Staying in the groove – May 2, 2020 – With regular face-to-face meetings an impossibility, online gatherings are proving crucial for ex-drinkers as they battle to support each other and resist temptation. Here, two former alcoholics in recovery programmes tell FEMAIL what it’s like to stay away from booze after hitting rock bottom – and offer words of hope to others who may be facing drink problems while coping with the Covid-19 restrictions. @DailyMail
Author: Leonard Buschel
The World of Tomorrow – May 1, 2020 – The coronavirus pandemic has forced people who need treatment for addictions and mental illnesses to go from in-person therapy sessions and group meetings to phone calls and video conferencing. In some ways, providing care over the phone has worked well, according to organizations that provide the services. Parents don’t have to arrange for childcare, and clinics can set up calls for the same times they used to hold therapy sessions. But the technology won’t work well for everyone, including young children, people who don’t have a private place to talk, and…
Good News! – January 31, 2020 – Worldwide, there’s a lethal epidemic of addiction and nobody has the answer. But a treatment called N.E.T. (Neuro Electric Therapy) claims to take people off their drug of choice within 7 days, with no cold turkey and no future cravings. It’s not a tablet, it’s not expensive, but it has been shunned by the medical establishment for the past 45 years. @TheFinalFix
The Beauty Within – May 1, 2020 – I think just the journey that I’ve been on since the beginning of the year of really reconnecting to myself and trying to figure out what drives and fulfills me, coinciding with a time of literally, quarantine, where I have no external gratification whatsoever, has forced me to be internal,” she says. “I think it has happened for a reason,” she continues. “I think everything does and every situation is what you make of it … I want to use this time to the best of my ability and hopefully come out…
ID is 320-632-1875 – April 24, 2020 – The Club has been conducting meetings via Zoom. The Zoom meetings are held every day at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The meeting ID is 3206321875. No password is needed. Julie Leikvoll’s late husband, Arthur, was well-known for his work with the Alano Club. “He was passionate about Alcoholics Anonymous and lived his life in accordance with the 12-step program,” she said. “He knew well that alcoholism is a disease that could be put into a state of remission through abstinence and working a program of recovery.” Attending AA meetings was crucial…
Stick with the Winners! – Jay Crosson CEO of Cumberland Heights May 1, 2020 – Prior to becoming the CEO, Jay served in various capacities including that of CFO for the organization. He currently serves on the Board of NAATP as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. Jay also serves on the LegitScript advisory committee. Additionally, he is a grateful recovering alumnus of Cumberland Heights, having been a patient in 1989. His personal experience of treatment and the transformative power of the 12 Steps shape his leadership principles today. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your Drug…
She’s Gotta Not Have It – May 1, 2020 – ‘I gave up alcohol completely 3 years ago today whoop whoop and today also marks the 2 year anniversary of my life changing holiday to India with @adamskionline (how amazing was that trip babes?). ‘Anyway blah di blah I’m doing a little dance and you can’t stop me! have a good and positive day y’all. ps and for those asking, no I don’t miss it because it’s toxic bulls**t!’ The post prompted a wave of encouraging comments from fans, with many praising Mel for her determination to remain sober. Responding…
A Fine Romance – April 30, 2020 – Eric informed Vanity Fair he struggled with dependancy for years, peppered with moments of sobriety in between. “I’ve been a pothead all my life, with several sober breaks I refer to as binge sobriety,” he mentioned. He appeared on Celebrity Rehab with assist from Eliza, which grew to become a springboard for sobriety. Now, he turns to Eliza, particularly on days when life will get too tense. “I have a release valve in that I have a wife that is my best everything,” Eric shares. “And I can turn to my wife…
Watching the Detectives – APRIL 25 2020 – Given that Alcoholics Anonymous alone has over 66,345 groups in the U.S., totaling more than 1,361,800 members, the closure of most groups will leave large numbers of people in recovery looking for resources. Prior to Covid-19, a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, showed 2.5 million U.S. adults already using online technology to aid in their recovery, and report that interventions incorporating online technologies led to further recovery success. Now is the time where there is an urgent need to help those struggling with addiction. The data already bears this…
It’s too late to stop now – April 26, 2020 – But screen time is essentially mandatory for many Garden State residents right now. Working from home can mean checking emails and text messages on one’s phone several times per hour, while their kids go to “school” on a tablet in the living room. Since the start of the pandemic, telecommunications company Comcast has seen a 57% increase in daily log-ins to to Xfinity XFi, a digital dashboard to help customers manage their home WiFi network. Among those who use the dashboard to track how much time their kids are…
