A recent newspaper headline announced: “Fatty Foods May Be Just as Addictive as Heroin and Cocaine.” This bold declaration was written due to evidence presented in a new study published in Nature Neuroscience. This three-year study provides compelling scientific evidence that junk food addiction may explain why you start drooling...

Shades of Hope was featured on two episodes of the Emmy-nominated “The Dr. Oz Show”. Both episodes featured Sandi, a single mother of two, who battled food addiction for 20 years. Sandi remained addicted to food despite seeing multiple doctors and therapists for her issues. Sandi used food as medication...

Ruby Gettinger is the charming reality star of Ruby on the Style Network. Once weighing over 700 pounds, she has battled obesity throughout her life. The Savannah native is aware her food consumption and weight are symptoms of an underlying problem. “I wasn’t eating because I was hungry,” she said...

Orthorexia is an eating disorder characterized by an obsessive focus on eating healthy foods. In a nation with too many overweight and obese people, orthorexia can simply look like healthy eating to an outside observer. The problem is that orthorexics are so restrictive in their healthy food habits that they...

There are many myths and misperceptions about addiction and addiction recovery floating around. Much of our scientific knowledge about addiction is relatively new so it is not surprising that people have old beliefs that are incorrect. In our experience as a professional treatment center, here are the top 5 myths...

Shades of Hope was featured on an episode of the Emmy award-winning show “Intervention” on A&E. “Intervention” is a television series that profiles people with addictions or other destructive behaviors that have led them to a point of crisis. Each episode ends with a surprise intervention held with friends and...

According to the National Institutes of Health, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Marijuana is generally depicted as harmless in popular movies and television shows. Movies like “Harold and Kumar” and the Showtime series “Weeds” along with HBO’s series “Sex and the City” trivialize...

A surprising new type of abuse has recently gained quite a bit of media attention – food addiction. Food addiction has been featured as a topic on various television shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN’s Larry King Live, The Dr. Oz Show, Intervention and Ruby. Tennis Champion Monica Seles...

The holiday season is a challenging period for those in addiction recovery. Many recovering addicts relapse during this time of year so it is vital to recognize the warning signs and interrupt the process. Any return to addictive behavior can lead to a relapse. Warning signs of relapse occur before...

The holidays are a dangerous time for relapse amongst addicts. This time period is supposed to be about joy and celebration but often turns into a stressful time filled with anxiety, tension and sadness. The period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s is overwhelming for everyone. It can be especially difficult...