STEPS TO SUCCESS – Jan. 25, 2022 – To me, the 12 steps are about life transformations, not new year’s resolutions. For the first part of this series, I’m focusing on the first six steps. I’ve pulled the steps below directly from the AA website; the business lessons are mine. Note: Although some of these steps reference God, you don’t have to interpret them from a religious lens. If you are religious, then by all means, please use the lens of the faith you believe in! Okay, a personal disclaimer about this step: I don’t believe God can remove…
Author: Leonard Buschel
VIDEO – END OF THE TRAIL? – Jan. 27, 2022 – “The state decided to promote alcohol consumption in order to generate more revenue when in fact, that was the last thing that should happen during the pandemic,” Marshall says. Between 2019 and 2020, alcohol related deaths increased by 73 percent and drug overdoses by 39 percent. On top of that, the report shows Oregon is the worst in the country when it comes to treatment. “The fact that people are waiting 4, 5, and 6 weeks to get into treatment and access to treatment continues to go down is…
ADDICTION MONEY – Jan. 28, 2022 – Moreover, various government and private organizations are taking initiatives to spread awareness about nicotine de-addiction, which supports addicted person to quit smoking with the help of smoking cessation products. For instance, in 2017, the Public Health England launched US$ 1.3 million smoking cessation campaign to increase awareness to quit smoking. Furthermore, key players operating in the global addiction treatment market are focusing on adoption of inorganic growth strategies such as acquisitions, mergers, partnerships, and collaborations, in order to strengthen their market presence in the global market. For instance, in August 2018, Elite…
CHICKEN NODGETS – Jan. 21, 2022 – But Dr Aaron Hartman, physician and assistant clinical professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, has spoken out about the danger of the trend. “When you cook cough medicine like NyQuil, you boil off the water and alcohol in it, leaving the chicken saturated with a super concentrated amount of drugs in the meat,” he told MIC.com. “If you ate one of those cutlets completely cooked, it’d be as if you’re actually consuming a quarter to half a bottle of NyQuil.” One of the videos doing the rounds on TikTok uploaded…
BY CHRISTOPHER DALE — REVOLVING DOOR OF DEATH – Jan. 25, 2022 – “Rehab facilities have a financial incentive to keep patients in rehab for as long as possible,” said Alan Johnson, Chief Assistant State Attorney for West Palm Beach. “And then, once their insurance runs out, healthcare insurance rules now incentivize return visits.” One county’s opioid statistics reflect this battleground shift. In Palm Beach Country, which a decade ago had more pain clinics than McDonalds, 86% of the 622 overdose deaths in 2020 were fentanyl-related. It’s no longer pharma-manufactured oral dose opioids killing people, but rather street drugs laced with the…
BEING ON TV CAN BE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH – Jan. 25, 2022 – From her apartment on Fisher Island, off the coast of Miami, Sharon Gless is happily recounting tales of Cagney & Lacey – the hit Eighties cop show which used to attract 30 million viewers a week, and paved the way for so many female police series which followed. Writer Lynda La Plante, creator of Prime Suspect, approached Gless at an event long after Cagney & Lacey ended, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress recalls, smiling behind her fashionable black-rimmed specs, her white-blonde hair swept back to…
VIDEO – WIDE OPEN SPACES? – Jan. 22, 2022 – The book describes how his father abandoned him early on and his mother was a wild child who dated Richard Pryor. It also explores how he was never allowed to know his sister Lisa, who was born blind and with Down syndrome. And the book also shares how his grandparents gave him a strong work ethic, something he still treasures today. Not long after the book was published, his band Sixx:A.M. unveiled a retrospective album with their biggest hits. ox News: What was it like revisiting your childhood for this…
BRING ME A BOTTLE YOUR BEST SELTZER – Jan. 28, 2022 – After changing her habits, she wrote her book Mindful Drinking: How Cutting Down Can Change Your Life as a guide to rebooting your relationship with alcohol. In it she recommends taking an initial 28-day breather from booze to clear the decks. ‘Dry January is brilliant, because like being pregnant, it’s a very straightforward excuse.’ From there, Rosamund says pinpoint the triggers that make you reach for a glass (social anxiety, lethargy and stress unsurprisingly are common culprits) and prepare a plan to re-enter the world of drinking…
GET THEE BEHIND ME GUINNESS – Jan. 28, 2022 – He appeared in another documentary shot in the House during the refurbishment called ‘Men of Arlington’, he was also photographed for the ground-breaking novel of emigration, I Could Read The Sky and in Deirdre O’Callaghan’s photographic study of Arlington called, Hide That Can. I was immediately drawn to this articulate and charismatic man who talked about emigration, homelessness, and his relationship with alcohol with honesty and candour. I also learnt a lot about this amazing building in Camden Town, which as Joe said had housed more Irish men than any…
SAY WHUT? – Jan. 19, 2022 – The researchers issued a warning about growing acceptability of cannabis being “on the rise,” especially among young people, who have the highest rates of use. “It is therefore important to understand the cognitive risks involved in using cannabis, especially to young people, whose brains are undergoing significant developmental changes,” the study authors wrote. Experts disagree on the extent of the negative effects caused by cannabis. Research into cannabis’ effects has been somewhat limited, due to it being illegal and not available for many research projects. “Marijuana can be harmful to the brain…
