Understanding the High Functioning Alcoholic Executive Alcohol AbuseBy PromisesApril 26, 2015It’s not easy to make sense of the high-functioning alcoholic (HFA), but there are more of them than we think. People earning more than $75,000 per year drink more alcohol than any other economic group. About 81 percent of these high earners consume alcohol on, at least, a semi-regular basis. While the majority of them…
The Scary Reality of Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence Mental Health - WomenBy PromisesMarch 21, 2015Abusing drugs or alcohol does not necessarily cause domestic violence, but there is a strong correlation. For households with an addict, episodes of violence are far more likely. Every day can be a fearful game of waiting for the drug abuser or alcoholic to explode or lash out at a child or a spouse. Substance…
What’s Wrong With Calling Someone an Addict? Drug Addiction InfoBy PromisesSeptember 20, 2014In recent years, the terms “addict” and “alcoholic” have been gradually falling out of favor as ways to refer to people with substance use disorders. Many people have begun to publicly advocate against these terms, including the current acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli. Those who want…
Understanding Substance/Medication-Induced Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorder Mental HealthBy PromisesSeptember 11, 2014Substance/medication induced obsessive-compulsive and related disorder is the lengthy, somewhat complicated name for a newly defined mental health condition that appears in DSM 5, the recently released fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. People with this condition have symptoms that closely resemble the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or any…
5 Key Elements of Recovery from Depression and Substance Abuse RecoveryBy PromisesJuly 30, 2014For 20 years, I battled with a cycle of depression that went from manageable low moods to periods of isolation and despair. Yet it wasn’t until I had a complete breakdown that I started to challenge my mental health status. When I did, it turned out to be the first step to overcoming depression and…
The Toll of Caregiving – When the Strain of Caring for Others Leads to Substance Abuse Drug Addiction InfoBy PromisesJune 17, 2013For some, the burden of caregiving can seem unbearable – whether you’re caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer’s or parenting a child with cerebral palsy. It is, without question, a challenging way to live: attending to your loved one’s personal hygiene, going back and forth to doctor’s appointments, preparing meals and ensuring he or…
When Drugs Win the War on Drugs, It’s Time to Focus on Treatment Drug Addiction InfoBy PromisesMay 19, 2013Back in 1998, the satirical newspaper The Onion featured the following front-page headline: “Drugs Win Drug War” This introduction and the story that followed were obviously intended as a spoof, but humor is frequently used as a subtle way to reveal the truth and that was undoubtedly the intent in this case. Fifteen years later,…
One in Eight Emergency Room Visits Related to Mental Illness or Substance Abuse NewsBy PromisesJuly 12, 2010Of the 95 million emergency room visits estimated that occurred in 2007, 12 million of them were attributed to a mental disorder, substance abuse condition, or both. According to a new statistical report from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), one in eight visits by adults to hospital emergency departments was related to the…
