VIDEO – NO FAST FOOD – Sept. 28, 2022 – With his sobriety, his family by his side—including his wife Rochelleand their kids Lyric, 5, and Elliott, 9—and a new solo album on the way, the musician has never been better, adding, “I am so so happy to be in the place that I am today.” McLean has spoken about his decades-long battle with addiction before, telling Good Morning America that the first time he tried drugs was before the video shoot for the Backstreet Boys 2000 song “The Call,” noting he “was off the walls.” more@Eonline
Author: Leonard Buschel
WOULDN’T THAT BE GREAT – Sept. 30, 2022 – But her life on the outside was as unsettled as ever, she said in an interview, with a stack of unpaid bills and no permanent home. It was easy to slide back into suicidal thoughts. For fragile patients, the weeks after discharge from a psychiatric facility are a notoriously difficult period, with a suicide rate around 15 times the national rate, according to one study. This time, however, Ms. Cruz, 29, left the hospital as part of a vast research project which attempts to use advances in artificial intelligence to…
HITS BOTTOM – Sept. 29, 2022 – “I don’t know how I had the courage but the next day I got everyone around the table and I said, look I need help, I’ve been lying to you, I keep saying I’m not drinking, I’m drinking far more than any of you know and I need to do something about it,” she said. The former Strictly star then asked all of her family members how it made them feel. “They all told me and I knew that was the point I had to stop,” she said. Constantine previously said she was…
OPIUM IS THE OPIUM FOR THE MASSES – Sept. 27, 2022 – At a basic level, people have varied access to internet, broadband and mobile phone data plans, which can hinder access. At the public clinics where I conduct research and practice, most Spanish-speaking patients are receiving care via telephone calls because of limited access to internet or data plans, as well as a lack of digital literacy. We’ve sometimes addressed this by training patients to use technology tools and even subsidized, via research grants, mobile phone data plans. But that’s not going to work in every case. As technologies…
DUH, GOOD IDEA, YA THINK? – Sept. 30, 2022 – At many hospitals in Massachusetts and across the country, Marie would likely have been discharged anyway, while still in the pain of withdrawal. Perhaps she would leave with a list of local detox programs where she might — or might not — find help. But a crucial opportunity to intervene and treat at the hospital would have been lost — partly because most hospitals don’t have specialists available who know how to treat addiction, and other clinicians don’t know what to do. Hospitals typically employ all sorts of specialists who…
HAPPY, JOYOUS AND WORKING – Sept. 30, 2022 – Lyman grew up in “a church school setting,” he said, living “kind of a sheltered life” in the Bellevue-Issaquah area. His late father, Steve, owned his own construction company. He moved away from home when he was 18 years old just after graduation and began working full time, becoming, he said, “a construction workaholic” for years to come. “There were phases, when I was single and without a wife or kids, when that was not a problem, and is actually a good thing for young men to do,” Lyman said.…
ANYBODY CAN STAY SOBER – Sept. 29, 2022 – At the end of his video, Chris sent a message to anyone on their own sobriety journey. “None of this would have happened if I didn’t have an intervention 5 years ago today,” he wrote. “So if you’re looking for a sign to make a change if I could do it, so can you!!! I love you.” And several stars congratulated him on his achievement. “SO PROUD OF U SOBER KING,” Meghan Trainor wrote in the comments. Added Christy Carlson Romano, “Yassssss!!! Chris! so proud of you!!! Sending you love.…
A LAMB OF HIS UNDERSTANDING – Sept. 29, 2022 – Blythe discussed his battle with alcoholism and how he got sober after a couple of decades of drinking during a book-signing event and question-and-answer session for his memoir, “Dark Days: A Memoir”, in 2015. At the time, he said: “Most people, when they stop … It’s entirely individual … Some people hit bottom because they wake up in jail, because their wife has left them, because they don’t have any money left, because they lost their job, or because they just can’t … they can’t take it anymore.” He…
VIDEO – REALLY SCARY – Sept. 27, 2022 – Fentanyl is still flooding the streets of Kentucky. The deadly drug is now taking on new forms to appeal to young people. The latest trend has parents worried and law enforcement want to get the word out ahead of Halloween. Recently, brightly colored fentanyl pills that resemble candy have been spotted across central Kentucky. more@YahooNews
OPENS SOON – Sept. 25, 2022 – Colossal received positive reviews from critics upon its release, and one particular aspect of the film that should be praised is its depiction of addiction, particularly alcoholism and alcoholic dependencies. On the surface, one would wonder what a character study about addiction and giant kaiju monster movie would have in common to be a thematic fit, yet the filmmakers and the performers tackle the subject in a complex way by paradoxically contrasting it with an inherently silly piece of genre fiction. more@MovieWeb
