by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Aug 15, 2016 | Addiction, Recovery
Anyone who has been lost in an addiction knows the feeling of losing interest in life. Addiction takes away a passion for living. Things that you once enjoyed get tossed aside as addiction consumes your thoughts and actions. Once you begin recovery, you find that you...
by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Mar 30, 2016 | Addiction, Mental Health
The human brain is the most complex organ in the body. Having an understanding of how it works helps us to understand how drug addiction is a brain disease. Drugs affect the brain’s pathological and biological processes. Almost all drugs affect the chemical...
by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Mar 28, 2016 | Addiction
Charles Dickens was addicted to opium. Thomas Edison used cocaine elixir while he was working. Walt Disney attempted to overdose on drugs and alcohol when he was 31 years old. Jimi Hendrix was addicted to drugs most of his adult life. When he died, wine and...
by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Mar 25, 2016 | Addiction
There is not one single gene that puts one person more at risk than another for becoming addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Many factors determine if a person will become addicted. Genetics make up 50% of the risk, while environmental aspects account for the other 50%....
by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Mar 21, 2016 | Addiction
Survivor’s guilt affects the people who survive events that caused the death of others. The symptoms are feelings of regret, sadness, guilt, and powerlessness. Survivor’s guilt can affect soldiers in combat, people who have escaped natural disasters, and anyone...
by Cristina Utti, MA, MFA | Mar 14, 2016 | Addiction, Recovery
My mother was raised in a convent. My father painted churches, and not just the walls. For over sixty years, he was the artist that painted the beautiful paintings of the Blessed Mother, Christ, and various saints on the walls, ceilings, and behind the altars of...
