Nearly one-third of U.S. veterans who are given psychiatric medications by their doctors do not have a diagnosed mental health problem Many vets given psychiatric drugs without diagnosis | Reuters Related articles Many Vets Given Psychiatric Drugs without Diagnosis (nlm.nih.gov) 30% of Vets Given Psych Drugs Have no Diagnosis (madinamerica.com) When "Psychiatric Survivors" Think They … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Month: November 2013
Tribes of the recovering community
There are a lot of prevention coalitions out there, but I have not seen any that have done as good a job of integrating recovering people as Families Against Narcotics. They have a speaker's bureau that includes 50 young people in recovery and organize activities that include a softball game between the local police and … Continue reading Tribes of the recovering community
AA is asinine?
The Boston Globe has a piece on why Russians haven't embraced AA: ...the group-therapy dynamic collides with a skepticism about the possibility of ordinary people curing each other of anything. “The idea that another drunk can help you is asinine to most Russians,” said Alexandre Laudet, a social psychologist who has researched Russian alcoholism. Then … Continue reading AA is asinine?
With Rise Of Painkiller Abuse, A Closer Look At Heroin
The number of people who had used heroin in the previous year increased between 2007 and 2012, from 373,000 to 669,000. Meanwhile, federal data from 2011 finds that nearly 80 percent of people who had used heroin in the past year had also previously abused prescription painkillers classified as opioids. via With Rise … Continue reading With Rise Of Painkiller Abuse, A Closer Look At Heroin
Sentences to ponder
Snorting chemicals has a bad rap. But as a method of drug delivery, it may be on the verge of a renaissance. Unlike medications taken orally, intravenously or otherwise, those sniffed up the nose gain direct access to the brain. --Scientific American Pair this with Bill White's comment, "I can't tell you what will become … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
“I’m a unicorn”
Jennifer Matesa writes about the seeming contradictions in some recent FDA decisions. First they tightened regulations on hydrocodone, the most-prescribed drug in the U.S. and the opioid painkiller in Vicodin. Then, against the recommendation of their own advisors, they approved Zohydro, a long-acting hydrocodone whose formulation includes no mechanism to prevent abuse. So on the … Continue reading “I’m a unicorn”
Sentences to Ponder
"In 2012, 400 people in Macomb County, Mich., alone died from prescription narcotic overdose, said Dr. Joseph Naughton, director of medical education at Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals." (Source: USA Today)
In Race for Boston Mayor, Former Addicts Back Candidate With a Past
A colleague who specializes in working with at-risk youth was fond of saying that we could look at those kids as predators, victims or resources. Too often we fail to see them as resources. The same could be said of addicts and alcoholics. The NY Times shines a light on a recovering mayoral candidate who … Continue reading In Race for Boston Mayor, Former Addicts Back Candidate With a Past
Tribes of the Recovering Community
Bill White recently had a great post on recovery advocacy around the world. A flourishing recovery advocacy movement continues to spread across the United States that is spawning new recovery support structures and transforming addiction treatment in its wake. Even more unimaginable would have been a prediction that a recovery advocacy movement in the U.S. would … Continue reading Tribes of the Recovering Community
A drug to treat cocaine addiction?
A recent study on the use of topiramate for cocaine addiction has been getting a lot of attention. Most of the coverage draws only from the researchers press release. “Using an intent-to-treat analysis, the researchers found that topiramate was more efficacious than placebo at increasing the participants’ weekly proportion of cocaine nonuse days and in … Continue reading A drug to treat cocaine addiction?
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