BETTER WITH POPCORN? – Sept. 27, 2022 – Weaver takes this conflicted role in stride. The actress may be decades away from her breakthrough appearance in “Alien,” but she still conveys authority in her bearing, which makes her character’s fall that much harder. But even an actress this good can’t elevate the film. It figures: Forbes’s 2014 directorial debut, “Infinitely Polar Bear” — a semi-autobiographical story inspired by her father’s bipolar illness — treated mental illness as ukulele-infused dramedy. “The Good House” strikes a similarly cloying tone. Despite Hildy’s complaints about the high price of coffee in her gentrifying…
THE OPPOSITE OF SUICIDE – Sept. 23, 2022 – “Something that’s so important in recovery is time. What I’ve realized along the way is that it’s one day at a time. It’s how am I showing up today. I can’t get back that relapse from two years ago. I also didn’t lose what I had before that,” Macklemore said. “And I think that that’s something that we kind of like beat ourselves up with the guilt and shame part of it is like, ‘Oh, my God, I lost this time, I lost my date. And now, I have to, I…
THERE’S ALWAYS AA and HARM REDUCTION – Sept. 26, 2022 – For the study, his team looked at admissions for substance use disorder treatment between 2017 and 2019, the years just before the pandemic, and during 2020, when it began. The admissions data is reported by state agencies based on information from facilities that receive government funding. Before 2020, admissions to treatment programs were stable. They then declined from 66 per 10,000 in 2019 to 50 per 10,000 in 2020, a 24% drop, in states where data was available. A gender gap was also evident, with admissions of men…
VIDEO – LEAVING LAS VEGAS … FOREVER – Sept 26, 2022 – Police said the people unknowingly took fentanyl. The department previously told FOX5 they are seeing many cases like that. “The party drugs, or Xanax or Percocet anything like that that the kids are just wanting to experiment,” LVMPD major violators narcotics crimes bureau Capt. Brandon Clarkson said. “What we are finding is these pills are laced with fentanyl, and just a little bit of fentanyl can kill you.” In neighboring Arizona, Phoenix police recovered more than one million fentanyl pills and arrested two on Friday. It was the…
VIDEO – STICK TO THE MOCHAS – Oct. 3, 2022 – Sober October could be a step to cutting out alcohol entirely, but it doesn’t have to be, said biological psychologist Aaron White, senior scientific adviser to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Whatever your level of drinking, a monthlong sobriety challenge could help you be more mindful about your drinking, White added. You may think you might not need a break from drinking because you don’t have signs of substance abuse disorder: your drinking causing serious impairment, health problems, disability or issues meeting responsibilities. But…
WHICH IS IT? – Sept. 6, 2022 – Dasgupta says the DEA’s framing “was so divorced from any reality of what drug markets are actually like, it was almost laughable that our country’s top drug enforcement folks are so out of touch.” Samples are mailed to Dasgupta from across the country, which he and his team run through a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. The spectrometer identifies the exact chemical structure of whatever is in someone’s drugs. It can tell if the MDMA someone was sold actually contains methamphetamine or whether pills sold as prescription opioids are actually illicit fentanyl. Regarding the…
AUDIO – AND RESURRECT CHEECH AND CHONG’S CAREER – Sept. 28, 2022 – Nearly 86% said it helped reduce pain, and 84% said their pain was not interfering with normal social activities as much as it was before they started taking medical marijuana. The biggest side-effects, according to the researchers at Emerald Coast Research and the Florida State University College of Medicine, were dry mouth, increased appetite and drowsiness. 70,168. That’s how many people died of opioid-related overdoses in the United States in 2020, a 37% increase from the year before, according to a report in the Lancet. Prescription and…
SINCE 1935 – Sept. 26, 2022 – The article, titled Alcoholics Anonymous most effective path to alcohol abstinence, authored by Mandy Erickson, reported that after evaluating 35 studies involving the work of 145 scientists and the outcomes of 10,080 participants, Keith Humphreys, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and his fellow investigators determined that AA was nearly always found to be more effective than psychotherapy in achieving abstinence. In addition, most studies showed that AA participation lowered health care costs. Cochrane Database of Systematic Review published the review, which concluded by saying: “The evidence suggests that compared to other…
VIDEO – GET A STAMP – Sept. 27, 2022 – September is National Recovery Month, celebrating those healing from addiction while breaking the stigma around getting help. One statewide project is reaching out to the community in a special way for this month of awareness. The recovery cards project lets people send words of inspiration to their loved ones through greeting cards. more@YahooNews
“Men without dignity are like clowns without an audience, pathetic and lost.” – Rubin Carter, May 6, 1937–April 20, 2014
BE SAFE, NOT SYPHILITIC – Sept. 20, 2022 – Sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. are at a crisis point. On Monday, prominent public health experts and government officials raised an alarm over the ongoing annual rise in STDs. Preliminary data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia all went up last year. This week the CDC and the National Coalition of STD Directors are hostingtheir regular STD Prevention Conference, which occurs every two years and is virtual this year due to the covid-19 pandemic. But while the conference…