IT TAKES GUTS TO EAT HERE – Jan. 22, 2022 – In some cultures, cannibalism involved eating parts of one’s enemies to take on their strength. Elsewhere, the consumption of human flesh had a more ritual significance. In desperate times, people have also fallen back on cannibalism to survive. For instance, there are reports of cannibalism during the North Korean famine in 2013, the siege of Leningrad in the early 1940s, and China’s “Great Leap Forward” in the late 1950s and 1960s. In Europe, from the 12th century up until the early 18th century, people knowingly sold and purchased human…
“We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change — and it has to start today.” —Greta Thunberg
AUDIO – IT’S HARD TO FIGHT YOUR WAY OUT OF A PLASTIC BAG – Jan. 20, 2022 – The conversation went on for a while before it was time for another consultation. Ward was going through his lifelines. The next number he rang was a friend, the same one he got high with right before the 18-hour flight to Japan. His friend would know what to do. “I can’t f*cking do this. I can’t f*cking do this,” Ward remembers saying. “Send your guy out,” the voice on the other end of the call replied. “He’s got to go find…
AND NOT SO MANY PAIN AU CHOCOLATE – Jan. 16, 2022 – When excessive fat accumulates within the liver due to alcohol, it is known as alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, when the same happens due to excessive intake of refined sugars, sugary drinks, and saturated fats, it is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Fret not, with some simple diet tips, you can give your liver a healthier life and promote longevity as well. Keep reading. Practice a carb curfew: Even while eating healthy foods, one needs to be extra careful about every meal in order to…
A NOVEL IDEA, A NOVEL – Nov. 17, 2022 – And he wrote about what drugs do to your soul, about letting yourself be molested for a hit, about stealing a woman’s purse in desperate pursuit of the next high. Sanchez was following the standard M.F.A. edict: “Write what you know.” He ripped through 40 pages that day by resurrecting the awful decisions his “lizard brain” made during his own lost teen years. He had been a hopeless addict — hopeless in the sense that nothing stopped him from using, not family or the endless ricochet between jail, rehab…
MODEL SOBER CITIZEN – Jan. 16, 2022 – The CAA Fashion model is a natural athlete who spent two years playing professional basketball for the Swedish women’s league. Elsa proudly announced her 12-year sobriety on New Year’s Eve. ‘I’m proud of how we got through another strange year.’ ‘So grateful for life and health, and especially for the newest member of our family,’ wrote Hosk, who has 7.2 million Instagram followers. ‘New Year’s Eve is always special for me because it marks my 12th year of sobriety.’ I can’t help but attribute almost everything in my life to my…
YES, GREAT IDEA – Jan. 19, 2022 – Not offering treatment to people with opioid use disorder in jails and prisons can have devastating consequences, including a return to use and heightened risk of overdose and death after release,” she noted in an institute news release. People with opioid addiction are hooked on illicit drugs like heroin, powerful painkillers such as oxycodone (OxyContin) or synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The study included 469 adults jailed in two rural Massachusetts jails, one in Franklin County (197 prisoners) and the other in Hampshire County (272 prisoners). Most were male, white and aged…
WALKING THE TALK – Jan. 18, 2022 – For queer people, especially, it’s almost impossible to separate Rose—uh, Betty, we mean—from episodes of The Golden Girls that were slyly revolutionary for taking on ’80s-verboten topics like homosexuality. (The show even cleverly argued for marriage equality as early as 1991!) When it comes to AIDS, which was ravaging America’s queer communities in the years The Golden Girls ran, the show is probably best known for the hilarious scenein which the girls try—and fail—to buy condoms discreetly at a drugstore. But there was another episode, called “72 Hours,” in 1990, in…
CALL ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS? – Jan. 18, 2022 – One viable option is to seek professional help in the form of counseling. By definition, counseling is a “professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals” (Kaplan et al., 2014, p. 368). This means that counseling consists of a professional relationship with a trained practitioner (e.g., holds the appropriate license or certification) built upon the mutual goal of helping a client experience positive change. Counseling can occur in a variety of formats including individual, family, group, or couples counseling. For individuals…
FENTANYL KILLS – Jan. 20, 2022 – Emergency medical providers in Helena have successfully treated at least nine people facing life-threatening drug overdoses in a 48-hour period, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said Wednesday. Hospital officials said it appears people are buying heroin that may be laced with fentanyl — a synthetic opioid at least 50 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One person was hospitalized in serious condition and another person who overdosed was on the way to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, Dutton said, calling it “an…
