“I’m here to be me, which is taking a great deal longer than I had hoped.” – Anne Lamott
Author: Leonard Buschel
MOM – June 19, 2025 – Elizabeth Beauvais, 65, started her tattoo journey aged 31 and uses her body art to express her sobriety, personal growth, and bohemian spirit. Since then, her collection has grown to cover most of her body, with only her face and butt remaining untouched. For Beauvais, her tattoos are a living memoir — each design a chapter in her life’s story. Elizabeth, who dedicated 25 years to teaching Head Start and now works as a caregiver, of Lakewood, California, said: “Believe it or not, I have no regrets about my tattoos because they all have…
TOFU FOREVER? – July 5, 2025 – We know that processed meat isn’t particularly good for us, having already been linked to dementia, diabetes, and cancer, but how much of it counts as a ‘safe’ level of consumption? New research says, there’s no such thing. Associations for processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and trans fatty acids were looked into, and it was the processed meat that came out with the worst results – even if the amount eaten is only small. “The monotonic increases in health risk with increased consumption of processed meat suggest that there is not a ‘safe’ amount…
DIET TO DEATH – July 1, 2025 – New studies reveal the health risks of drinking Diet Coke on a regular basis. According to Fox 5 DC, researchers have linked the soda to health complications, including metabolic and cardiovascular risks. Coca-Cola’s marketing campaigns suggest Diet Coke is a healthier alternative to Coke. While its sugar content is lower, artificial sweeteners make the drink much worse for your health, experts warn. Diet Coke contains aspartame, an artificial sweetener that can cause adverse health effects when consumed on a regular basis. Fox 5 reported that research shows artificial sweeteners such as aspartame…
OUT WITH IT – July 4, 2025 – “It’s been three weeks since I published Crave: The Hidden Biology of Addiction and Cancer and the response has been incredible! In this short amount of time, the book was featured in the international pressCrave reached the top percentile of sales on Amazon for the month of June and has received numerous five-star reviews from clinicians, book reviewers, and the general public audience. I want to extend a very big thank you to everyone who contributed to making this possible! Together we are making the world a better, healthier place.” CONTINUE@Crave
DEADLY SERIOUS – June 19, 2025 – JAMA Network looked at data from over 4,000 children starting at 9 or 10 years old. The study followed these children for years and found that, by the age of 14: Around a third of participants became increasingly addicted to social media – About 25% of kids were increasingly addicted to their cell phones – Over 40% showed signs of being addicted to video games… According to NPR, Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, said, “It’s an important study and raising awareness about screen addiction. … It…
HERBAL MAGIC – July 2, 2025 – Peppermint can improve attention, working memory, and even mood. Some scientists have proposed that these benefits arise because peppermint increases cerebral blood flow, especially in the prefrontal cortex. This allows more oxygen and nutrients to reach the brain, enhancing mental performance “The cognitive enhancing effects of peppermint are well established, but little attention has been paid to the possible mechanisms, particularly neurovascular mechanisms, that might underlie these effects. Here, we wanted to explore this more, asking whether acute (short term) positive changes in cognition, particularly memory and attention, following consuming small amounts of…
VIDEO – Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey – July 2, 2025 – Several people were transported to a hospital after an overdose incident. Detention center staff administered Narcan to one person before the fire department could get there. Narcan is medicine used to reverse the effects of an overdose for opioids like heroin or fentanyl. CONTINUE@ABC7
APPROACH WITH CAUTION – Jul 1, 2025 – The best time to approach someone with such a sensitive subject could be when they are sober and have no other obligations. It’s important to be open and empathetic and ensure they do not feel ashamed of this mental and physical disease. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! However, alcohol can be a slippery slope, and what is a fun night out for some can turn into a devastating illness for others. Addiction specialists at Private Rehab Clinic Delamere have shared what to look out for if you’re worried about your…
AUDIO – AND SAVE LIVES – July 2, 2025 – As new data shows overdose deaths fell across the country last year, health care providers are still rushing to help people using fentanyl and other drugs. In Washington state, some addiction specialists are working to make treatment more accessible — especially for those who are dealing with homelessness and other issues. The Emergency Mobile Opioid Team in Everett, or EMOTE, drove through the Snohomish County community on a recent morning – looking for anyone who is unhoused and may need help. The street medicine team’s medical director, Dr. Tom Robey,…
PILLOW TALKS BACK – July 3, 2025 – The global rise of the Internet and its near constant use by children and adolescents has given rise to concerns on the potential for Internet addiction (IA) and subsequent detrimental impacts on sleep habits. This study analyzed associations between IA and sleep outcomes in school-aged children and adolescents in the United States. Methods Broadly representative survey data was collected from Utah, surrounding states, and all other states (n=775 parent-child dyads). Logistic regression models relating the association between Internet Addiction scores and self-reported sleep duration, sleep timing, sleep quality and screen use before…
