Physical Treatment’s Impact on Long Term Sobriety

For those looking to overcome addiction and find a path to long term sobriety, physical treatment treatment might be the solution. Find out how here.

It’s time to be the best version of yourself that you can be. Commit yourself to giving yourself a better life, the life that you’ve always wanted, of long term sobriety.

Maybe last time, you let yourself go a bit. You didn’t commit all the way through.

That’s okay. You learned from last time.

Let’s make this time something different. Let’s make this time something long term.

Incorporating physical treatment into your recovery plan will increase the chance for long term sobriety. Here’s your second chance to a better and long term sober life.

Want to know why physical treatment can make such a big impact on your sobriety process? Here are our top 6 reasons why physical treatment is so beneficial for long term recovery:

1. Exercise Will Make You Happy

Part of beginning a physical treatment for long term sobriety also includes adding exercise into your daily routine.

You can choose any type of exercise that you want. Make sure that you are putting in enough energy into your exercise.

When you exercise, you release a chemical in the brain called Dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that makes people happy.

You used to rely on substances to give you that happy feeling, but what if now, you can rely on exercise?

While you exercise and your heart rate goes up, your happiness levels will increase as you release dopamine. In addition, exercise gets rid of the negativity that comes with substance abuse, including anxiety and sleep problems.

After exercising daily, you will start getting better sleep every night.

2. Physical Treatment Will Give You a Release

Physical treatment can be used for more than just making you a little happier. You can exercise to get a release of any negativity, anger, or bad mood you may be feeling.

Let all of your feelings go, as you’re working out.

Moreover, for a more spiritual release, try yoga classes to calm yourself down. If you’re feeling frustrated with the long term sobriety process, you’ll want to let all of that emotion out.

However, you must try to let it out in a healthy way. Exercising is a great and healthy way to get rid of unwanted anger and frustration.

Don’t let the negativity back into your life. Commit yourself to long term sobriety using physical treatment in the right way.

3. Add a Holistic Approach for Long Term Sobriety

A holistic approach for long term sobriety focuses on physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Holistic therapy attempts to tackle not only the physical motivation but also the emotional causes of addiction.

Some types of holistic therapies include art therapy, yoga, and meditation. The holistic approach adds a bit more spirituality into your physical treatment.

The holistic therapy aims to help you release your stress, anxiety, and frustration.

Other effects of a holistic approach to long term sobriety are increasing dopamine levels, controlling impulses, and adding more positivity into your life.

The holistic approach is for healing and restoring one’s self into the positive person they were before battling addiction.

4. Physical Treatment Will Help You Love Yourself

Exercising helps build self-confidence and increases levels of self-esteem.

If you’re just a beginner when it comes to exercise, it might be frustrating in the beginning trying to get going. But, if you keep practicing and working at it, you will only get better.

Start with an easy exercise, like taking a walk every day. Eventually, you can build up to jogging or running a bit quicker.

The more you exercise, the more benefits you will begin to see.

You’ll begin to look better physically, and then you will instantly feel better. You’ll feel stronger and prouder of yourself.

You’ve already taken on such difficult challenges, and now you’re achieving all of your goals.

Every time you complete a challenge, even if it’s just an obstacle course, or walking a little longer than you normally do, you will begin to feel more confident in yourself.

When you feel better about yourself, you will also appreciate yourself.

You should be proud of all of your accomplishments and love everything you’re doing to get to where you want to be. Love yourself for getting up and moving.

You’re taking care of yourself, and that is super important!

5. Physical Treatment Will Improve Your Mental Health

The more you incorporate physical treatment into your long term sobriety plan, you will soon see the positive effects the treatment will have on your mental health.

Taking care of your mental health is just as important as working on your physical health.

Studies have shown that working out helps reduce the negative effects of substance abuse on the brain.

Furthermore, starting to exercise while in treatment will give you a new hobby. You can find something that you love.

It can be any type of physical activity, such as running, walking, biking, rock-climbing, swimming, and more. When you go back home, you’ll be able to take that hobby with you.

Your new hobby will give you something awesome to focus on instead of substance abuse.

6. Physical Treatment Takes Up Time in Your Day

When you exercise, you’re taking the time out of your day to do so. Physical treatment is more than just a distraction. It can give you something to work for and look forward to.

There’s no more need to be bored. Now you can use your extra time to exercise and do the things that you love.

You won’t even have time anymore to think about substance abuse or any other negative thoughts coming into your mind.

Physical treatment lets you get rid of stress. Even if it’s not your favorite thing to do, once you finish a workout, you will feel healthier, stronger, and be in a better mood.

Physical treatment is extremely beneficial for long term sobriety. Be open to adding something new into your long term sobriety treatment plan.

Even though sometimes exercising can be daunting and exhausting, you know that you’re going to feel better afterward. Let yourself get back to positivity and happiness.

The first step to getting there and make it last long term is to include physical treatment into your daily life.

