Active Minds Shows Struggling Students They Aren’t Alone Active Minds Shows Struggling Students They Aren’t Alone Alison Malmon, founder of the campus-based nonprofit Active Minds, has a message for college students dealing with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health issues: You are not alone, it’s not your fault, help is available, and there is hope.
Musician Charts a Path From Addiction to Authenticity Musician Charts a Path From Addiction to Authenticity When musician, singer and songwriter Michael Shapiro tells the story of his drug and alcohol addiction, he starts in 1976, when his father took him to see Carlos Santana perform.
University of Minnesota Gets Creative With Campus Mental Health University of Minnesota Gets Creative With Campus Mental Health Each fall, during a campus welcome event at the University of Minnesota, representatives from the school’s mental wellness services challenge students to see if they can balance a peacock feather on their fingertips.
4 Tips for Making the Most of Your Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Benefits 4 Tips for Making the Most of Your Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Benefits Each year, an estimated one in four U.S. adults deals with a mental health issue, and at last count, close to 22 million people met the criteria for a substance use disorder. That’s the bad news.
Learning to Be a Party Animal While Sober Learning to Be a Party Animal While Sober Adam Daar remembers what he was thinking when ordered by the courts into addiction treatment at age 14: “I’m never going to have fun again.” How could he? Partying was how the young had fun, and that just wasn’t possible without drugs and alcohol, he believed. “I was even thinking ahead to college. How am I going to have fun in college? That was my biggest fear.”
As Marijuana Use Doubles, Elements’ Dr. David Sack Tells Newsweek More People Are Seeking Treatment As Marijuana Use Doubles, Elements’ Dr. David Sack Tells Newsweek More People Are Seeking Treatment Marijuana use has more than doubled in the U.S. over the last decade and the increase in addiction during that time was nearly as large, according to a government survey.
When Drugs End a ‘Fairytale Life,’ Parents Find Solace in Helping Others When Drugs End a ‘Fairytale Life,’ Parents Find Solace in Helping Others Denise Cullen made a deal with her son, Jeff, when he was young. If he waited until he was 25 to get a tattoo, she’d pay for it, whatever he wanted. It was a way of keeping him from getting something he’d later regret.
New Research About the Teenage Brain New Research About the Teenage Brain The prevailing theory about teenagers’ brains is that the prefrontal cortex — which is thought to control complex cognitive behavior and planning — isn’t fully developed. But new research out of the University of Pittsburgh is beginning to challenge that premise. The research was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in February.
Online Role-Play Tool Shows Military Families How to Help Their Heroes Online Role-Play Tool Shows Military Families How to Help Their Heroes The young serviceman is back from deployment, safe again in his family home but having trouble sleeping, drinking more than usual, and uninterested in old friends and activities. His parents’ concern heightens with each day, but they aren’t sure how to approach their son without making matters worse.
Retailers Asked to Pull ‘Mental’ Halloween Costumes Retailers Asked to Pull ‘Mental’ Halloween Costumes Go Halloween costume shopping online and you’re sure to see them: “Gone Mental” costumes for adults and children with blood-stained tunics and straitjackets, “Asylum” wall decorations, even a 6-foot “Animated Asylum Patient” complete with “crazy” facial expression and blood-stained teeth.
Runner’s High: How Evolution Explains It Runner’s High: How Evolution Explains It The so-called runner’s high has an evolutionary explanation, according to researchers who have been exploring the phenomenon. A study by a team at the University of Arizona, led by David Raichlen, PhD, a professor in the School of Anthropology there, has found evidence to suggest that the runner’s high is an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism unique only to humans and to other mammals for whom running was necessary to survival.
Health Insurance No Guarantee of Timely Psychiatric Care Health Insurance No Guarantee of Timely Psychiatric Care Wrong numbers and unreturned calls, mislabeled providers and unavailable providers— researchers from Harvard University encountered all of these problems and more during a recent study about the availability of psychiatric care in the United States.
