Top 10 Myths About Mental Illness
It’s the myths about mental illness that keep it shrouded in secrecy and shame making it terribly difficult for people to get the information and help they need. The following is a post by Pamela Kulbarsh, RN, BSW, a psychiatric nurse for over 25 years. She has worked with law enforcement in crisis intervention for…
Read MoreBrain Development Ages 12-25: Major Changes; Major Implications for Underage Drinking
by Lisa Frederiksen As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, “Teen Stress and the Substance Misuse Connection,” I thought I would repost one that I wrote in October 2009 and updated March 4, 2011. The connection between the two posts has to do with the potentially devastating consequences of underage drinking (or drug use, for that…
Read MoreTeen Stress and the Substance Misuse Connection
There is a definite connection between teen stress and underage substance misuse. It has to do with the way substances work on the dopamine pleasure/reward pathways, which is what makes using drugs or alcohol pleasurable. And we all know how stress makes us feel, so using drugs or alcohol can seem to help – at…
Read MoreAdult Children of Alcoholics | You? Or Someone Like You: Picking Up the Pieces Bit by Bit
Adult children of alcoholics are individuals who’ve grown up in a home where there was constant tension caused by a parent’s drinking. This tension takes many forms and is often passed off as caused by someone or something else, which is, of course, confusing to a child. To help us understand this better, Diana “ATL”…
Read MoreThe Real Truth About Loving an Addict
The following is a guest post by Cathy Taughinbaugh of Treatment Talk. “Love recognizes no barriers, it jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” Maya Angelou We often think about the people we love. I’ve been thinking about all of us who love an addict. For us mothers,…
Read MoreDelaying The First Drink: A Parent’s Guide
Delaying the first drink can make a huge difference for a child’s brain development, as well as with their avoiding a lifelong problem with alcoholism. Why? Because early use is one of the five key risk factors for developing the chronic, often relapsing brain disease of addiction (whether that be an addiction to drugs or…
Read MoreChildren on RX Drugs Become Adults with Drug Addictions
Children on RX drugs become adults with drug addictions because addiction is a developmental brain disease and the misuse of drugs during brain development (ages 12-25) is a key risk factor for developing this disease. The following is a guest post by Leslie Botha, Marketing Director for Courage to Change Addiction Recovery Ranches, in which…
Read MorePreventing Suicide Among People Who Abuse Alcohol or Drugs
Preventing alcohol or drug abuse can be critical to preventing suicide, primarily because of the chemical and structural brain changes caused by substance abuse. These sorts of brain changes interrupt neural networks responsible for judgment, memory, emotion, logical thinking – the very areas of the brain a person needs in order to “think straight.” The…
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