Science writer John Horgan takes a look at the Gabrielle Glaser Atlantic article that's gotten so much attention. Here's his overview: The addiction-treatment industry is a racket, which cries out for critical investigation. But Glaser’s article is embarrassingly shallow and one-sided. She cherry-picks data and anecdotes to make A.A. look bad and alternatives look good. … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #6 – AA, evidence and Glaser
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.
Most popular posts of 2015 – #7 – “unintentionally comical” – Johann Hari’s Chasing the Scream
Seth Mnookin reviews Chasing the Scream and finds its review of the science troubling. (Previous post on Hari here.) The first tip-off that Hari might be in over his head comes when he describes how “a small band of dissident scientists” had uncovered the answers he was looking for after working “almost unnoticed, for several decades.” Hari … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #7 – “unintentionally comical” – Johann Hari’s Chasing the Scream
Most popular posts of 2015 – #8 – The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well
In an open letter to NIDA, a group that enjoys great success with an abstinence based approach is concerned that their recovery path is being discounted and ignored in the attempt to build an evidence-base. (emphasis mine) The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well across the nation. We are on the cusp of a … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #8 – The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well
Most popular posts of 2015 – #9 – Opiate-addicted Parents in Methadone Treatment: Long-term Recovery, Health and Family Relationships
I recently came across this 10 year follow-up of parents in methadone treatment and their children from 2011. Here's a review of their outcomes. First, here's their definition of recovery: Recovery status was based on recent drug use, history of drug problems, and history of incarceration. Long-term recovery was defined as no recent drug use (self-report … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #9 – Opiate-addicted Parents in Methadone Treatment: Long-term Recovery, Health and Family Relationships
Outcome switching in research
Vox points to another issue in the evidence-base. For years, the drug company GlaxoSmithKline illegally marketed paroxetine, sold under the brand name Paxil, as an antidepressant for children and teenagers. It did so by citing what's known as Study 329 — research that was funded by the drug company and published in 2001, claiming to … Continue reading Outcome switching in research
Most popular posts of 2015 – #10 – A great loss for the field
From Jim Balmer, Dawn Farm's President: We lost the great Ernest Kurtz last night - and many of us have lost a wonderful friend. Ernie was a brilliant and inquisitive man who helped countless people understand both AA and spirituality in new ways. What a privilege to have known him. I did not realize that … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #10 – A great loss for the field
Most popular posts of 2015 – #11 – Not good enough
This is good: The opiate-blocker naloxone is one of the year's most celebrated drugs, breaking into the mainstream as a magic-bullet antidote that yanks overdose victims from the brink of death with a shot of nasal spray or an intravenous injection. Police take it on patrols. Emergency medical technicians keep it in their ambulances. Ordinary … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #11 – Not good enough
Most popular posts of 2015 – #12 – Hope is created in community
Across the disciplines, we see a movement away from individually focused understandings of hope to more communally and relationally dependent models. Many focus on connectedness as a central aspect of hope. This takes the form of friendship, solidarity, and bearing witness as central relational aspects of hope. Within the recovery model and other models of … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #12 – Hope is created in community
Optimism? Or, is it low expectations?
The feds recently published an article touting the long-term success of buprenorphine: In the first long-term follow-up of patients treated with buprenorphine/naloxone (Bp/Nx) for addiction to opioid pain relievers, half reported that they were abstinent from the drugs 18 months after starting the therapy. After 3.5 years, the portion who reported being abstinent had risen … Continue reading Optimism? Or, is it low expectations?
One step taken. More to go. 911 Good Samaritan Legislation in Michigan
Good news From the Detroit Free Press: Lawmakers gave final, and unanimous, passage to a bill Wednesday that they hope will help lower the number of drug overdose deaths from prescription drugs. The Good Samaritan bill, which passed the state Senate on a 38-0 vote, would provide immunity from criminal charges for people under the age … Continue reading One step taken. More to go. 911 Good Samaritan Legislation in Michigan
Recovery Review 