Edible Marijuana Overdoses May Be Linked to Two Self-Inflicted Deaths Edible Marijuana Overdoses May Be Linked to Two Self-Inflicted Deaths Two men who killed themselves a year apart both had eaten large amounts of marijuana-laced sweets, fueling ongoing concerns about the labeling and uneven effects of pot edibles.
Brain Size Influences Addiction Risk, Study Finds Brain Size Influences Addiction Risk, Study Finds New findings from a team of German and Chinese researchers point to a connection between a person’s drug addiction risks and the size or volume of specific structures inside the brain.
From the White House to Your House: A Different Approach to Heroin Addiction From the White House to Your House: A Different Approach to Heroin Addiction After decades of a mindset that treated incarceration as the most fitting response to drug use, signs are adding up that the nation is getting serious about giving treatment a chance. Among indications of this attitude change is the recent White House announcement of a Heroin Response Strategy that pairs health and law enforcement officials in an effort to shift the emphasis from rounding up the usual low-level suspects to stopping distribution at its source — and in doing so helping drug users reclaim their lives.
SAMHSA Encourages Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment SAMHSA Encourages Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment It might seem like an odd concept: using drugs to gain control over drug use. But especially for people addicted to opioids such as heroin or prescription painkillers, medication-assisted treatment with drugs such as Suboxone (a mix of buprenorphine and naloxone) or methadone can save lives.
Getting Loud About Facing Addiction Getting Loud About Facing Addiction It’s billed as “the day the silence ends.” On Oct. 4, top-name performers, political leaders, and tens of thousands of people who care about resolving a public health crisis that kills 350 daily will converge on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the UNITE to Face Addiction rally. Staged by the nonprofit group Facing Addiction with the support of more than 500 partnering organizations, the rally aims to kick-start a conversation about addiction that will lead to greater public awareness and understanding — and by extension to greater political will to seek solutions.
Book Review: Practical Tips for “Living With Intent” Book Review: Practical Tips for “Living With Intent” Imagine coming of age as part of a wellness dynasty. Mallika Chopra’s family is medical royalty in India: Her grandfather was a well-known doctor whose patients would travel for days to be treated by him. Her father is one of the most well-known transformational writers and speakers on the planet.
17 Percent of College Students Abuse ADHD Drugs 17 Percent of College Students Abuse ADHD Drugs New findings from a group of American researchers indicate that almost one-fifth of all U.S. college students misuse a prescription medication classified as a stimulant.
Army Launches Probe Into Substance Abuse Treatment Scandal Army Launches Probe Into Substance Abuse Treatment Scandal In response to a recent story detailing serious quality-control problems at Army substance abuse treatment centers, U.S. Army leadership is taking decisive action. Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Ray Odierno have ordered the Army Inspector General’s office to open an investigation into this developing scandal, giving it free and open access to records and personnel at 54 Army-funded addiction treatment facilities in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia.
Project Semicolon: Inspired by Loss, Powered by Love Project Semicolon: Inspired by Loss, Powered by Love It began as one person honoring her parent. Today, Project Semicolon is a viral phenomenon, challenging mental illness stereotypes and spreading a message of hope and encouragement to all those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.
Heroin Update: More People Using, More People Dying Heroin Update: More People Using, More People Dying The latest analysis of U.S. heroin trends can be summed up in one discouraging word: more. More heroin use, more populations using heroin, more use of other drugs alongside heroin, and more people — many more — dying.
Cassava℠ Free Addiction Recovery App Now Available for Android Devices Cassava℠ Free Addiction Recovery App Now Available for Android Devices The CassavaSM addiction recovery app, launched in April for iPhone, is now available for Android devices. The app features daily affirmations and recovery tips, a personal journal, and a comprehensive database with more than 140,000 12-step and non-12-step listings to help app users locate support group meetings, whether at home or on the road.
Watch Out for Binge-Watching TV Watch Out for Binge-Watching TV A marathon session of watching your favorite TV show sounds harmless enough. Thanks to on-demand viewing and online streaming, it’s easy to catch up on several episodes or even a whole season at a time. But binge-consuming anything — whether it’s TV, booze or food — may be a sign that something is missing in your life. One recent study linked binge-watching TV to loneliness and depression.