WATCH – KEEP CALM AND COLLABORATE – Oct. 12, 2021 – There is a study where, basically, they found that people have, on average, about 70,000 thoughts a day. About 80% of them are the same thoughts you had the day before because you’re in this triggered state of, “If only I had made that free throw in eighth grade my whole life would’ve been different.” But if our whole thing is coming up with new ideas for clients, and if 80% of our thoughts are the same ones we had the day before, we’re probably not that good…
Author: Leonard Buschel
HOW TO COPE WITH EVERYTHING – Oct. 13, 2021 – Since first hitting the pavement, Nell has run eight marathons, become a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor, and channeled her experiences into Hurley Health, the gym and recovery support program she runs from the basement of her St. Paul home. Not only does she offer a variety of workouts, she also schedules time to check in with her clients both in person before their workout and via text throughout the week to help them on their path. I have been in recovery for a long time—over 23 years.…
MEDIA: BOOK SUGGESTION – Fall 2021 – “A moving, tender, thoughtful account of addiction and also a compelling critique of a lot that’s wrong with the dominant model of addiction treatment.”—Johann Hari, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream “A riveting and deeply personal account of addiction and the flawed treatment system that repeatedly failed him . . . The blueprint for hope and survival that is ultimately his story could not arrive at a more important time as the nation grapples with its overdose epidemic.”—Gerald Posner, award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author of Pharma…
WATCH – FASCINATING – Oct. 14, 2021 – A prominent South Carolina lawyer has been charged with stealing insurance settlements meant for the sons of his late housekeeper, state police said Thursday. Alex Murdaugh was arrested at a drug rehab facility in Orlando, Florida, authorities said. His attorneys said he has spent the past six weeks at the facility since claiming he was shot in the head on the side of a lonely road near his home. …Murdaugh is being held at the Orange County jail in Florida to await extradition, investigators said. His lawyers promised at a bond…
WATCH – I LIKE TO WATCH – Oct. 13, 2021 – ‘Hightown’ When Jerry Bruckheimer is considering a new project, he asks himself if he’d watch it on TV or leave his home to see it in a theater. If the project checks either box, his job is to get it to the screen. That’s what he saw in “Hightown,” a crime series now in its second season set on Cape Cod against the backdrop of the opioid crisis. The story is filled with drug-trafficking, murder and a sex-addicted cop working the case. The series, on which Mr. Bruckheimer…
IT’S ONLY MONEY & YOUR LIFE – August 11, 2021 – “I get up in the morning, and I say: ‘Today I will not have a bet, I will not drink, I will not take drugs’,” he says, “that’s doable, but living with this is exhausting, it’s just completely knackering.” The former Arsenal and England footballer, who also battled alcohol and drug addiction, gambled away a fortune of more than £7m, but he said it’s not about the money so much as the pain he caused his family. “I used to think: ‘I’m a nice person but why do…
WAR ON POOR PEOPLE CONTINUES – Oct. 10, 2021 – The layout of Tallahassee and the many different demographics present contribute to the high rate of drug use. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, people use drugs for many different reasons. However, one of the biggest reasons people turn to substance use is stress related to family, school troubles, social issues and work. Tallahassee is a high-stress environment, especially for college students. Science Daily, a medical publication on mental health and stress, reports that 2021 has been a particularly stressful year for college students. Anxiety, depression, high…
TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK? – Oct. 3, 2021 – Nicola Peachey, 46, says she tried one such program, a 30-day alcohol-free challenge called the Alcohol Experiment, in July after wine became a coping mechanism during the pandemic. “Alcohol became my new bestie,” said the resident of Perth, Australia, who spent lockdowns with her husband, their two teenagers, and a Brazilian exchange student. Ms. Peachey, a diet and nutrition coach, said she hasn’t had a drink since joining the program, even while on a recent vacation. According to a Rand Corp. survey of 1,540 adults, the number of…
OUR COMMON WELFARE MUST COME FIRST – Oct. 8, 2021 – “They taught me how to help others and get out of my own way,” said Ms. Sabbath, who graduated from Clark University; she earned a master’s degree in social work from Boston College and is a clinical social worker. Even in recovery, Ms. Sabbath continued to make such bad choices in boyfriends that when she began sponsoring others in her 12-step program, her sponsor told her: “‘You’re not allowed to give relationship advice. If someone asks, refer them to someone else.’” Meanwhile, Mr. Clayton, too, considered himself to…
