Author: Leonard Buschel

EAT YOUR HEART OUT? – June 15, 2023 – Despite its apparent prevalence, food addiction hasn’t been officially recognized as a real addiction, disorder or diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the handbook used by health care professionals as the authoritative guide to diagnosing mental disorders. The body of research on food addiction has only recently gotten to the point where it can support a proposal for inclusion in the DSM, Gearhardt said, but she’s currently working on one she expects to submit within the year. “If you simply just look at…

MOM, DAD, SON & DAUGHTER – June 12, 2023 – You have, for example, asked if alcoholism runs in families and by extension if your daughter might have the same or similar medical needs as her father concerning alcohol use disorder. The answer is a qualified yes, meaning that in some, but not all cases, the condition does run in families. You have also alluded to the possibility that your daughter has fallen in love with a man, whose personality is similar in some way to the father she presumably adored, and again the answer is a qualified, yes.…

IT’S ALL GOOD? – June 11, 2023 – In addition to crystal methamphetamine, Blanchard said she also used heroin and “lots of different things under the sun.” A trans woman, she said she began using drugs while engaging in sex work after graduating from Vassar College in 2018. She added heroin to her intake when the pandemic temporarily cut off her meth supply. After becoming dependent on heroin, Blanchard said she sought a prescription for buprenorphine, an opioid-replacement drug used to ease cravings. “I have my own battle with the city of New York to get a simple prescription for…

VIDEO – GOD, PLEASE MAKE MORE MEN LIKE HIM –   June 16, 2023 – Ellsberg’s demise came about four months after he announced on Twitter that he had been diagnosed with “inoperable pancreatic cancer.” “I’m sorry to report to you that my doctors have given me three to six months to live,” he wrote on March 2. Ellsberg’s family said in the statement that “he was not in pain, and was surrounded by loving family.” And his sense of humor, they said, stayed with him until the very end. “In his final days, surrounded by so much love from…

HIS MEETINGS ALWAYS START ON TIME! – June 16, 2023 – He continued, “To everyone out there struggling with addiction, it is a real battle you fight every day. But I’m still here and you know what … I DID IT … and if I can do it … anyone can do it,!!!” Flav also called out media outlets who were using his comeback to bring up his past. “To every media outlet that tries to capitalize on my goodwill trending topics and bring up my past or old interviews for sensational click bait headlines … do better and bring…

VIDEO – HARM REDUCTION IN THE O.C. –   June 14, 2023 – In an April interview with People, Gina explained why she made the decision to stop drinking alcohol. “Drinking was a big part of my life and to eliminate it was a huge shift for me personally,” she said. “But it’s had this trickle-down, ripple effect where I’ve just seen so many things shift for the better. And I couldn’t be happier.” “I was drinking way too much,” she added. “What used to be a drink when I was out at night with friends became, especially during COVID,…

“This is what I want in heaven … words to become notes and conversations to be symphonies.” – Tina Turner, b. 1939 Tennessee – d. 2023 Switzerland

COLORFUL RECOVERY – June 4, 2023 -Gauthier, who lives in Osoyoos in B.C.’s Okanagan, said she’s been sober for 22 months following a near-fatal overdose. To celebrate one year of sobriety, she decided to tour British Columbia. “I slept in the tent for the whole summer with my dog and we came to Osoyoos and I liked it so much here that I decided to move here,” she said. While living in a motel during the winter, Gauthier said she saved up enough money to buy a trailer at the beginning of the year. Renovations included applying paint from…

YIDEO – 10 COMMANDMENTS>12 STEPS –   June 10, 2023 -The center has a professional team with over 30 years of experience and a tailored approach for each client, all while maintaining a kosher environment. Retorno CEO Rabbi Eitan Eckstein first recognized the need for such a center. “In the last 30 years since I created retorno, I built it up in Mexico 35 years ago, I think we treated until today more than 2,000 kids and adults,” he says. Since its founding, the center has helped hundreds of clients to recover and restart their lives. One of these patients…

HEAVY LIFTING – June 8, 2023 – Her story: Smith started drinking when she turned 21. Quickly, she realized the difference between her and her friends. “[My friends] could have a few drinks and be content and move on with their day. I wasn’t someone who was like that. I was either someone who didn’t drink, or I would drink until I black out,” she said. As she moved on from college, Smith settled down, got married, and started a family. After her first pregnancy—she said it was no problem for her to stay sober while she was pregnant…

THE SHINNING ONES – June 8, 2023 – With great fame comes great pressure. The constant attention and recognition as well as the glare of the paparazzi lens and smartphone spies can prove to be too much to take from some celebrities. To deal with their newfound fame, some turn to booze or substances to cope. Discover their stories here.. READ@StarLocalMedia

