Painting the town sober… – June 8, 2020 – Clower was inspired to create INTO LIGHT shortly after the death of her son, Devin Bearden, to an accidental drug overdose in Baltimore, MD in February 2018. Having never attempted portraiture work before, she picked up her graphite pencil and began drawing. It was a cathartic experience that allowed her to say goodbye to her son. In so doing, Theresa tapped into an entirely new calling – drawing the faces of others who had lost their lives to drug addiction. From there, she held her first exhibition in Baltimore in 2019.…
Author: Leonard Buschel
Epidemic – June 8, 2020 – “He lost his job, his income, that stability that he had from working every day and getting up and going to a structured environment, and he was in isolation,” Holbrook told People.com of the ways the pandemic negatively impacted her son’s life. “Chandler had a depression that he couldn’t overcome.” ince the coronavirus pandemic ramped up in the United States in mid-March, people have stayed indoors and away from others to prevent virus spread. Nearly 39 million people have filed for unemployment and an estimated 20 million jobs were lost due to the pandemic,…
MEDIA: Book Recommendation – 2020 – Certified interventionist Brad Lamm debunks the myths spread by the thriving e-cigarette industry and its supporters, revealing the truth about the effects of inhaling these highly dangerous aerosols. Then he offers a step-by-step blueprint to break free of its grip. This simple, 28-day program provides specific actions to take, day by day, as you free yourself from nicotine addiction. Key information and special considerations throughout help and guide parents of young vapers through the process as well. Learn how to create a quit plan, build a support team, follow a detox, change your inner…
Live and learn – June 9, 2020 – “I think it’s incredible that liquor stores are essential, being isolated at home really affected my sobriety,” Nicole said. The availability of alcohol combined with the self-isolation of quarantine was not a recipe for success considering she lost her job and her ability to cope. “I turned to alcohol as my only coping skill to deal with stress, to deal with isolation, and loneliness,” Nicole said. Nicole is not alone in her feelings. For people with an addiction like her, alcohol was the cure for all of those problems and her pain.…
Stop before it’s too late… – June 8, 2020 – While it may sound amazing, the entire value-based care methodology boils down to application. Does the value-based care approach improve healthcare in practice? Specifically, does value-based healthcare improve the treatment of teenage addiction? Treating Teen Addiction With Value-Based Care Throughout a teen’s journey from addiction to recovery, he or she will meet many healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, therapists and social workers. Practicing value-based care, these professionals would focus on providing the best care for positive health results, rather than on monetary concerns. Diagnosis: Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Nurses…
The right tweets – June 11, 2020 – Truax revealed he began using crack cocaine before turning to meth. “I went from crackhead, to meth-head, to healthy sober birb [the bird’s name] whisperer,” he said. “Now I’m telling my story on YouTube (Every Mistake You Can Make) so that kids can avoid the first 2 themselves and just jump straight to birb whispering. That’s a house sparrow, [by the way]. My friend raised it from just out the egg.” more@Newsweek
Danish are even worse – June 11, 2020 – Is the poppy seed warning accurate or just an urban myth? A group of researchers wanted to find out, so they ran a series of tests to measure opiate levels in commercially available poppy seeds. They washed, steamed and heated the seeds to see how that changed concentrations of three opium alkaloids: morphine, codeine and thebaine. Washing or soaking the poppy seeds in water significantly reduced the presence of all three opium alkaloids. So did heating the seeds at a temperature of 392 F for at least 40 minutes. However, baking…
Like the Bible Glorifies Sex – June 10, 2020 – Sometimes I do wonder after watching some of the girls on some of the shows,” Gimenez says. “After a while, why would you want to put yourself in that position? The question really to them is, is it a problem or something that makes you feel like you have this alter ego that it’s OK to be like that?” Reality television viewers observe a personality change in some cast members after they’ve had too much alcohol. From João Franco’s “Jezebob” to Ashton Pienaar’s “Smashton” from the Below Deckfranchise, some cast…
Canadian Optimism – June 12, 2020 – On its site, Lifegaurd Digital Health states that it, “has documented at least a dozen lives saved thus far.” And while the app may save some lives, experts caution that it won’t be enough. Downtown Eastside advocate Ann Livingston tells Vancouver Is Awesome that she thinks any tool that will help save lives is great, but that it isn’t the answer. Instead, she says that people with substance abuse issues need access to a clean supply of drugs. If they did, she says there wouldn’t be the staggering number of overdose deaths each…
Hard Drugs Stink – June 10, 2020 – Former playmate Ashley Mattingly’s cause of death has been revealed. Mattingly, who died by suicide in April, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, TMZ reported Friday. The report also revealed that Mattingly, 33, had opioids and benzodiazepines in her system. Mattingly was found unresponsive in her home outside of Austin, Texas, after a friend called police asking for a wellness check because they had not heard from her, Mattingly’s siblings William and Christy Mattingly told PEOPLE in April. Mattingly, who appeared…
The Stars Align – Actress Joanna Cassidy talks about the upcoming REEL Recovery Film Festival.