NEVER SAY NEVER – Oct. 3, 2021 – If I went even one night without drinking, I’d have trouble sleeping. At two nights without drinking, I’d experience a host of additional withdrawal symptoms, from brain fog to shaking hands to night sweats. In those years, I really longed for a “normal” relationship with alcohol. I pictured myself drinking just once or twice a week, rarely getting drunk, and able to go as long as I wanted between drinks. On the surface, these goals seemed reasonable enough. I knew plenty of people who were able to drink in moderation, and…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Oct. 18, 2021 – Andrea Ashley, former CPA turned podcast host & producer. She grew up outside of Philadelphia in an alcoholic household. Andrea turned to drugs and alcohol herself at the age of 12. After years in and out rehabs and boarding schools, she was granted the gift of sobriety at the age of 19 and celebrated 13 years of continuous sobriety this past September. In 2018 and 9 years of sobriety, Andrea had her “second great surrender” and came to terms with the true impact her dysfunctional upbringing had on her. This…
THE TRUTH CHANGES – Oct. 14, 2021 – However, “taking aspirin can also cause heavy bleeding that can be fatal, especially in older people,” Tseng said. Therefore, the task force now argues that adults 60 and older shouldn’t start taking aspirin daily to lower the risk of heart attack or a first stroke. “At this point, the high risk of bleeding actually eliminates the potential benefit of aspirin,” the expert said. It’s important to stress that the new guidelines don’t apply to people who have suffered a heart attack or stroke and now take aspirin daily. Even people without…
MALINGERERS – Oct. 11, 2021 – Researchers said people who have not previously taken opioid medications may not be aware of their potential for misuse and addiction. Luther said clinicians need to educate their patients about these risks, and patients have an obligation to learn about the potential and warning signs of opioid use disorder. Opioid misuse may include taking more medication than the prescribed dose, continuing use past the point where pain has diminished, or taking medication for its psychological impact rather than to prevent physical pain. “The more than 100 million surgeries in the U.S. every year…
I WANT TO MAKE YOU HIGHER – Oct. 16, 2021 – Our belief that complicated psychological ambitions might be accomplished through the possession of an object is the distinctive and poignant feature of our age. In our reverence for the transformative capacity of material things, we are a little like the Bakongo or Songye peoples of the Congo Basin, who rely on what anthropologists know as fetish objects, small wooden figures (often traded for very high sums) which are thought to be able to oversee major interventions in daily life: to sort out troubled relationships, help adolescents on the…
WATCH – STAR STRUCK – Oct. 11, 2021 – For those who were too young or too checked out of celebrity culture (lucky you) at the time, Brittany Murphy, who died under mysterious circumstances at just 32 years old, in December 2009, was once among the most endearing young stars in Hollywood. A bubbly New Jersey theater kid raised by a supportive single mom, Sharon Murphy, she was booking commercials and TV appearances by middle school. At 17, she made her film debut as Clueless’ wide-eyed transfer student Tai, memorably wringing every ounce of humor out of the 1995…
ON THE BEAM – OCT. 2021 – Dopamine balance can be complicated. Along with the feelings listed above, dopamine is also the “just one more” hormone. It can become too much. This is part of the reason why people struggle to stop after one cookie, one video game, one Instagram Reel or one episode of a favorite Netflix series. Because we perceive this behavior as pleasure, our brains want to keep it going. Too much dopamine is associated with drug and alcohol addictions, binge-eating, gambling, ADHD, anxiety, anger and aggression. Too much, simply put, is too much. We are…
HOW LEGALIZE WHAT’S IN IT? – Oct. 7, 2021 – Gov. Hochul praised lawmakers for passing the package of five bills as she spoke of the death of her late nephew Michael, who died from an overdose after injecting opiates laced with fentanyl six years ago. “This is personal to me,” she said during an event at John Jay College in Manhattan. “He did not set out to be a teenage addict, that was not his goal in life. “I don’t want other families to endure this … there’s no reason to point fingers or to blame or to…
MANDATED FOR ALL REHABS? – Oct. 1, 2021 – When M. (who requested that her full name not be used to protect her identity) got the shot this Tuesday, she became just the sixth person to receive it. “It’s very powerful now that I think about it,” she said of participating in the trial, just a few hours after getting the vaccine. The trial — the first to test the safety and potential effectiveness of an opioid vaccine in humans — is being led by Sandra Comer, a professor of neurobiology in the department of psychiatry at Columbia University’s…
NO BRIBES HERE! – Oct. 12, 2021 – The watershed decision could pave the way for authorization of some other electronic cigarettes, including from the once-dominant maker Juul, to stay on the market. For more than a year, the manufacturers of e-cigarettes have been in a holding pattern — their products on the market but awaiting official authorization — as the F.D.A. has investigated whether they were a benefit or a danger to public health. Over the past few months, as part of that review, the agency ordered thousands of vaping products off the market, including a brand that…
NOTHING FROM NOTHING LEAVES NOTHING – October 10, 2021 – Eating disorders are often marked as having an abnormal relationship with food. And while this may be true for some, I never found food to be the problem. It was always, well, the actual act of eating. When I was in 5th grade, I always found myself growing anxious at family dinners. The feeling of biting, the sound of my dad chewing, the cutting and swallowing and repeating of this process made my skin crawl. I couldn’t point to why. I just knew I dreaded dinner. I would pretend…
