A terrible loss for Dawn Farm and the field (from 3.27.14) Last night (Wednesday), Pat Gibbons, Dawn Farm's Medical Director and psychiatrist died suddenly. We're stunned. He was just at Spera on Tuesday night seeing clients. It's a terrible loss for Dawn Farm and our community. Any words I can come up with feel entirely … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: #1
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.
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"He'd still be alive" Much has been said this week about the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. I've heard two recurring themes. First, that he might still be alive if he had been "treated with an evidence-based" treatment, like buprenorphine. Second, that he might still be alive if he hadn't been inculcated with the disease … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: #2
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Recovery MAINTENANCE There's a lot of commentary out there on Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Some of it's good, some is bad and there's a lot in between. Much of it has focused overdose prevention and some of it has focused on a need for evidence-based treatments. Anna David puts her finger on something very important. … Continue reading 2014’s Top Posts: #3
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CVS is selling Narcan in Rhode Island Here's an interesting development in access to Narcan: CVS Pharmacy announced that it would offer the opiate antidote Narcan without a prescription at all of its 60 pharmacies in Rhode Island by the end of month. Narcan, also known as naloxone, offers immediate help for anyone overdosing from … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: #4
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He died from heroin (addiction) Phil Hoffman . . . did not die from an overdose of heroin — he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he’d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine. via Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Drug Addiction
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Suboxone retained 9 of 103 A new study on office-based treatment of adolescents with Suboxone was just published by the Journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The good news, drug screens were done at clinic visits and 85% of drug screens were negative for heroin and marijuana. (It's not clear why they limited testing … Continue reading Top posts of 2014: #6
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The evidence-base for 12 step recovery There's a fresh round of attacks on AA as pseudo-science in need of sober debunking. All based on one book that is getting impressive publicity. The book may contain references to support its attacks, but the interviews and articles do not. The absolute language ("everyone" and "never") hint that this may not … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: #7
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Opioid addicted brains recover and residential more effective than medication for young opioid addicts Several years back, Bill White pointed out that we've learned an enormous amount about the neurobiology of addiction but know nothing about the neurobiology of recovery. This week, a small study focused on just that: The researchers performed several tests to … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: #8
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Gabapentin high DJ Mac recently posted about something I'd never heard of, gabapentin misuse. Sure enough, when I type gabapentin into google, one of the first suggested searches is "gabapentin high". There are reports of these drugs being used to maximise the effects of methadone and being misused by heroin users. In Scotland, a BJGP paper from 2012 reported: … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: # 9
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Recovery is good business I just learned of this upcoming talk in Ann Arbor: Belief, Hope and Generosity in the Workplace: Hiring Individuals in Recovery Wednesday October 1, 2014: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Ann Arbor Downtown Library: 4th Floor Meeting Room Ari Weinzweig believes that a key aspect of managing ourselves is acknowledging … Continue reading 2014’s top posts: # 10
Recovery Review 