VIDEO – TAKE A LOOK – Nov. 17, 2023 – Illustrated new series explores life after addiction in West Virginia. The Gazette Mail spent weeks following men in a sober living house in Charleston, WV as they struggle to overcome their addictions. In the coming weeks we will follow their paths–some will relapse while others remain sober. WATCH@WVGazetteMail
Author: Leonard Buschel
DANGEROUS WATERS ON LAND – Nov. 14, 2023 – As the crew of the clam vessel Lori Ann prepared to set out from Fairhaven, the fleet manager was told that something wasn’t right with a fisherman below deck. The manager climbed down into the cabin. There, he recalled, he found Thomas Post, a 48-year-old deckhand and father of two. The manager had worked with Post for years, and described him as an eccentric mentor to the young crew. But on Oct. 8, 2021, Post was sitting upright at the galley table. He was naked. His eyes were wide open.…
WHY WE EAT? – Nov. 11, 2023 – According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, these two simple motivations are responsible for our daily decisions. We pick up the chocolate bar for the rush of joy when it melts in our mouths. We spit out the scalding coffee and remember to blow on it the next time before taking a sip. Instinctively, we repeat what gives us pleasure and flinch away from the pain. The same principle is behind our choice of drinking alcohol. The allure of a drink often promises fleeting moments of pleasure: a buzz that lifts the weight…
AUDIO – CHRISTIAN RADIO REPORTS – Nov. 15, 2023 – Supporters of MAiD for people with drug addiction promise that safeguards will be put in place, such as requiring multiple attempts at substance abuse treatment first. MAiD became legal for Canadians facing “imminent” natural death in 2016, and the “limits” set then have eroded every year since. The evil of MAiD isn’t just the false promises. It’s the propaganda of redefining every word of the euphemism. What’s being offered isn’t medical, it isn’t assistance, and it’s not medical assistance as someone is dying. It’s aiding and abetting someone to…
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? – Nov. 8, 2023 – We analyzed six randomized controlled trials representing 259 patients with moderate to severe PTSD. In all trials, about half were injected with ketamine. The rest received either salt water or the drug midazolam, a benzodiazepine like Xanax that is also used as an anesthetic agent. Patients receiving ketamine saw their PTSD symptoms reduced by about 25% both at one day and one week after therapy. But if patients received repeated injections over four weeks, PTSD symptoms declined by only 12%. Reduction of depression symptoms were more modest but still significant.…
“What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?” – Erma Bombeck, 1927-1996
VIDEO – TOO SOON – Nov. 6, 2023 – On Sunday, TMZ reported that his body was discovered in his bedroom, according to the coroner’s office. The exact circumstances of his death are unclear at this point. Officials told the outlet that there appears to be no foul play involved. Evan’s father, Michael, shared with the outlet that his son had been struggling with drugs in the past. Evan’s brother, Austin, also died of a drug overdose in 2008, according to IMDB. That same year, Evan welcomed his daughter, Brooklynn. WATCH@TheSun
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS – Nov. 2, 2023 – Today isn’t to be celebrated any more than any other day with the exception that it represents to others who are thinking about a way out of their tornado of shame that there exists a life where that over-pressurized piece of coal that is you will eventually transform into the diamond of liberty that you always deserved to be.’ Sobriety coins are given as tokens to twelve-step program members as a way to mark the amount of time they have remained sober. His friends and followers took to the comments to…
IT’S AN INSIDE JOB – Nov. 10, 2023 – “I decided that I wasn’t gonna talk about it at all until at least a year, because what I didn’t need was people on social media being like, ‘Ashley McBryde swears off alcohol!’” Ashley tells People in a recent interview. “All people are gonna do is just wait for you to screw up, and that’s really annoying. I did it for me. I didn’t do it for social media.” Now sober for over a year, Ashley says she’s noticed changes in many aspects of her life, including her physical appearance…
THEN WHAT? – Nov. 6, 2023 – One week, students were instructed to pay attention to things they wouldn’t typically notice, such as a sunset. Another, they were told to sleep more, eat right, and exercise. They were taught to accept unpleasant things they couldn’t change, and also how to distract themselves from negative emotions and ask for things they need. “We really tried to put the focus on, how can you apply some of this stuff to things that are happening in your everyday lives already?” Lauren Harvey, a psychologist at the University of Sydney and the lead…
GAMING INSTEAD? – Nov. 10, 2023 – In 2021, 52 million people aged 12 and older in the US used cannabis, roughly 1 in 5 people in this age group. Those figures have been inching upwards over the last few decades – a fact that isn’t that surprising given the expanded access to legal (or quasi-legal) cannabis and a shift in attitudes towards the drug. The uptick in use, ease of access and increased social acceptability of the drug have some experts – and parents – worried, particularly about increased use among adolescents. That is with good reason: a…