DO BEES BEE, DO BEARS BEAR? – Oct. 13, 2021 – Yes. Do you prefer a dark or light roast? Coarse grinding or fine? Arabica or robusta? “All of these different aspects affect the taste, but also affect the compounds within the coffees,” said Neal Freedman, a senior investigator with the National Cancer Institute. “But it’s not clear at all how these different levels of compounds may be related to health.” Roasting, for example, reduces the amount of chlorogenic acids, but other antioxidant compounds are formed. Espresso has the highest concentration of many compounds because it has less water…
“You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.” —Mel Robbins
WATCH – TIME TO QUIT? – Oct. 6, 2021 – Jablin is encouraging others who are facing addiction of any kind to challenge themselves in October. “Every day you’re starting a new day of ‘Let me try going through this day without that.’ ‘Let me let go,’ and you actually start putting in different practices, healthy practices, spiritual practices and focusing on your mind, your body and your emotions,” Jablin said. What Jablin found in his recovery and others he has helped and coached, are changes mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. “You’re going to see so much change from…
GOD WOULD AND COULD – Oct. 3, 2021 – When we are unable to experience fulfillment from God’s love, we often turn to addictive behaviors and substances to fill the void. Twelve step programs such as AA and NA are among the most successful treatment programs, and the second step, after “admitting that we were powerless over alcohol (or whatever addiction one is struggling with)” is to believe that “a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” This is actually just classic spiritual practice, it would do us all some good to take an honest look in…
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD – Oct. 4, 2021 – Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco surgically implanted a battery-operated, matchbook-sized device in Sarah’s brain — a “pacemaker for the brain” some call it — calibrated to detect the neural activity pattern that occurs when she is becoming depressed. It then delivers pulses of electrical stimulation to stave off depression. Twelve days after Sarah’s device was fully operational in August 2020, her score on a standard depression scale dropped to 14 from 33, and several months later, it fell below 10, essentially signaling remission, the researchers reported.…
THEY THINK BOOZE IS A TRUTH TONIC? – Oct. 3, 2021 – Worst of all is when, despite refusals, an alcoholic drink appears in front of you regardless. There’s a sense that teetotallers are Debbie-downers, ruining the party, dampening the high spirits of everyone else with their righteous, yawn-inducing alcohol-free presence. The suspicion of non-drinkers exists incongruously alongside the dismissal and denigration of those dealing with alcohol dependence issues – as if alcoholism is a personal choice and a measure of individual morality rather than a chronic illness that requires medical treatment and compassion. I remember the pursed lips…
BEFORE THERE WAS ZOOM – THERE WAS “IN THE ROOMS” – Oct. 6, 2021 – Who would have thought, that the idea of creating an online recovery hub would become the global phenomenon it is today? Well if you ask the co-creators of InTheRooms.com Kenny Pomerance and Ron Tannebaum, they will tell you their expectations were hopeful, but never could have imagined that it would be a global success. It’s lucky number 13 for InTheRooms.com – Happy Birthday! In The Rooms has gone from strength to strength. It’s brought recovering people together from all over the world to get well and celebrate recovery. A…
WATCH – IT HURTS – Oct. 7, 2021 – It all began after the 1999 car wreck. Altman figured she just needed some physical therapy to help with the resulting back pain. When her physician prescribed her a low dose of OxyContin — one 10 mg pill twice per day — she started feeling normal for what seemed like the first time in her life. Scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, had caused her chronic pain for years. “It was almost like (OxyContin) was what was missing in my brain,” Altman recalled. Whenever she ran low, she’d return…
MOVIES ARE REAL – Oct. 7, 2021 – Oddly, the pair — scrappy soul sisters more than mother and daughter — seem at peace with their incarceration. And when it’s time for Jacinta to leave, both women teeter from ambivalence to desperation. The remainder of the film grapples with an issue that might seem counterintuitive to the average viewer: Why might Jacinta dread her freedom? It’s not a simple answer, but the director, Jessica Earnshaw — a photographer turned documentarian who followed Jacinta over three years — responds generously by unfurling a long history of inherited trauma and regret.…
SAVE THE STOLEN – Oct. 8, 2021 – On Thursday, members of the Aspen House board, human trafficking survivors, and potential donors attended a luncheon on a rooftop in Salt Lake City to kickstart fundraising, with a goal to have Aspen House running by early 2023. Aspen House, which is designed to mirror 57 other homes across the country, will provide a home for people recovering from trafficking situations. McKnight said in 2019 there were 251 known victims of human trafficking in Utah; however, she says there are many more who are not known and human trafficking has “grown…