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Tag: crystal meth

Reduce HIV Transmission – Shooting up, clean needles, and addiction treatment

Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer We’ve talked often on this site about many of the negative things that often come along with heavy drug use. We’ve not yet talked about any of the factors that make injection drug use even worse. Users inject cocaine, crystal meth, and heroin, or any combination of these. Shooting up and…

November 9, 2009
The hopeful side of my addiction – Drug use is not always a dead end street

I was sitting around with some friends last night talking about old times over dinner. I think it’s sad that the most commonly seen face of addiction and of drug use in general is that of failure. We see it on the news, in the tabloids, and it seems to seep into our minds. I…

October 10, 2009
Surfing and exercise in crystal meth addiction recovery

Hey everyone, I’ve already talked about the endless ways in which exercise can help addicts, especially in early recovery, fill the void left by their drug use (see here for some articles). This NY Times article follows Darryl Virostko, a world class surfer, as he attempts to incorporate surfing and surfing lessons into the rehabilitation…

October 3, 2009
Addiction causes – Drug addiction as a chronic disease makes sense

The stigma of addiction is alive and well. Whether you believe in the disease model or not, it seems that people’s judgments regarding what it means to be an addict are well entrenched. I’d like to work on that a bit. Why is addiction a disease? In numerous posts on this site I’ve addressed issues…

September 19, 2009
Always stay mindful – My different experience with recovery, addiction, and crystal meth

One of the main features of addiction is, unfortunately, how insidious it is. Given everything I’ve been learning in the past 12 years about drugs, their abuse, and the people involved, I feel right in saying that most people don’t realize how far gone they are until it’s too late. I consider myself fortunate in…

September 2, 2009
Addiction-brain effects: Sex addiction, neurotransmitters, and being love addicted

***A disclaimer: Sex addiction is a relatively new concept in science. I haven’t been able to find much research on the subject, so much of what is being said here is my interpretation of the current literature on sexual responsivity in humans.*** I’ve already mentioned that scientists are beginning to consider behavioral addictions (like gambling…

August 30, 2009
Drug use norms and expectations: Obsessions and compulsions in our society.

I used to always say, back in my using days, that speed (methamphetamine) was The American drug. Why? Meth makes its users sharper, more alert, and more focused, and it allowed me to spend entire nights up studying like I’d never been able to study before. Unfortunately, like many other aspects of The American Dream,…

August 23, 2009
Beyond my addiction: Allowing myself to be proud of my achievements

This is a more personal post than I’m used to writing, but I think the thoughts in it are shared by many addicts, so I’d like to share it. I originally posted it on my personal blog: It’s sad, but for the most part, I focus on the things I haven’t yet done and not…

August 6, 2009
Clubs, drugs, and dancing – Crystal meth, and club drug use

Anyone involved with the dance/rave/club culture knows that drugs often go hand in hand with music and dancing. Club drugs, as well as alcohol and drug abuse, are often rampant in the social groups full of excited club goers. Previous academic studies supported this notion but could not distinguish if the drug use took place…

July 5, 2009
More CPDD Addiction research: Addiction, exercise, recovery!

Okay, this is probably the last addiction research update I will give focusing on the Reno conference. The rest of the stuff I learned will be incorporated into future posts. I’ve written before about the relationship between exercise and recovery (see here) and I will surely write more since for me, it was a big…

June 30, 2009