UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS – Nov. 29, 2024 – Shaun Flores was 11 years old when he first started watching porn, after being introduced to it by a friend. “I was hooked almost immediately,” the now 30-year-old says. “It was just like, wow, what is this that people are doing where they look like they’re just having the time of their lives.” Shaun’s curiosity quickly turned into something that he found difficult to stop. He describes watching porn morning, noon and night, saying it became as “common as brushing your teeth”. Shaun has shared his story in a new BBC iPlayer series,…
Author: Leonard Buschel
SO DID HIS MILLIONS – Nov. 27, 2024 – “I did very, very poorly in school, until I started doing narcotics,” Kennedy, 70, said on the podcast. “Then I went to the top of my class because my mind was so restless and turbulent and I could not sit still.” “It worked for me,” he continued of his past heroin use. “And if it still worked, I’d still be doing it.” Kennedy appeared on an episode of the Shawn Ryan Show during his presidential campaign in July, where he recalled his history of addiction and his eventual heroin use. During…
VIDEO – GLASS HOUSES – June 2024 – “The easiest spiritual discipline you’ll ever get is a 12 step program.” CONTINUE@Facebook
DELEGALIZE IT? – Nov. 14m 2024 – President-elect Donald Trump wants drug traffickers to be executed, and could soon have the authority to make that happen. “These cartels are animals. And that’s why Trump’s gonna take them off the face of earth.” This echoed Trump’s drug policy agenda, which promised to “wage war on the cartels.” Trump also pledged to fully secure the border, deploy the Navy to disrupt fentanyl being trafficked by ship, and direct the military to launch “covert and overt actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership.” Claire Zagorski, a harm reduction expert and PhD student…
AND TOO OFTEN – Nov. 26, 2024 – “I was still trying to live my life as a 25-year-old and doing my patterns of like how I would numb myself, take care of myself and deal with my insecurity and my fears,” he explained. “They just weren’t working. They were taking a toll on my relationship, for sure, but also just making me a very not present father.” The Suits alum reflected on his decision to stop drinking alcohol, which he explained came to a head while filming the beloved legal drama. “I wasn’t taking good care of my mental…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Dec. 3, 2024 – James Black is a sober guy who played football for the Cleveland Browns. He drove a car that he bought for a hundred bucks and knows what love is. He also sold copiers, and produced two movies in 2024. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date? A. I over indulged many times. 12-21-2001. Q. What do you like most about 12-step meetings? A. I love the community and camaraderie. Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a…
HOW TO DIE? – Nov. 29, 2024 – Despite public health warnings about the links between drinking and cancer risk, this widespread lack of awareness is the key takeaway from a new nationwide survey. “Public health messages about the risks associated with drinking alcohol have to overcome the effects of decades of sophisticated marketing and positive media portrayals.” More than half of adults in the U.S. drink alcohol — 17% binge drink and and 6% are heavy drinkers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binge drinking is four or more drinks in two hours for women…
AUDIO – DENIAL? – Nov. 29, 2024 – I come from a family of alcoholics. Sarah, my first cousin, was the most recent to die of complications from alcoholism, at age 41. Before her, seven people in our extended family, including her father, my father and our grandfather, died from alcohol-related problems. At one Thanksgiving, my grandfather passed out drunk into his gravy and mashed potatoes. My cousins routinely had to steady their father out the front door after Christmas dinner. My dad spent a New Year’s Eve in detox. My family’s drunkenness was so unbelievably sad, my college boyfriend…
SADNESS ALL AROUND – Nov. 20, 2024 – Richard tragically lost his husband, fellow priest David, 43, to alcoholism in December 2019 – nine years after they married – and said part of him had been destroyed by the loss during a ‘paralysing’ period of sadness. Before his husband’s death, he and David lived with their dogs Daisy, Pongo, Audrey and Horatio in the vicarage of St Mary’s in Finedon. Speaking about his loss, in 2022, Rev Coles said: ‘I was absolutely with David through thick and thin, and I was with him till the very end. ‘If you really…
BIG THUMB FOR TRAVELERS? – Nov. 26, 2024 – Your hands may hold the key to why you enjoy a drink so much. Researchers found relationships between high alcohol consumption and long 4th digits relative to 2nd digits. This showed that high prenatal testosterone relative to oestrogen is linked to high student alcohol consumption. “It is known that alcohol-dependent patients have very long 4th digits relative to their 2nd digits, suggesting high testosterone relative to estrogen exposure before birth. As expected, the associations were stronger for men than women.” Now the researchers hope their conclusions will bring a better understanding…
