WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU – Sept. 4, 2023 – As a clinician practicing at a local community health center, I cannot overstate the importance of the resources we provide in combating addiction. Our multidisciplinary approach includes medical treatment, mental health services, and community support, which are all critical components of a comprehensive recovery plan. We offer access to FDA-approved medications for addiction, counseling, and long-term support to help individuals regain control of their lives. As a doctor, my goal is to heal and empower. It’s surprising how many individuals struggling with addiction and their families are unaware of these…
Author: Leonard Buschel
LET’S PRAY THEY WORK – Sept. 7, 2023 – “We anticipate testing our vaccines in humans in early 2024,” Dr Jay Evans, study author and director of the University of Montana’s Center for Translational Medicine, said in a statement. “The human clinical trials will include a drug challenge to evaluate both safety and efficacy of the vaccines in early clinical development. We will also follow the patients to evaluate how long the antibodies against opioids will last,” he said. “We start with the lowest dose – a dose that may not be effective,” Evans said. “Phase I clinical trials…
VIDEO – DR. FEELGOOD LIVES! – Sept. 2, 2023 – Dr. Cass shares her early observations during her residency, where she noticed the limited effectiveness and side effects of medications. This led her to explore alternative approaches and focus on diet and lifestyle. Through extensive research and observation, she found that paying attention to nutrition, including the use of amino acids and CBD, yielded better results for mental health. She emphasizes the importance of re-balancing the body and brain, gradually withdrawing medications, and achieving almost pain-free transitions. However, mainstream medicine often overlooks this approach due to the influence of big…
DON’T BECOME A ZOMBIE – Sept. 7, 2023 – he Howard Center in Burlington, which offers help to people experiencing drug addiction, has been using a limited supply of xylazine test strips for about three months. That’s according to Dan Hall, who is the director of outpatient services for the Howard Center, and who says test strips can help. “We don’t have a ton of statistical data yet, but anecdotally the demand for them has kind of ebbed and flowed, and right now I would say we are in a high demand for them,” Hall said. “So we’re giving them…
“I understood jazz, I understood how it worked. That’s what I apply to everything.” – Van Morrison
EVERYONE DESERVES RECOVERY – Aug. 26, 2023 – Demi Moore While accepting the 2018 Woman of the Year Award by the Peggy Albrecht Friendly House, a residential program for women recovering from substance and alcohol abuse, Moore spoke about the “self-destructive path” that nearly derailed her career. “I feel like there’s a defining moments in our lives that shape who we are and the direction we go and early in my career, I was spiraling down a path of real self-destruction and no matter what successes I had, I just never felt good enough,” the star recalled. “I had absolutely…
ROYAL GESTURE – Aug. 25, 2023 – The royal made the surprising move of heading to the kitchen to meet those who had a hand in preparing the evening’s meal. Kate shook hands and chatted with Action on Addiction clients who were working as apprentices in the kitchen. The royal met Jay Otty, who had been sober for nine years and worked at a dry bar in Liverpool, and Melanie Bennett, who said her treatment at the charity’s Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme in Liverpool was life-saving. Leaning over plates waiting to be filled for the evening, Kate said it must…
THE DAILY MADNESS – Aug. 27, 2023 – The boyfriend and a friend then took Cail to Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic, where doctors attempted to perform CPR before she was pronounced dead. Police previously said the Criminal Investigation Bureau was investigating Cail’s death. As a teenager, Cail won a gold medal in the 800 free relay as a member of the U.S. team at the 1997 Pan Pacific Championships, according to the swimming news website SwimSwam. She won the California high school championship in the 200-meter individual medley and the 500 free, and she swam at the University of Southern California,…
NOTHING BUT NET – Aug. 26. 2023 – Herren struggled with substance abuse during his basketball career. At an event hosted by Tobacco-Free Amarillo in 2022, he recounted how he first tried cocaine at the age of 18. He was later introduced to heroin while he was trying to find painkillers in Italy. He overdosed several times, including in 2008 when he crashed his car into a telephone pole, he said during the 2022 event. Herren has been sober for 15 years. According to his website, Herren has been sober for 15 years. The event is part of the…
NO DENIAL HERE – Aug. 26, 2023 – Over the past 15 years or so he’s taken a downward spiral deeper into depression, self-loathing, and denial. In that time, he’s managed to alienate friends and family members. My father has never had a lot of friends in his adult life, but these days, no one calls or visits. He has become more and more emotionally abusive toward my mother and me over the years. Alcoholism has hardened his heart so much that I have never met another person so miserably full of hate and resentment. He fills his days…
