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Mental Health Labels – Rebranding Our Shame
I recently gave a talk at the TEDxUCLA conference. The point of the talk was to point out just how impactful, often negatively so, mental health labels can be. In case you are not aware, mental health labels typically come with expectations. As I point out in my talk, these expectations can actually alter individual […]
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Is opiate pain medication safe for addicts? Part II
In our previous article on pain medication and addicts we looked at how common opiate prescriptions are among people who are, or ever have been, identified as having substance abuse issues. We saw that although clinicians are often aware of the problem of possible prescription addiction developing, the issue of managing pain often results in […]
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Is opiate pain medication safe for addicts? Part I
A recent user question on VYou (see my response here) addressed the issue of prescribing addicts with opioid pain medication. Since prescription medication abuse and addiction is on the rise and getting more and more attention in the media every year, the question of whether addicts in recovery, or people who have dealt with substance […]
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How to Give Up Giving Up – The Lexicon of success
When I was facing eighteen years in prison for a string of felonies long enough to make an organized crime boss proud, I made a decision that would alter the course of my life forever: I was going to change. It’s not that I had a problem making decisions for myself before that time. I […]
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Addiction recovery help by replacement
It’s difficult, if not impossible, for addicts to eliminate the tendencies that drive them towards addiction. While at times destructive, is it possible to rechannel those urges to more constructive, healthy, and helpful behaviors and activities? We think so. Read on to find out how
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Addiction treatment in Vietnam – Beatings and forced labor
You’ll never think of Cashews in the same way after reading the first few pages of this recent report by the Human Rights Watch group that looked into the abuses in Vietnamese “drug treatment” centers. The detainees in these facilities, whether they checked themselves in voluntarily or were committed after being arrested for using or possessing […]
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Overcoming mental health problems is more than possible
Addicts and others with mental health issues continuously feel as if they need to hide their problems as well as hide from them. But an ongoing west-coast (U.C.L.A. and U.S.C.) study with a group of mental health patients suggests that hiding may be the wrong approach. The participants in the study, all successful individuals with […]
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One day at a time, but not forever!!!
If you’ve ever gone to a 12-step meeting, you’ve heard the phrase “one day at a time,” so often as to make it a mantra. Personally, it always left me wanting more. Is “one day at a time” enough?! I think the notion is a correct one… when it comes to early recovery. However, once […]
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About Addiction:Elder Abuse, Excercise, and Smoking
Yes, you got it. This is the place to get some of the most recent, and most interesting information about addiction from experts who study addiction as a specialty. Our “About Addiction” posts cover some of the latest information from the WWW that addresses addiction specifically or issues related to addiction. Enjoy! Drugs: Smoking, Placebo […]
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Loss, but not absence, of control – How choice and addiction are related
In a recent post the notion that “loss of control” is an addiction myth was raised by our contributing author, Christopher Russell, a thoughtful graduate student studying substance abuse in the U.K. Though I obviously personally believe in control- and choice-relevant neurological mechanisms playing a part in addiction, this conversation is a common one both […]
