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Tag: depression

  • Treating alcohol withdrawal with benzodiazepines – Safe if mindful

    Contributing co-author: Andrew Chen Alcohol withdrawal can be extremely unpleasant (see here for an overview). Symptoms vary from person to person, but most people will experience some negative symptoms of alcohol withdrawal if they try to stop drinking after long term use. Mild to moderate symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, rapid heart rate, abnormal…

  • Rubber-band addiction recovery – No shame

    There’s a specific issue that keeps coming up with nearly every addiction client I work with who is in early recovery. Regardless of whether they’re trying to stop unhealthy alcohol or drug use, sex or gambling behavior, or anything else, this issue keeps returning. It doesn’t even seem to matter if this is their first…

  • 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…

  • Influential factors in college drinking

    Co-authored by: Jamie Felzer What influences students’ college drinking decisions? Do friends peer pressure them? Do they do it because they are bored? Do they drink to relieve depression or anxiety? Researchers recently tried to answer these questions by surveying college students… 65% of the participants reported having at least one drink in the past…

  • 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…

  • More money more problems? Rich teens and drugs

    Teens raised in affluent homes display the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and drug abuse according to a recent article in Monitor on Psychology, the APA‘s monthly magazine. One of our recent posts dealt with some of the issues unique to teens and drugs. In addition to the issues we’d already mentioned, the article named…

  • Sometimes it just takes blind faith – Depression and drug use

    I don’t normally like sharing this kind of stuff, but I think that if the point of the blog is be truthful, I need to cover all bases. When it comes to depression and drug use, I have personal experience with the connection. When depression hits – Drug use and self-medication I don’t always wake…

  • Disclose or not? The catch 22 of mental illness stigma

    I want to share a recent post of mine from psychinaction because I think it applies to addiction as much as it does to other mental health issues: A report published by SAMHSA addresses the issue of self-disclosure regarding mental illness. Research has already shown that the more familiar people are with others who have…

  • Pathological Gambling- Is it an addiction? Part II

    Michael Campos, Ph.D. This is part II in Michael’s series on pathological gambling (click the preceding for part I): The risk factors for pathological gambling There are a number of factors that are important in pathological gambling including types and number of games played, alcohol use, and socio-demographic factors. Some research suggests that casino gambling,…

  • The genetics of quitting smoking- Bupropion and nicotine metabolism

    If you’ve been reading A3 for a while, you know that we’re big supporters of scientific progress in addiction treatment. While it may be true that addicts need to want recovery in order to truly turn their lives around, the choice is hardly ever that simple and if we can tip the balance in the…