Jamie Taylor

Define stress: According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), stress is defined as the brain’s response to a demand.

Our Body’s Response to Stress: Each individual responds to stress differently. Some common responses include: digestive issues, headaches, feelings of sadness, feeling lethargic, irritability and difficulty sleeping.

Jacey Downing

Alcohol Use Is Widely Accepted

Alcohol.  As Americans we see it advertised in one form or another on TV at home, on billboards driving down the highway, in magazines in the doctor's office, on the radio at the mall, and in many other places.  Alcohol use is generally widely accepted by our society as a common part of recreational and social events. 

NCBHS Therapist

Assertive communication is the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings in an open, honest and direct way. It recognizes our rights while still respecting the rights of others. It allows us to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions without judging or blaming other people and it allows us to constructively confront and find a mutually satisfying solution where conflict may exist.

Assertive communication enables us to swap old behavior patterns for amore positive approach to life. There are many advantages of assertive communication which include:

Tammy Thieme

Self injury is when someone is performing deliberate and repetitive acts of physical harm to their own bodies. 

Types of self harm include:

NCBHS Therapist

A synthetic drug is drug with properties and effects similar to a known hallucinogen or narcotic but having a slightly altered chemical structure, especially such a drug created in order to evade restrictions against illegal substances.

Examples of synthetic drugs include bath salts and synthetic marijuana. Bath salts will mimic synthetic hallucinogens while synthetic marijuana will mimic the effects of the chemical properties contained in THC or marijuana.