Twin Rivers Recovery

28/08/2026

When Love Becomes Another Addiction: Narcissism, Recovery and Relationships

Why addiction can look like narcissism

Active addiction can make a person appear emotionally unavailable, manipulative, self-absorbed and seemingly indifferent to the needs of others. These behaviours can resemble some of the characteristics associated with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), but they do not automatically mean that the person has NPD.

During active addiction, the overwhelming drive to obtain and use a mood-altering substance can progressively narrow a person's priorities. Survival, relief from emotional or physical discomfort and satisfying cravings can begin to dominate their thinking and behaviour. Lying, manipulation, denial, blame shifting and broken promises may become behaviours used to protect continued substance use. From the outside, this can look remarkably narcissistic. The important distinction is why the behaviour is happening and whether it persists once the person is genuinely in recovery.

Narcissistic traits vs narcissistic personality disorder

Some people with addiction also display persistent narcissistic traits, such as an inflated or fragile sense of self, difficulty accepting responsibility, entitlement, blame shifting or limited empathy. However, displaying narcissistic traits does not necessarily mean that a person has narcissistic personality disorder.
NPD is a recognised mental health disorder involving a persistent pattern of inflexible thoughts, emotions and interpersonal behaviours. A proper diagnosis requires a qualified mental-health professional to assess the person's long-term functioning rather than simply observing how they behaved while actively addicted or in early recovery.

This distinction matters because addiction can profoundly distort personality, relationships and behaviour. A person who has spent years lying, manipulating and putting their needs ahead of everyone else's may genuinely need to learn how to communicate, take responsibility and develop empathy. That process takes time. It also means that early recovery can sometimes provide a misleading picture of who the person actually is.

Understanding early recovery................

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-love-becomes-another-addiction-narcissism-david-briskham-4rgzf

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13/08/2026

Rehab Romance!
Falling in love in rehab is common due to intense shared vulnerability causing massive dopamine shifts and emotional distractions which derails recovery focus creating obsessive thoughts that can completely hijack the purpose of being in rehab. Most facilities discourage fraternization but rarely educate clients regarding this common problem or make it clear the consequences for individuals and the recovery community. Many rehabs cover this issue in the house rules and regulations but a signed document does not mean it has been read or even absorbed.

Rehab Romance Trap

Active Addiction:
‘The search for love in all the wrong places,
With all the wrong people’

This statement mixed with a myriad of unpleasant and confusing past experiences follows all patients into rehab many of whom adopt varying degrees of anti-social behaviour such as appearing meek and mild, angry and controlling or present as passive/aggressive, any of which can surface the longer a patient is removed from all mood-altering substances. Patients are often stuck in ‘survival mode’ in those early days of residential treatment and scramble around seeking replacement distractions. Yes! Some clients fulfil this need by getting their head into the recovery process but this is definitely a minority group. The most common and natural approach to finding a new numbing agent comes in the form of snacking (over-eating), too much coffee, heavy cigarette smoking, va**ng, exercise, anaesthetised by power struggles with staff or the programme, chronic complaining, grandiosity, ironic humour, sarcasm, bullying, recreating their dysfunctional family of origin by forming a clique and of course lustful relationships. It’s all about control at any cost!......

Full Article-Click on the link below:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/love-rehab-when-healing-romance-collide-david-briskham-jr42f

03/08/2026

Twin Rivers Recovery
https://www.twinriversrecovery.com/

Understanding Substance-Induced Psychosis

What Is Psychosis?
Substance-induced psychosis is a serious but treatable condition in which a person temporarily loses touch with reality following the use of alcohol or other mood-altering substances. While the experience can be frightening for both the individual and their loved ones, early treatment and sustained recovery can lead to excellent outcomes.

Common Symptoms
The symptoms of psychosis vary from person to person but often include the following. Not everyone will experience every symptom, and the severity can vary considerably from one person to another.

Hallucinations: False sensory experiences that occur while a person is awake. They may involve seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that are not actually present. Hearing voices (auditory hallucinations) is one of the most common forms and can be extremely frightening.

Delusions: Fixed false beliefs that persist despite clear evidence to the contrary. A person may believe they are being watched, followed, plotted against, or poisoned. Others may believe a loved one has been replaced by an impostor or believe, without evidence, that their partner is being unfaithful.

Persecutory Delusions: Sometimes accompanied by auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices that appear to confirm the person's fears or reinforce their false beliefs. The combination of hearing threatening voices and believing that others intend to cause harm can be overwhelming and extremely distressing..........

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Twin Rivers Recovery
95 Longships Drive
Plettenberg Bay 6600
South Africa
Email: [email protected]
Admissions: [email protected]

23/04/2026

Twin Rivers Recovery
Plettenberg Bay
South Africa 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Twin Rivers Recovery is a licensed, independent, family-owned treatment facility dedicated to ethical, client-centred care. Free from corporate ownership or consortium control, the centre operates with full clinical autonomy. This independence allows our team to focus on what truly matters-individualised treatment, professional integrity, and a meaningful recovery experience.

