NO ONE IS IMMUNE – April 26, 2024 – We know that our risk of developing Alzheimer’s is dependent on a range of genetic and environmental factors. And among these environmental factors are alcohol consumption and chronic stress. “Alcohol consumption and stress are going to have a synergistic effect on Alzheimer’s Disease risk and general cognitive decline,” Nikki Crowley, director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute at University Park and an assistant professor of biology, told Newsweek. “This means that when an individual is exposed to both a high amount of stress and drinks alcohol, the combination of the…
Author: Leonard Buschel
“Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable” – George Bernard Shaw, b: 1856, Ireland – d: 1950, UK
SHE’D NEVER DRAG HIM DOWN – April 10, 2024 – Ariana Grande is a gifted vocalist, songwriter and actress, but before she was any of those things, she was a great sister. To prove it, Frankie Grande posted a sweet tribute to his superstar little sis in honor of National Siblings Day on April 10. “From helping me with my sobriety journey to showing up for me at big moments in my life and career,” he continued. “You are the best sister anyone could ask for and I’m eternally proud of you and all the sunshine you continue to…
WHAT GOES AROUND… – April 9, 2024 – In a cover profile of RDJ for Esquire’s April/May issue, the 61-year-old actress recalled, “I took him aside at one point during filming and said, ‘Look, I couldn’t be more grateful for what you’ve given in this film,’ but I’m scared of what happens to you next.” While Foster remembered telling Downey, 59, that he was “incredibly good at balancing on the barstool” at the time, she also told him, “But it’s really precarious, and I’m not sure how that’s going to end.’ ” The Oscar-winning actor made headlines in the…
VIDEO – ONE MARRIAGE AT A TIME – April 10, 2024 – “Alcohol made me feel good enough. I started feeling good enough until it got to a point where it didn’t — I ended up in isolation,” he told the outlet. “It ended up with me drinking a fifth of tequila every night, seven days a week, and a handful of narcos [prescription meds] by myself with a beautiful family in the other room.” Spelling filed for divorce from McDermott in March 2024 after nearly 18 years of marriage and five children together. McDermott added that Spelling was…
HAS HE MADE HIS AMENDS? – April, 2024 – “Manson hasn’t been out on the road for a while… A lot of people want to see him, at one point he was one of the most iconic artists on planet Earth, so he’s back onstage, back in the saddle. So that’s gonna be amazing,” “He’s also sober and clean, so we’re always going to support that, obviously,” the guitarist enthused. Bathory discussed Five Finger Death Punch’s upcoming tour with Manson during a new interview on the Jesea Lee Show, the namesake podcast by the SiriusXM DJ. “He’s also sober…
VIDEO – IN ALL OUR ENDEAVORS – April 9, 2024 – Within the structure of the Twelve Steps, Door To Serenity is being created to address the needs of those who seek our help on their road to recovery. Without respect to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, Door To Serenity welcomes the under-served … who have tried unsuccessfully to address the pain of living through Substance Use Disorder and want to start a new chapter. Established as a 501 (c) (3), Door To Serenity is open to the support, financial or in-kind, from those who share…
A GOOD MAN IS GOOD TO FIND – April 8, 2024 – “I tried everything from treatment, church, community; I did everything that I could to try to battle the nature of that disease; that monster,” said Guest. But, he was finally able to overcome “that monster” — decades of addiction — to turn his life around with help from the Oxford House, “Four years ago when I got into Oxford there were 13 houses,” said Guest. “There are now 34 houses.” Now he wants to help others suffering from addiction like he did. “I decided one day after…
DOES HE HAVE A POINT? – April 8, 2024 – Mr. Jones said a rehab facility would attract drug dealers to the nearby park in hopes of luring inhabitants of the proposed facility. “I’m not an assessor, but I would imagine if you were to go with that use, you would have every drug dealer from here to Kensington waiting for the rehabbed person to graduate.” ‘Congratulations on your rehab, come down to the park, I got a free sample for you.’ With that comes all kinds of other things I don’t want to wish upon that community.” Critics…
iPHONES OR TIKTOK – April 10, 2024 – Many clinicians who work with young patients with mental health issues agree they lack enough resources to treat kids and that patients are worse off now than before the pandemic — but they don’t exactly agree on why that is. Many schools don’t even have guidance counselors for students to go to talk to if needed. Some will have counselors only once a week. POLITICO’s survey received 1,400 responses from clinicians, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, school psychologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, pediatricians and nurses. A majority of respondents reported a…