Corporate Wellness Plans Impact Mental, Physical Health

Those considering implementing a corporate wellness plan for the office should read this post. The benefits are well-documented and varied. Read them here.

Corporate wellness plans are more than just a popular buzzword. Sure, they have been around for a while, but as researchers get a better picture of the tangible ways that wellness plans benefit companies, employers are taking them more seriously.

Corporate wellness plans are a win-win for both employees and employers. They make employees happier and healthier. This benefits the employer through less sick days, better job performance, and higher productivity.

They also save employers tons on their health insurance programs. A study found that under corporate wellness plans, workers comp costs declined 50 percent!

Companies are becoming more aware of the links between the mental and physical health of their employees and the health of their organization overall. That is why more and more companies are investing in solid wellness plans for their employees.

But how exactly do these plans work? In this article, we will show you what makes for a good corporate wellness plan.

What is a Corporate Wellness Plan?

Basically, a corporate wellness plan is any company’s strategy to look after its employees’ health.

These plans can include company sponsored exercise, diet advice, weight loss programs, activities like yoga and meditation, stress management workshops, and mental health programming. Really, their only limits are the creativity of their planners and the company’s investment.

The company sponsors this program and covers the costs of employee participation.

How Can a Corporate Wellness Plan Impact Physical Health?

The impacts of a good corporate wellness plan on physical health are easy to notice.

This is because most corporate wellness plans focus pretty heavily on physical health. Mental health, which we will discuss next, is sometimes overlooked but is no less important.

The physical benefits that can come from a corporate wellness plan are far-reaching and depend on the plan’s offerings.

A plan that includes diet and nutrition advice can lead to employees eating healthier. This, in turn, increases their energy levels and reduces the frequency and severity of illnesses like colds and the flu.

Meanwhile, a plan that includes activities like yoga, are an easy way to get employees of all fitness levels involved in exercise. They increase flexibility, balance, and flexibility. They also improve muscle strength and toning, making participants healthier overall.

There are some major health impacts that many different types of corporate wellness plans can provide. They can improve blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI), cholesterol, glucose levels.

They can also target behaviors that cause health problems such as smoking.

How Can You Involve Employees in Physical Health Wellness Programs?

There are many great ways to motivate your employees to participate in physical wellness programs.

Offer Classes

Offering classes, such as yoga or strength training, are a great way to get people involved. Employees will be excited to have the opportunity to take a class for free, or even at a reduced rate.

It also provides a time for employees to bond and get to know each other. This makes the class, and exercise itself, more enjoyable, increasing the chances that employees will stick with the program. This means they will be more likely to make meaningful change in their overall health.

Run Competitions

Sometimes, a sense of competition can bring out the best in people.

Offering a small prize for participation in the wellness program can increase participation rates and get employees excited.

Host Expert Seminars

What better way to get employees to learn about healthy nutritional habits than a lunchtime seminar?

By having experts in to talk to employees, you can ensure they learn a great deal in a relatively short amount of time. They can take the information that they learn, and apply it to their habits.

How Can a Corporate Wellness Plan Impact Mental Health?

Oftentimes, it is harder to measure the impact of a mental health wellness plan. You cannot calculate pounds lost, or how much faster someone can run a mile.

Even if they are more difficult to quantify, mental health wellness plans are just as important as physical health ones.

Just like with physical health, the costs of mental health distress are high. Stress, depression, and anxiety can lead to higher rates of absenteeism.

Employees dealing with mental health difficulties are less focused, less productive, and less likely to stay with the company over the long term.

Clearly, the same amount of focus should be put into mental health wellness programs because they can be incredibly effective.

There are a number of ways that a company can look after its employees’ mental health. Seminars offering stress reduction and management techniques can help employees gain control of stress both in the workplace and at home.

Workshops on mindfulness, skills like organization, and meditation can all help employees improve their mental and emotional health. Holistic intervention plans, which incorporate physical and mental health treatments, can be effective against mild forms of depression.

A company can also consider adding mental health benefits to their overall health coverage plans.

Tackling Mental Health Issues Within Your Organization

When adding mental health care to any corporate wellness plan, it is a good idea for employers to take stock of their organization.

Are there particular issues in the work culture that could lead to mental health problems for employees? For example, if employees tend to work long hours, they will likely be stressed and have difficulty finding a healthy work-life balance.

Or, if your office set up is keeping employees from socializing, people may feel isolated and lonely.

The best way to build an effective mental health corporate wellness plan is to figure out the unique needs of the employees in your organization. Then, you can tailor it directly to them, making it more likely to be effective.

Wrapping Up

A good employee wellness plan looks after each employee’s physical and mental health. Programs that target nutrition, fitness, stress reduction, and overall mental wellness can make employees happier and healthier. This, in turn, leads to great benefits for the company itself.

The benefits of a holistic employee wellness plan are clear. Need help getting started? Contact us for more information on ways you can implement a successful wellness plan in your organization.

