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At True Life Center, we provide a supportive environment staffed by caring addiction specialists and therapists to help people struggling with benzo abuse. Our benzo taper program gradually eases your use of benzo drugs while you are closely monitored to ensure your safety throughout the entire process. One of the best tools you have to overcome this type of addiction is knowledge about benzodiazepine abuse and addiction.

3 Things to Know About Benzodiazepine Abuse and Addiction

1. Dependency Is Often Inadvertent

Well-meaning but time-strapped physicians may inappropriately prescribe benzodiazepines to patients without first considering individual risk factors or warning of long-term consequences. Then these patients, who trust their doctor’s advice and are desperate to feel better, often take the medication faithfully and responsibly for years without questioning their use. Meanwhile, for an estimated 15 to 44 percent of benzodiazepine users, the body adapts to the drug so that physical dependence is developed. It may take missing a dose and experiencing the benzo withdrawal symptoms or verbalized concern from an attentive medical professional before the problem is even discovered.

2. Withdrawal Can Be Dangerous

Benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms include:

• Restlessness
• Agitation
• Insomnia
• Aches and pains
• Blurred vision
• Nausea
• Seizures
• Psychosis

The severity of symptoms depends largely on a patient’s medical history, physical condition, duration of use, and benzodiazepines dosage. In no instance, however, is quitting “cold turkey” a recommendation. The safest way to deal with a benzodiazepine addiction is to seek help from an addiction psychiatrist or medical professional. The most effective form of benzodiazepine addiction treatment is often a slow taper. A professional supervises the gradual reduction of benzodiazepine dosage to minimize symptoms.

3. There Are Alternative Treatment Options

While it is true that benzodiazepine abuse and addiction are a possibility, this drug can also provide a great deal of relief for the estimated 40 million American adults suffering from clinical anxiety. The drugs’ accessibility, relatively low price, and rapid results prevent many patients from considering alternative treatments. But while benzo use may effectively mask anxiety symptoms, research suggests it does nothing to cure anxiety and may actually worsen the condition. Anxiety is a complex mental health condition that affects every aspect of life, including the mind, body, and spirit. The most effective treatments for anxiety address those same aspects with a holistic approach that addresses the root cause of the illness.

If you are taking benzos because of clinical anxiety, our True Life Center team also offers anxiety disorder treatment as an alternative to medication. We provide options for this type of treatment, including:

• Generalized anxiety disorder treatment
• OCD treatment
• Panic disorder treatment
• Social anxiety disorder treatment

The goal of these treatment programs is to help you build skills to deal with anxiety instead of using benzos. This type of holistic approach to treatment is why our programs are so effective.

Benzodiazepine Abuse Treatment at True Life Center

At True Life Center, we want to understand each patient’s unique story. This allows us to provide customized and comprehensive outpatient benzo addiction treatment. Our team of collaborative experts includes two full-time psychiatrists, as well as a full-time psychiatric nurse practitioner. This allows us to safely oversee benzodiazepine detox.

Some of our mental health treatment options at True Life Center include:

• Intensive outpatient treatment (IOP)
• Partial hospitalization program (PHP)
• Neurobiological integration approach
• Anxiety disorder treatment
• Trauma therapy
• Mood disorder treatment

If you’re unsure which of our mental health treatment options is right for you, don’t worry. Our True Life Center team will work with you to determine which of our programs is best for your health and well-being.

Overcome Benzo Abuse and Addiction at True Life Center

True Life Center is a proud provider of addiction treatment programs in California, and we are ready to support you with our San Diego benzo treatment program. Although it may not seem like it right now, recovery from this type of addiction is possible. You may need the comprehensive and compassionate care we provide in all of our San Diego treatment programs.

For more information about addiction or mental health treatment, please contact us. We are available to provide information, resources, and support. You can also call 858.202.1822 to speak with someone directly to retake control of your life from benzo abuse by contacting True Life Center.

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We’re all experiencing some level of concern and uncertainty over the coronavirus outbreak. We’re worried about our health, our finances, and our loved ones. There’s no way around it. We have to face it head-on. Here are some ways that our treatment center at True Life can help you cope and work through your anxiety during the pandemic.

How To Know When You Need Anxiety Treatment

When our anxiety becomes unmanageable, we need to reach out and seek compassionate care. Psychotherapy and medication options can be powerful resources as you navigate your troubled feelings. With the proper assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis, a dedicated professional can tailor a treatment course that works for you. You may feel like it’s impossible to find the help you need during an outbreak, but don’t let that be an obstacle to finding the help you need. Mental health is as important as physical health, and the consequences of not receiving treatment can be serious. So make sure you reach out if you’re in need. First, check in with yourself and stay on the lookout for classic symptoms of anxiety:

• Excessive and irrational fear and worry
• Overall feelings of intense apprehension and/or dread
• Constantly watching for signs of peril
• Anticipating that the worst will happen
• Problems with concentration
• Feelings of tension and jumpiness
• Overall and intense irritability
• Feeling that your mind has gone blank

These emotional signs can trigger physical symptoms activated by the body’s natural fight or flight response. These physical symptoms include: shortness of breath, feelings of being dizzy, an overabundance of stomach enzymes that results in stomachache, unusually frequent urination, diarrhea, headaches, sweating, and pounding heartbeat.

