Stick with the Winners! – November 10, 2020 – So grateful for my long-term partnership with my cinematic partner William Cohen (dearly departed) and Dr Darryl Inaba formerly director of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. Together we published eight editions of the book Uppers, Downers, All Arounders. Currently I’ve created a series of films on how connection and community are the antidote to addiction. Two of these films were selected for this year’s Reel Recovery Film Festival-Home Boy Joy Ride and Soul Sanctuary. I am currently in the process of finishing another film for that series, Journeys on the Red…
Author: Leonard Buschel
LISTEN – Music is Magic – Nov. 6, 2020 – Byrd spoke with Kyle Meredith about playing to recovery music groups and how the conversation and stigma has changed since becoming sober in the late ’80s. The singer-songwriter also discusses making a fun record with a message, his penchant for rough & tumble music, and the possibility of continuing the theme on future albums. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artist’s work to find out how…
America – Giving Peace a Chance – November 7, 2020 – People want a truce in the War on Drugs. Cannabis has been rebranded as a wellness panacea. Mushrooms and MDMA are making headlines as therapy tools, not party fuel. And as the overdose crisis continues, it is ever more apparent to a growing swath of the country that threatening to jail drug users doesn’t reduce drug-related death rates or help families struggling to save their loved ones. Instead, it disproportionately hurts Black communities What once sounded like progressive pipe dreams—decriminalize it, legalize it!—is now increasingly interpreted as simple…
Time to come together – Nov. 8, 2020 – On a summer evening in August, Holt relapsed in Brooklyn Park and contacted Pascal Crisis Stabilization Center in Crownsville for short term help. They picked him up, but he passed out after reaching the short term care center. It took eight doses of Narcan and CPR to revive him. “It’s really unheard of. You either come back after five or six doses, or you die,” said Holt, a well-known Pascal patient. “Because of my status with the people here … they were doing anything they could in their power to keep…
WATCH – Downward spiral ends on film – Nov. 5, 2020 – Moneyas escaped through the front window. That house fire saved him. “Here I am crying to get out of this house and 15 hours before I was trying to kill myself. It was kind of a wake-up call for me,” he said. Moneyas’ harrowing story, and his descent into meth addiction and then into recovery is the subject of Part 2 of After Meth, a new series of three short films. The four-minute long film was produced by Winnipeg filmmakers Tyler Funk and Carmen Ponto for CBC’s Creator…
With virtual interaction becoming even more prevalent during this time of social distancing, teen cyberbullying is on the rise. One out of every three teens has experienced cyberbullying. Because it causes distress and feelings of rejection and isolation, cyberbullying can trigger or exacerbate symptoms of anxiety and depression. In fact, a 2018 study found that victims of cyberbullying are nearly twice as likely to commit suicide. Cyberbullying takes place on digital devices, such as cellphones and computers, via online interactions like social media and gaming. Social media cyberbullying is most prevalent on Instagram (42 percent), followed by Facebook (37 percent)…
Movies delivered to your home – Nov. 5, 2020 – Reel Recovery Film Festival patrons and ticket holders will be able to view feature films with themes like vulnerability, battling within, willingness, and much more. By registering for a free All-Access Pass, you will have unlimited anytime access to view feature films showcased by filmmakers who made honest films about addiction, alcoholism, behavioral disorders, treatment, and recovery. To watch, audiences simply have to log in, select their program of their choice, and click “watch” to begin their viewing experience. Streaming tickets to the Reel Recovery Film Festival are now available for…
WATCH – On the front lines – Nov. 6, 2020 – CORE not only offers peer support but also connects patients to comprehensive treatment for substance use. As a Certified Recovery Specialist, O’Donnell visits people who may need help in the community, drawing on her own experiences and forging trusting relationships with those she meets, like CORE patient Eileen. As of the summer of 2020, Eileen is still on her recovery journey. Her connection with O’Donnell, she says, has helped her look forward to things she didn’t think about before. more@PennMedicine
Maybe just a tropical storm… – Nov. 6, 2020 – News outlets and science journals have published many predictions of an approaching mental health pandemic related to the psychological stress of dealing with the COVID-19 infection epidemic. Tsunami has been a favorite word. One headline by a BBC health reporter claimed “Psychiatrists fear ‘tsunami’ of mental illness after lockdown” (Roxby 2020). Dozens of research studies have already been published on the mental health status of the general population. I read 34 of them. They just keep repeating the same type of research in different countries. For anxiety, the average percentage…
“The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” —Brene Brown