Confessions of a Judas – June 8, 2020 – “Breaking The Law” has become an anthem. How do you keep a song like that fresh, night after night, for 40 years? “It’s fresh every night that you play it. That given moment in time, it’s new, it’s fresh, it’s different. It’s never exactly, identically the same, and that’s just the way it is. I think what’s important with these kinds of songs is, you don’t put them on autopilot. You don’t go through the motions. It has to be coming from a real sincere place of performance. It’s not like,…
How many nostrils does he have? – June 12, 2020 – Tony is very open about his drug abuse, often providing harrowing levels of detail about his own experiences. He estimates he spent over £1 million ($1.2 million) on drugs while he was still using. A recent online documentary by British music magazine Mixmag captures many of these moments in a whirling 18-minute video in which Tony recalls doing his first line of cocaine with Freddie Mercury, and how he was once so high that he removed a number of his teeth with a screwdriver. It’s not an easy watch,…
Let’s All Make Some Extra Cash! – June 12, 2020 – Charged in the indictment are:Dr. Beth Carter, 56, SouthfieldDr. Robert Kenewell, 52, Auburn HillsDr. Jason Brunt, 50, ClawsonDr. John Swan, 30, St. Clair ShoresNurse practitioner Jean Pinkard, 63, Farmington HillsNurse practitioner Toni Green, 58, St. Clair ShoresFitzgerald Hudson, 60, SouthfieldClinic owner John Henry Rankin, III, 46, DetroitPharmacy owner Virendra Gaidhane, 49, TroyPharmacist Maksudali Saiyad, 65, TroyPharmacist Adeniyi Adepoju, 61, WarrenPharmacist Ali Sabbagh, 36, Dearborn HeightsRobert King, 38, TaylorJermaine Hamblin, 36, RosevilleSonya Mitchell, 50, SouthfieldLavar Carter, 56, SouthfieldRobert Lee Dower Jr., 49, EastpointeDenise Sailes, 51, DetroitDewayne Bason, 28, Detroit more@ClickOnDetroit
Where dime bags cost a hundred – June 7, 2020 – The pharmacies named in the suit operated 31 pharmacies in Lake County (population 220,000) and sold the equivalent of 290 doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone for every resident of the county from 2006 to 2014. The chains ran 28 pharmacies in Trumbull County from 2006 to 2014, during which time they sold the equivalent of 322 doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone for every county resident. Walgreens and CVS policed their own orders for drugs they received from distributors AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health, respectively. CVS and OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma…
Musical Recovery Website – JUNE 07, 2020 – “When you’re in recovery, you tend to recognize your own ‘kind,’ so to speak, in the language that they use,” Wildsmith says. “There were numerous times when I would pick up on little phrases or clichés that I know by heart, because I’ve seen them on the walls and in the readings of 12 Step meetings since I got clean and sober in 2002.” With that in mind, once he went to work full-time at Cornerstone, Wildsmith conceived of a blog that spotlighted musicians who have found a way out of their…
We rely on “doomscrolling” – June 10, 2020 – Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the State of Connecticut Sharry L. Woods told 22News, reading anything that doesn’t have to do with you can just be a way of distracting yourself from your own real emotions. In terms of reading bad news, Woods also said it’s a form of entertainment that people can sometimes relate to which can ultimately attract you to read more. “The more time you spend on it, the more impact it has on your life,” Woods added. Doomscrolling can possibly lead to severe depression and anxiety. In…
MEDIA: Film Review – June 11, 2020 – So many blurred lines, so much personal sound and fury being shot, cut, printed. It’s tempting to view Ferrara’s self-proclaimed “portrait of an artist as a not-so-young man” as a thinly veiled autobiography, his current living situation refashioned as a day-in-the-life character study. Write what you know, and what the director knows in his newly domesticated, debauchery-free life are walks in the park, prayer beads, and waiting for the local market to get fresh pineapple and beans in. Slowly, however, we start to see cracks forming. Tommaso is experiencing a bit of…
For love of family – June 7, 2020 – Spencer Matthews has admitted being in lockdown would have been the “perfect excuse to get wasted” if it had happened two years ago. The Made in Chelsea alumni gave up alcohol in 2018, after marrying Vogue Williams and welcoming their son Theodore together. … “In the back of my mind for many years, I had always felt that my relationship with alcohol, although seemingly harmless, was unhealthy and somewhat destructive. Drinking led me to make poor decisions and achieving my full potential was slipping away.” more@Goss
