NO PAIN MEDS FOR YOU – May 26, 2022 – A week ago, Bam (born Brandon) celebrated ‘one year of treatment’ for drug and alcohol abuse at a Boca Raton facility, and he plans on attending outpatient treatment classes for the next two months. Margera is currently sharing an apartment with his second wife Nicole Boyd and their four-year-old son Phoenix Wolf, but they plan on moving back to Southern California soon to buy a new home. The former pro skateboarder’s marriage to Boyd has lasted three more years than his prior one to childhood friend Melissa ‘Missy’ Rothstein, which…
Author: Leonard Buschel
WHEN KETAMINE ISN’T STRONG ENOUGH – May 24, 2022 – A study published last month in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found xylazine to be increasingly implicated in overdose mortality, rising from 0.36% of deaths in 2015 to 6.7% in 2020 in 10 jurisdictions around the country. The greatest xylazine prevalence was observed in Philadelphia (25.8% of deaths), followed by Maryland (19.3%) and Connecticut (10.2%). Authors of several papers about illicit xylazine, known on the street as “tranq,” warn that estimates may be an undercount since many jurisdictions do not routinely investigate for xylazine in overdose deaths. There…
VIDEO – ZERO TO HERO – May 28, 2022 – From the power-packed rhythms and lacerating instrumentals of opener “ My Guitar Is A Nuclear Weapon,” to the euphoric yet nostalgic touches of focus track “Haus Party 101,” and the gentler guitar-led soundscapes of “Your Eyes Are Fighting Me,” the EP unfolds as a diverse body of work rooted in anthemic and refreshing sonics framed by the ups and downs of drinking and Zero’s heartfelt exploration of his own journey to and through sobriety. With rugged yet soaring vocals tinged with mourning retrospective elements, the EP pulls us into tales…
VIDEO – FAMILY OF CHAMPIONS – May 27, 2022 – Speaking to Wide World of Sports about the downward spiral that played out through his 30s and 40s, Unser Jr laughed when it was suggested the last 10 years have been like a second chance for him. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been given third and fourth chances,” he said. As he recounted in the book, Unser, Jr., had reached a point where he felt he just couldn’t continue. “I was covered in a darkness that doesn’t happen overnight,” he wrote. “It was a long journey from the top…
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE – May 28, 2022 – Alcoholic liver disease is the umbrella term for a group of liver-related diseases caused by alcohol. Most heavy drinkers think that liver issues won’t happen to them because the condition is so ignored and public education is lacking. Those who do understand the liver risks of heavy drinking think that liver symptoms will be obvious and they will have time to fix the issues should it ever arise. Sadly, this is false thinking. Unfortunately, varying degrees of liver disease are very common among alcoholics and once serious symptoms begin to show…
THE PLAY’S THE THING – May 22, 2022 – IOEOTO tells the story of Feargal, the downtrodden but cheery man who fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an alcoholic. Using the Catholic calendar as a roadmap, Feargal leads us on a surreal and hilarious journey with many poignant twists in the hope of arriving at a sort of light at the end of the tunnel for the ‘bright man’. The show is loosely based on Tadhg’s own journey with alcoholism. During promotion of the show, Tadhg went public with his own story and has since had many mental health…
TRAGIC COMEDY OR COMIC TRAGEDY? – May 27, 2022 – Sigute Miller (Writer/Performer) is an acclaimed Lithuanian actress, twice winning Best Actress Awards at International Theater Festivals. As a member of the Echo Theater Company, she has been seen in “Anon”, “Better”, “The Suitcase” and “Undivided Heart”. She also performed at Sacred Fools Theater in “Emergency Operation“, “We the People” (playing Dr. Christine Blaisey Ford) and “What’s In Front Of Us”. Her most cherished performance was at The Victory Theater in “The Guys” – a tribute to the NYC firemen of 9/11. For Tickets: Q. If you are in recovery,…
NEW HIP BOOK – May 24, 2022 – I’ve told my story a lot for audiences in recovery but writing it all down was different. When you share those kinds of stories to a group of former drunks, everyone can relate to some extent – although most people in the audience were probably not involved in crime! Getting it all down on paper involves opening up to a wider audience who might not understand what it means to have a problem with addiction, so it’s a little more nerve-wracking. I could remember all of the things that happened but hadn’t…
Unlimited Supply – May 30, 2022 – The number of methamphetamine tablets seized in East and Southeast Asia exceeded a billion last year for the first time… more@NPR
GOOD LUCK – May 24, 2022 – Business groups have warned that if the bill passes, social media companies would most likely cease operations for children in California rather than face the legal risk. The proposal would only apply to social media companies that had at least $100 million in gross revenue in the past year, appearing to take aim at social media giants like Facebook and others that dominate the marketplace. It would not apply to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu or to companies that only offer email and text messaging services. “The era of unfettered social experimentation…