LIFE ON THE LINE – April 10, 2024 – After losing the “adrenaline” of playing the sport at the highest level, he told the Ben Heath Podcast that problems became “huge” and he turned to drugs for “escapism”. “How do I deal with problems when I haven’t got football? “You’ve got the joy and adrenaline to keep you forward-thinking and energetic,” he said. The ex-pro added: “When you’ve got issues, without football these issues become huge, they’re like mountains. “When you were playing they were fine, because you had finances coming in, you also had support from everyone and…
WORDS MATTER – April 9, 2024 – On August 10th, 2023 I was given a small metal chip to celebrate a year of sobriety. It was the first full year of sobriety I’d experienced since 1977. I’d gotten high for the first when I was ten, courtesy of a lung-busting hit off a device called The Neutron Bong. Despite that name, it was not Cheech and Chong who served up the opportunity. An older cousin and my big brother were the ones who turned the matching keys that armed the aforesaid nuclear bong. In this situation, both “older” and…
VIDEO ONLY – THE BONGING OF AMERICA – April 4, 2024 – As legal cannabis becomes more available, doctors have noticed that more teens are suffering from psychotic events that they attribute to the increased potency of the drug. NBC News’ Kate Snow reports. CONTINUE@NBCNews
LAST CALL – April 11, 2024 – One of the three people who were poisoned, Connor Owen Sebastian, 31, of Winston-Salem, died on Nov. 30, 2023, according to the medical examiner’s office, which later ruled his probable cause of death as “chronic alcoholism” with “hepatitis C” as a contributing condition. Sebastian came to a hospital on Nov. 10, 2023, with a “caustic esophageal injury,” according to the report. He was discharged from the hospital three days later. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center says that “caustic liquid ingestion” occurs when “liquids such as cosmetics, cleaning agents or other chemicals are…
WISH SHE WAS HER TO SEE IT – April 14, 2024 – There is so much tragedy in the story that Katya, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, finds it too painful. But in her own journey to recovery from addiction, she has found hope and friendship in the sanctuary set up in Amy Winehouse’s name. Katya lives in Amy’s Place: supported housing for young women who have left treatment for drug addiction. “When I think about it on a deeper level, it’s beautiful that this exists,” Katya says. “It’s not beautiful in terms of the…
VIDEO TED TALK – SHE’S A ROCK STAR – April 5, 2024 – Anne Lamott has always been honest about the messiest parts of her life, from addiction to parenthood. Now she reflects on the beautiful—and complicated—realities of love. Anne Lamott is the author of twenty books, including the bestsellers Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions. Her most recent book is Somehow: Thoughts on Love. Lamott is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame. She lives in Northern California with her family. She is also a Sunday School teacher. This episode…
VIDEO – SOUL ALCHEMY: GRIEF INTO ART – April 11, 2024 – When Theresa Clower lost her son, Devin, she turned to an old hobby she hadn’t picked up in nearly five decades. With a degree in fine arts, she picked up a pencil and paper and began sketching her precious boy. Devin died of a fentanyl overdose in Baltimore in 2018. Never having done portrait work before, she wasn’t sure where it would lead her. Looking back now, she said she thinks it was Devin’s way of helping her through her grief. Clower started drawing everyone, but it…
AND THE GIFT OF A BETTER LIFE – April 16, 2024 – Clyde Davis battled a methamphetamine and heroin addiction for over nine years. Contingency management uses positive reinforcement as a behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction. People are rewarded with small-value gift cards or vouchers for submitting urine drug tests negative for stimulants. “I was able to get myself some clothes, something to eat,” he said. “It really motivated me to want to keep showing up and keep having clean [drug tests].” Davis graduated from the 12-week program successfully and has abstained from drugs ever since. He now works…
KILLER FOODS – April 17, 2024 – Bills advancing in multiple states could see ‘thousands’ of America’s favorite candies, snacks and sodas banned in their current form. California approved a historic ‘Skittles ban’ that outlawed four food additives linked to cancer and fertility issues. 13 additives ar banned in some European countries. CONTINUE@DAILYMAIL
BALANCE IS KEY – April 8, 2024 – The comedian/actress said drinking activated her filter since she would think and want to say hurtful things but restrained herself. “Now I say it. If I think it, I say it. That filter is gone,” she added. “Now I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m sober, and this is what I really feel, so I’m going to say it.” Haddish shared in March that she was sober for over two months after receiving a DUI charge on Nov. 24 for allegedly falling asleep at the wheel in Beverly Hills, California. The “Girl’s Trip” star…
IT COULD WORK – April 9, 2024 – New treatments for addiction are urgently needed. 107,941 people died from drug overdoses in 2022, an age-adjusted rate of 32.6 deaths per 100,000 people. The rate has nearly quadrupled since 2002. Researchers have made it important to consider the treatment potential of ibogaine and its derivatives. lbogaine is one of the psychoactive indole alkaloids found in the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. Since its introduction to Western medicine, the psychedelic agent has been used as an adjunct for psychotherapy and also for its anti-addiction properties. In contrast, current treatments for opioid…