Addiction affects more people than most of us truly know. In 2011, there were around 20.6 million people in the US, over the age of 12, with an addiction.

Let’s put it this way, roughly ONE IN TEN Americans are addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Only 11% of those ever receive any addiction treatment.

Keep in mind, that doesn’t even cover the biggest killer of them all, tobacco/nicotine use. An estimated 22% of US citizens are current cigarette smokers.

Shocking, isn’t it?

With those kinds of statistics, it’s easy to see the importance of addiction treatment.

Drug & Alcohol Addiction Treatment Options

There is no simple solution to an addiction problem, and it’s rarely as easy as just detoxing and discontinuing use.

Rehab centers are typically what come to mind when considering addiction treatment options.

What do these facilities typically use when treating drug and alcohol abuse?

Likely aspects to programs might include support groups, behavioral therapy, individual psychotherapy, and of course medicine.

While all of these are important features in addiction treatment, successful recovery isn’t just about changing behavior and medicating away the symptoms.

In recent years, addiction treatment professionals have been turning to a more holistic approach.

Holistic Intervention in Addiction Treatment

Most people have heard the term “holistic,” but it is often misunderstood. Particularly when it comes to addiction treatment.

“That’s hippie stuff!”

That sentiment is a common misconception when people hear the word “holistic.” So, what exactly does a holistic approach to addiction treatment entail?

As a general rule, holistic rehab treatments look at a complete physical, mental and spiritual model for treating alcohol and drug abuse.

Some types of holistic options include:

• Massage
• Chiropractic care
• Yoga and meditation
• Herbal medicines
• Acupuncture and acupressure
• Biofeedback and neurofeedback
• Nutritional therapy

This is just a small sampling of holistic treatments. What binds them together is the intention to treat the wHOLe individual instead of focusing only on a single element such as behavioral therapy or medicine.

A truly effective program must address all aspects of a person, including the underlying issues which led to the addiction originally.

Physical Therapy: An important part of holistic recovery

Not mentioned above, and something that many do not consider when thinking of addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery is physical therapy.

It can be an extremely effective addition to any addiction treatment program.

The Benefits of Physical Therapy

Our bodies have extremely negative reactions to alcohol and drug abuse. It leaves people weak and often lethargic. It can also lead to various forms of disease.

Combined with initial detoxification and a program, like a 12 step, behavioral therapy, etc, physical therapy provides an important layer to successful recovery and prevention of relapse.

Without a strong body, addiction has a much easier chance of taking hold on a recovering patient.

Think of a time when you were very sick.

Did you feel sluggish? Did you have a lack of energy?

If it lasted any length of time, you may have found yourself in poor physical condition.

Were you happy? Were you productive? Were you motivated?

This is the same problem for drug and alcohol addicts. Physical therapy give the addict a healthy, positive method to recover physically and begin to lead a healthy lifestyle.

This is an important factor in creating lasting sobriety and avoiding “falling off the wagon.”

Opioid Abuse and Physical Therapy

Sadly, one of the fastest growing issues in America is prescription opioid abuse.

As reported by the US. Center for behavioral Health Statistics and Quality Data Review the number of accidental overdose deaths from prescription opioids has more than quadrupling since 1999.

Over 2 million people are estimated to be addicted to painkillers. It has developed into an epidemic.

The path from pain to pills is a dangerous one, leading to non-medical abuse and increasingly to heroin addiction.

Managing Pain to Prevent Addiction and Relapse

This spike in opioid abuse has led to an important related discussion dealing with non-drug related pain treatments.

For those who have had injuries, or surgery, or other forms of physical trauma, it may be necessary to use painkillers to aid in recovery. Unfortunately, this is the most common way people become addicted.

Physical therapy can be an effective way to manage pain without, or at least minimal, use of prescription drugs.

Even the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has been urging health care providers to reduce the use of drugs for pain, in favor of safer alternatives including physical therapy. And the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has recognized PT as a possible wall against abuse.

Physical therapy pain management is an excellent method to help prevent opioid abuse before it even happens!

The High: Physical Therapy Feels Good

Physical therapy, exercise, and other holistic methods provide addicts with many benefits.

Besides just pain relief, physical therapy releases endorphins in the body which simulate the types of feelings produced by actual drug use.

These positive biochemicals help produce a sense of calm and wellness that is vital to both physical and mental health.

Addicts who receive physical therapy and exercise as a part of their recovery program are much more likely to complete their programs, as well as avoid relapse.

A Healthy Life After Addiction Treatment

Years of drug abuse can lead to a tremendous regression in a body and mind.

Addicts in recovery using physical therapy not only feel stronger, they ARE stronger.

This helps a person develop the state of mind needed to have a successful recovery, giving them a strong body and healthy mind. It provides a true sense of confidence and independence.

These benefits will hopefully lead to a new way of life for the addict, looking to themselves and not to drugs for their personal wellness.

Physical therapy and exercise can fill that gap that the addicts feels once they are free of their substance abuse, and help give them a bright and healthy future.