NPR AUDIO – THE WAR AT HOME – Nov. 4, 2023 – SIMON: More than 111,000 people died of overdoses in America in the past year. Most involved synthetic opioids, including fentanyl. But complicating both treatment and intervention is a relatively new drug that dilutes the fentanyl supply. It is a veterinary sedative called xylazine. On the streets, it’s known as tranq. The drug causes horrific complications in human beings. Authorities, including Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, warn of its dangers. We began by asking the doctor how in a country as wealthy…
CHEWING WELL – Nov. 9, 2023 – But, at 31, when even a year ago these thoughts would have gripped me – now, I can mostly shake them off. And what I believe has changed my attitude to my body is the fact that I’m over 600 days sober. I started drinking heavily when I was about eighteen. At the time, this was fairly normal – everyone drank. Everyone blacked out. Everyone vomited. We were young, we were silly, we were inexperienced. But then friends around me grew up and grew out of it, and I couldn’t understand why I…
VIDEO – WILL HER PHARMACY GO BROKE? – Nov. 5, 2023 – Kyle Richards is reaping the mental health benefits of her alcohol-free lifestyle. “I’ve suffered from anxiety for my entire life,” the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star exclusively told Page Six Saturday at BravoCon in Las Vegas. “So to all of a sudden have my anxiety be so minimized at a time that it should be at its worst. I was really surprised by that. I don’t even take Lexapro anymore!” Richards — who separated from estranged husband Mauricio Umansky in July — added that she is feeling…
VIDEO – NO ONE IS IMMUNE – Nov. 7, 2023 – “We’re feeling just as sad. I have the same pain, every single day,” she said in a Spanish interview that has since been translated to English. “Even though he’s not here, I remember him constantly. I remember the day I found him. That day still fills me with rage.” Earlier this year, the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner told 11Alive that from January 2021 through February 2023, 18 teens died from drug overdoses. 11 of the 18 were Hispanic, and 17 of the 18 were killed by ingesting fentanyl.…
VIDEO – STRETCHING NEW HABITS – Nov. 7, 2023 – “I couldn’t have two beers, I had to have 12 beers. I couldn’t have a glass, I had to have the whole bottle,” said Zak Stinnett. “It’s internal pain. It’s physical pain.” He said he started drinking heavily after his wife died and was addicted to alcohol for around 20 years. He said he started practicing yoga and found a way to recover from addiction. “I’m healthier, eat better, sleep better. I’m physically in better shape, I lost 50 pounds after I quit drinking,” he said. “Yoga poses can be…
PASSING FANCY? – Nov. 6, 2023 – The growing enthusiasm for harm reduction, both as a philosophy and in its practical applications like overdose prevention centers and needle exchanges, may lead to these initiatives expanding more rapidly than our capacity to adequately research and sustainably integrate them. In early 20th century America, a trend-driven movement arose and dissolved around American alcohol asylums, when facilities reported impressive recovery rates that did not reflect reality. The overstatement of the abilities of treatment facilities resulted in widespread skepticism and a growing pessimism about the entire addiction treatment system, which ultimately propelled national…
WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION – Nov. 7, 2023 – Keep in mind, though, the path to recovery isn’t necessarily a straight road: You may have had this conversation or one like it before. Your loved one may have attempted to get sober and relapsed. Wherever you both are in this journey, Caron Treatment Centers — a leader in addiction treatment for the past 70 years — can give you the tools and the confidence you need to help your loved one make a change. If you’re struggling to know whether your friend or family member truly has a substance…
MOVIE GOING IS A HARMLESS PROCESS ADDICTION – Nov. 8, 2023 – A special video created by Shots!TV shares the stories of four people taking part and will air on Freeview Channel 276 on Thursday, November 9 at 2.20pm and Saturday, November 11 at 11.10am. For more detail see the video embedded in this story. Cllr Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Health & Care at Portsmouth City Council, said: “We are really pleased to see people in recovery from addiction participating on this course. Activities such as this provide people with a sense of purpose and hope for…
WHO WOULDN’T? – Nov. 9, 2023 – The Grammy winner — who will release her new album Pink Friday 2 on Dec. 8 — also reflected on other artists who struggled with substance abuse while in the spotlight. “Look at some of our biggest celebrities. They eventually either get laughed out of wanting to go outside anymore, like Michael Jackson, or criticized, like Whitney Houston, or they fight silent battles, like Prince,” she said. “These are some of the greatest of all time. And one day they decided, ‘You know what? I’d rather self-medicate and be in my own…