AUDIO – AND WILL ALWAYS BE THERE – April 9, 2024 – While overdose deaths from fentanyl and its sinister cousins have seized the spotlight for years — some 112,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023 — alcohol-related diseases kill many, many more people — 178,000 Americans every year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In California, a record-breaking 11,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2022. But nearly twice that many — 19,335 — die from alcohol-related diseases every year in the Golden State, according to a recent number crunch by the California…
VIDEO – DANGER IN THE AIR – April 10, 2024 – She quickly learned that the concrete slab was a 5G tower. It has a health warning that reads it “can cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm.”“I’m a mother that home-schools my children,” she said. “I have a garden directly under the area that it’s looming over, and our heads, we all sleep on that side of the house.” And it’s not the only 5G tower that’s popped up recently. Bernard Hershewsky has lived in his home in Glen Cove for 30 years. “They put it…
TOO MUCH SUN? – April 10, 2024 – George Riley, a leader of the Republican Party of Florida has apologized for being excessively drunk and urinating and vomiting all over his room at a hotel last week, saying he has been dealing with alcoholism and mental health issues. “I have been dealing with alcoholism and mental health issues,” Riley, 43, told the Tampa Bay Times. “I will pay for any damages that were caused. I apologize to the employees for my bad behavior and I will be seeking help soon.” Riley’s behavior is the latest black eye for the…
FOUL FUEL – April 10, 2024 – Rock bottom came in 2021 when I was at my best friend Julius’ house in Somerset, drinking bottles of wine like they were water, crying hysterically, in bits on his sofa. I had lost everything. Everybody knew I had messed it up. I was in bed for three days and I couldn’t get out. I just wished I was dead. It was awful, but I knew it was rock bottom. I laid at the bottom of the barrel and let it sweep over me and didn’t try and run away from it.…
LOCAL HERO – April 20, 2024 – On Saturday, April 20, the “Lose Yourself” rapper, 51, marked 16 years sober, sharing the milestone on Instagram with fans. The Grammy winner — who was born Marshall Mathers — posted a photo of his hand holding a new chip commemorating the achievement. The comments section of the captionless post was filled with messages of support and congratulations for the rapper. “We’re all proud of you for being 16 years sober,” read a note from the fan account Stanistheone. “Great decision you made brother! We’re all very proud of you,” fellow rapper…
VIDEO – TOGETHERNESS WORKS – April 10, 2024 – There’s another layer to the duo’s impact. “I’ve been clean and sober 29 years now,” one fan shared. “They were almost like this unspoken permission that it was OK to let all that go. AS MUCH AS the new documentary film Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After Allcasts a light on the trailblazing history of the queer duo, it also celebrates the community that formed around them beginning in the late-Eighties. A new scene from the film, in theaters April 10 for a one-night-only viewing experience, offers a look into…
VIDEO – SMALLER COFFINS? – April 16, 2024 – “I have zero doubt that this drug caused me to be suicidal and I almost lost my life from it,” Etheridge said, referring to semaglutide, the active ingredient in the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. “I know without a doubt that it made me violently depressed, wanted to remain on it, and thought I might stay on it for life, but it just got progressively worse and it led to a suicide attempt.” Etheridge filed a report on the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System…
THE TEMPTATION OF LIFE – April 10, 2024 – People who take poorly paid temp jobs as freelancers or independent contractors are 43% more likely to develop an alcohol-related illness than those with full-time permanent employment. Those illnesses include mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol, alcoholic liver disease and alcohol toxicity, according to the report published April 9 in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine. “Young adulthood is a particularly sensitive period in life concerning the initiation and formation of health-related behaviors, such as alcohol use,” concluded the research team led by Emelie Thern, an assistant professor of…
CVS – RITE AID – DUANE READE – TARGET – April 16, 2024 – Overtreatment with drugs kills many people, and the death rate is increasing. It is therefore strange that we have allowed this long-lasting drug pandemic to continue, and even more so because most of the drug deaths are easily preventable. In 2013, I estimated that our prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer,1 and in 2015, that psychiatric drugs alone are also the third leading cause of death.2 However, in USA, it is commonly stated that our drugs are…