VIDEO – REFRAME YOUR DRINKING – July 2, 2025 – A Knoxville couple is making a name for themselves in a space all about sobriety and connecting with people around the world through a podcast. Ryan and Jessica Stewart decided to stop drinking a few years ago. The couple shared that the choice allowed their whole world to open up, but the journey was not an easy one. “I was an isolated drinker, so I like to drink by myself. So I’d isolate myself in a room and watch sports and just drink beer until I would go to sleep…
VIDEO – INSIDE SCOOP – July 3, 2025 – Frankie Grande’s energy levels are off the charts. He’s not long stepped off a flight from Los Angeles, but he smiles and chats with so much charm and charisma that you’d never have guessed it. His leather jacket, glittered cheeks and heavily ripped jeans have somehow made me feel both underdressed and overdressed at the same time. The 42-year-old is in town to perform at Pride in London, the capital’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s a beautiful place with so many people of different backgrounds,” he told ITV News.…
SHADY BUSINESS – July 1, 2025 – With summer in full swing, you may be enjoying more vitamin D-producing sunlight than in the previous months. But are you getting enough to put your daily vitamin D regimen on hold for the summer? Most experts say no—you should still keep taking the “sunshine vitamin.”1 There are several reasons why you may not be getting enough vitamin D despite the sunny weather. These include living in a more northern region of the country, using sunscreen, working inside most of the day, being over 65, and having darker skin.12 Your body naturally produces…
VIDEO – RINGO STARR – FOREVER – I can’t imagine the Beatles without Ringo. He had a fundamental part, not only as a drummer or a singer, but as a person in a band of friends. He was the simple one, gentle and so lovely. And, but it’s just a detail, he sang their most popular song.Maybe there are people who don’t know Yesterday, but everyone knows Yellow Submarine’s melody.Ringo is a part of our culture. … CONTINUE@EdSullianYouTube
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – ETERNAL – Closing of Winterland – “This is so good that I can replay the song five times in a little over an hour and not get tired of it. I just did that because it’s such a good song by an awesome band. Jerry Garcia was good and so were the rest of the band. Such a beautiful song. This song is not a blast from the past for me, I never abandoned the music made in the 70’s. I still refresh my soul everyday with this beautiful era’s music.” CONTINUE@YouTube
ONLY ONE SLICE – July 4, 2025 – Weird dreams and vivid nightmares following late-night consumption of cheese products are surprisingly common complaints. Studies investigating the relationships between food, sleep, and dreams confirms a number of foods you eat before bed may indeed have a very real impact on the night ahead. Dream neuroscientist Tore Nielsen of the University of Montreal, who led the study, is often asked whether food affects dreaming, and has published research on the topic before. In the new study, he and his team recruited 1,082 psychology students from Canadian MacEwan University to undertake an online…
LOOK BACK – SEE FORWARDS – July 4, 2025 – Sigmund Freud´s drive theory, often (and erroneously) referred to as his theory of the instincts, was an early attempt to describe the motivations behind both healthy and mentally ill individuals. In his final formulation, Freud identified two main categories of drives: life drives (which he termed Eros), encompassing physiological drives, and a set of … inherent impulses, including self-destructive tendencies (which he called “death drives”), with masochism -a form of auto-addictive disorder -as a prime example.Freud´s drive theory was developed with the framework of a 19 th -century medical mind-set,…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – July 8, 2025 – Allison Harden’s personal recovery journey led her to employment roles in Community Outreach at the Betty Ford Center and the Center for Dependency Addiction and Rehabilitation (CeDAR). She has a Master of Science from the University of Denver in Organizational Leadership. Her education along with her lived experience inspired her to open Beyond Betty, where she continues to support individuals, families, and organizations in addiction and recovery support services. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?A. Alcohol and Cannabis, 11/28/87.Q. Is…
SADNESS ALL AROUND – July 3, 2025 – “Michael was suffering from the effects of alcoholism. He had multiple stints in and out of rehab. He struggled to maintain his sobriety. He was not happy about his life.” The lawyer also claimed that Michael was locked in a legal battle with his estranged wife over child support and other finances. He said: “I blame her for putting in the screws over his last years of life. Michael lived a life of regrets – those regrets being his two marriages.” He added that the legal battle caused his passport to be…