Father Knows Mescaline – April 29, 2020 – Shepard’s guest, Rob Lowe, agreed with him but said the “wildcard” drug is Adderall, which is something his older son Matthew took while going through college and eventually passing the bar exam. “That kid [wouldn’t have passed] ANY of those tests, for sure, without Adderall. It’s a great thing, but it’s so easily abused, and [kids] are doing it, for sure,” said Lowe, 56. @People
Weed Believe – May 3, 2020 – The 6-foot 9-inch forward was coming off surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee in 2012. It was his 14th season in what would ultimately prove to be a 16-year career, but the recovery wasn’t going smoothly. He developed a staph infection and ongoing knee issues led to multiple invasive follow-up procedures. Doctors prescribed Vicodin and then another painkiller, the name of which Harrington can’t recall. Despite adjusting the dosage and alternating the medications he ingested, it left him feeling perpetually drowsy and sluggish and the inflammation persisted. “Man, what…
So Incredibly Sad – May 2, 2020 – A union representative said the city was dealing with the early onslaught of the pandemic at the time of Raso’s death, and there was “no funeral, no memorial, nothing.” “Even the department didn’t have much information. The ME was overwhelmed,” said Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507. Raso joined the FDNY in September and was assigned to EMS station 59 in Canarsie, according to an internal announcement of his death obtained by The Post. He’s at least the second rookie EMT to die during the coronavirus outbreak. Bronx EMT John Mondello, 23,…
Thank God only one is contagious – May 3, 2020 – Helen Jones-Kelley, the executive director of Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services, said her agency is redoubling efforts to get in front of the spate of overdoses. That includes delivering naloxone kits to households with a history of drug abuse and reviewing ledgers to see whose kits are expired. She said her task force is penning personal notes for those who might be struggling, and informing people about telehealth treatment options for addiction. “We think we can get a handle on this before it gets to…
Cocaine should not be deadly! – APRIL 28, 2020 – In New York City, nearly four in 10 deaths related to cocaine also involve fentanyl. People who use only cocaine have not developed tolerance to opioids, and may not know about vital resources like fentanyl testing strips or naloxone. Knowledge, in this case, really can save lives. In spring 2018, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) contacted 47 bars, nightclubs and music venues in downtown Manhattan about participating in a public information campaign. The venues were not known sites of fentanyl-involved overdoses, just places where people regularly…
Electrifying – May 1, 2020 – “In one of the states in America the police were told by the authorities not to do anything if addicts were overdosing – not to use Narcan [also known as naloxone] to revive them. “It’s the only thing that will bring them back, but they were told ‘you mustn’t do that in case they cough on you’. That beggars belief for me.” Emergency overdose calls have reportedly increased in a number of US states in recent weeks, but there was controversy when a police department in Indiana suspended the use of naloxone and told…
Tell That to Ben & Jerry – May 3, 2020 – Maybe you’ve heard the fact that sugar activates the same pleasure centers in your brain as substances like cocaine and heroin. But while it’s understandable to feel out of control around sugar, it just doesn’t have what it takes to be considered addictive by the standards of addiction researchers or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which includes the medically accepted definition of addiction. The similarities between how the brain responds to sugar and Schedule I drugs drugs were discovered in studies performed on rats with…
Two-Minute Warning – May 1, 2020 – “2 minutes later my mom called me with my baby nephew Jeremiah and she said she was just calling to say she loved me , I then knew that by ending my pain I would be causing so much more to the people who loved me. Maurer also detailed the tumult he’s experienced in his life leading up to January, including his father’s 25-year prison sentence while Maurer was in the seventh grade and the decision he made with his mother for him to move in with his grandmother as a freshman…
“I paint flowers so they will not die.” —Frida Kahlo
By Thomas Moore – Sometimes it is not only all right but appropriate to be afraid and anxious. In these days of a runaway virus some fear will help keep you safe and healthy. At the same time, you don’t want to be disabled by fear or have your general happiness and well-being ruined by it. Fear can make you alert to danger and motivated to do something about it. If fear feels like a weakness, that’s all right, too, because we all need to accept a portion of weakness and vulnerability just to be human. Weakness and strength are…