STILL SO HIGH? – Nov. 26, 2024 – Jimmy Kimmel has been roasting Donald Trump’s cabinet picks on Live, but with Matt Gaetz withdrawing from consideration for Attorney General, it looks like Kimmel has set his sights on Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “RFK-cray has a lot of skeletons and whale carcasses in his closet, including this interview from June in which Mr. Anti-Pharmaceutical has some interesting things to say about drugs,” Kimmel said before airing a clip from an interview Kennedy did in June 2024 on the Shawn…
ROYALTY OUT LOUD – Nov. 28, 2024 – In a message penned in support of Addiction Awareness Week, the Princess of Wales said that progress is being made in tackling the prejudice and stigma around addiction and urged people to show kindness and empathy in order to break down barriers. “Addiction is not a choice. It is a serious mental health condition that could affect any one of us,” Kate, 42, wrote in her supportive message ahead of the start of Addiction Awareness Week on Nov. 30. It came as Kate has been tackling her own hurdles — she announced…
HALF MEASURES INDEED – Nov. 27, 2024 – Lapping up booze nervously with my tongue, in case a crocodile jumps out and eats me. Oh, then no, this isn’t what zebra-striping is at all. But congratulations on remaining uneaten.Nearly a quarter of adults in Britain now ‘zebra stripe’ when they visit pubs and bars, alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. What is it, then? It’s the practice of alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks when you are out. What’s the point of that? It reduces your alcohol intake by half, obviously. We are fast approaching the Christmas party season and,…
HAPPY! NOT HIGH! – Nov. 27, 2024 – “Mocktails or non-alcoholic beer options make a big difference,” said the rapper, who just celebrated 4 years sober. “Since my bestie has been sober, I always have stuff to make mocktails for him!” one user wrote. “And when he joins our family, my family makes them too!!! Love your constant advocacy for folks on their sobriety journeys.” Another person added, “Yes, sir! Always make sure to support people on their journey to greatness, no matter what it is.” In October, Flav — born William Jonathan Drayton Jr. — celebrated 4 years of…
HAPPINESS? – Nov. 27, 2024 – The good news is that drinking coffee on an empty stomach is not inherently bad for you, and your stomach can usually adapt to protect itself. “There are a lot of benefits associated with coffee consumption when it comes to the gastrointestinal tract.” “Coffee has a pH level of about 5 while our gastric acid boasts a pH of about 2, making the latter more acidic,” Rao noted. As a result, our stomachs should be able to handle the acid that drinking coffee causes. However, it’s all patient-dependent, Sohi explained. “Anything you eat causes…
APPETITE FOR INNOVATION – Nov. 29, 2024 – Traditional therapies, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, nutritional rehabilitation and pharmacological treatments, often have only limited success. In recent years, researchers have turned their attention to more unconventional methods, such as psychedelic medicine, in the search for more effective treatment avenues. Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound present in psychedelic mushrooms, has gained attention for its benefcicial effects in treating a range of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and addiction. Psilocybin acts on the serotonin system and can alter an individual’s perception. Since changes in serotonin function have been implicated in anorexia, researchers believe…
“I’d rather write about laughing than crying, for laughter makes men human, and courageous.” – François Rabelais, 1494-1553
VIDEO – TOASTING WITH TURKEY – Nov. 22, 2024 – Ashley McBryde is feeling proud — for good reason. The 41-year-old country star attended and performed at the 2024 CMA Awards at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 19, just over a week out from marking an achievement in her sobriety journey. “It’s awesome,” McBryde tells PEOPLE of her progress on the red carpet ahead of the awards show. “I was adding up — I want to celebrate on the 900th day of being sober, and I was like, ‘That’s a milestone! You should celebrate that.’ I looked, and it’s…
OM – ORIGINAL MAMAS – Nov. 20, 2024 – On White Earth Reservation in northeastern Minnesota, a culturally specific treatment program helps Native parents struggling with opioid addiction. The Maternal Outreach and Mitigation Services (MOMS) program serves any pregnant or postpartum parent with substance problems. They just have to get there. Some participants come from 60 miles away. By the time these parents arrive at MOMS, their substance use has often led to significant problems with employment, housing, and child custody. The program has achieved remarkable results. And, statewide experts say, it may suggest new directions and strategies for other…
NO KIDDING – Nov/ 20, 2024 – Ultra-processed food. You’re probably sick of hearing the phrase. You’ve probably started tuning it out, along with words like “microbiome” and “anti-inflammatory.” What do you mean by “ultra-processed food”? You might have thought a few times (or maybe that was just me, last week.) Isn’t every food item processed? Why does it matter to what degree, or how many times—a sandwich is still a sandwich, am I right girls? I was like you once (again, last week). But then I started taking a closer look at this buzzword, and realized that maybe I…