Am I Having An Anxiety Attack?

An anxiety attack can include the following symptoms:

• You feel as if you have lost control or that you are going insane
• Heart palpitations and/or chest pain
• The sensation that you are going to faint
• Problems with your breathing
• Feeling like you are choking
• Hyperventilation
• Hot flashes and/or chills
• Trembling and/or shaking
• Intense nausea or stomach cramping
• Feeling detached from reality

Where To Go For Anxiety Treatment for COVID-19

The internet is a great place to identify resources that can help you cope with anxiety treatment for COVID-19. Thousands of anxiety treatment locations throughout the country can match you with great individual or group therapy to help identify, understand, and work through with your issue. Even during mandated social distancing, you can still receive the vital anxiety treatment you need. True Life Center is here for you at 858.202.1822 if you need help.

Please don’t hesitate to seek anxiety treatment if you are having intense symptoms of anxiety or an anxiety attack. Our providers are considered essential healthcare workers, and we are available to you now. If your symptoms are severe and debilitating, head to your local emergency room where trained mental health professionals are on-site to help you and can be a great local resource in a moment of acute need.

Excessive Anxiety Requires Treatment

The technology we enjoy today is bridging the gap created by social distancing. We can see our loved ones on our cellphones and enjoy virtual visits with them. We encourage you to seek out and cultivate any other stress-relieving activities and habits that appeal to you as a way to manage overall anxiety. The overwhelming effect of COVID-19 has not set in just yet. We have a long way to go in this crisis. The next several weeks may feel like an eternity. But with a combination of self-care and proper treatment, we can navigate this difficult time together.

If someone you know is experiencing anxiety symptoms that are getting in the way of maintaining a healthy mental and physical balance during this crisis, do not hesitate to gently recommend seeking anxiety treatment. The same is true for yourself. Reach out to us at True Life Center at 858.202.1822 for anxiety treatment to alleviate excessive anxious behavior. We are here to help you find a way through the concerns and uncertainties you’re facing and come up with a plan to get you back on track, living your best life as your most authentic self.

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Caring for Your Mental Health During COVID-19

Even during quarantine, there are steps you can take to protect and preserve your mental health. These steps don’t even require you to leave home and risk exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Rather, they are aimed at helping you manage your own symptoms with compassionate, caring guidance and preventing a mental health crisis that requires hospitalization. If you are already in treatment for depression, continue to heed the recommendations of your mental health professional and also consider the following options:

Continue Your Normal Medication Regimen

If you’re currently taking prescribed medications for depression treatment, it’s important to stay on the regimen your doctor recommends. Take stock of the medications you have on-hand, and be sure to refill ones that are low. Continue your medications as recommended throughout your time in quarantine. If you become ill with the COVID-19 virus, speak with a physician about the medications you are currently taking before using additional flu remedies, as medications like these may not interact well with one another.

Stay in Touch With Your Mental Health Care Provider

Don’t let fears about exposure to the virus keep you from getting the help you need. Providers are adapting to provide essential mental health services even now. So it may not be necessary to schedule an office visit for depression treatment. Many mental health treatment centers are updating their treatment models to offer telehealth services to patients isolated by quarantine. As a result, there may be a telehealth number you can call to receive mental health services from home. Your insurance provider often helps cover the costs.

Lean on Family

If you are quarantined with a partner, spouse, or children, take this time to reconnect. Try not to spend all day in separate rooms, on separate screens. Instead, schedule fun family bonding activities such as making meals together or playing board games. Talk, laugh, and share with the supportive people around you. This vital thread of connection will boost your mood and help take your focus off the sadness you may be feeling.

Stay Connected With Friends

If you are not quarantined with a supportive network of family or friends, use other means as ways of staying connected with the most supportive people in your life. This may mean video chatting, calling on the phone, emailing, or even playing virtual games together. It’s important not to let yourself feel isolated and alone during the quarantine.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

Cultivating a regular practice of at-home therapies such as meditation and mindfulness during the quarantine will help you find centeredness and balance. Other simple at-home or near-home therapies may include:

• Yoga therapy
• Aromatherapy
• Massage therapy
• Art and music therapy
• Measured breathing

Anything that can help induce relaxation and reduce levels of stress and anxiety is a key ally and resource for you at this time. Treatments like these are conducive to relieving the symptoms of depression right from your living room or backyard.

Depression Treatment During COVID-19

If you suffer from depression or a related mental health disorder, it’s important to maintain daily recovery practices. The lifestyle changes taking place due to COVID-19 can feel extremely disruptive, but as someone in recovery, it’s more important than ever to prioritize your mental health. If you need help, reach out to our mental health treatment staff to find the right treatment options for you and help you take the first steps towards recovery.

If you’re feeling down or low, you’re not alone. More than 17 million Americans suffer from depression in this country. But it’s a highly treatable condition, especially when you’re surrounded by a supportive, encouraging team of professionals who want to see you win. Many who seek depression treatment experience a complete recovery. If you feel ready to find the right providers and work through your depression, contact our mental health treatment facility at True Life Center at 858.202.1822. We have the tools, and we’re ready to help you on the path to finding fulfillment and stability through embracing your authentic self.

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