VIDEO – GREEN TEA, BLACK TEA, RED TEA, GAY TEA –   June 5, 2023 – tea shop creates safe space for LGBTQ+ people battling addictionsIn creating this space, she realized Louisville lacked a safe, sober space for LGBTQ+ people, especially those battling an addiction facing access to resources. “So in our bathroom, we actually have free menstrual products. We have both pads and tampons. We also have free Plan B,” Clark said. “We also have free fentanyl testing strips.” The items on the bathroom shelf are mostly donated by the Kentucky Health Justice Network and Louisville Coffee Co-op. “Just…

BACK OF THE BUS – June 7, 2023 – Substance use disorder has long been classified as a disease, but Bousquet and others like him who are in recovery say stigma around this condition is pervasive in the field of medicine. Their stories illustrate the steep social and financial costs of stigma not only for the people who are in recovery but for communities across the country who are grappling with high rates of addiction. Policies have allowed medical stigma to prosper for decades It’s not unusual to find patients in the Emergency Room at Seattle’s Harborview Hospital with everything…

WHY NOT TRY – May 31, 2023 – The $42 million being allocated for ibogaine research is coming from Kentucky’s Opioid Settlement Fund. This fund was developed following a 2022 nationwide agreement with major pharmaceutical distributors and marketers of opioids to distribute $26 billion to populations affected by opioid addiction. Kentucky was allocated $478 million from this agreement — 50% of which goes to local government, and 50 percent of which is to be received by “the Commonwealth.” Funds allocated to Kentucky increased to over $842 million earlier this year. The commonwealth’s portion is managed by the Kentucky Opioid…

VIDEO – SOUNDS LIKE STIGMA? –   June 6, 2023 – “You know, get a little legislation going – see what other cities are doing, how it’s working out for them, talk to task force, police officers…,” he explained. While he and some other committee members said they’ve gotten negative community feedback on a rehab facility planning to open in town, Wallace clarified that this moratorium isn’t specifically about that center. It’s about any facility looking to set up shop. Plus it’s possible that the moratorium, if put in place, wouldn’t stop that rehab facility from opening. Belpre Law Director…

NO MORE BONGS? – June 8, 2023 – As marijuana use in the United States reaches record highs among young adults, there is a growing need to address its potential for addiction, experts say. An experimental pill, the first in a new class of drugs, has shown promise in treating cannabis use disorder, according to the results of a small trial published Thursday in Nature Medicine. The drug, known as AEF-0117, was found to reduce the perceived “good effects” of cannabis by up to 38 percent in a double-blind randomized controlled phase 2a trial led by researchers at Columbia…

ESSAY OF NOTE – June 9, 2023 – This was particularly evident when opioid use disorder, which started roughly around 1999 and has continued to increase over the decades, was observed to affect mainly White people. This has driven a re-assessment of the nature of addiction. The previous big drug epidemic involved crack cocaine which was criminalized to the point that many users drew harsh prison sentences. Crack addiction was seen as a crime. Of course, crack was a drug predominantly used by Black people. The emergence of a White drug addict prompted a re-evaluation of what addiction meant…

VIDEO – SOBRIETY AS SUPER POWER – June 8, 2023 – As a child, Crandell lost his mother, aunt, and uncle to addiction and suicide. He eventually lost a promising hockey career plus his home, friends, and will to live to addiction himself for over a decade. But, after his third arrest, he quit cold turkey and from that point on Crandell chose to take back control of his life. “I believe that having my addiction and surviving it, I found my life’s purpose and that is to provide service to other people and that’s why I do Ironman, is…

HEALING FROM THE HEART – June 7, 2023 – While Tingue said “housing in early sobriety is key,” it’s only a small fraction of the organization’s overall effort in helping people overcome their battle with substance abuse by giving them purpose, unity and helping them become “who they really want to be.” “We’re talking about your mind, body and your spirit being changed,” Tingue said. “That looks a little bit different than just not drinking and doing drugs.” For over two decades, Tingue was gripped by alcoholism and addiction until he had an epiphany in January 2021 at a…

PREVENTION PLEASE – June 8, 2023 – The awards are part of Philadelphia’s larger spending plan for its share of settlement money won in national lawsuits against major opioid manufacturers and distributors, which were accused of fueling the opioid epidemic. “I think this project really epitomizes the city’s desire to put the dollars into the hands of affected communities and the people that know best about what their community needs,” said Joe Pyle, president of the Scattergood Foundation, which has partnered with the city to distribute settlement dollars. Philadelphia received $20 million in the first year of payouts, which will…

VIDEO – CRAZY TIMES – June 7, 2023 – Lamar’s been insistent on helping Bam for weeks, and even visited him in the hospital Tuesday to offer Bam treatment at one of his Odom Wellness Treatment Centers. Bam’s motivating factor in getting clean is definitely his young son, Phoenix, who he hasn’t been able to see much during his battles with substance abuse.  READ@TMZ

