Caution: Choking Hazard – August 24, 2019 – When looking at the insurance data for 151 million individuals collected between 2003 and 2013 in the United States, researchers found that the rate for bipolar disorder was 27 percent higher for countries in the bottom seventh for air quality when compared with those in the top seventh with the best air quality. A less intense link was found between depression and air pollution. When the team looked at similar data from over 1.4 million individuals from Denmark they found that the rate of four mental disorders – bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality…
Author: Leonard Buschel
KROQ 106.7 FM – AUGUST 23, 2019 – KROQ 106.7 FM radio personality Megan Holiday was raised in the 909, launched her radio career in the Bay Area, and now has her dream job as the host of the 7-11p. On this episode, Megan shares how the road to sobriety also made her dream of home ownership a reality. Listen as she is joined by special guest Breanna Webb who helped make it all happen. Full Story @ KTLA.com
Live Long and Prosper – August 24, 2019 – Telomeres are the end caps of DNA on our chromosomes, which help in DNA replication and get shorter over time. “Chronological age and biological age are not identical. The former is measured in years, whereas the latter is often indexed by telomere length,” the authors of the new study explained. “Telomeres progressively shorten with cell division (i.e., aging) in general, but may also be replenished, or lengthened, by the enzyme telomerase.” For their 12-week long study, the researchers recruited 176 participants between 35-64 years old from Durham and Orange County…
Little Loss Makes Bigger Profits – Aug. 26, 2019 – Teva Pharmaceutical and Purdue Pharma, the privately held maker of OxyContin that taken the brunt of the public’s blame for the drug crisis, settled with the state before the trial began. Neither company admitted to any wrongdoing. J&J was the only defendant left in the seven-week trial. In the landmark ruling Monday, judge Thad Balkman called the drug crisis an “imminent danger and menace” and said Johnson & Johnson and its pharmaceutical subsidiary Janssen “caused an opioid crisis that’s evidenced by increased rates of addiction, overdose deaths and neonatal abstinence…
Let’s All Move To Seattle – August 23, 2019 -Each day presents a new set of challenges during his recovery, Johnson said. “It’s constantly a struggle. My disease is well and active in my life, especially with my fears. I have fears of failure, I have fears with my speech, I’m a person who stutters,” said Johnson, a Puyallup resident. Those fears drove him to use meth, cocaine, opiates, and eventually heroin. It got to the point where his wife Melissa told him that if he didn’t choose recovery, she and their two kids would move on. Johnson called a…
If They Advertise on the eBulletin – Aug. 24, 2019 – Thankfully, modern times means modern treatment and, with centers like the Betty Ford Clinic, opened in 1982, a person can now receive proper, compassionate care. The question here is not should a person seeking treatment receive good care, but will they receive proper care? A great deal of the answer lies in the country you reside in and the country you’re seeking treatment from for the answer. Many countries like Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom have regulations and legislation put in place to ensure that…
Just Like Seattle and Portugal – Aug. 26, 2019 – “Our largest mental health and addiction institutions in the state are our prisons and our local jails,” said state Rep. Leslie Herod, one of the legislation’s sponsors. “That’s got to change.” Duncan and others in the local law enforcement community fear the “defelonization” of drug possession will make a bad situation worse by shifting the financial burden of drug cases from the state to counties and eliminating the deterrent of a felony record. “The criminal justice system is the vehicle to try and force people into treatment,” Eighth Judicial District…
It’s Complicated – August 13, 2019 – Doctors and pharmacists also receive different education about how long buprenorphine should be prescribed before tapering a patient off the drug. Medical providers sometimes prescribe it for long-term treatment, based on recent SAMHSA guidelines, while pharmacists may view longer courses of treatment as intensifying the risk of long-term dependency. “It’s not even that they’re on different pages,” says Ventricelli. “It’s that they’re reading completely different books.” If a patient going through withdrawal can’t quickly get buprenorphine, the stakes are high, says Silvana Mazzella, associate executive director at Prevention Point — patients may…
Just Like Civil Society? – August 19, 2019 – Two days later, a surgeon operated to repair the hole in his lung. His surgeon told CBS News Ammirata’s lungs were inflamed, which could have come from something he’d been inhaling. Ammirata, who had never been a traditional smoker, said he started using Juul e-cigarettes a year and a half ago, when he was 16. He now believes Juuls caused his lung injury. So he’s started a social media campaign (#LungLove) to get others to get rid of their Juuls. Thousands of messages have poured in over the past few…
Khloe’s Call – AUGUST 25, 2019 – But Khloe was totally okay with it. “It’s his truth, he’s allowed to tell his version. Him and I each played a significant role in each other’s lives so I think it’s natural, like, if I talk about my past, I would hope that my marriage would be a chapter that I would talk about and for him, the same thing,” she told Kim. In the memoir, Lamar describes how much he cheated on Khloe and his intense level of drug use, which culminated in a 2015 overdose in a Nevada brothel that…