Time for the Serenity Prayer! – June 12, 2020 – Still, the steps often hold spiritual meaning for participants. Several of A.A.’s 12 steps refer either to a deity or to religious practices, such as prayer. The steps include a kind of confession, asking “Him to remove our shortcomings.” The final step includes mention of a “spiritual awakening” as a result of A.A.’s steps. Experts who study Alcoholics Anonymous and alcohol addiction say they have seen a huge boom in home delivery sales of alcohol during the social isolation period, which they fear will fuel alcohol disorders. As bars have…
Reporting on a fall – June 7, 2020 – Ed Mitchell was a successful broadcast journalist for Reuters, the BBC, ITN and U.S. news channel CNBC until alcohol cost him his career, his marriage and his home. In a new book of personal essays about conquering adversity, he gives a courageous and searingly honest account of sinking into destitution — and reveals how, with luck and a powerful desire to survive, he has learned to manage his addiction. This drink/fun connection translated seamlessly to life at university, but it had other advantages, too. My homesickness, my state-school inferiority and the…
Not so crowded, not so friendly – JUNE 13, 2020 – Air travel now is a matter of far fewer people, more masks, more disinfectant, less food and drink; and, unless you’re a nosy reporter, a lot less conversation. I look back at my photos of that flight and see a surreal gallery: a series of unknowable, masked humans, their eyes cast down, amid a sea of blue vinyl and gray plastic. “We do a lot less interacting with people,” a flight attendant told me, requesting anonymity because her regional airline — not Southwest — had not authorized her to…
Winners! – June 12, 2020 – Schubert and Northern were reluctant to come to Family Recovery Court in Clermont County. They knew the work they would have to do is hard. But, they soon realized their success there was the way they could save their family. “We jumped through every hoop that they asked. We had to go through anger management family counseling,” said Schubert. For the last two years, the couple worked at that Subway. They saved up enough money for an apartment. Both have been clean for 18 months after outpatient rehab and recovery meetings. Their motivation has…
Since 1949 – June 8, 2020 – Eligible members of AssuredPartners health plans now have in-network access to Hazelden Betty Ford’s national system of care, which includes 15 clinical locations in California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and New York, as well as virtual services that reach people in every corner of those states as well as New Jersey. “Together, Hazelden Betty Ford and AssuredPartners are committed to helping more people access personalized, evidence-based addiction treatment and mental health services,” said Pablo McCabe, director of national and strategic accounts for Hazelden Betty Ford, the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of addiction,…
“You cannot beat a roulette table unless you steal money from it.” —Albert Einstein
AA Anniversary Week – @YouTube
Kate Middleton – June 08, 2020 – “When things get back to normal, I’d love to come and say hello to the team and everyone down there as well,” Kate said at the start of the call. The royal mom of three was told that as many as a quarter of British adults may be drinking more as a result of the lockdown, according to a new survey from Action on Addiction, a U.K.-based charity that works with people affected by drug and alcohol addiction. She also dropped in on a group chat with clients staying at the center and…
Supersober – June 1, 2020 – Tony – who himself has been sober for 13 years – said: “Kate’s been clean for over two years. Me and my sober mates now have a better time than we ever did when we used to drink and take drugs.” The DJ – whose real name is Tony Marnach – also claimed he helped Boy George get sober 12 years ago. He told the Sunday Times Style magazine: “I’ve been best friends with him since I was 13. I moved in with him and got him clean. I got lots of people clean,…
Fear Strikes Out – May 29, 2020 – He twice had been to drug rehab centers. Once, for three weeks in 2013, when he was pitching for the Phillies. Another time, for three months in 2015, after retirement. There were signs all along of his addiction, his teammates and Phillies employees say. He didn’t seem himself on some days. He was there physically, but his mind wandered. His eyes were vacant. He tried to tell friends he was OK, just having marital problems and undergoing counseling, but he couldn’t hide his addiction from those close to him. “Something wasn’t right…
Heartbeats from the Heart – Jan. 2020 – Addiction counselor Brian Knockwood gives drum-making workshops to people in Indian Brook, N.S., which help them along their road to recovery. @YouTube