A SONG IN HIS HEART – June 8, 2023 – is inspiration remained rooted in the natural world, trying to convey the shifting seasons or moments such as a moonlit night or waves on a beach. His music also became part of a musical current that gained force in 1980s. The New Age sound — an ethereal and mood-heavy genre that bought up associations with mediation and spirituality — had emerged from the West Coast and moved into wider audiences through musicians such as Greek composer Yanni and Irish singer-songwriter Enya. Mr. Winston was quickly embraced by the New…

JUNE 10, THE DAY THAT SAVED MILLIONS OF LIVES – June 5, 2023 – The annual gathering, which starts Friday on the University of Akron campus, is held on the weekend closest to June 10, which marks the day in 1935 when AA founder Dr. Bob took his last drink. For more information about the event, visit https://foundersday.org/. Some of the places that played a key role in AA’s history — like where Bill W. and Dr. Bob first met at the Gate Lodge at Stan Hywet Hall and formulated the organization’s founding principles — will be open for tours.…

NO MORE PILLS – June 5, 2023 – “Love And Hip Hop Atlanta” alum Joseline Hernandez had a lot of controversial moments unfold while she was on the show. Of course, Joseline’s love triangle with Stevie J and Mimi Faust is how many fans came to know her. However, it would be a very chaotic reunion moment that most remember much more. At the time, Stevie and Benzino were clashing a lot which led to Joseline and Benzino’s ex Althea Heart not seeing eye to eye either. So once Benzino and Stevie exchanged words, Stevie and Joseline proceeded to make…

THE PIT SWINGS BOTH WAYS – June 5, 2023 – Previous articles in this blog have described the tortured lives of remarkably creative and accomplished figures, including Herman Melville, Charles Darwin, and Abraham Lincoln, and touched on the possible interaction of mental illness and their remarkable achievements. The discussion of Herman Melville, for instance, centered on the role of possible bipolar illness on his worldview, his periods of seemingly boundless energy, and his imagery. It is fitting, then, to also consider the role of substance abuse in the lives of creative figures. A particularly appropriate person is Edgar Allan Poe,…

FLORIDA – June 8, 2023 – The pill mills were run by Jeff and Chris George, twin brothers whose desire to get rich quick fueled the operation. The story of the Georges receives a dynamic retelling in “American Pain” (on Max), named with heavy irony after one of their clinics. The director, Darren Foster, frames the film almost as a profile, beginning with the twins’ upbringing before zipping to the launch of their venture. In interviews, past associates of the brothers — and the brothers themselves, speaking by phone from prison — talk openly about the slickness of the enterprise,…

OUR CHILDREN GOING INSANE – June 8, 2023 – In his testimony before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions panel, Murthy warned that loneliness and isolation as well as exposure to potentially harmful content on social media are impacting youth development and leading to increased feelings of depression and self-harm. He told lawmakers he is in favor of a Surgeon General’s warning label on social media sites — like what’s on a pack of cigarettes — warning of the mental health impact of these sites. But an inclusion of such a label would require some form of congressional…

IN EVERY SUBWAY STATION! – June 5, 2023 – Commissioner Ashwin Vasan just unveiled a vending machine that dispenses free Narcan and drug-test strips — along with “safe-smoking” pipes, condoms, tampons, nicotine gum, first-aid kits and even lip balm. Start the countdown to the day free syringes get added. The pretense is that this will slow or stop the surge in overdose deaths, along with other grim side-effects of deep addiction. In fact, it will normalize and feed the plague, by pretending that “safe drug abuse” is a thing. Get ready for obvious addicts to start trying to sell…

VIDEO – IMAGINE THE PILLOW TALK – June 8, 2023 – The BOP official told ABC News it’s typical for inmates who have exhibited good behavior in federal prison to be moved to a halfway house – also known as a “residential re-entry program” – up to six months before their release. El Chapo was extradited in 2017 to the U.S., where he was convicted of a massive drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades. He was sentenced in 2019 to life in a U.S. prison and remains jailed at a super-max prison facility in…

IS DEPRESSION ADDICTIVE? – June 8, 2023 – Treatment for depression and any mental condition isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience. Each individual has their own story. Moreover, there are certain social and genetic characteristics that can make people respond to psychotropic drugs in different ways. There are also a number of myths surrounding the debate as to whether antidepressants are addictive or not. Some scientific communities unanimously conclude that these drugs don’t produce addiction and are not drugs like heroin or tobacco. For example, a study conducted by King’s College London (UK) claims that antidepressants can’t be classified as addictive substances,…