The Health Risks of Binge Drinking
The Health Risks of Binge Drinking Drinkers generally understand how binge drinking alters behavior. However, more than behavior changes with intoxication. Binge drinking is a significant cause of accidents. It increases the risk of falls, burns, gunshot wounds, car accidents, arguments and poisoning. Consider these sobering facts about how we drink: About 90% of the […]
The Amazing Benefit of Animals on Health
The Amazing Benefit of Animals on Health Pet therapy is a broad term that includes animal-assisted therapy and other animal-assisted activities. Animal-assisted therapy is a growing field that uses dogs or other animals to help people recover from or better cope with health problems, such as heart disease, cancer and mental health disorders. Animal-assisted activities, […]
How Alcohol Affects Blood Chemistry and Diabetes
How Alcohol Affects Blood Chemistry and Diabetes Alcohol affects the body in many ways resulting in changes that can negatively impact some chronic conditions more than others. Not only can an alcoholic drink be a bad idea to mix with certain medications, but it can also change the blood chemistry. This can be life threatening […]
Addiction and Mental Health Treatment under the Affordable Care Act
Addiction and Mental Health Treatment under the Affordable Care Act Part of addiction recovery is dealing appropriately and concurrently with any co-occurring mental illnesses that may be present. Yet, estimates suggest that more than 23 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol, but only 10 percent of them are seeking treatment. Why is that? […]
“Magic Mushrooms” Might Be More Magic than We First Thought
“Magic Mushrooms” Might Be More Magic than We First Thought In 1960, two promising young psychologists at Harvard, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, began to explore the effects of psychotropic substances on the human mind. They believed that psilocybin, the active chemical in “magic” mushrooms, had the power to change people’s brains for the better. They […]
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Helps Suicidal Individuals and Addicts Recover
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Helps Suicidal Individuals and Addicts Recover Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a research-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment. It was originally developed by Marsha Linehan at the University of Washington, to help clients with the suicidal and self-harm behaviors often seen in Borderline Personality Disorder. DBT has since been modified as a treatment for other complex […]
On the Cutting Edge of Addiction Treatment: The Global Addiction Conference
On the Cutting Edge of Addiction Treatment: The Global Addiction Conference I have spent the past week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Global Addiction Conference. There were presentations over several days on all sorts of topics, from country reports on incarceration of addicts and drug use statistics to research studies on co-occurring mental […]
Acupuncture May Be an Alternative to Opioid Drugs for Pain Relief
Acupuncture May Be an Alternative to Opioid Drugs for Pain Relief Many people are addicted to opioid drugs and need alternative pain relief therapies. The use of opioids for chronic pain has increased dramatically and has been accompanied by a major increase in opioid addiction and overdose deaths. An estimated 2.1 million people in the […]
Society’s Perception of Addiction: Addicts Have a Moral Failing
Society’s Perception of Addiction: Addicts Have a Moral Failing A new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study suggests that people are significantly more likely to have negative attitudes toward those dealing with drug addiction than those with mental illness. In addition, people generally do not support insurance, housing, and employment policies that benefit […]
Why Treatment Works: Developing a Positive Attitude, Motivation and Commitment
Why Treatment Works: Developing a Positive Attitude, Motivation and Commitment The first step in recovery is recognizing that a problem exists, but that in and of itself isn’t enough to make your recovery successful. Many people also need some form of motivation to begin and maintain the process of recovery. Motivation – having a reason […]