Play It Again Bill and Bob – AUG. 23, 2019 – While we waited for our lunch, I texted Keisha and told her I was with a guy from AA. A couple minutes later, a close friend texted me to say he and some people were getting cocaine, that I should come over. I showed the text to the guy, maybe as proof that I was an alcoholic and my friends were too and that I needed his help. He asked what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to stop drinking but I didn’t know how. We…
Caution Ahead – August 20, 2019 – According to Amsterdam and Kim, previous studies have found that a prior antidepressant trial results in up to a 50% loss of effectiveness for the next attempt. In the latest study, they wanted to see if previous prescriptions were associated with an increased risk of relapse after recovery. Antidepressant use after recovery is sometimes recommended as it is thought to reduce the likelihood of relapse. However, research has been equivocal about whether long-term use prevents depressive episodes. Amsterdam and Jay’s study may provide some evidence that, rather than protecting against relapse, continued antidepressant…
Ben a Long Time Coming – August 24, 2019 – The source also said that Affleck and Garner have both been doing amazing work when it comes parenting their kids, Violet, 13, Seraphina, 10, and Samuel 7. Last summer, Affleck and Garner spent as much time as they could with their children by going to outings, traveling, and more. The source said that even though Affleck and Garner have not been together since 2015, they still share a very special relationship that has trust. Affleck also credits his ex-wife for helping him during his quest to being sober. Garner…
Stick with the Winners! – August 23, 2019 – Mr. Williams is an interventionist, author, trainer, counselor and consultant specializing in addiction related issues. He is one of the first Licensed Advanced Addictions Counselors in the state of California. He is a motivational speaker who conducts seminars, workshops, keynote presentations, as well as staff training, skills building and program development worldwide. Roland is the Founder and President of Free Life Enterprises, Counseling and Consulting Services, He is the Coordinator of Chemical Dependency Studies at Cal State East Bay. He is the Director of the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC), Recovery Program,…
Peek-a-Boo – AUGUST 23, 2019 – SAMHSA no longer believes this policy is advisable in light of the current public health crisis arising from opioid use, misuse, and abuse. In the past 10 years, there has been a substantial increase in prescription drug misuse, admissions to substance use facilities, emergency department visits and opioid-related deaths. The omission of OTP data from a PDMP can lead to potentially dangerous adverse events for patients who may receive duplicate or potentially contraindicated prescriptions as part of medical care outside of an OTP, thereby placing them at risk for adverse events, including possible overdose…
Cluster Treatment in West Virginia – Aug. 25, 2019 – Officials said they planned to bring about 200 jobs, ranging from health care providers to housekeepers, to the struggling county. They even wanted to turn the base, which is much like a town, into a sober-living community for people who’d completed their 28-day stays. At the time, the state was sorely lacking in drug treatment. West Virginia had just over 100 inpatient treatment beds and, as it does now, the highest drug overdose death rate in the country. They said the project should be complete by July 2018. In…
What About The Clients? – AUGUST 25, 2019 – “The explosion was really intense,” said Paterson Fire Chief Brian McDermott. “The barrel went up 300 feet easily, blew the roof off.” Residents and neighbors evacuated the area and no injuries were reported. More than 300 people are seeking shelter, officials said, adding that Red Cross and the Office of Emergency Management are setting up shelters. Authorities also evacuated residents from nearby homes, but the blaze did not spread to adjacent buildings. A demolition crew was on route to the scene Saturday afternoon. Speziale said the building, operated by the Diocese…
Alice Not In Chains – August 22, 2019 – After calling it quits on the substances, Cooper made a deal with his wife, to prove he was truly clean. They began going to church. It was then that Cooper spoke with his pastor about his persona and contemplated ending Cooper for good. “I went to my pastor and I said, ‘I think I’ve gotta quit being Alice Cooper now.’ He says, ‘Look where he put you. What if you’re Alice Cooper, but what if you’re now following Christ? … You’re a rock star, but you don’t live the rock star…
Pain Makes Millions – Aug. 25, 2019 – In the annals of “60 Minutes,” we have rarely come across a doctor like Florida physician Barry Schultz. Prosecutors say he wantonly prescribed and sold massive quantities of highly addictive opioids. As we told you last September, Schultz was sentenced to 157 years for his role in fueling the most devastating public health crisis of the 21st century. Last year, more Americans died of drug overdoses than in the entire Vietnam War. While Schultz ended up in jail, Mallinckrodt, the pharmaceutical company that flooded the nation with tens of billions of opioid…