It’s not really food, is it? – Nov. 3, 2020 – If you drink diet soda—or any artificially sweetened beverage, for that matter—chances are you do so because you’re under the impression it’s a healthier option than its regular counterpart. After all, diet drinks typically don’t have any actual sugar, the substance known to cause obesity and a number of other health problems, including heart disease. But, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, artificially sweetened drinks like diet soda are just as likely to lead to heart disease as the sugar-filled…
WATCH – Living the good life – Oct. 28, 2020 – This morning on the show, Triple M’s Pablo chatted to singer and muscian, Scott Darlow, about his new single, sobriety and, how much he loves Christmas trees! His new single, Bind The Hands Of Time, was released this month and is his second single of the year, and his co-writer on this song was Diesel! They spoke about the story behind the song and Scott’s decision to give up alcohol. The chat took a funny turn when they spoke about Christmas trees – the REAL ones! He saw one…
New Yorker by Ronan Farrow – Oct. 30, 2020 – “When I get really pissed,” McConnell told me, “I get monotone, I don’t blink.” He related to Padden what he had found in the Helios database. Padden, sixty and heavyset, with a neatly cropped white beard, served in the Marines for twelve years before becoming a civilian prosecutor. He met McConnell when they were both stationed in Quantico, Virginia, and recruited him for the task force. Padden shared McConnell’s respect for rules. “We are talking about the withholding and misrepresentation of information to prosecutors by agents who are supposedly part of…
A Tail of Hope – October 2020 – Brayson’s name was meant to sound soft and approachable for fear of the stigma that Pit Bulls have had to contend with in recent years. And he was soft, friendly and loving. At my worst moments, throughout my struggles, I would promise Brayson that a house with a fenced-in backyard would come. The first time Brayson and I moved, I had just broken up with a rebound boyfriend after a sad and bitter divorce. I was broken inside, feeling unworthy of love. I drank heavily to soothe the pain and to manage…
It’s about time – Oct. 26, 2020 – New tax revenues from drug sales would be channeled toward drug treatment. Supporters of the Oregon proposal, Measure 110, say the swirling, transformational forces of 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the wave of social unrest over race, policing and incarceration — have highlighted a need for top-to-bottom change. Opponents say decriminalization courts disaster by normalizing drugs that carry the risk of deadly addiction. Oregon is far from alone in stepping out onto new terrain. Legal marijuana, stalled for years in politically conservative states even as more left-leaning areas plowed…
Recovery is not against the law! – Oct. 28, 2020 – The house next to them on Oakwood Drive Southwest, which had been a single-family residence, was sold in June and converted into a temporary home for clients of Pinnacle Treatment Services, a facility across town on Peters Creek Road. The Marshes did not know that the house had been sold and turned into what is known as a recovery residence. Apparently, neither did any of the residents of the Oak Hill neighborhood. A Roanoke zoning administrator had allowed the recovery residence to be established in the single-family residential…
Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson? – Oct. 24, 2020 – A sheriff’s office in Nevada County, California, is launching a program to partner deputies responding to certain types of non-criminal 911 calls with a licensed therapist. The pilot program, which comes as police departments across the country are facing increased scrutiny, aims to reduce the risk of deadly confrontations with people who are in distress. Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon, who said she plans to launch the new Mobile Crisis Team by the end of the year, told CBSN that the program is designed to give someone experiencing a…
Trying to stop the madness – Oct. 29, 2020 – Since receiving a Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) state targeted response grant in 2017, the Chicago-based Gateway Foundation has worked with substance use disorder patients in emergency settings and facilitated their enrollment into treatment programs. The program has found success by implementing quick screening practices and partnering with provider organizations that meet patients’ diverse needs. At the upcoming virtual Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit, Gateway Foundation executive director Sally Thoren will discuss the foundation’s work, specifically around moving patients from hospital settings to addiction treatment and the effectiveness…
WATCH – Education Matters! – Oct. 26, 2020 – The school will be on Wellspring’s Farmington Hills campus, but it is open to students from across the state. The 80-acre campus includes a library, computer lab, gymnasium, weight room, dining hall, auditorium, art studio, ball fields and a running track. The campus has the capacity to serve up to 120 students, grades 9-12. Gehm says the goal is for students to maintain sobriety and earn a high school diploma. According to Wellspring Lutheran Services, the Recovery High School model made it’s first appearance in the late 1970’s. There are still…