Twin Rivers Recovery Centre was founded in 2011 and located on 'The Garden Route' in the Western Cape-South Africa. This family-owned, licensed treatment facility offers clients and their families 12-step based primary care-extended primary care and aftercare services.

TWIN RIVERS RECOVERY SERVICES:
⭐ADDICTION TREATMENT – substance abuse disorders.
Drugs – alcohol & process addictions such as gambling – codependency & s*x addiction.
⭐MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT – psychological and emotional well-being.
Depression – trauma (PTSD) – anxiety – burnout – ADHD – OCD.
⭐DUAL DIAGNOSIS TREATMENT – the presence of both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder that are treated simultaneously.

https://lnkd.in/dBAc5TmE
Director & Head of Admissions - [email protected]
+44 777 578 2185
Director & Founder - [email protected]
+27(0)828 633 159
Director - [email protected]

22/04/2026

Twin Rivers Recovery Trauma Treatment 2026

“One of the biggest mistakes in trauma treatment is trying to fix trauma too quickly.”

Healing cannot happen under pressure!

Trauma healing is not about immediately revisiting painful memories, neither is it about completely ignoring them! Sometimes there’s a strong push in treatment centres to work through trauma with limited attention given to the client’s nervous system which could be frozen and numb (Hypo-arousal) or is in a state of Hyper-arousal (anxious, angry, reactive).

Yes, there are a number of therapeutic processes that can be carried out when it comes to helping a client suffering from traumatic experiences but there are other important, basic elements that mustn’t be overlooked so as the client can stabilize and gradually pull away from destructive patterns of thinking and behaving. Gentle, compassionate supportive persistence can dilute resistance.

The Quiet Side of Trauma Treatment

Recovery community support starts with the treatment clinical team. Personal traumas and the vicarious nature of working with ‘impacted’ clients must be regularly addressed through supervision and staff training. To be trauma informed positively impacts clinical team cohesion which quietly reassures and holds clients in their new and unfamiliar setting…………

To read the full article click below:-

Twin Rivers Recovery Trauma Treatment “One of the biggest mistakes in trauma treatment is trying to fix trauma too quickly” Healing cannot happen under pressure Trauma healing is not about immediately revisiting painful memories, neither is it about completely ignoring them! Sometimes there’s ...

14/04/2026

Common Obstacles That Block Recovery

‘I am aware that I might have a problem but recovery must be on my terms’

Quick Fix Expectations!

The majority of the world’s population is immersed in a lifestyle that is fast, furious and all consuming. This frenetic approach to life negatively impacts the way we think, feel and behave, creating unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others.
When it comes to addiction and mental health recovery, many of us are drawn to seeking a ‘quick fix’ so as we can jump back on the same hamster wheel that was contributing to our unmanageable and chaotic lifestyle in the first place.

Arrogance-Fear & Denial

Addicts can barely manage their own lives and yet desperately try to manage their own treatment admission believing that a brief intervention will get them back on track. Unfortunately, addicts and those suffering with grave mental health disorders have no real concept of just how serious their situation actually is. Selective fantasy-based thinking, justification, self-negotiation, decision fatigue, delusion, naivety, fear-based arrogance, anxiety surrounding loss of a job or relationship, fear of behavioural exposure and the need to control are some of the denial ingredients that hamper an addict’s initial treatment admission process.......

To read the full article please click on the link below: -

https://surl.li/njugku

19/03/2026

Codependency-A Second-hand Life
Extreme Emotional Reliance on Another Person

Codependence is a set of maladaptive, compulsive behaviours learned by family members in order to survive in a non-expressive family that carries a lot of historical and more recent emotional pain. This emotional pain negatively impacts the family’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours (personality) to such a degree that healthy, meaningful communication becomes a rare event. Discussing feelings are normally avoided at all costs as can lead to arguments and each family member develops a role within the family system that supports their personal ‘survival mode’.

Survival Mode
There are quite a few different roles that develop in a dysfunctional family system that are underpinned by people pleasing, compliant, victim-based attitudes and behaviours and controlling roles fuelled by passive-aggressive, unpredictable attitudes and behaviours that ensures that the family stays stuck and oppressed, blocking family and personal growth. These hardened, seemingly immoveable traits are usually present outside of the family system as well. Interestingly enough a family member can be compliant at the work place and controlling at home and vice versa.

Please click on the link below to read the full article ....................
https://lnkd.in/dTend9M3

Extreme Emotional Reliance on Another Person Codependence is a set of maladaptive, compulsive behaviours learned by family members in order to survive in a non-expressive family that carries a lot of historical and more recent emotional pain. This emotional pain negatively impacts the family’s tho...