VIDEO – SCREAM TIME? – Aug. 28, 2023 – Trends are going in the wrong direction, even as more people seek care. “That’s not true for cancer [survival], it’s not true for heart disease [survival], it’s not true for diabetes [diagnosis], or almost any other area of medicine,” says Dr. Thomas Insel, the psychiatrist who ran the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 2002 to 2015 and author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health. “How do you explain that disconnect?” Dr. Robert Trestman, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Council on Healthcare Systems and…
SELLING PIILS TO ONE AND ALL – Aug. 28, 2023 – Critics sometimes argue that study quality is the main factor in publication—that it just so happens that all the favorable studies conducted by pharma are of good quality, while all the unfavorable studies by independent researchers are of poor quality. However, the researchers found that study quality did not explain the selective publication they identified. Instead, it appears that top psychiatric journals tend to publish researchers who are funded by pharma, and thus find favorable results, whether the study is of good quality or not—and good quality studies by…
FILLED WITH AA NOW – Aug. 26, 2023 – Davina McCall has spoken about dealing with addiction. Photo: PA Archive/Ian West. “I don’t want to slag her off. She was my mum, warts and all. She wasn’t perfect. And she did make me, in so many ways, who I am. “She was party central, but also, I’m at pains to say, along with being quite a chaotic parent, she was really f***ing fun. “She was spontaneous. I’m not very good at that. I feel like I’m such a wild woman when I’m spontaneous, because I’m a planner. “I like…
STEP BY STEP – Aug. 25, 2023 – “A power greater than ourselves” is the second major hurdle for people seeking recovery from substance use disorders. First, there was having to admit powerlessness over alcohol, and now there is almost immediately the issue of believing a higher power exists and can be helpful. Everyone knows this is a euphemism for God. A. A. is explicitly a spiritual program, but many confuse religion with spiritual exploration, much to their detriment. Newcomers who reflexively resist considering a power greater than themselves, and reject any mention of spirituality, are often advised to…
VIDEO – NO MEETINGS REQUIRED – July 31, 2023 – his is largely to do with what’s known as mesolimbic dopamine (DA) signalling – meaning how the central nervous system circuit communicates the feelgood neurotransmitter dopamine. A protein called glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is key to keeping these neurons in this reward circuitry functioning. However, experts have found that levels of GDNF are reduced in people with AUD during periods of alcohol abstinence, most notably in a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA), as IFLScience notes. Therefore, the researchers decided to test whether using gene…
CAPITALISM – Aug. 26, 2023 – The Methamphetamine Market has exhibited remarkable shifts over the years, shaped by a blend of long-term market drivers and the unexpected influence of external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the driving forces that has significantly shaped the Methamphetamine Market over the years is the surging demand for treatment and rehabilitation services for addiction. As societies and healthcare systems across the globe recognize the pressing need to address substance abuse issues, this demand has led to increased research, funding, and initiatives aimed at providing effective treatment solutions. However, the Methamphetamine Market experienced…
CURB NOT ELIMINATE – Aug. 28, 2023 – “There’s really been a large number of clinical and anecdotal reports coming in suggesting that people’s drinking behaviors are changing and in some instances pretty substantially while taking [Ozempic or Wegovy],” says Christian Hendershot, a psychologist and addiction researcher at the University of North Carolina. He’s leading one of six clinical trials now underway aimed at understanding how semaglutide may alter people’s drinking and smoking habits. “All these reports, for the most part, are anecdotal,” Hendershot adds. “At the same time, it does seem like there’s a pretty strong signal here.”…
EARTH SWALLOWS MAN – Aug. 28, 2023 – For someone with no phone, no home, no job and no more possessions than can fit into a backpack, this is no easy task. So Elliot, like many others battling addiction, makes money for fentanyl by selling shoplifted goods to street vendors around MacArthur Park. The Southern California News Group interviewed Elliot, dozens of other people who use fentanyl, business owners, residents, LAPD personnel, homeless outreach workers, and medical professionals over several months, discovering how the intertwined crises of homelessness, addiction and petty theft have made MacArthur Park an epicenter of…
VIDEO – SATIRE OR SALACIOUS? – Aug. 28, 2023 – The sold out weekend tour was canceled and on Monday Ludlum resigned, saying it was all satire and, “the causes of the conditions we witness daily are not individual actors, but wide ranging policies that permit an organized, malicious element to thrive in San Francisco. The unchecked drug dealing is plainly the root of our current problems.” Mayor Breed was quick to respond saying, “the decision to organize and publicize the tour was a mistake and a deep error in judgment. We are working every day to address the…
MAN MADE MIRACLE – Aug. 27, 2023 -“It was awesome,” the 29-year-old said, beginning to choke up and then pausing as a tear streamed down her cheek. “We had nothing. We slept on the floor.” The apartment in the working-class South Worcester neighborhood isn’t much, but it’s filled with love. Willey’s 2-year-old daughter Vera Rey Contreras plays in the kitchen, filling a bag with various items to bring to grandma’s as her mom reminds her that’s not for a couple more days. Contreras, 30, Willey’s partner and friend of 9 years, then plays patient as their daughter takes out…