Just Like Weed in LA – APRIL 23, 2020 – The patient’s “home” OTP may be far from the hotel. So the patient authorizes a “designated other”—a courier, who is an employee of the city’s Department of Health—to pick up their methadone from a “guest” OTP. After the patient signs an authorization and consent, the medication will be routed through from the home OTP to the guest OTP. The authorized courier will then bring the methadone from there to the patient’s hotel, and deliver it to a nurse—all of the Isolation Hotels have nurses. The courier and the nurse will…
Leaving the Demimonde – APRIL 14, 2020 – Lovato’s comeback has been greeted with warmth and enthusiasm by both the music industry and her fans. Her new music is confessional and bold, but she speaks carefully as she reflects on some of the events in her life over the past two years that inspired it. “I would hate for a detail to become the headline when I’ve worked so hard for my music,” she tells me. “But I will say that I’ve really appreciated the patience the public has given me over the past year and a half to figure…
Worth A LISTEN – April 25, 2020 – These are difficult days. Managing our way through this crisis requires a commitment to what Dr. Allen Berger calls “emotional sobriety.” Dr. Berger is a clinical psychologist, author and lecturer and our guest on this episode. @1210WPHTRadio
Rigorous Honesty – April 17, 2020 – This show is a place to regularly showcase courage and what it takes to come back, he says. The journey for Vela to get to “Back From Broken” has been full of the highest of highs and some rock-bottom lows. “Six years ago, I was hiding behind dumpsters smoking crack,” Vela says. “Now, I’m sober and I’m helping people. It’s very strange hearing from people that I helped. I’m not too far removed from remembering the places I’ve been.” “Back From Broken’s” first three episodes have featured Vela hosting with guests such as…
Letting The Infection Proceed? – April 16, 2020 – Ortega also said that when looking at syringe access programs, a harm reduction approach must be taken. “The harm reduction approach really came out of [areas] like Amsterdam and the Netherlands. They were really looking at their injection drug using community and trying to really be like, you know, there’s a lot of negative health outcomes associated with drug use, including overdose and death,” Ortega said. Miguel Soto, the HIV program coordinator at LifePoint, said that the syringe exchange program at LifePoint was operating twice a week but not having enough…
Come Fetch Some Puppy Love – April 25, 2020 – Many rehabilitation centers welcome the presence of dogs as they can bring additional health benefits to the recovery process. Many circumstances surround the treatment, and the exact reason a person decides to bring their pet for treatment varies from person to person. However, many people with dogs find it difficult to get treatment if they leave their pets at home. This shows the importance of dogs offered to people in the treatment process, as well as the benefits of dog-friendly drug rehabilitation. Many physical, emotional, and health benefits come as…
Radio Radio – April 18, 2020 – Staying connected and involved with your support groups has never been more important than today. As we distance socially, how do we remain actively involved with treatment and support? Unity Recovery ( https://unityrecovery.org/digital-recovery-meetings ) a Philadelphia non-profit is working overtime to provide all the tools and help necessary for maintaining sobriety. Adam Sledd is Unity’s Recovery Support Services Director and our guest this time on Recovery Radio. Content provided by Retreat Behavioral Health. @1210WPHTRadio
He’s heard it all… – Spring 2020 – “I Am Michael Alago…” is a story of humble beginnings, realized potential, chaos, dysfunction, crisis, talent and redemption. The book discusses Michael’s battle with addiction, his HIV diagnosis, his legendary musical career and practically all other elements of his life, both professional and personal. In the late 1980s, he was diagnosed with HIV, which manifested into full-blown AIDS ten years later. He survived to continue his music career, but in 2005, he left music to pursue a career in photography. Throughout his career in music, he ran in similar circles with legendary…
Addiction Never Sleeps – April 20, 2020 – This time of isolation can be a difficult hill to climb for people either battling a substance use disorder or in recovery and are cut off from their social circles. Breanna Bouley is the Director of Addiction Services at CentraCare. She says they’ve seen a growing demand for their services since the pandemic began. She says with the growing amount of stress the virus brings, they’ve made a point to check in with clients on a daily basis and provide coping measures to help patients from relapsing. Bouley says while the face-to-face…
NPR Report – April 20, 2020 – “I wish there was another way to get this done besides a pandemic,” says Dr. David Kan, chief medical officer of Bright Heart Health, a Walnut Creek, Calif., company. It has recently started working with insurers and health providers to help addicted patients get therapy and medications without having to leave their homes. He said he hopes the administration will make the changes permanent after the national emergency ends. Years before the emergency regulations were issued, Bright Heart — along with several other telemedicine counseling providers — began offering opioid addiction treatment and…