Rocky Road – April 13, 2020 – One long-established source of mine, who uses heroin and crack cocaine,described watching a man he knows get pummeled by members of a drug dealing “set”—allegedly for just passing by their corner without making a purchase. “If you got garbage on the street, no one is gonna buy your stamp; we have to make our money stretch as much as possible,” this source told me. “I guess they didn’t like that he was passing them and buying from somewhere else. Maybe he was a regular customer.” There was a time in Kensington when the…
Author: Leonard Buschel
Feelings are Everywhere – April 16, 2020 – At this time, many of us will be struggling with losing our sense of normal, and this is a big deal. But for those of us who also lost “normal” as children, it can constitute a double whammy. Some feelings of loss right now are perfectly natural, but you may need some tools to help you cope with them. Hopefully this guided imagery will come in useful. @YouTube
Better not Easier – April 18, 2020 – The Playboy model, and Instagram influencer bares more than her body on social media with her honesty and gratitude for her sobriety. “My life only gets better every day since choosing sobriety. TAKE NOTE, I said BETTER, not EASIER. If you or anyone you know is struggling, I dont have all the answers but you can DM me and i will do what i can to help. There is no one type of person who can be an addict, not all addicts are homeless or broke. You can be a fuck up…
Machete that Covid-Bugger – April 15, 2020 – As you know … Danny owns Trejo’s Tacos, a popular joint with several locations across L.A. Staff at his location on the westside prepped the bowls filled with carnitas, chicken, steak asada and brisket. This is not the first time Danny’s gone to bat for L.A.’s healthcare workers. He kicked off the week doing exactly that … serving up hundreds of bowls for doctors, nurses, administrators and custodians working at Cedars-Sinai in L.A. Helluva way to give back during a nationwide medical and economic crisis. As we first reported … Steven Spielberg’s…
Make Peace with your Pantry – April 16, 2020 – This is objectively a difficult time and self-care has never been more important. ” A person might also feel triggered by the increased conversations surrounding food, or the onslaught of the “Quarantine 15”memes. While made in jest, these memes contribute to our nation’s problem with fatphobia by insinuating that weight gain is a bad thing. it’s certainly important to stay informed, be aware of how much news and social media you’re consuming. Checking for updates about coronavirus (COVID-19) can be quite nerve-racking, and not always beneficial. It’s good to stay…
She’s Gotta Have It – April 16, 2020 – But she gets no love for it, as he prickly mother tells her: ‘Taking care of me is the only thing you’ve ever been good at.’ In one scene she finds Tammy motionless and face down on the floor in her underwear. Thinking the worst has happened, Catherine prods her mom only to jump when she comes to. ‘I thought you were…’ Phillips character tries to explain. ‘What? Dead? Don’t look so excited,’ her mom grumbles back. As caring for her mom continues to take an emotional toll, Catherine even lashes…
Papa don’t preach… – April 15, 2020 – I couldn’t continue living the way I was. I was either going to die, or get clean at that point. I wished death upon myself numerous times, and even tried. It was extremely self-centered, and all I could think about was myself and how miserable I was, I just wanted it to all stop but I couldn’t stop on my own. I tried really hard to get clean multiple times alone, but I kept failing myself, which only made things worse. I surrendered. Which seemed like I was giving up, but really…
Rehabs Get Ready for BONGERS – April 17, 2020 – Rogen turned 38 on April 15 and to celebrate the day, his wife Lauren Miller had some of Rogen’s pals drive by and wish happy birthday, which suited the “Superbad” actor perfectly. “All I want is to see everyone for 15 to 25 seconds,” he explained. “I don’t need to get close. I’m more than happy to go out, wave to my friends and speak to them for 15 seconds and everyone go on their merry way. Again I’m really built for this.”The “Neighbors” star did admit that not having…
When a son dies too young – March 2, 2020 – Maryland mother and wife, Tammy Lofink, experienced a parent’s worst nightmare when her son Robert Mason Lofink died of an overdose. Out of a strong desire to help others avoid a similar tragedy, Lofink has written a new book, Reclaiming My Life. @BaltimoreSun READ INTERVIEW with Author Tammy Fink
When romance and substance abuse collide – April 17, 2020 – But, as Oakland writer Nina Renata Aron points out in “Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls,” her own unflinching new memoir of addiction, romance and codependency, every time she reads “one of those stories about the lonely hero’s journey toward salvation … I think about all that lies outside the frame, the heartaches those headlines don’t show.” Heartaches like Aron’s own obsessive and overwhelming love affair with K, an ex-boyfriend and heroin addict who resurfaced and slipped back into Aron’s life when she was adjusting to the tedium of…
