When Diagnosis Eludes
A mother struggles a decade before her son’s severe mental illness is treated right, and covered right, by insurance. First in a two-part series.
Guidance
A Recovering Addict’s Guide to Finding Balance
For a recovering alcoholic or addict, learning to find balance can be particularly challenging. Leading a balanced life means avoiding extreme highs or lows. It also means paying attention to tendencies that many addicts have to focus or obsess too much on one activity, such as exercise or work. When the scales are tipped too …
Using Phrases Like ‘Rock Bottom’ Is Easy; Living With Them Is Hard
One of the most widely repeated pieces of advice on dealing with addiction in a loved one is that “tough love” is the best approach. He or she has to hit “rock bottom,” you’re told, and when that happens, there will be a tremendous transformation. The son or daughter who once wanted nothing but to …
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Personality Disorders: How to Tell Them Apart
Humans are complicated beings whose attitudes and behaviors are shaped by numerous factors. These factors might be biological, psychological, social, or spiritual. Some are primarily neurobiological, others environmental. Sometimes these components combine to form one or more of the personality disorders in a trifecta of sociopathy, narcissism and borderline personality disorder.
Crash Test Dummies Getting Bigger to Reflect America’s Growing Waistline
Safety is a big deal in the automotive industry, and crash test dummies are getting heavier as a result. Obesity in America has created a need for larger crash test dummies to reduce the risk of death for overweight automobile drivers and passengers. Instead of being a svelte 170 pounds, the company that makes crash test dummies …
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Childhood Bullying ‘Huge’ Factor in Drug Addiction
A new study has underlined the importance of bullying in substance abuse and hints at the potential benefits of raising awareness of its long-term effects.
5 Books to Read in Treatment or Early Sobriety
When you’re overcoming an addiction, staying sober is a full-time job. Whether it’s the rigid schedule of a rehab center or your own internal battles with cravings, you have a lot on your mind in the earliest stages of recovery. But then it all falls away—fewer rehab commitments you’re just spending less time thinking about …
Teens Who Smoke or Are Depressed Less Willing to Delay Rewards
By nature, people tend to want to be rewarded for their behavior now rather than later. Psychologists call the preference for short-term rewards over long-term rewards delay discounting. In a study published in 2014 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, researchers from two U.S. universities explored the ways in which delay discounting and depression …
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Which Drug Use Cues Play a Role in Prescription Opioid Dependence?
Researchers and addiction specialists are well aware that people affected by physical dependence and drug addiction commonly have a susceptibility to certain social and environmental cues that make ongoing substance use and relapses during substance treatment more likely. However, fairly little is known about the specific drug cues that motivate people physically dependent on prescription …
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The Reality of Sugar Addiction
You may joke about getting your daily afternoon sugar fix and about needing it to get through the rest of the day, but it isn’t particularly funny. As research keeps finding and confirming, sugar is addictive. It may not be heroin or cocaine, but it can get you hooked and it can cause major, long-term …