This 90% statistic has been frequently cited to discredit specialty addiction treatment. Ninety percent of those who enter addiction-treatment programs in the U.S. don’t receive evidence-based treatment I asked David Scheff about it several weeks back. He said it was from RAND and referred me to his book. I looked in his book and couldn't … Continue reading Anti-treatment zombie stats
Category: Research
Recovery Checkups
Bill White on efforts to develop and implement recovery check-up protocols: There is one sentence in the Standards that deserves particular acknowledgement: "Recovery check-ups by addiction specialist physicians, just as those by primary care physicians or other providers, may promote sustained recovery and prevent relapse" (p. 13). . . . The "recovery check-up" language marks … Continue reading Recovery Checkups
Hope, empowerment, capability, connection and purpose
Hopeworks Community recently listed his core beliefs related to his recovery from mental illness: The idea was simple. There are a few core beliefs about recovery that make a difference. To the extent you are able to live them your recovery will be positively impacted. My list of core beliefs was simple: Life can get better. … Continue reading Hope, empowerment, capability, connection and purpose
The Doctor’s Opinion – Dawn Farm Ed Series
Research continues to shed light on the neurobiology of alcohol/other drug addiction. Modern research supports much of what was intuitively and experientially believed by the medical specialists who supported the Alcoholics Anonymous program in its earliest days. This program will describe a physician's view of alcoholism, as presented in the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous and updated … Continue reading The Doctor’s Opinion – Dawn Farm Ed Series
Abstinence—The Only Way to Beat Addiction?
What killed Philip Seymour Hoffman? According to Anne Fletcher, it wasn't the doctor who prescribed him the pain medication that began his relapse, it wasn't the prescribers of the combination of meds found in his body, it wasn't his discontinuing the behaviors that maintained his recovery for 23 years, it wasn't a drug dealer, and … Continue reading Abstinence—The Only Way to Beat Addiction?
Social connection as a mechanism of change
A new blog looks at social connection as an important mechanism for facilitating recovery: ...if having plenty of quality social connections is good for the next person in the street, is it also true for people trying to recover from addictive disorders? Mark Litt and colleagues from the University of Connecticut conducted a randomised trial on alcoholics … Continue reading Social connection as a mechanism of change
Closing down?
Findings from a study of adverse interpersonal effects from antidepressants were recently published online. The adverse interpersonal effects we reported by more than half of the subjects, though more than half of the subjects were on them for 3 years. The gated, full article described a cluster of reported side-effects that it described as "closing … Continue reading Closing down?
It will kill people as soon as it’s released
The upcoming release of Zohydro has been getting a lot of attention: The hydrocodone-based drug is the latest in a long line of painkillers called opioid analgesics. The FDA approved the medication last fall to treat chronic pain, and it is set to become available to patients in March. The drug was approved against the advice … Continue reading It will kill people as soon as it’s released
Cultivating Mindfulness to Support Recovery – Dawn Farm Education Series
From the Dawn Farm Education Series: Recent research confirms the efficacy of mindfulness practices to support attaining and sustaining recovery from substance use disorders. This video includes an overview of theory and research supporting mindfulness practices for people with addiction as well as practical techniques to cultivate mindfulness and apply mindfulness practices. The presentation defines … Continue reading Cultivating Mindfulness to Support Recovery – Dawn Farm Education Series
Empathy: The First Step To Improving Health Outcomes
A Health Affairs post points to a study that higher levels of physician empathy predicted better outcomes for diabetes patients. A 2012 study from Italy analyzed the health outcomes of more than 20,000 patients with diabetes, who were assigned to three different groups of physicians (pre-evaluated for their levels of empathy). The physicians who demonstrated … Continue reading Empathy: The First Step To Improving Health Outcomes