Privacy to Change – April 11, 2020 – My life has become infinitely more interesting since I ditched the drink, but this did not happen in my first few months of getting sober. The truth is, your sobriety evolves with time, but at first, it is very boring. When I was newly sober, I didn’t want to put myself in situations where I might be triggered. Pretty much everything triggered me at first. This meant, most of the time, I stayed at home. Now that you are staying at home anyway, there is no FOMO (fear of missing out). People…
In or Out, He’s Guilty – April 13, 2020 – David Francis’ lawyer, Casey White, filed a motion Monday asking for pretrial release, saying Francis is not a danger to anyone and he’s at risk from the virus because of his age and health problems. “COVID-19 presents a particular risk to prison inmates and to Francis in particular,” Mr. White said. “Mr. Francis is 69 years old and suffers documented severe arthritis and Hepatitis C and is in need of a second hip replacement.” He said jails are hotbeds of infection and that the county lockup has had three detainees…
How It WorkOuts – APR 15, 2020 – Back to 2015, when I was withdrawing in bed, unable to eat or even drink water. My son, who was 8-years-old at the time, started to recognize that something was seriously wrong with me because I was in bed all day long and not able to play with him or even make him breakfast. I had become completely hooked on pain meds after a two-decade struggle with alcoholism and substance abuse. I was near death. I had alienated myself from almost everyone in my life. I had ruined my finances and had…
From Bad to Worse to the Streets – April 17, 2020 – Over the course of the late 20th century, psychiatric hospitals emptied out about 1.4 million of their patients in a process of de-institutionalization. But most didn’t land on their feet. “What happened is that people weren’t de-institutionalized, they were trans-institutionalized,” said Rosenberg. “They went from one institution to another: from the asylums to the jails, and the streets.” Many patients Rosenberg follows also find themselves in the L.A. County Hospital, where overworked staff counsel, restrain, and try to treat them. For cities, the fallout of this exodus is…
from The Atlantic – May 2020 – Nikki thought about going back. But then she remembered one of her last conversations with her grandmother. She had forbidden Nikki from going to a certain friend’s house. They’d both heard that the friend’s mom had become addicted to OxyContin prescribed for a back injury, and had started buying pills from a dealer when her prescription ran out. She was arrested for illegal possession, then released on probation without any treatment. When she relapsed, she feared she’d lose custody of her kids for failing a drug test. Her dealer told her she could…
Blue Coated Drug Dealers – April 13, 2020 – In her letter to Special Master David Cohen, Singer cited a recent ProPublica article that revealed that the U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Texas sought to charge the company criminally for its opioid dispensing practices. Walmart, which denies any criminality, avoided the charges by appealing to Trump appointees at the Justice Department, who repeatedly overruled the Texas prosecutors. The plaintiff’s allegations echo prosecutors’ contentions that Walmart was flouting evidence requests during the federal investigation. Last fall, the Eastern District’s civil chief resigned in protest, accusing the company of failing…
Hooked – WATCH in Horror – April 18, 2020 – Flynn also talked to Michael, a man born and raised in the Kensington neighborhood, who says he is not planning on leaving the area. He’s a recovering addict, so he’s experienced the impact drugs have on lives. “People sleep in these streets every day, every day. They sleep, there’s gunshots every day. Someone’s getting robbed, someone’s getting stuck up, it’s bad. And no one in their right mind would want to stay out here in the chaos,” Michael said. The City Manager’s Office was not available to comment on Kensington’s…
Be Here Now – April 8, 2020 – This came at the right time for me. A reminder to stop scrolling, as I was using my technology as a way to avoid some powerful feelings of grief which this current situation had triggered within me. After a lot of sobbing in the shower I felt a whole lot lighter! You realize how much energy and distraction is required to hold these feelings in, and that it doesn’t kill you to feel them, in fact more damage is done when you don’t. It’s really helpful to be able to trace…
“Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
An espresso maker! – April 15, 2020 – Create a sensory landscape. With their dull color palettes, synthetic carpets and humming HVAC systems, most workplaces have a joyless sensory landscape. Add in the noise from open-plan seating, and the fact that many spaces are often too cold or hot, and the typical office can be deeply unpleasant to spend time in, much less get focused work done. While many of us often see the problem as overstimulation, in fact offices are just as likely to be understimulating. Workspaces have traditionally been designed based on the belief that to maximize productivity…
