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Once you have taken the decisive step towards professional help. Your choice of where to undergo treatment should be based on finding a centre that closely matches your rehabilitation goals and offers an encompassing and safe environment.

There are many situations that can cause high levels of stress, such as high-pressure executive careers, financial problems or difficult relationships. Often one may lead to another leading to a cumulative effect, with each stressor building on top of the other.

You have been working at maximum velocity. Long working hours mean you have little time to rest, exercise or sit down to a healthy and relaxed meal. This has been happening over a period of time now, and you feel physically drained and mentally exhausted.

South Africa has an abundance of diverse and breathtaking scenery, a vibrant culture, and magnificent wildlife: three major factors which influence our wellbeing and inspire us to reach optimum health and happiness. It’s why the country is an exceptional destination for those seeking a successful recovery from addiction, burnout or mental health issues.

Although many of us think it’s possible to live on pure adrenalin alone, sadly it’s not the case. A 2018 Gallup study of 7,500 employees found that a significant 23% reported feeling burnt out at work very often or always, and 44% feel burnt out at work sometimes.

They call ecstasy the ‘love drug’ because it amps up your sensations and people using it feel things at a heightened level; colours, sound and touch. It’s great if you’re clubbing or at a manic music concert because you lose all your inhibitions and can dance and rave all night long. And sex on ecstasy is mind-blowing. But what they don’t tell you is ecstasy also causes deep depression, confusion, severe anxiety, paranoia and other very scary psychotic episodes. It’s a synthetic drug and the short burst of exhilaration on ecstasy doesn’t last anywhere as long as the depressed slump you go into after your crazy night out.

Nestled in an ancient garden on the outskirts of the town of White River, the gateway to the Kruger National Park, White River Manor offers a comprehensive treatment Program tailored to meet the individual needs of clients seeking peace and quiet in one of the world’s most beautiful spots.Regarded as one of the best addiction treatment centres in South Africa, it offers five-star accommodation and world-class treatment in a tranquil setting with the aim of offering clients a life-changing experience.ional use” was in fact regular use and he was likely dealing with a serious drug addiction.White River Manor was founded by Jerry Hartless, Giles Fourie and Jeanine Fourie, who bought the 14-hectare property to create a facility that offered better care than Hartless had experienced in the United States. When it opened in 2015, the result was a top-class centre that offers luxury accommodation and faultless service at a fraction of the cost of international rehab facilities.

That’s a question many people are asking now that dagga is legal for private use in South Africa. There were a lot of funny memes doing the rounds on social media when the news broke in September 2018 but the bigger debate is, “is South Africa courting the devil”? Marijuana, weed, cannabis, dope, dagga… whatever you call it, tends to be used as a social drug and it’s seen as a ‘soft drug’. Supposedly, it’s harmless and not addictive, and certainly less harmful than hardtack alcohol and less addictive than cigarettes. Is it? Or is it a gateway drug that leads to harder and more destructive drug addiction?

This is a question only you can answer and it’s not the easiest thing to do. Unless you’ve got to a really bad place in your life and risk losing everything; you can go a long time thinking, “I can handle this”. But in the end, the drugs you’re using will end up controlling you. Here’s a list of questions that were drawn up by recovering addicts as part of their recovery Program. They’re blunt questions with no sugar coating. All you need to do is answer them honestly.

Non-religious addicts or addicts who practise a different religion are as likely to benefit from the Program; particularly, as part of an after-care Program where the 12-step Program can help to reinforce what they’ve discovered about themselves in rehab. Like them or hate them, AA-type meetings have been around for decades and have been life-saving for countless people.

An intervention is often a last-gasp attempt to convince a loved one struggling with addiction to get help. They’ve become more and more popular over the last 20 years and given rise to reality TV shows where families are filmed confronting a son or daughter in the grip of a drug or alcohol addiction.

Studies show that at least 50% of people living with a mental illness have a substance abuse problem. Similarly, more than half of the people battling with alcohol and drug addiction have a common mental health disorder.