Everyone can be moody sometimes, but how do you know if you have an actual mood disorder, such as bipolar disorder or cyclothymia? What are some of the telltale signs and symptoms? Can you take a quiz to see if you have the signs for one of these mood disorders? While diagnosing a mental illness…
What is ataxia? Doctors use the term to describe a group of disorders that cause you to lose the normal ability to coordinate your body movements. One of these conditions, cerebellar ataxia, occurs in large numbers of people affected by alcoholism. However, a second form of the condition, called sensory ataxia, has other common causes.…
Fibromyalgia is a long-term health condition that leads to chronic, widespread physical pain. Researchers have found that alcohol consumption can help reduce symptoms of the condition and bring significant pain relief. For this reason, people affected by fibromyalgia may be tempted to increase their alcohol intake in order to keep the disorder under control. However,…
A combination of buprenorphine/naloxone is marketed under the brand names Suboxone and Zubsolv in order to assist with the drug addiction recovery process. Buprenorphine/naloxone consists of two main ingredients that cancel each other out: buprenorphine is a type of narcotic or opioid, and naloxone is a drug that blocks the effects of opioids. In fact,…
If you’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and are about to begin treatment, you should know that anxiety medication and alcohol do not mix. Ignore this warning and you’ll be putting your health and possibly even your life at risk. Why Alcohol and Anxiety Medication Are So Dangerous in Combination Drugs called benzodiazepines are…
Psychedelics are a type of hallucinogenic drug that alter thoughts, feelings and perception. Using substances like magic mushrooms, LSD or DMT, drug use causes users to experience visual and auditory sensations that appear to be real but are not. Users may feel disconnected from their bodies or surroundings. The experience of using psychedelic drugs can…
By Matthew Goldenberg, D.O. Board Certified Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry Associate Medical Director, Promises Professionals Treatment Program Many people in the U.S., Irish-American or otherwise, have only a vague notion of what the St. Patrick’s Day holiday represents, beyond the connection to alcohol. While the root of the holiday is paying homage to St. Patrick…
By Jana Albright, MA, CATC-IV, Primary Therapist at Promises Malibu Many addiction treatment programs emphasize talk therapy as a method for helping clients through the treatment process. Does talk therapy work for everyone? It depends, because every person who enters a drug treatment program arrives with their own complex and unique personal history, issues and…
Adderall is a brand-name combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, and it is prescribed to treat the symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, some people, particularly teens and young adults feeling pressured to perform to exceptional standards in high school or college, may abuse Adderall in order to concentrate for long periods of time. Taking…
One of the first questions people struggling with eating disorders ask is how to get these crazy thoughts about food, weight and body image out of their head. What is the best treatment to stop these obsessive thoughts and the compulsive nature of the eating disorder behaviors? The answer is simple, FOOD, in an adequate…
