Addiction Help Nyc: Exercise and Addiction – the New Frontier of Addiction Recovery
Are you trying to quit smoking or stop drinking alcohol? Are you recovering from a drug addiction? Do you struggle with prescription drug abuse or a gambling problem? The best approach to addiction recovery may have been right under our noses all along: exercise. What you don’t know about this topic might just surprise you.
Whether you are addicted to alcohol, street drugs, prescription drugs, gambling, food, or nicotine, the neurological pattern that develops is the same. The reward center in your brain is underactive, and it takes more in life to tell that part of your brain that you’re having a good time. Nothing but the addiction seems to satisfy that reward center, and the brain is tricked into thinking that the addiction is necessary for survival.
Quick bursts of exercise at 70-80% of one’s maximum aerobic threshold for at least 30 minutes a day can give your brain’s reward center the quick burst of dopamine that it’s looking for when feeling a craving to use a substance (or behavior). Not only that, exercise rebalances all of your mood related neurotransmitters and releases BDNF, a factor which is like Miracle Gro for your brain. It helps to grow new brain cells in areas of the brain that tend to shrink with depression and substance abuse.
One of the neatest things that exercise does is release endorphins, which are chemical cousins with synthetic morphine. Releasing your body’s natural pain killers is one reason for that infamous “runner’s high.” Endocannabinoids are thought to be the other reason for this phenomenon. These are the receptors in the brain associated with marijuana, and there are two other activities that can fill these receptors: exercise and eating chocolate. The ability to do something that is within your own control builds a sense of self efficacy, something that’s missing in individuals who feel powerless and helpless to control addictions.
Exercise simultaneously builds new neural networks within the brain, decrease cravings, significantly reduce withdrawal symptoms, address underlying depression and anxiety, and fill the void often left behind after addictive behaviors stop. One excellent example of how well exercise can help correct addiction is a popular recovery program in Manhattan. This program attributes it’s significantly higher rate of recovery success to the inclusion of an exercise program, and some of it’s graduates run in the NYC Marathon each year.
If you’re trying to quit smoking or stop drinking your lunchtime chardonnay with a straw, make exercise your new best friend. Buy a jump rope and do 10 minute bursts, or even buy a mini trampoline to use when cravings hit. The “hit” of exercise will be a good replacement for reducing tension, and you’ll have more energy, too.
MaverickMom.com is a mommy blog with a flair for health. The author, Dr. Lisa Benton, is a clinical health psychologist turned mom who loves fitness, health, Starbucks, and laughing her way through motherhood. MaverickMom.com is an extra bold, cutting edge approach to creating health that will change your thoughts about topics like mood, IQ, weight loss, anxiety, and a variety of other motherhood concerns. As the tagline goes, there is “Nothing Artificial” here.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Benton
Alcohol Rehab in New York | New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services – www.rehabinnewyork.org Alcohol Rehab in New York help you get you life back. New York Center for Addiction Treatment Services help people in getting detox in newyork, recovery newyork, sober living newyork and much more. Call now the number given in the video or go to our website http
Amanda Bynes Locks Herself In NYC Bakery Bathroom For 30 Minutes
Filed under: addiction help nyc
HollywoodLife.com has all the EXCLUSIVE details on how Amanda can save herself. The bizarre saga of Amanda Bynes doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, as a new report claims that Amanda locked herself in the bathroom of the Little Cupcake Bakeshop …
Read more on Hollywood Life
Study: Military drinking 'culture' now a 'crisis'
Filed under: addiction help nyc
Today, the military's approach to treating substance abuse "tends to be old-fashioned," O'Brien said, noting the example of the military's reluctance to use medications that can combat cravings and in other ways help treat addiction, he said. "Modern …
Read more on KHQ Right Now
Military Substance-Abuse Programs Critiqued by Panel
Filed under: addiction help nyc
The military doesn't consistently follow its own guidelines for treating substance abuse, often doesn't always provide up- to-date treatment options, and generally won't allow long-term use of common drugs that can help treat abuse, according to the …
Read more on Bloomberg