Psychology
Addiction Counselling
Addiction may be defined as the continued use of a mood-altering substance or behaviour despite adverse consequence.
Classic hallmarks of addiction include:
- Impaired control over substances/behaviour
- Preoccupation with substance/behaviour
- Continued use despite consequences denial
Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification coupled with long-term costs.
Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its ‘normal’ functioning. This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the process by which the body continually adapts to the substance and requires increasingly larger amounts to achieve the original effects.
Withdrawal refers to the physical and psychological symptoms people experience when reducing or discontinuing a substance the body had become dependent on. Symptoms of withdrawal can include anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations, headaches, cold sweats, and tremors.
Counselling is one step in the process of recovery and our practitioners will coordinate your care with other health care providers. Call us today and let’s get started on the path to feeling great again.
Exercise Anorexia
Though many of us worry about getting enough exercise, there is such a thing as too much exercise. Regular exercise is a good thing, but more is not always better and in some cases, compulsive exercise can be just as dangerous as eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
Compulsive exercise is just another tool some people use to purge their body of calories, much like a bulimic who binges and purges.
Exercise Anorexia is hard to diagnose since everyone talks about how great it is to exercise. If you do more, isn’t that good? Not if you’re using exercise to purge or compensate for eating binges (or just regular eating).
Of course, knowing how much exercise is too much is something you may end up learning the hard way, but if you pay attention to your body, there are warning signs that you’ve taken exercise to the max.
- The Symptoms:
- Compulsive exercisers will often schedule their lives around exercise just as those with eating disorders schedule their lives around eating (or not eating).
- Other indications of compulsive exercise are:
- Missing work, parties or other appointments in order to workout
- Working out with an injury or while sick
- Becoming seriously depressed if you can’t get a workout in
- Working out for hours at a time each day
- Not taking any rest or recovery days
Compulsive exercising has to do with control, much the same way people with eating disorders use food as a way to take control of their lives. But, it can turn into an endless workout if you’re not careful since most folks never feel satisfied with their bodies or their fitness levels, no matter how much they exercise.
- The Danger:
Exercising too much can cause all kinds of problems including:
- Injuries such as stress fractures, strains and sprains
- Low body fat (This may sound good but, for women, it can cause some serious problems. Exercising too much can cause a woman’s period to stop which can cause bone loss)
- Fatigue
- Dehydration
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Reproductive problems
- Heart problems
Some of these symptoms also apply to overtraining, but if you’re obsessed with exercise and use it as a way to undo bad eating on a regular basis, it isn’t something you can tackle alone.
Many compulsive exercisers find they need therapy to help them deal with exercise bulimia.
To get started, call us and we’ll connect you with our counsellor who specializes in exercise anorexia.
- Other areas that physchologist can help with:
- Anxiety and Stress Management
- Depression Consulting
- Eating Disorders
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