THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS CRACKING DOWN ON KRATOM
Considering the ongoing addiction epidemic in the United States, you’d think lawmakers and law enforcement would be in favor of any potential treatments. Unfortunately, many of the drugs that could be in use right now as treatments are under-studied and misunderstood. The Drug Enforcement Administration has a history of classifying certain drugs more harshly than […]
DOES ALCOHOL HELP YOU SLEEP?
Have you ever come home from a long day of work and wanted nothing more than to have a stiff drink and go to bed? Or maybe you’ve been run ragged by the kids all day, and they’re finally asleep and all you can think of the bottle of wine you’ve got waiting to relax […]
ALCOHOL – THE DEADLIEST DRUG?
If someone were to ask you to name dangerous drugs, what would you say? Heroin, cocaine, meth, fentanyl, OxyContin? How about alcohol? Many people don’t consider it to be worthy of concern, because it’s legal and everyone does it. There’s no stigma against drinking (unless, perhaps, you’re embarrassing yourself in public). You can buy alcohol […]
ALCOHOL AND VIOLENCE
It seems as though the occurrence of alcohol-related violence has been steadily increasing, or at the very least we are hearing about it more often. According to one study published in Recent Developments in Alcoholism, the following percentages of violent crimes in one year involved alcohol: up to 86 percent of homicide offenders, 37 percent […]
ALCOHOL AND AGGRESSION
Viewers in the United States haven’t been able to turn on the news this week without hearing about the confirmation hearings surrounding the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. His nomination turned into a firestorm after accusations by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that he had sexually assaulted her in the past, and […]
PETS AND ADDICTION RECOVERY
You’ve finished detox and inpatient treatment, and now you’re ready to go home and try to fit back into your life. You live alone, and you don’t have many friends or family that live close by. You know that loneliness and boredom can be triggers for relapse, so what can you do to fill that […]
ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY (AAT)
We’ve all seen service animals for the blind or people with PTSD, but did you know that animal therapy can be a useful tool in addiction recovery? It’s called Animal Assisted Therapy, or AAT, and it’s used in addition to an evidence-based practice in order to maximize the benefits of treatment. Animal-assisted therapy can include […]
MANAGING ANGER IN RECOVERING TEENS
Teenagers can be difficult to deal with at the best of times – all those hormones mean constant mood changes – but especially when they’re in recovery. If your teen is dealing with a substance abuse problem, you’ve probably noticed that they are quicker to anger. All of those feelings and emotions that they’ve been […]
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T LET FEAR KEEP YOU FROM LEAVING AN ADDICT
In some ways, addiction is harder on friends and loved ones than for the person with the substance use disorder. Addiction can take the person you loved and twist them in someone unrecognizable. Your husband that attended every single T-ball game and school play is suddenly missing everything or forgetting that he was supposed to […]
HOW TO DEAL WITH UNSOLICITED ADVICE
Is there anything worse than unsolicited advice? Most of us have to deal with it throughout our entire lives, with parents, teachers, employers, friends, family members, and the occasional random stranger chiming in to tell us why whatever we’re doing is wrong and how they’d handle it in your shoes. One area where this can […]