LIKE ME LIKE ME LIKE ME – April 2020 – One Rutgers student said that since going into quarantine, she spends an average of 5 hours a day on TikTok, calling it a never-ending hole of content. Although social isolation has transformed much of our daily lives in a multitude of ways, this situation fits into a greater trend. In 2019, 45 percent of people worldwide who use social media spent an average of approximately 2.5 hours a day on it, which is an hour more than the average for 2012. That is a 62.5 percent increase over seven years.…
Face to FaceTime Therapy – April 9, 2020 – There are now also even fewer in-person treatment options for some of the most acutely mentally ill in New York, Muskin says; the psychiatric wards at Columbia, where Muskin normally works, have all been converted to beds for COVID-19 patients. Thousands of new COVID-19 patients are terrified and lonely. Their families cannot sit bedside to hold their hand, and overworked doctors and nurses have little time to offer comfort. In the most agonizing situations, families of the sickest face the possibility of death without a goodbye. “That means,” he says, “we…
It Will Take More Than That – April 9, 2020 – For therapists, there’s an added challenge of building trust with their patients when there’s a digital barrier between them. “So much of counseling has to do with body language, being physically present in the room, intonation,” Linde said. “Sometimes, that’s lost when you don’t have good internet connection, or one of you starts getting garbled.” Locked-down America has become a country desperately in need of virtual therapy, but the health care system has been left scrambling to use telemedicine to help connect people with mental health professionals. “There is…
Better Than Nothing! – April 5, 2020 – The grace of being saved that night was too precious to squander — a gift I was determined to live up to although I was terrified of what my life would be like without alcohol. My therapist recommended AA, where I could begin my program with 90 days of abstention. I agreed without pause — it was local, free, and what the doctor ordered. I had no idea what to expect. I’d missed the cultural memo regarding AA entirely. I didn’t know about the praying, the coffee, or the basements. I just…
Phishing for Answers – April 6, 2020 – “Are You There Colleen?” is the 10th new song shared by Trey Anastasio since the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic led him to join millions of others sheltering in place and under self-quarantine. “I hope they provide a bit of joy, or even distraction,” Trey wrote of his new “addiction.” The New Jersey native then went on to recall how bad his “other addiction” was and encouraged those struggling with substance abuse to get the help they need like he did. Anastasio co-wrote “Are You There Colleen?” with longtime collaborators Tom Marshall and Scott…
Very Disturbing READ – April 6, 2020 – The caption is riveting. Bacon has assembled a menagerie of emoji — toadstool, ringed planet, garlic bulb, DNA double-helix, lathered bar of soap, the yin and yang symbol — suggesting a sordid congress between the scientific and the mystical. She proffers her wisdom as an “immunomodulation enthusiast,” counseling against “sugar, fighting, alcohol, fear, processed foods, isolation and stagnation” and instead pushing liposomal vitamin C, acupuncture, broth, one-minute cold showers and the consumption of various adaptogens — a category of herbal supplements that claim to protect the body against stressors, which Moon Juice…
Ab-alon? – April 5, 2020 – Dear Enabler: I have two suggestions for you, and I hope you will avail yourself of both. The first is to go online to al-anon.org to find the nearest location for meetings (you will find they are all over) and attend some. Al-Anon is a sister organization of Alcoholics Anonymous, and it was founded to help and support the friends and family members of people who have an alcohol problem. It will help you to understand that YOU cannot help your friend. Only SHE can do that by mustering up the resolve to quit…
Like father, like son – not always… – April 6, 2020 – “Because of my dad’s addiction, and the damage I saw that cause, me and Nikki steered clear of it,” he said. “We weren’t smoking weed, we were training, exercising and playing sport. Along the line, I decided that wasn’t going to be my destiny – that wasn’t going to be my path.” Wicks said his father ended up in and out of rehab throughout the fitness star’s childhood. @Sky
Connection Cures Cravings? – April 7, 2020 – “I celebrated 29 years [sober] in December, so I’m in my 30th year,” Banfield Norris told her daughter, Pinkett Smith, 48, and granddaughter, Willow Smith, 19. “It’s been a long time since I had to rely on going to meetings daily.” “The quarantine, believe it or not, has actually put me back in touch with going to meetings,” she said. “My sponsor actually called me and let me know there were meetings online. I went to my old home group back in Baltimore. It was such a good feeling.” @OprahMag
It only feels that way – April 8, 2020 – Substance use is going to skyrocket during this pandemic. During this time of uncertainty, some people may cope by using alcohol or drugs. “You can have a mild substance use disorder, a moderate substance use disorder or a severe substance use disorder,” Dix said. “You don’t have to have a big bad problem in order to get help.” But stressful times like these can also cause some people to acknowledge they have a substance problem, and decide to seek help. “When a person’s use interferes with their important areas of…