Houston had spoken publicly about her volatile relationships with both her…
Professors use Students’ Shooting Rampages to Study Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome Trauma & PTSDBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 18, 2012After two gunmen went on shooting rampages at two major universities, scientists at both institutes have been conducting extensive research about how students who witnessed the tragedy were affected by the event. They are developing new insights into conditions such as posttraumatic stress syndrome, and why some people develop it after witnessing violence and/or coming…
Two New Studies Indicate Facebook and Video Game Addiction is Real Drug AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthFebruary 15, 2012The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize addictions to new technologies such as the Internet or video games, because as their spokesperson put it, "The data is unreliable." However, two new studies, one from the University of Chicago and the other from Adelphi University in New York, presents some compelling new evidence that high-tech devices…