Will Anyone Else Follow? – Aug. 23, 2019 – Anyone caught here with a small amount of drugs — even heroin — isn’t typically prosecuted. Instead, that person is steered toward social services to get help. This model is becoming the consensus preference among public health experts in the U.S. and abroad. Still, it shocks many Americans to see no criminal penalty for using drugs illegally, so it takes courage and vision to adopt this approach: a partial retreat in the war on drugs coupled with a stepped-up campaign against addiction. The war on drugs has been one of America’s…
The Malleable Reality – August 24, 2019 – “What I learned to do in that moment,” she explains, “was to doubt my reality; to realise that what was critical in life was the story, the veneer. And that felt like dying.” So began Grisel’s search for a way to escape her everyday life, a life that felt false and full of pressure to go along with the pretence, and instead to find a way to feel something that felt like the truth. It started with an obsession with reading books, “I would read constantly, upside down if I had…
Injecting Real Reform Into The Election – August 25, 2019 – At supervised injection sites, medical professionals monitor for overdoses and provide clean injection supplies to discourage users from sharing needles and potentially spreading diseases. Staff also refer users for drug and medical treatment and other services to help them quit. The sites do not provide drugs. The Trump administration is currently suing to block what would be the first supervised injection site in the U.S. in Philadelphia, and threatening to block similar efforts in other major cities like Seattle and New York. But advocates say these sites, which…
Save The Children – August 23, 2019 – WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The world knows Nancy Cartwright as the iconic voice of Bart Simpson, but the Emmy-winner is now using her voice to advocate for children around the world with the Know More About Drugs Alliance. The goal is to encourage parents to make the most informed decisions regarding prescribed drugs for their children. Nancy joined us alongside her co-founder Mathy Downing, who tragically lost her daughter at just 12 years old. Full Story @ WJLA.com
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity.” –Rollo May
The Heroes Journey Continues – August 20, 2019 – “Today is my Sober Birthday. 35 years! Staying sober has been my greatest accomplishment,” wrote the actor, 57. “I say that because I was able to show up for myself in every way possible. In the most turbulent and best of times I had the rock of the 12 steps to guide me. I was able to be a father, son, brother and friend.” (He has two daughters with ex-wife Shiva Rose.) Having come from a family of addiction, McDermott acknowledged the struggle that has come with staying sober and encouraged…
Ask Narcissus – August 21, 2109 – “The preoccupation with putting the right image into the world, and taking the right picture, means that you’re making your external self the focus of what matters,” clinical therapist and eating disorder specialist, Kyla Fox, the founder of the Kyla Fox Centre in Toronto, ON, tells Bustle. It becomes more central than trying to learn how to connect to what’s internal, and learning how to cultivate real connection to yourself and to others. “What also happens is that the world connects to the external images more than the actual person themselves,” Fox says.…
Stick with the Winners! – August 15, 2019 – A gifted vocal artist in her own right, Nicholson’s musical career includes tours with Rod Stewart and Bette Midler—and appearances on such television shows as Oprah, The Tonight Show, The View, Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Soul Recovery. Ester Nicholson survived the ravages of addiction to discover something truly extraordinary: How to transform dependence into power.Her Soul Recovery teaching is one that speaks not only to those who have faced dependence to drugs or alcohol, but is applicable for anyone who has lost connection with their spiritual…
Answer The Question – August 16, 2019 – When our father and son ask Angela how many pills she’s had so far today, nearby customers observe. In one scene, when Angela steps away for a moment, customers Diane and her granddaughter Olivia give their support to the family. Olivia tells our actors that she was actually in a car accident two years prior, and was prescribed Percocet and Oxycodone. The CDC has reported that every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. While many take opioids responsibly for pain management, the CDC estimates…
Talk About Stigma!… – Aug. 13, 2019 – “Not everybody who has a drug problem is a criminal,” Rose said. “If you’re recovering, that means you’re trying to do the right thing, you’re trying to get back on track. There’s no reason they can’t hire a recovering addict.” Boston 25 News showed the email to Wareham Town Administrator Derek Sullivan. “Frankly I was shocked and disappointed a respected company like Wendy’s would openly disparage our entire community,” Sullivan said. “What we don’t do is denigrate and throw away those with addiction issues. We get them help.” Wendy’s sent Boston 25…
Quality of Life – July 31, 2019 – The walk is one step toward Iceland’s success into turning around a crisis in teenage drinking. Focusing on local participation and promoting more music and sports options for students, the island nation in the North Atlantic has dried up a teenage culture of drinking and smoking. Icelandic teens now have one of the lowest rates of substance abuse in Europe. Full Story @ APNews.com