By Christian Castaneda, LCSW, Program Director, Promises It’s human nature to feel a connection to holidays. People relate to familiar anniversaries and hold certain dates as significant or sacred. That’s why so many people plan to make healthy changes at the start of a new year. While some holidays are designated for specific people and…
An estimated 23 million Americans and nearly 30 million people worldwide are addicted to a substance—from alcohol to prescription medications to illicit drugs. Addiction is the unintended outcome of misusing or overusing an addictive substance. While there is much debate over the role that free will or choice plays in addiction, it can certainly be…
Hydrocodone is currently the most commonly prescribed opioid painkiller in the United States. A semi-synthetic narcotic medication that is sold as a generic or under the brand names Vicodin, Hysingla, Zohydro, Norco and Lorcet, hydrocodone is also one of the most commonly misused or abused opioid painkillers. Like all opioids, hydrocodone is highly addictive, particularly…
The number of senior citizens with drug addiction is on the rise in the United States, and prescription painkillers, such as hydrocodone and other opioids, play a major role in drug problems among the elderly. Opioid painkillers are the fourth most commonly abused substance among senior citizens in the U.S., following close behind alcohol, marijuana…
Adults aged 50 and older are among the more than 3 million people in the United States who have opioid or opiate addictions. Overuse or misuse of prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone is so widespread that President Trump has declared the opioid epidemic a public “health emergency.” But opioids aren’t the only substances…
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning on the “deadly risks” associated with the use of kratom, an herbal supplement touted as a treatment for anxiety and depression and more recently as an alternative to opioid pain pills. What’s more, individuals who have become addicted to opioids are now using kratom as a do-it-yourself…
The fear of intimacy can ruin relationships. We all crave connection, but due to trauma suffered in childhood, or perhaps as the result of a relationship in adulthood that went terribly wrong, some people learn that it’s safer to keep others at an emotional arm’s length. But doing so is counterproductive and often leads to…
President Donald Trump recently held a news conference to declare the nation’s opioid epidemic to be a “Public Health Emergency.” He outlined a wide-ranging plan for addressing “solutions” to opioid addiction and stated emphatically that it is essential that addicted Americans are supported in obtaining opioid addiction treatment. “[We must] face the reality that millions…
Sexual abuse and harassment is one of the top stories today. It’s being fueled by accusations against men in the public eye ― such as Harvey Weinstein ― and by so many people, men and women, stepping out and saying, “Me too. I was harassed. I was victimized.” But in the sudden explosion of interest…
OxyContin is the brand name for an extended-release form of oxycodone, a prescription opioid painkiller that is one of the most overprescribed and misused medications in the United States. Highly effective, but also highly addictive in both the immediate-release and extended-release forms, OxyContin and oxycodone are prescription narcotics with opium-like effects. How is OxyContin made…