Families Matter – Oct. 29, 2020 – Many of her more painful memories involved her addiction to opioids and other painkillers. At one point in the book, Leah recalls a rock bottom moment in which she did heroin with her father, who is sadly still an addict. Of course, reality TV tends to lag several months behind the real world, so Leah is just now discussing the process of writing the book on recent episodes of TM2. “I talk about things I never thought I would talk about,” Leah said on Tuesday’s installment. “There are so many reasons behind me…
Don’t blow your brains out – Oct. 28, 2020 – In the October 28, 2020 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and the National Institutes of Health describe how reminders of drug use can change specific brain cells responsible for motivation, increasing the desire to seek drugs. Connections between these and other brain cells strengthen because the dendritic spines, the parts of the brain cells that receive messages from other neurons, enlarge in response to intercellular communication by molecules in the brain. This enhanced connectivity increases the urge to engage in…
Stool pigeons? – Oct. 29, 2020 – WAREHAM, MA – A man caught with heroin inside his car told officers he was birdwatching in Wareham on Oct. 15, police said. Officers responding to a report of a suspicious car on Flint Street around 5:30 p.m. spoke with 29-year-old Ryan Lenihan, of Bourne, who claimed to be birdwatching, according to Wareham police. They reportedly spotted drug paraphernalia and suspect heroin in the car. Officers placed Lenihan under arrest for possession of a Class A drug. more@WHDH
Homegrown Terrorism – Oct. 30, 2020 – The release said analysts in the Injury and Prevention Section of the OHA Public Health Division found that Oregon saw a nearly 70 percent increase in the number of overdose deaths in April and May 2020 compared to the same time in 2019. There was also a nearly 8 percent increase in the number of overdose deaths during the first quarter of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019. The release said in addition, the analysis found that between April and May of 2020, there was a 28 percent increase…
WATCH – Soldiering on – Oct. 30, 2020 – Taylor’s campaign ended with him landing in the hospital, fighting for survival. At the time, Taylor had declined ABC15’s requests for an interview, saying he wanted to focus on his recovery. Now, saying he is eight months sober, Taylor is finally willing to share the story of his struggle with addiction. “The last thing I remember is that I was going to die and that I was going to abandon my 5-year-old daughter and my 1-year-old son,” said Taylor. Taylor’s first campaign for office was based on his success with battling…
Ask for directions already! – Oct. 28, 2020 – The men we treat also struggle with sharing emotions. Asking for help and showing humility and vulnerability is usually associated with sharing emotions. That again is something they often shy away from. There are many reasons for this. Some of the men have been taught from an early age that men do not show emotions. They often have fathers who are strong and controlled. They are in professions where emotions are not shared readily except possibly for anger. There is a sense of pride, and being vulnerable and sensitive is embarrassing…
by Ken Druck Ph.D – Nov. 1, 2020 – 1. Take a deep breath and reframe “Election Day” as Election Month. The election is probably going to play out over a period of weeks. Avoid the emotional roller coaster by pacing yourself and rethinking your expectations about when we’ll know who won. 2. Stay safe. There will be people protesting in the streets after the election no matter who wins. You may choose to be one of them. And there’s going to be a period of chaos in our nation if the election is contested. Tensions are running very high.…
LISTEN – This Land Is Your Land – Nov. 3, 2020 – Provided by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings – This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie more@YouTube
SHUGGIE BAIN – Oct. 31, 2020 – When Hugh “Shuggie” Bain is five years old, his drunk mother Agnes calmly sets fire to the curtains in their room and clings to him as they burn, until his father rushes in to put it out. Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart’s debut is a relentlessly grim portrait of working-class life in 1980s Glasgow, Scotland, a city gutted by then-British premier Margaret Thatcher’s Austerity policies. Stuart, 44, who works in fashion design in New York, grew up on a Glasgow public housing estate and, like Shuggie, was the youngest son of an alcoholic single…
Stick with the Winners! – October 30, 2020 – I feel blessed to live in the age where recovery is possible. It has allowed me to be a Father, Partner, Husband, Grandfather, and a part of the solution! My wife and I were presented with an opportunity to carry our message of Hope at a deeper level 5 years ago. We spent two years writing policies and getting licenses. The process was a total God-shot as we are not rich people. We opened Hower Lodge in August of 2017. It has been a journey with many trails, setbacks and victories!…
No one will notice but you – Oct. 25, 2020 – Maritza Chesonis-Worthington, a functional nutritionist & hormone expert, told Salon it used to be hard for her to imagine giving up alcohol — until the pandemic happened. As a “health conscious” person, her decision to abstain from alcohol happened for a myriad of reasons. First, she wanted to support her immune system and stay healthy. Second, there was less social pressure to drink. “Perhaps it’s not the substance itself that drives dependency, but rather the connection and sense of tradition that it brings amongst family and friends,” Chesonis-Worthington…