ADULTS ONLY! – May 26, 2022 – Major food companies including PepsiCo, General Mills and Kellogg’s recently urged U.S. senators and members of Congress in a joint letter to broaden language in the SHOP SAFE Act aimed at deterring online retailers from using a “famous or counterfeit” mark in the advertising, sale and distribution of copycat cannabis products. The rationale for this action, they said, is “a gap in existing law — the widespread online sale of packaging that leverages these famous brands.” more@TheHill
NOT IN THIS CENTURY – June 2, 2022 – Americans are drinking less, and the ones that are looking to quit altogether have new models by which to fashion their sobriety. Virginia Heffernan is a contributor at Wired and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss our changing relationship to alcohol, from “soberinfluencers” to Dry January, and the new methods of recovery that eschew the 12-step method. Her article is called “The End of Alcohol.” [email protected]
DIDN’T TAKE A GENIUS – May 25, 2022 – The special section—based around the Pitt team’s landmark research article in Science that analyzed nearly four decades of U.S. drug overdose data—contains commentary by four teams of epidemiologists, addiction specialists, modelers and drug policy experts, as well as an update from the original authors and an editorial by one of the journal’s senior editors. “Since 1979, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. have inexorably climbed along a near-perfect exponential curve, despite changes in the popularity of different drugs, new drug control policies, changing demographics, economic upswings and downturns, wars—and now a…
NEAR, NOT NOT IMPOSSIBLE – May 27, 2022 – Every day for a couple of years I left my house with a river view and drove downtown in South Yonkers to meet my dealer. I know a letter carrier who once worked that neighborhood. He told me there was a time when you could buy an Uzi on his route. I knew the first time I bought heroin at age 48 that doing so probably meant the end of my life. But compared to withdrawal, that was fine by me. Looks and bias may deceive, but numbers don’t lie. The…
LIKE WHACK-A-MOLE – May 25, 2022 – In 2002, Lejoyeux noted that patients with kleptomania and pyromania had significant numbers of depressive episodes. In fact, there’s a body of research concerning gambling. Relationship experts such as David Ley, Ph.D., (2010) have written about how infidelity, for some, evolves as a remedy for depression. Like Aiden, the people Dr. Ley has dealt with reported excitement and higher self-esteem. Ley also explained how someone pursuing an affair is more apt to take care of themselves for appearance’s sake, and may take to exercise and better self-care, which in themselves may be antidotes…
VIDEO – BULLY or BULLSHIT? – May 26, 2022 – Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare now has eight billboards around the city advertising a “new effective addiction treatment for meth, opioids, alcohol.” What is unusual here is the use of the words “meth” and “treatment” together. “We’re pretty desperate for tools, better tools,” said Tracy Winn, the Medical Director of Substance Use at Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare. Naltrexone is traditionally used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction by blocking receptors in the brain. Bupropion is prescribed as an anti-depressant and to help people stop smoking. “The one hand we’re replacing dopamine to…
BABY ON BOARD (SOON) – May 27, 2022 – The former “Osbournes” star revealed in April 2021 that she had suffered a relapse in her sobriety after several years of being clean from substance abuse. During a candid interview with “Extra,” Osbourne said she believed the relapse was brought on by a “nervous breakdown” she suffered in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t know why my nervous breakdown happened at the end of the lockdown, I made it all the way through, everything was great and my life was perfect. I’m that girl that when everything is going…
BEAUTY HIDES THE PAIN – May 27, 2022 – “I just want to be honest with everybody, I have been struggling,” she told her 231,000 followers, adding: “So, I’m in the hospital at the minute and I’m gonna get discharged soon and hopefully get to continue, you know, with my life and I’m gonna take a little bit of a break for myself.” In the candid video, she urged fans to “stop being so hard on yourself” and seek help if going through a similar experience. “I want to encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a…
AUDIO – FINDING A NEW WAY TO HEAL – May 27, 2022 – In the latest episode of our In Conversation podcast, we discuss the newest research into the neuroscience of anxiety and depression and how this may change the future of treatment with Dr. Adrian Jacques Ambrose, medical director of the Columbia Psychiatry Practice Office. Dr. Ambrose also specializes in interventional neurotherapeutic psychiatry, working with ketamine, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of resistant mood disorders. Our other interviewee is Olivia, who has been living with anxiety and depression for a number of years,…
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
