Naloxone: Why There’s No Excuse Not to Save Someone From Opioid Overdose Prescription DrugsBy Promises AustinJune 6, 2016When someone you care about is addicted to prescription painkillers or heroin, it can feel like you’ve already lost them. Sadly, drug overdose deaths are more common than ever, taking the No. 1 spot in leading causes of accidental death in the U.S., surpassing even car crashes. As you watch your loved one spiral out…
4 Things It Helps to Understand About Addiction Relapse Relapse PreventionBy Promises AustinJune 6, 2016“I relapsed.” If you find yourself saying these words despite spending time, money and effort on your addiction recovery, you are likely feeling demoralized and distressed. How could you have jeopardized all that you worked for? How could you have let down not only yourself, but your family and friends? The tough truth about drug…
4 Things to Remember When Dealing With a Loved One’s Relapse Family ResourcesBy Promises AustinJune 3, 2016It’s heartbreaking when someone you love relapses into drug or alcohol use and all the hope and joy you felt upon believing they had conquered their addiction evaporates. The mental torture then begins: “I should have seen this coming,” “I feel so stupid” and “How could they choose this over me?” It’s a painful time…
Sex Addiction: A Struggle With Intimacy Sex AddictionBy Promises AustinJune 2, 2016Sexual addiction is still a difficult concept for many people to grasp. The fact that much of the behavior typical of people with sexual addiction is socially taboo makes it easy for others to suspect that the disorder is really a convenient excuse for people who want to redirect the blame when they have been…
A Drug-Addicted Nurse’s Story of Recovery: A Tale of Hope Addiction - ProfessionalsBy Promises AustinJune 2, 2016Kristin Waite-Labott, a recovering drug-addicted nurse, vividly remembers the first time she took the opioid painkiller fentanyl. “There’s getting high and there’s getting lost, and I just feel like I got lost once I took that.” She was a talented and respected ER nurse at the time, as well as a loving mother, a trusted…
Blending Psychodrama and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Treat Addiction TherapiesBy Promises AustinMay 31, 2016A new twist on cognitive behavioral therapy is gaining traction in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. It uses techniques from psychodrama, an experiential role play therapy, layered over the research-based favorite, cognitive behavioral therapy. Although this combination is not officially recognized as a distinct form of therapy, it’s being used by some leading-edge…
Is Social Anxiety Stealing Your Potential? AnxietyBy Promises AustinMay 25, 2016Here’s a simple social anxiety test: When you hear a group of people laugh, do you wonder what they found so funny, or are you sure they’re laughing at you? That feeling of being judged and found lacking, of being doomed to embarrass yourself whenever you are around others, are hallmarks of social anxiety disorder,…
Why It’s Essential for Workaholics to Take Vacations Personal ResourcesBy Promises AustinMay 25, 2016Imagine this scenario: You are invited by a friend to spend a week in Jamaica at an all-inclusive resort. All you need to do is pay the airfare. Your immediate response is, “Of course, I will go. Thank you very much.” Your secondary and quite visceral reaction is, “That means I might have to take…
‘Chasing The Dragon’ Shows Ugly Reality of Opiate Addiction HeroinBy Promises AustinMay 24, 2016Just how addictive are opiates such as prescription painkillers and heroin? Consider Melissa’s story. After regaining consciousness in the hospital after a heroin overdose, the young mother unhooked her IV from its pole, walked out and went straight to her dealer, still in her hospital gown. “And he sold me heroin, the same heroin that…
Hayden Panettiere on Postpartum Depression: ‘Ask for Help’ DepressionBy Promises AustinMay 16, 2016A few months after the birth of her daughter, actress Hayden Panettiere made headlines when she opened up about her struggles with postpartum depression and checked herself into a treatment facility.
