Vital Voyage Blog

10/18/2026

Just as a family begins to understand one substance, another may enter the picture. Counselor Belinda Morey explores polysubstance use risks, the strain of changing patterns, and why support needs to address the person’s full situation. https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/polysubstance-use-risks-why-it-isn-t-just-more-drugs
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When substance use involves changing combinations, families and care teams can struggle to keep up. Counselor Belinda Morey considers polysubstance use risks, the strain on loved ones, and the need for individualized support.

10/18/2026

“Am I happy... or am I becoming manic?” Ana Ruiz describes the fear behind that question and her experience of rebuilding self-trust. Read a personal account of living with bipolar disorder and finding an identity larger than a diagnosis. This is one person’s story, not a cure claim or a replacement for professional care.
https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/bipolar-isn-t-a-life-sentence-living-with-bipolar-disorder
Subscribe to Vital Voyage Blog for weekly expert voices, human stories, and real recovery.

After repeated hospitalizations and career disruptions, Ana Ruiz describes rebuilding self-trust and a sense of possibility while living with bipolar disorder. Her personal account explores identity, early warning signs, and the experiences she finds meaningful.

10/17/2026

Are you covering two jobs while your team keeps shrinking? October Author of the Month Michael Newman looks at toxic workloads and chronic understaffing, asking what organizations need to change when the demands keep growing and recovery time disappears.

Subscribe to Vital Voyage Blog for weekly expert voices, human stories, and real recovery. https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/toxic-workloads-and-chronic-understaffing

Doing more with fewer people can carry a cost. October Author of the Month Michael Newman examines toxic workloads, chronic understaffing, and the organizational changes he believes sustainable performance requires.

10/17/2026

He was 17. He was working a restaurant shift. And he was running out of people he could trust. In our featured article, Joshua Bennett-Johnson recalls the encounters that led him to become a teenage DEA informant. Read Part I of this personal memoir excerpt, ending at the meeting that begins the next chapter.
https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/memoir-excerpt-i-was-a-teenage-dea-informant-part-I
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10/11/2026

The laugh. The jokes. The ordinary moments that made her Maddie. Chris Coulter writes about preserving his daughter’s memories after su***de loss and helping others know the life she lived: https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/i-m-starting-to-forget-things-about-my-daughter-and-i-hate-it-remembering-her-after-su***de-loss ***deLoss

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Chris Coulter is finding some everyday memories of his daughter Maddie harder to recall. He writes down her jokes, laughter, kindness, and family moments so others can know the whole person she was—a life that meant far more than how it ended.

10/10/2026

Before counting the substances, ask what each one is doing for the person. John Makohen explores the needs, timing, and sequence behind some polysubstance use patterns—and why mixing drugs still carries serious risks. Read the series article https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/polysubstance-use-one-pattern-with-multiple-tools
Subscribe to Vital Voyage Blog for weekly expert voices, human stories, and real recovery.

John Makohen asks what each substance is doing for the person using it. This series article explores sleep, anxiety, pain, mood, timing, and sequence—and why understanding a pattern must go alongside substance-specific assessment and attention to the risks of mixing drugs.

10/10/2026

Still getting everything done—but struggling to focus or recover? October Author of the Month Michael Newman examines burnout in high achievers and why pushing harder may stop helping. https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/burnout-in-high-achievers-why-pushing-through-can-backfire

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October Author of the Month Michael Newman examines why the discipline and drive that support achievement can become hard to sustain under constant stress. He explores fatigue, cognitive strain, and the importance of building recovery into professional performance.

10/10/2026

He entered the house as one of twelve men trying to rebuild his life. He eventually became its manager. In our featured Part II, Danny Ellerd shares the daily work behind that change: accepting help, walking to work, keeping commitments, and learning to lead. Subscribe to Vital Voyage Blog for weekly expert voices, human stories, and real recovery.

Danny Ellerd entered a sober-living home unsure how to rebuild his life. In Part II, he shares how accepting help, walking to work, keeping commitments, and becoming house manager taught him to live again—and helped prepare him to support others seeking permanent housing.

10/05/2026

Are you suffering through tomorrow before it arrives? Matthew Campbell explains how worst-case rehearsal, avoidance, and repeated reassurance can strengthen anticipatory anxiety without protecting us from uncertainty. Read his practical guidance and subscribe to Vital Voyage Blog for weekly expert voices, human stories, and real recovery. https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/beat-the-rush-be-negative-early-anxiety-and-practical-coping

Before the meeting, medical test, presentation, or difficult conversation, the mind starts asking, 'What if?' Matthew Campbell explains how worst-case rehearsal, avoidance, and reassurance can strengthen anticipatory anxiety - and why useful preparation should eventually give way to the life happeni...

10/05/2026

Sandy Rivers examines the misuse of the DSM-5-TR label “polysubstance use disorder” and how that broad term can obscure specific substances, trauma histories, pain issues, and tailored treatment options. Important read for clinicians, program leaders, and policymakers. Read more: https://www.vitalvoyageblog.com/post/the-misuse-of-the-dsm-5-tr-diagnosis-of-polysubstance-use-disorder

DSM-5-TR does not list polysubstance use disorder as a standalone diagnosis, yet the label remains common in some treatment settings. Sandy Rivers explains how one broad term can obscure specific substances, trauma, mental health needs, pain, and treatment options - and why person-centered assessmen...