NO ONE IS PERFECT – May 24, 2022 – As many of you know, our beloved brother Steven has worked on his sobriety for many years. After foot surgery to prepare for the stage and the necessity of pain management during the process, he has recently relapsed and voluntarily entered a treatment program to concentrate on his health and recovery. We are truly sorry to inform our fans and friends that we must cancel our first set of Las Vegas Residency dates this June and July while he focuses on his well-being. We will continue our 2022 dates starting in…
SURE, BLAME IT ON THE JEWS – May 19, 2022 – As I took small sips of the small glasses of Manischewitz I was allowed throughout the seder, I felt warm, at one with my ancestors. A light flooded through me, filling me up with the warmth of God. (As a little kid, I loved God. Huge fan.) But the year I was seven, when we basically had Manischewitz on tap and no one at the table was paying attention to my consumption level, I put it together. In that moment in the dining room, with the plagues and…
VIDEO – ONE DOSE AT A TIME – May 16, 2922 – “Colleges have their programs that offer therapy. Rutgers has a recovery house and students can stay in the recovery houses,” Gokarakonda said. “It’s like housing and they can stay there for a year while they are going through recovery.” As your children begin to head home for the summer, you’re encouraged to lookout for the warning signs indicating substance abuse could be present. “The first signs that parents can see is kids not interacting with them; behavior is odd; having new friends; and being more secretive about…
VIDEO – NICKEL AND DIMED – MAY 18 2022 – Americans are more stressed about money than they’ve ever been, according to the American Psychological Association’s latest Stress In America Survey. “Eighty-seven percent of Americans said that inflation and the rising costs of everyday goods is what’s driving their stress,” said Vaile Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association. More than 40% of U.S. adults say money is negatively impacting their mental health, according Bankrate’s April 2022 Money and Mental Health report. Some Americans lack hope they will ever have enough money to retire,…
VIDEO – FORWARD THINKING – May 17, 2022 – “A lot of it, for me, was feeling worthless,” she said. “I had lost my family, I had lost everything important to me. It was tough asking for help but I knew I couldn’t do it myself.” Health advocates said the first step, asking for help, is the hardest. They said there is a shame and a stigma around mental health and addiction. “One of the things we’re doing to break the stigma is really helping people challenge what they think they know about addiction and mental illness so they can…
EMOTIONS PLAY A PART? – May 18, 2022 – In general, an “addictive personality” typically refers to a group of traits that can make you more prone to becoming dependent and addicted to substances and other things. Yet, current research Trusted Source hasn’t reached a consensus on what exactly an addictive personality means or if it actually even exists altogether. In other words, there’s no proof that a personality type is linked to a higher chance of addictive or compulsive behaviors. Addictive personality isn’t a formal diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision…
EVERYONE NEEDS A FRIEND – May 18, 2022 – After the reunion filming Lindsay took to Instagram to congratulate her man on his sobriety and journey through the Summer House. Hub House shared a photo of herself seated next to Carl on the reunion couches with a caption that started, “Just want to say how proud I am of this man.” During the reunion episodes Paige accused Carl of taking a back seat during this season’s filming. Carl didn’t take kindly to bed-ridden Paige’s opinion, and reminded her of his priority this summer, his sobriety. Paige stayed the victim,…
ONLY 7? – May 17, 2022 – …but in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I talked to a range of mental health advocates about the books they felt accurately, and empathetically, built characters who navigated mental health struggles. From social workers to introverted artists, each recommended a book and character that made them feel seen, which is one of the best gifts an author can give their reader. The Mothers by Brit Bennett “Brit Bennett does a great job of displaying how grief can manifest in behaviors when it is not addressed or processed. I personally identified…
TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK? – May 18, 2022 – Dear Accidentally Sober, In my 20s, I stopped drinking for a while. I’d just survived a particularly brutal breakup, which resurfaced particularly sour memories of my mother’s post-romantic-breakup binges. I didn’t put a timer on it. I also didn’t go to AA or identify as an alcoholic or even as someone who was “sober.” Up until then, I had been what you might call a “controlled binge drinker” — my consequences were limited to hangovers and one-night stands — but over those dry months I saw that not drinking…
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME – May 19, 2022 – It’s one of the darkest and most sensitive subjects in Stoicism: Suicide. Cato took his own life rather than submit to Caesar. Seneca took his, under duress from Nero. The Stoics spoke of suicide as the “open door,” a choice open to us all at any moment. The Stoics may have believed that suicide was a choice we all have, but they were still pretty clear: It’s the wrong choice. Marcus Aurelius was clearly depressive by nature. He was wracked by constant pain. He dealt with profound tragedy (no one…