ONCE UPON A TIME – Nov. 8, 2023 – Denise Richards believes “Two and a Half Men” turned Charlie Sheen into a man she didn’t recognize. The “Wild Things” actress, 52, revealed this week on the podcast “Just B With Bethenny Frankel” that the series’ rise in popularity drove Sheen, 58, to relapse. “I think, because the success of ‘Two and a Half Men’ and the money,” Richards said, “I think that led to him getting back into not being sober.” “All I know is he was no longer the person that I married and no longer sober,” she…
VIDEO – EACH ONE TEACH ONE – Nov. 10, 2023 – Speaking at the future site of the tribe’s medically-assisted treatment facility in Olympia, Frank said his past experiences with drugs, motivated him to help get the facility project started. ”Everything does happen for a reason,” said Frank. The tribe is paying for about half of the 22,000-square-foot facility, set to open in January of 2025. State and federal funds are paying for the rest, said a Nisqually spokesperson. The investment is personal for Frank, who said he found himself in the depths of an opioid addiction nearly a…
ABSTINENCE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE – Nov. 8, 2023 – She told the crowd that she plans to celebrate the end of the second leg of her shows: ‘I’m just going to chill. I’m annoyed as well that I’m sick because this is red wine weather,’ she said. ‘I stopped drinking, but obviously now I’m ready to start again because it is my break.’ Adele said she has been forced to cut out her favourite drink of red wine because it plays havoc with her voice. ‘I can’t drink red wine ever when I’m singing because I don’t know…
HARVEY MILK WOULD BE PROUD – Nov. 9, 2023 – Tracie’s story is one of gender transition, performing as a showgirl, sex work, addiction, sobriety and activism. It would be impossible to capture it all in one column. Thankfully, she’s shared her story in a number of ways, including for the University of Minnesota’s Tretter Transgender Oral History Project. She grew up as the “invisible youngest child” in St. Louis. In 1969, the same year as the Stonewall riots, she began to live her truth. By 1971, she ended up in San Francisco. During her time there, Harvey Milk was…
HOW THE WEST WAS SCREWED – Nov. 11, 2023 – The white vans were the first thing people noticed. They began popping up around tribal reservations in the Southwest a few years ago, trolling through alleys and parking lots on a hunt for new business. They approached anyone who looked homeless or intoxicated with an alluring pitch: Get in, and we’ll give you shelter, sobriety and a better life. Monica Antonio, 21, was one of thousands of people who leaped at the chance. She had been desperate to stop drinking for her three young children, her family said. But the…
LOCK THEM UP – Nov. 8, 2023 – From a prison cell in California, federal prosecutors allege, a 56-year-old inmate directed an Alaska drug trafficking ring that in recent years smuggled huge quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine to some of the state’s smallest villages through a network of postal shippers and drug couriers. In Alaska, meanwhile, a woman incarcerated at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center recruited a fellow inmate on the cusp of release to join the drug ring, federal prosecutors wrote in an indictment unsealed in October. That woman, the U.S. Attorney now alleges, quickly rose through the group’s…
SEEING THE LIGHT NOW – Nov. 2, 2023 – The actress, 34, revealed on Wednesday’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that her earliest memory of drinking was on vacation when she was 12 years old. “I remember my very first experience with alcohol was the same as when it ended,” she said, adding, “I blacked out at 12 years old. I don’t remember what happened, I threw up, I got very sick, and I remember being so distraught when I realized what had happened. “I remember shame after every experience drinking, because my drinking was never normal,”…
THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD… – Nov. 9, 2023 – His day was spent like many others lately. Matthew had developed “a healthy addiction” to pickleball, says his coach, Matt Manasse, adding that the actor hit the courts four to five days a week. On October 28, he played with his regular partner. “She said he had been fatigued [that day] and over the past week,” pal Billy Bush wrote on Instagram. “A little more than usual. He played for one hour then went home.” At around 4 p.m., his assistant found him unconscious in the hot…
FINAL PITCH – Nov. 7, 2023 – Perry pictured himself playing the lead, but was flexible in terms of whether it should be a movie or a series. McKay countered with his own idea — something less high-concept but no less autobiographical. “My idea was just to do a show about being this incredibly popular, well-known TV guy who’s dealing with addiction,” McKay says. “Because the world has changed. You could actually do that show now. Ten years ago, people would have said you’re crazy. But now people can be more upfront about their mental health issues, their addiction…
STILL ALIVE KILLING PEOPLE – Nov. 4, 2023 – OxyContin was given out in unprecedented quantities: prescriptions peaked in 2012, at more than 255 million in the US over the year. This, and other comparable opioids such as Vicodin, created a vast new class of addicts, many of them in areas and social classes previously unaffected by such problems. By 2011, OxyContin was the leading cause of drug-related deaths in the US. This is known as the first wave of the crisis; it also drove the second wave, which resulted when many addicts, finding prescription painkillers too expensive or…