Posted on August 27, 2018 in Addiction Recovery
An estimated 40 to 60% of people with addiction relapse, but author and clinician Shawn Leadem, LCSW, CSAT, CMAT, has a message of hope: “Relapse doesn’t have to be part of your story.”
Posted on August 20, 2018 in Alcohol and Drug News
During April 2018, Houston police arrested 36 drivers on felony alcohol charges. Although most of these felony cases were the result of a third driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge, 14 people were arrested on a charge of DWI with a child passenger and two were arrested on a charge of intoxicated manslaughter.1
Posted on August 13, 2018 in Alcoholism
In the field of substance abuse treatment, binge drinking presents some special challenges. Binge drinking is confined to heavy drinking in specific episodes, and when those episodes are not frequent it would be wrong to assume they represent “alcoholism” in a medical sense.
But there is a certain tipping point with binge drinking where it crosses over into true problem drinking.
Posted on August 6, 2018 in Substance Abuse
For thousands of years, inhabitants of South America have chewed or brewed coca leaves in tea for increased energy and alertness. German chemist Albert Niemann isolated the active ingredient from the leaves in 1859 and published his findings the following year, calling it cocaine.
By the 1880s, cocaine was used in numerous medicines in the U.S, and even in Coca-Cola, which contained about 60 mg of cocaine in a 250 ml bottle. Two of the oldest and most popular nicknames for cocaine are Coke or Cola.
Posted on July 30, 2018 in Addiction
“Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” ~ Robert Downey Jr.
Posted on July 23, 2018 in Teen Drinking
Underage drinking is a widespread phenomenon that leads to thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries in the U.S. each year. For these and other reasons, public health officials place a heavy emphasis on decreasing the number of Americans below the age of 21 who consume alcohol.
Posted on July 16, 2018 in Addiction, Mental Health
When most people hear the word codependent, they associate it with addiction or behavioral disorders. In fact, the term was coined nearly 40 years ago in context with alcoholism. Codependency can manifest in many ways, but the common factor is that coping mechanisms become mutually destructive.
Posted on July 11, 2018 in Drug Addiction, Substance Abuse
Known as meth, ice, blue ice or glass, crystal methamphetamine resembles shiny blue-white “rocks” or fragments of glass of various sizes. Meth is an odorless, blue or colorless form of d-methamphetamine, a synthetic psychostimulant.
Posted on May 1, 2018 in Drug Addiction
By Sara Schapmann
In a criminal justice system where 1.5 million of its 2.3 million prisoners meet the DSM-IV criteria for drug addiction, Lake County Jail in Waukegan, IL is making a positive impact. Substance abuse in prisoners is a widespread problem, and one that often goes unaddressed–some argue at the expense of both perpetrator and victim.
Posted on April 23, 2018 in Addiction, prescription drug abuse
Prescription opioid abuse has reached an all-time high and new mothers are joining the ranks of accidental addicts who are prescribed too much opioid medication after a C-section.
