New Research Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Brain Development
The connection between adverse childhood experiences and brain development and of that connection on a person developing a substance misuse problem is the result of brain research of the past 10-15 years. Jane Stevens reported in her article, “Traumatic Childhood Takes 20 Years Off Life Expectancy,” published today by Lawrence Journal World and News, the…
Read MoreSPECT Scans Showing the Brain Can Change When Substance Abuse is Stopped
SPECT scans are the result of new technology. In the case of understanding and treating substance abuse and/or addiction, they can be of particular help in providing the “visual” evidence (in conjunction with a complete clinical evaluation, of course) of what alcohol abuse, drug abuse and/or addiction does to the brain’s ability to function. In…
Read MoreSPECT Scans Showing Impact of Alcohol Abuse on the Brain
This post was originally published in 2009. A lot has changed since then, so I’m sharing the link to the Amen Clinics’ (the providers of the SPECT Scans I originally used in this post) website section, “Drugs and Alcohol Addictions.” There you will find examples of their scans and information on how/why they do them…
Read MoreAlcohol Abuse is the Bigger Problem
There’s a range of drinking patterns – use, abuse, dependence (alcoholism) – and it’s alcohol abuse that is the biggest problem. Following the various articles and blogs that contain my google keywords: drunk driving, alcohol, underage drinking, alcohol abuse, alcohol research, alcohol and the brain, codependency, etc., brings me so may tragic stories of what…
Read MoreImpacts on Children of Growing Up With Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Impacts on children of growing up with alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be life-changing. It can actually change the wiring of a child’s brain (neural circuitry) and thereby change how that child views and copes with the world. These brain changers are primarily related to the impacts on the developing brain of the verbal, physical…
Read MoreHow Can Parents Help Teens Decide Not to Drink?
How can parents help teens decide not to drink? And should they – shouldn’t they be “teaching” their teens to drink? These are common questions among parents (and teens, for that matter). There’s an underlying perception that “all teens drink” or “I [parent] drank and am fine, so what’s the big deal?” Reasons to Help…
Read MoreKnowing What’s Really Important to Prevent Addiction
Parents often ask what they can do to prevent addiction or drug | alcohol abuse in their children. To share his advice, please find the following guest post by Adi Jaffe, Director of allaboutaddiction.com and a UCLA trained addiction expert. Before Dr. Jaffe got involved in addiction research in UCLA classrooms and labs, he was a drug dealer and meth…
Read MoreEverybody Drinks
Everybody drinks – time and again, you hear students and adults say something like, “It’s normal. All kids drink.” And, often, researchers (myself included) focus on how many young people are drinking. The 2002 to 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, for example, found that in 2006 almost one in five people aged…
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