One of the main things lost when a person develops a substance addiction is the desire to maintain their health. When struggling with the addiction, the individual’s mental and physical health is not a priority because they are all consumed by using. Before the addict knows it, their health has completely ... Read More
Learning Center
FHE Health is dedicated to educating the American public—especially individuals, families, and communities—about mental health and substance abuse topics. In our Learning Center, you'll find articles on alcoholism, substance abuse, behavioral and mental health, and other treatment-related issues. Our articles are written both for the person in need of treatment as well as loved ones seeking more information. We also provide information for those who have gone through treatment and are building a new life in recovery.
Practicing Self-Care In Recovery
Why Addiction Isn’t Necessarily a Moral Failure
Updated May 16, 2023 It is important to differentiate addiction from a moral failure. Those plagued with a medical disease are prone to a complete lapse in judgement in direct conflict with a moral code, but from a medically induced disassociation with reality. Drug Addict or Bad Person? There is widespread ... Read More
Do You Have An Addictive Personality?
You may have heard that some people are more 'addiction prone' than others. Is it possible that identifying an individual at risk of becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol could be done earlier by noticing addictive personality traits? Is the 'addictive personality' a real thing, or is it just a casual ... Read More
Learning Self-Control in Recovery
When trying to break an addiction to a substance, it very often involves having to experience strong cravings and withdrawal. In order to get through the short-term effects of withdrawal and to maintain long-term recovery, practicing self-control helps. This isn't to say that addiction or relapse is a moral failing of ... Read More
20 Creative Ways to Manage your Holiday Stress
In general, the holidays can make the winter months some of the most stressful of the entire year. The pressure of keeping the house clean for hosting, spending money on gifts and travel, and seeing family and friends for the first time in a long time can all contribute to this holiday stress. According to a report ... Read More
I Relapsed: Is There Hope For Me?
Recovering from addiction isn't easy, and for many people the journey to sobriety is not linear. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 40% to 60% of people treated for a substance use disorder return to use at some point. If someone is trying their hardest to stop using drugs or alcohol and finds ... Read More
Self-medicating PTSD with Drug Use
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) often co-occur, meaning someone has both disorders at the same time. These people require a more complex course of treatment and have a less favorable outcomes than those with only one disorder. Researchers are actively developing treatments for ... Read More
Social Media and the Rise of Mental Illness
Updated March 16, 2022 The question of how social media use affects health continues to spur research. It's also a source of some controversy. To be sure, social media has positive and negative effects on our behavior, but is social media to blame for a reported rise in mental illness? The Big Picture of Social ... Read More
















