What lessons does this have to offer addiction and psychiatric treatment? Last year 41 million colds were erroneously treated with antibiotics because doctors were unwilling to confront patients who demanded drugs. Patients show up with a cold, don’t like to be told that their illness will just have to run its course, demand antibiotics, and … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
Harsh enforcement has failed
This Foreign Policy article provides a concise snapshot of the failure of the "harsh enforcement" approach to drug policy: As a domestic policy, a harsh enforcement approach has done little to control drug use, but has done a lot to lock up a growing portion of the U.S. population. Cocaine and opiate prices are about half … Continue reading Harsh enforcement has failed
Emotional pain without context
Siddhartha Mukherjee provides a brief history of the serotonin hypothesis of depression, its demise and why dismissing serotonin may be an "overcorrection." Part of this story is an emerging theory of depression: A remarkable and novel theory for depression emerges from these studies. Perhaps some forms of depression occur when a stimulus — genetics, environment … Continue reading Emotional pain without context
Evidence-based policy wrong-headed
Keith Humphreys rejects the notion of evidence based policy: ...what we do with scientific evidence is always a political and moral judgment. We don’t provide health care to the sick because the evidence forces us to. We provide health care to the sick because such activity is in keeping with our values. Likewise, we might choose to … Continue reading Evidence-based policy wrong-headed
Sentences to ponder
Does this speak to the power of one addict talking with another? If we're going to find our way back to each other, we have to understand and know empathy, because empathy's the antidote to shame. If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment. … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Only 2.6% of welfare applicants test positive
Not surprisingly, drug testing of welfare recipients does not confirm the assumptions of supporters: Of the 4,086 applicants who scheduled drug tests while the law was enforced, 108 people, or 2.6 percent, failed, most often testing positive for marijuana. About 40 people scheduled tests but canceled them, according to the Department of Children and Families, … Continue reading Only 2.6% of welfare applicants test positive
Why we can’t agree
The Obama administration just released their annual drug control strategy report and all the headlines say it emphasizes treatment over incarceration. Sounds great, but the stories are short on details. Others, from the Drug Policy Alliance are dismissing it as more of the same. More of the same? Really? I think Obama's safely within the … Continue reading Why we can’t agree
12-step involvement and continuous abstinence at 2 years
More support for twelve step facilitation and sober housing: Participants who were categorically involved in 12-step activities were significantly more likely to maintain continuous abstinence at 2 years compared with those who were less involved, predicting a greater likelihood of complete abstinence than summary scores of involvement. In addition, participants in the Oxford House condition … Continue reading 12-step involvement and continuous abstinence at 2 years
Dry run
Recovery lessons from training for a marathon: I had set myself up for marathon success: I had a cohort of supporters, I followed the training rules, I hydrated for fear of splitting headaches, I had my guilt-inducing early morning car pool in place, and I had faith in the coaches. And yet, when it came … Continue reading Dry run
How Exercise Can Prime the Brain for Addiction
This makes sense, but is a weird thing to think about. Drug addiction may be more difficult to kick if it became habitual while exercise if part of your routine: It does indicate that shedding an addiction acquired when a person has been exercising could be extra challenging, he says. “But, really, what … Continue reading How Exercise Can Prime the Brain for Addiction
Recovery Review 