AUDIO – HE REALLY CARES ABOUT OTHERS – Aug. 28, 2023 – Now, he’s starting a support group dubbed Real Talk with Al Green to support and give hope to people with the same struggles. “I love these people. I love to help them,” Green said. “I have some hard times here sometimes, you know, different personalities. But … I went through a dark place to where now, today, I know how to deal with that type of stuff.” People who come to the shelter to wash their laundry or find solace in the emergency shelter beds remind him of…
GOOD START – Aug. 26, 2023 – “It was hard work at first and sometimes it does still feel difficult especially with the social pressure to drink, in our society it almost felt impossible not to, but a big shift happened when I realised I had the power to choose to say no! “It’s not about ‘giving up’ or ‘quitting’ it’s about living my most authentic life in a way that makes me feel my best,” the mum-of-two continued. “I realised saying no to things that no longer serve me creates space in my life for things that bring me…
NO MORE BLUES – Aug. 30, 2023 – In this week’s issue of PEOPLE the 82-year-old New Orleans native shares an exclusive excerpt from his gripping book, out Sept 5, and reveals when and how his devastating heroin addiction first began. “For my sixteenth birthday, I gave myself a present that has lasted all my life. I got the tattoo on my face,” he writes of his signature ink. “My school buddy came around, we sat down on my parents’ back steps, he tied two needles to a matchstick, and he put the tattoo on my cheek. It’s…
IT’S HIS CHARM – Aug. 27, 2023 – Staying sober in Hollywood is like wrapping yourself in a meat suit, jumping into an alligator pit—and not getting bit. Hollywood is pressure, and pressure makes alcoholics drink. Everyone in Hollywood has an angle and is competing with everyone else, no matter how much they smile, shake your hand and sing your praises. So while we look up to people who were born rich, got lucky, have egos bigger than Jupiter, won the genetic lottery or simply talk about their greatness until people start believing them, Trejo is truly the American…
AUDIO – TECK NECK FOREVER – Aug. 25, 2023 – The social media “addiction” has led to the district to provide more mental health resources to its student body, amid rising rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, according to the lawsuit, and now schools are struggling to meet the surging demand for mental health services. The Charlotte Ledger first reporter on the suit. “The Board’s decision to take legal action reflects our unwavering commitment to the welfare of our students and to ensure that social media corporations are held responsible for their contribution to the mental health challenges faced…
MATHEW BRODERICK NAILS IT – Aug. 25, 2023 – The most notable comparison would have to be between the two performers who played Richard Sackler, who was the chairman and president at Purdue Pharmaceuticals, which was best known for its development of OxyContin. In the Hulu version, acclaimed character actor Michael Stuhlbarg takes on the meaty role, while in Painkiller the widely known and accomplished veteran actor Matthew Broderick plays Sackler. So which of the two did it better? Well, if you’ve seen both shows in their entirety, this one should be a bit of a slam-dunk answer. READ@Collider
BRAVE NEW WORLD – Aug. 22, 2023 – Drinking rates among young adults in the United States have gradually decreased over the past two decades. During the past 20 years, the percent of U.S. adults who drink has dropped 10 percentage points, falling from 72% to 62%, according to a new study from Gallup. Younger adults who do drink are drinking less regularly. Individuals between 18-35 who claim they “ever drink,” that they “drank in the past week” or “sometimes drink more than they should” are all lower today, according to Gallup. Consuming an alcoholic beverage at least once per…
THE KIDS ARE NOT ALRIGHT – Aug. 31, 2023 – In a moment that seems to plead for creativity, educators are finding new ways to bring support into schools. Some universities are expanding counseling programs, hoping to produce more graduates. Schools are hiring interns and trainees. Some states, including California, are offering scholarships to lure students into mental health professions, while researchers are going back to the basics, rethinking what it means to be a mental health care provider. But the need is immediate and widespread, and services often are not. It would take 77,000 more school counselors, 63,000 more…
AUDIO – FLUNKING OUT FOREVER – Aug. 30, 2023 – “Fentanyl’s infiltration into schools is certainly something that cannot be ignored,” says Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD is one of the largest districts to stock naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses, throughout its schools. “We cannot close our eyes. We cannot look the other way,” he says. Fentanyl was involved in the vast majority of all teen overdose deaths – 84% – in 2021, and the problem has been growing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related adolescent overdose…
WWJD? – Aug. 27, 2023 – Francis underlined in his message that it is often teens and young adults who fall into addiction, especially in a society in which they are “deprived of points of reference” during a delicate phase in their lives “characterized by significant changes at the physical, emotional and social levels.” “Many young people pursue the illusion of finding in drug use a suspension from anguish and lack of meaning: It is the ‘vain hope’ of a stupor that relieves them of the fatigue of being and existing, often concealed under the disguise of a desire for…