VIDEO – GIRLS IS GREAT – Jan. 20, 2022 – Back in 2017, at the time, Dunham faced criticism for defending Girls executive producer Murray Miller, who had been accused of rape by actor Aurora Perrineau. Miller denied the claims. Dunham later retracted her statement and apologised, admitting she had lied about having ‘insider information’ regarding the accusations and that she defended Miller in an attempt to discredit Perrineau. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Dunham said: “Those images of me at the last Girls premiere, skinny and hollow-eyed, that was 100 per cent my appetite and my body just…
43 YEARS IN THE MAKING – Jan. 20 2021 – Perry Gaidurgis (oldest of eight children) was released in 1979 from the Southern Maryland Correctional Camp after serving three years of an eight year sentence for an eight dollar armed robbery. As a heavily tattooed 21 years old returning citizen he quickly began speaking in southern Maryland high schools about his family addiction & mental health recovery process and life behind bars. While incarcerated he re-started his education with self-study and earned his GED in the Prince Georges County Detention Center. Perry later attended and later taught classes, workshops and…
WATCH – NO REASON TO GET OUT OF BED – Jan. 21, 2022 – While companies struggle to find employees at a time of peak employment, a COVID-related mental health crisis is putting hundreds of thousands of people out of work and threatening to stunt the global economic recovery. As the effects of the labor shortages grow increasingly profound, the global cost of addressing this mental health crisis is rising as well. According to a study published on Friday by medical journal The Lancet, mental disorders, which account for 18% of the global disease burden, are expected to rack up…
TAKE IT EASY ON YOUR NEW EMPLOYEE – SHE’S NEW – Jan. 20, 2022 – Americans broadly agree that just because a behavior is frowned upon doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening in their workplaces. In fact, some of the behaviors that people find the most inappropriate in the workplace are also the ones that a majority of people have seen occur. But their opinions on many workplace behaviors are largely dependent upon their age and sex. That’s at least according to a new poll on workplace behavior from NPR and Ipsos. Most Americans polled have experienced behaviors like…
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR – Jan. 19, 2022 – After many years of inadequate responses to countless antipsychotic medications, Robert had a dramatic response to one of the newer atypicals, and was heading toward discharge from the state hospital. In a sudden and tragic turn of events, however, Robert decompensated after learning that his longstanding, supportive social worker was transferred to another hospital. Neugeboren was shocked and perplexed by this reversal, and asked: “Why did the medication that worked so well—so miraculously—on Monday stop working on Tuesday?” His answer: “Because Robert was deprived of a relationship that had been a crucial…
A NEW ABCESSION – Jan. 2022 – This was initially reported with infective endocarditis (IE), of which there was a more than 12-fold increase over a 6-year period (2010 to 2015) in North Carolina, from 0.2 to 2.7 cases per 100,000 persons per year, according to researchers. This trend of increased IE in PWUD was seen nationwide, with the incidence doubling between 2002 and 2016. Another study found a rise in other serious bacterial infections from 2012 to 2017, including osteomyelitis (OM), central nervous system abscesses, and acute bacterial skin and soft tissue infections (ABSSSI). These serious bacterial infections…
LIBRARIANS KNEW EVERYTHING – Jan. 22, 2022 – Unable to let it go, she comes to believe seeking knowledge and understanding about opioid addiction, how to overcome addiction and the nature of the disease itself, is her only path and she takes us along on her journey. She seeks out experts and former addicts, asking searching and fundamental questions, and as she does so, we learn more and more. She brings us along with her. Along the way, she peppers her narrative with the small, beautiful moments of her quintessentially Vermont life — her garden, the swimming hole, life with…
L’CHAIM – Jan. 20, 2022 – Just as many people, if not more, are headed in the opposite direction of willful sobriety, a product of pandemic exhaustion and depression. You know, those ongoing concerns we met in early 2020 with joking/not joking about day-drinking. Series creator Simone Finch recently explained in a Television Critics Association press conference that the seeds for this show began germinating in 2012, before she got sober. So if this story about substance abuse recovery derived from her own life feels relatable to folks living out the definition of surge depletion that is coincidental. Samantha…
VIDEO – WHAT’S TO UNDERSTAND? – Jan. 21, 2022 – We know exercise, we know diet, we know to not use tobacco or to try to quit if you are … So those are the ones we hear about a lot, but I hadn’t heard about alcohol,” Kara Wiseman, assistant professor at the UVA School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health said. “You’re told about the risk of traffic accidents or getting hurt. People are pretty aware of what can happen if you consume so that your cognitive function is reduced, or people know that alcoholism has negative health impacts,…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Jan. 21, 2022 – Bridget Camacho is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in adolescent and family treatment, experiential therapy, and animal assisted interventions. She received her master’s in social work and her Animal Assisted Social Work Certificate from the University of Denver. Throughout her professional career, Bridget has focused on mental health and how experiential therapy and animal assisted therapy can facilitate physical, emotional, and mental healing. Q. Where did you grow up? A. I grew up mostly in Atlanta, GA, but I moved around a lot and lived in Florida, Arkansas, and…