VIDEO – BREAKFAST OF DEATH? – Nov. 20, 2024 – Founder of Ecotricity, Dale Vince, is calling for bacon to come with a cigarette-style health warning because of its cancer risk. He’s backing a campaign to make NHS hospitals serve plant-based foods to patients. CONTINUE@YouTube
HIKING THE WORD – Nov. 15, 2024 – “I just want to get the message out. There’s so much stigma involved with addiction, it’s such an ugly word. Nobody wants to admit it but this happens to good people,” said Grimes. “I work with judges, pastors, I work with pilots and athletes, and this happens to good people, but you’ve got to put your hands up and ask for help.” Grimes became addicted to painkillers after a series of injuries he got playing in the NFL. He shared that his path to recovery was long but now he and his…
SINGING A NEW SONG – Nov. 15, 2024 – Lady A singer Charles Kelley is looking back on the moment he decided to give up drinking in Hulu’s new docuseries It’s All Country. “Success is a double-edged sword, for sure. You know, once you know what it feels like, and once you’ve been out there, it’s a drug in itself.” “There is a lot of doubt that can come in and there’s just a lot of, I think, keeping your ego in check. I had to come back from treatment.” He added, “I went to this place in Utah for…
THE LIFT SHE NEEDED – Nov. 17, 2024 – Even after her friends found her passed out on the bathroom floor during a free-flow brunch at a restaurant, Julie Landau thought she could carry on drinking. It took a second episode for the corporate executive to open her eyes to her alcohol addiction and to turn her health – and her life – around. Now 42, Landau has been sober for three-and-a-half years and has overcome bulimia, an eating disorder she has grappled with since she was a teenager. As an executive coach, she uses her experience to help women…
AUDIO – ADDICTION IS A PRISON – Nov. 20, 2024 – Treatment options for opioid use disorder in Pennsylvania jails and prisons are improving, according to a new report, but barriers remain for people who are incarcerated and seeking help with addiction.About 84% of county jails now provide people with methadone or buprenorphine medications — that’s up from just 32% of jails in 2022. The Law Project found that more jails and prisons are providing treatment to people who are already on medication when they arrive. But few jails provide “induction” or new enrollment into treatment, said Sarah Bellos, staff…
AUDIO – EVIDENCE? – Nov. 15, 2024 – Ms. Holland, the founder and former executive director of the sober living rehabilitation facility DAWNS House in Bend, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges related to allegedly embezzling $300,000 from the non-profit. A grand jury indicted Holland, 52, in April. She entered pleas Friday to eight counts of aggravated theft and one charge of first-degree theft. The alleged thefts happened between 2019 and 2023. The sober living facility is still open despite the legal drama. CONTINUE@CentralOregonDaily
BOOK RECOMMENDATION – March 2024 – Gritty, real, unapologetic, and long in the making, Alle. C. Hall’s debut novel displays a finesse rarely seen in a graphically written trauma narrative. Despite its powerful content, Hall delivers the harshest of accounts with a rarely seen resilience and graciousness, which tugs at something deep inside, blurring the otherness of victims and survivors and creating a oneness of the human condition. From an intensely personal vantage point and perfected over years of soul searching and personal growth and adaptation, Hall’s perfect rendition of her protagonist, Carlie, explores not just the dissociation caused by…
PRETTY PICTURES – Nov. 15, 2024 – The light didn’t come instantly. Crystle Moore had to fight to get away from the darkness she carried for most of her life. “I was still very angry, depressed, and I had so much fear. I didn’t trust anybody.” It stemmed from years of abuse and depression. To cope, Crystle became addicted to drugs and alcohol. “There was no life in my eyes. The smile I had on my face was all fake,” she said. But over time, the light came back. Crystle has been in recovery for three and a half years.…
AUDIO – NOT SOBER SOBER – Nov. 17, 2024 – This woman loves preparing all kinds of food. She attributes much of her success and happiness to being sober from alcohol, which she and her husband, Steve, became on Jan. 1, 2023. Brittanie Averill’s life got a whole lot busier, happier and more productive once she and her husband, Steve, got sober from alcohol two years ago, She is the manager of Maine Med Man in Mexico, a store that sells cannabis for medical use and related products, as well as freshly prepared foods without cannabis from Britt’s Kitchen, which…
EGGS AND SALMON ANYONE? – Nov. 13, 2024 – Vitamin D supplements are linked to many health benefits, including decreasing the chance of heart disease, supporting immune function, and aiding weight loss. New research suggests that calcium and vitamin D supplements may have a high blood pressure-lowering effect, particularly for older adults with overweight or obesity.. New research published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society suggests that vitamin D supplements may help lower blood pressure in older adults with obesity, and taking more than the daily recommended dose does not provide any additional health benefits. According to the NIH…