The Body–Recovery Connection
A client sits with her counselor and names it plainly: another health crisis, another reason to give up. Chronic pain, untreated illness, a broken tooth. Each one whispers that recovery isn't worth th…
Topic
Mental Health
The mental-health side of recovery — cravings, hope, depression, anxiety, and the truth that the brain that got us here is the brain we're rebuilding.
27 stories
Surprising Truths About Addiction
Patrick Chester looked like he had everything: a wife, two kids, vacations to Hawaii. No one saw the secret eating him alive for nine years. His gambling addiction left no bruises, no visible wreckage…
Alaina Knox
Alaina Knox, 36, is five years sober and Director of Recovery Services at Sweetser. She lives in Portland with her husband, Dylan, and works alongside others who have lived experience.
Finding Strength in Sobriety
Monique Coombs has been sober since January 2019. As director of programs for Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, she brings counseling and wellness support to commercial fishermen.
Hope as Medicine
Two hundred fifty-five people walked into rehab on the same day. They received identical treatment. One year later, only those who arrived believing recovery was possible showed real improvement. The…
Biohacking for Addiction and Mental Health Recovery
Embark on a transformative journey of recovery through biohacking at The Sanctuary at Sedona. Explore holistic methods to restore balance, rebuild hope, and foster community-supported healing.
Thriving in Recovery: No Matter the Weather
As winter darkens the days and reshapes routines, people in recovery face unique emotional challenges. This piece offers practical tools for staying connected and emotionally balanced through the seas…
How to Survive a Panic Attack When it Strikes
Your heart races. Your chest tightens. You can't catch your breath. A panic attack strikes without warning, leaving you disoriented and scared. But panic attacks are survivable, and there are concrete…
Six Tips for Balancing Family, Career, and Anxiety
A parent sits down with their spouse after dinner and finally says what's been building for weeks: I can't do this alone. That conversation, hard as it was, became the turning point. This piece offers…
Sorting Through Brain Clutter
You finish your day exhausted, having started ten things and completed none. Your mind won't quiet at bedtime because unfinished tasks keep circling. This article explores how to sort through mental c…
Why Not Ask for Help?
A person struggling with substance use disorder sits alone, thinking about asking for help. But shame whispers that they should handle it. Fear of judgment whispers louder. Understanding these barrier…
Danielle Rideout
Danielle Rideout is a counselor in private practice who works with individuals and families facing substance use disorder. She also teaches a recovery-friendly class at a Yarmouth gym.
Healing Inside Out
Someone in early recovery discovers their body needs attention too: years of neglect have left them with untreated health problems and no idea where to start. Physical wellness turns out to matter dee…
Holiday Blues vs. Seasonal Affective Disorder
Maya dreads November. Every year around the same time, her energy drains and she sleeps twelve hours, craving carbs she normally avoids. She wondered if everyone felt this way in winter until her doct…
Understanding Brain Injuries, Mental Health, and Substance Use
Patty King listens as someone describes the fog that won't lift, the anger that erupts without warning, the cravings that pull them back. She recognizes something others missed: a brain injury underne…
Surfing My Feelings
A person adrift in depression learns to distinguish between the body's signals and the mind's stories about them. Instead of fighting overwhelming emotions, they discover how to read their physical se…
A Beacon of Knowledge and Support for Mental Health
A parent notices their teenager seems withdrawn. Before assuming the worst, they visit MentalHealthLiteracy.org and discover the difference between mental distress and mental disorder. Understanding t…
Recreating Myself
Niki introduces herself with a name that isn't the one she was born with. That simple introduction marks something harder: shedding the person trauma and active addiction created. In recovery, she dis…
Supporting Employees Through Addiction and Mental Illness
A manager notices an employee's performance slipping, attendance irregular. Before assuming the worst, she has tools to help. Workplaces are discovering that supporting employees through substance use…
Recovery Discovery for NoMoPhobia
Maria reaches for her phone before her eyes open. When the battery dies during her commute, her chest tightens. She's not alone. Millions experience NoMoPhobia, an anxiety triggered by smartphone sepa…
Well-Being at Your Fingertips
A person who spent three decades battling panic attacks tried medication, meditation, everything in between. Then they discovered EFT Tapping, a technique using gentle pressure on acupressure points.…
Anthony Brown
Anthony Brown is a registered nurse and licensed psychiatric technician. He has written two books about his recovery.
A Common Co-Existence
Bertha Pappenheim spent years institutionalized after Freud declared her "cured." What actually healed her wasn't therapy but purpose: working in soup kitchens, running an orphanage, fighting sex traf…
Amanda Kurlanski – Trusting the Process
Amanda Kurlanski is a licensed counselor who helps others through recovery. She is married, expecting her third child, and working toward law school. She calls it "a big, beautiful life."
Veronica Ingrao
Veronica Ingrao finished college and grad school and now works as a therapist, a job she loves. Her education and her recovery grew side by side.
Doug Dunbar’s journey
Doug Dunbar helps people in early recovery find services through his role at Eastern Maine Development Corporation. He says mental health care and the recovery community have been his way to heal.
Bouncing Back
Resilience is an innate capability that some people seem to have that allows them to keep going despite the setbacks – it applies to all stages of recovery regardless of the path.