TO HIS OWN BEAT – July 7, 2025 – Starr, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, will be the first Beatle to reach that milestone, and like his surviving bandmate Paul McCartney, he never retired. In the past seven months alone, Starr has released a country album he recorded in Nashville and toured with his All-Starr Band. (He and his wife Barbara Bach have been sober since 1988.) “It blows me away,” Starr said one April afternoon in Los Angeles, reflecting on his birthday. “I look in the mirror and I’m 24. I never got older than 24.” “But guess what?”…
NOT JUST IN THE SOUTH – July 2, 2025 – Referrals for outpatient treatment after a suspected opioid overdose ranged from 8% to 44%, and Black patients were less likely to receive such a referral versus white patients, according to a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study. Among nearly 1,700 emergency department (ED) patients with suspected opioid overdose, 17.8% received a referral for outpatient treatment, 42.4% received a naloxone kit or prescription, and 8.4% received a buprenorphine prescription, reported Siri Shastry, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and co-authors. “The moment…
AUDIO – MOTLEY NO MORE – July 2, 2025 – The 66-year-old MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist credited his “willingness to confront [his] past” with giving him the tools to help him live his life without drugs or alcohol. Earlier today (Tuesday, July 2),he Instagrammed an image revealing he had been sober for 24 years and shared a message in which he wrote: “Today, I take a moment to reflect on how sobriety — and the willingness to confront my past — has completely transformed my life. “Sobriety isn’t just about eliminating substances; it’s about the ability to be honest with yourself…
PRIDE FOR ALL – June 19, 2025 – Inside Resurge Counseling & Wellness in Norwood, Rachel Schnatz spends her day helping others find a path to recovery. “Being able to talk to somebody about … not feeling alone and feeling supported, and having the resources as well,” Schnatz said. “I see myself in every single one of them on some level. Resurge has a designated LGBTQ+ Drug Rehab Center, focused on meeting the specific needs of those in the community who struggle with substance use disorder. As someone who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and has gone…
SO OLD-FASHIONED – July 3, 2025 – Alcohol affects “virtually every organ system in the body,” including the muscles and blood vessels, digestive system, heart and brain. I”t particularly impacts older adults, because there’s already some decline or impact in those areas.” said Sara Jo Nixon. Alcohol can present new problems in older age — particularly at 65 and up — for even light or occasional drinkers. Older adults tend to have less muscle mass and retain less water in their tissues compared with younger people, which can increase blood alcohol concentration, said Aaron White, a senior advisor at the…
NOT HEALTHY – June 20, 2025 – Where are the calls for senior-focused prevention? This is no different, after all, from a near-50 percent jump in teen use over two years. The fact that these are in general older people doesn’t make the finding any less worrying. Adults with Cannabis Use Disorder are 60 percent more likely to experience heart failure, strokes, or heart attacks than adults who do not use marijuana. In Ontario, hospital admissions and emergency room visits related to marijuana jumped 26-fold among people 65 and older between 2008 and 2021; between 2005 and 2019, the rate…
Koyaanisqatsi – June 27, 2025 – An estimated 25 million people used cocaine worldwide in 2023 — up from 17 million a decade earlier. Production jumped by 34 percent from 2022. Marijuana is the most used drug, followed by opioids and amphetamines. But it is the cocaine market that continues to break records year after year. The coca plant, the main ingredient for cocaine, is primarily cultivated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Colombia drove the recent increase in illegal cocaine production because of an expansion of coca cultivation areas and better yields from each acre. In Colombia, farmers strip coca…
THAT’S NOT ALL – July 3, 2025 – We’ve all heard that certain foods and drinks can help support our immune system, but alcohol is a different story. For years, experts have been warning about the negative effects of alcohol on various aspects of our health, and now, it’s clear that it also plays a significant role in suppressing immune function. One of the main reasons alcohol harms the immune system is through dehydration. Alcohol has a diuretic effect, which means it causes the body to lose more fluid than it takes in. According to Roxana Ehsani, a registered dietitian-nutritionist,…
IMPROVE YOUR GAME NOW – July 3, 2025 – I am a behavioral neuroscientist studying addiction, and my team is interested in how reward memories are formed and processed in the brain. We study how memories linked to natural rewards such as food, water and sex differ from those linked with rewards from drugs such as fentanyl and cocaine. Understanding the differences between these types of rewards and how memories of different drugs interact may lead to more effective treatments for addiction. To study reward memories, it is important to understand the neurobiology of memory, or how the brain remembers…
TELL IT LIKE IT WAS – July 3, 2025 – Every Ghost finds the Kentucky songwriter addressing sobriety, trauma, and family dysfunction: “You think you’re done with this thing, and it comes back to you. Every Ghost finds Waldon confronting all the spirits in her life that are haunting her. “I shifted,” she says. “I made a lot of transitions until, one day, there was nothing left to do except make art. It was really therapeutic for me, because I put a lot into it, and I saw a lot of myself, too, and a lot of things I thought…