SAVING THE PILLMILLIONAIRES – Sept 19, 2022 – Previously, lower courts had not considered a prescriber’s intention. Until now, doctors on trial largely could not defend themselves by arguing they were acting in good faith when they wrote bad prescriptions. Now they can, attorneys say, although it is not necessarily a get-out-of-jail-free card. “Essentially, the doctors were handcuffed,” said Zach Enlow, Onaro’s attorney. “Now they can take off their handcuffs. But it doesn’t mean they are going to win the fight.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Ruan v. United States, issued June 27, was overshadowed by the nation-shaking controversy ignited…
FEED THEM, NOT YOUR ADDICTION – Sept. 20, 2022 – “Over the years, my patients explained how much their dogs meant to their physical and their mental health,” he said. “The dogs add stability. They give their owners a sense of responsibility and accountability. A sense of purpose. And the dog provides unconditional love. I don’t look at using dogs as a gimmick, or a PR stunt, but as genuine treatment that targets risk factors. They help with stress.” Going to 12-step meetings helps. Having a sponsor helps. Spirituality helps. Why wouldn’t a lovable dog? Mike Hamrock has seen…
LONG TERM RESULTS – Sept. 19, 2022 – Now, researchers say they don’t adequately advertise alcohol consumption’s biggest potential health consequence: cancer, including breast cancer. In a perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers warn that the labels are outdated and vague about alcohol consumption’s risks, despite the public health burden of drinking. Few Americans know enough about those risks, they write, pointing to data that suggests nearly 70 percent of them don’t realize alcohol consumption increases cancer risk. Though even moderate consumption carries risk, excessive alcohol use is more dangerous. Guidelines suggest alcohol intake should be…
AUDIO – NOT A REAL MANHATTAN – Sept. 15, 2022 – The impetus for opening Boisson stemmed from the personal experiences of its two owners, Nick Bodkins and Barrie Arnold, who met when they worked together at an insurance software company. They said their inspiration derived from their post-COVID 19’s lockdown drinking habits. Once they realized that a number of people were looking for more sober options, the idea for Boisson percolated. Bodkins says motivations for reducing alcohol intake included women who are pregnant, training for a race, and going ‘damp’ (a term mean reducing one’s alcohol intake) for a…
TOO MUCH DEATH – Sept. 20, 2022 – According to Saving Country Music, Bell was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and his “mental state took a turn for the worse” over recent months. “Luke fought this as hard as he could, but the disease got the better of him,” Bell’s manager, Brian Buchanan, told TMZ. “When he was beating the disease, he was the sweetest and most generous guy. He’s found peace now and there’s some comfort.” “Unfortunately Luke suffered from the disease of mental illness … he was supported through his disease by a community of loving family and friends.…
CORPORATE CRIME IN AMERICA – Sept. 24, 2022 – More than half the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals are nonprofitslike Providence. They enjoy lucrative tax exemptions; Providence avoids more than $1 billion a year in taxes. In exchange, the Internal Revenue Service requires them to provide services, such as free care for the poor, that benefit the communities in which they operate. But in recent decades, many of the hospitals have become virtually indistinguishable from for-profit companies, adopting an unrelenting focus on the bottom line and straying from their traditional charitable missions. To understand the shift, The Times reviewed thousands of…
WORTH THE AIRFARE – Sept. 21, 2022 – In recent decades, after a strong renaissance of clinical research around ibogaine and other mind-expanding drugs, psychedelic-assisted therapies are becoming increasingly popular as viable alternatives for patients who do not respond to conventional treatments. Ibogaine is an hallucinogen originally produced by the iboga shrub of West Africa and its application is being researched in the treatment of addiction to opiates and other substances. Ketamine, for its part, is a synthetic dissociative drug producing psychedelic-like effects. Originally approved as an anesthetic, ketamine is currently used to quickly recover patients from acute states…
TIME TO SEE A CLASSIC? – Sept. 15, 2022 – Ironically, his one skill, the uncanny ability to make moonshine out of numerous toxic liquids, only adds to his chaos and decline. From bomb fuel to photo-developing fluid, from mouthwash to paint thinner, his alchemical concoctions are dangerously potent. After one such mixture leaves an old man dead, he quickly flees a mob, finding a deceptively safe haven in the Master’s cult. Karl Marx once remarked that ‘religion is the opium of the people’. While Anderson’s cult in The Master is composed of a wealthy and privileged class, the…
AUDIO – HAPPILY EVER AFTER – August 2022 – Christopher Dale is an experienced public relations professional, writer and recovering addict. In addition to being a regular contributor to Addiction Recovery eBulletin, he has been published in a broad array of prominent outlets, including The Daily Beast, Salon, Parents.com, Dogster, New York Daily News and Tribune Syndicate. He writes on a wide range of topics, including addiction, mental health, politics, parenting, travel and rescue dog advocacy. This interview centers on Chris and his beautiful wife – Patty Li – and not only his struggles with addiction, but her loyalty in…