Seven Kinds of Power
The following is a guest post by Steve Hauptman, LCSW, and therapist practicing in Mount Sinai, New York. Steven is a Gestaltist and leader of Interactive Therapy groups and is currently writing a book titled, The Illusion of Control. Steve also writes Monkeytraps, a blog devoted to the oldest human addiction: control. He can be…
Read More“Where Are the Cocoa Puffs?” A Story of Bipolar Disorder
As you know, I often write about dual diagnosis (co-occurring disorders — having both a mental health illness and an addiction), as well as the fact that mental illness is one of the five key risk factors for developing an addiction (whether it’s to drugs or alcohol). [The other four are childhood trauma, social environment,…
Read MoreMonitoring the Future Study Highlights Simplified in Infographic
The following infographic was brought to my attention by Robyn Schelenz, Home Health Testing, with this introduction: After the most recent National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded Monitoring the Future study overview came out late last year, we decided to convert the data from the study into infographic form. Dr. Lloyd Johnston, the Principal…
Read MoreWhat is an Intervention?
An intervention is an effort to confront (in a loving manner) a friend or family member’s substance misuse. To help readers understand what’s involved, Rachel Corbett, Business Development Director, and Alexander Tellez, Director of Administration, of Recovery Power Intervention Programs, a professional services organization providing intervention, recovery and care management services, shared the following guest…
Read MoreDisease of Addiction – What New Research Is Telling Us About This Brain Disease
Disease of Addiction — one of the most difficult aspects of this whole “thing” — from substance abuse to addiction to secondhand drinking/drugging — is to understand and accept that addiction (whether it’s to drugs or alcohol) is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. Disease of Addiction Explained Everything about our body — what we…
Read MoreCoping With Secondhand Drinking | Drugging Can Cause a Young Person to Wire Unhealthy Coping Skills
Coping with secondhand drinking | drugging is especially problematic for a young person because of the brain development that occurs from birth through one’s early 20s – especially if the parent or sibling’s drinking or drug use behaviors involved verbal, physical or emotional abuse. Why is this such a problem? Because it actually changes the…
Read MoreThe First 3 Years of Life
The first three years of life on a blog about alcohol abuse, mental illness, addiction, secondhand drinking…? You betcha! The tremendous, far-reaching brain research being conducted as a result of the advances in imaging technologies, such as SPECT, fMRI and PET, is providing a better understanding of just how/why the first three years of life…
Read MoreThe Importance of Treating Mental Illness
The importance of treating mental illness cannot be understated – not only to relieve the symptoms of the mental illness, itself, but to thwart its role as one of the five key risk factors for abusing substances and/or developing an addiction. This program, “Los Angeles Patches Together Mental Health Care for Juvenile Offenders,“ on KQED’s…
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