Author: bkellaway

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

BEING OF SERVICE SOBER –  

May 9, 2024 – The documentary, Caregiving, is in production and is set to air in 2025 on PBS stations.  

The film will examine both systemic issues within the care system – where more than 50 million Americans provide unpaid care to family members – as well as tell personal stories of people who care for loved ones.

Cooper’s involvement also stems from personal experience: “When my father was diagnosed with cancer, that was a wake-up call for me, one that really opened my eyes to the world of caregiving,” the Oscar nominee said in a statement. “Everyone will end up caring for a loved one at some point in their life. The level of loneliness can overcome an individual going through this – it’s overwhelming. Raising this conversation on a national level will help, and together, I believe we can make a difference. I’m extremely proud to produce this documentary. Together, we can help raise the banner for caregivers.”

CONTINUE@MSN 

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

TIME OUT FOR FEEDINGS –  

May 7, 2024 – During a candid interview on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the former Sixers and Phoenix Suns power forward recalled the profound impact of his brother’s cocaine addiction, which ultimately led to his untimely death at the age of 42. The former NBA MVP expressed deep regret and sorrow over his brother’s struggle with addiction, revealing that he had even contemplated trying cocaine himself to understand his brother’s plight.

“I almost did cocaine one time. I had put my brother in a bunch of rehabs … I ain’t never had something so strong that I would give up the NBA or my money saying, ‘I gotta do drugs,’” Barkley shared, highlighting the destructive nature of addiction.

CONTINUE@Marca

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

NO WONDER THERE WAS NO PROFIT –  

May 8, 2024 – Dawn Holland, who opened the nonprofit’s doorsin 2015, was charged with nine counts of aggravated theft and one count of theft, according to court documents. Aggravated theft is used when allegations involve property worth more than $10,000.

Holland allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the program on at least 10 occasions over the course of roughly three years by improperly using a company credit card, said Steve Gunnels, Deschutes 

Judge Bethany Flint issued a bench warrant for Holland’s arrest Tuesday.

Dawns House, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has dedicated itself to fostering rehabilitation for women suffering from addiction and alcoholism. The name stands for Directly Assisting Women Newly Sober.

CONTINUE@BendBulletin

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

SOUND FAMILIAR? –  

May 8, 2024 – A strong sense of egocentricity and a grandiose sense of self-worth are also common, making them overconfident and disdainful of others. Individuals with pronounced psychopathic traits tend to be impulsive, showing poor behavior controls and a disregard for social norms and the law.  Scientists have also studied behavioral specificities of individuals with pronounced psychopathic traits. One study found that psychopathic murderers tend to use subordinating conjunctions when they talk (e.g., because, since, etc.) more often than non-psychopathic murderers. Other studies found that incarcerated psychopathic men tend to use higher number of hand gestures serving to break up communication, that psychopathic men in general tend to use more hand gestures compared to non-psychopathic individuals, and that they blinked more often.

Study author Samantha N. Rodriguez and her colleagues aimed to determine whether individuals with psychopathic traits exhibit specific patterns of head movement. The researchers noted that head movements are a crucial part of nonverbal communication, often used to support or contradict spoken words and convey various messages. Additionally, multiple studies have associated specific head movement patterns with various psychopathological conditions. The authors hypothesized that psychopathic traits might be linked to distinctive head movement patterns.

CONTINUE@PsyPost

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

UBERSMACK –  

May 7, 2024 – Michael Meiser, 39, was arrested April 30. Jail records show he was booked on suspicion of an unspecified felony on May 1. L.A. County Sheriff’s Department records show Meiser worked at North County Correctional Facility as an investigator. He worked with the jail’s anti-gang unit, known as Operation Safe Jails, according to two law enforcement sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation. 

One of those sources and another law enforcement official, who also was not cleared to speak publicly about the case and requested anonymity, told The Times that Meiser was arrested for allegedly smuggling heroin into the jail complex in Castaic.

Jail records show Meiser was cited and released without bail last week. He did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday and it was not clear if he has retained an attorney. 

CONTINUE@LATimes

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

AND LESS FOOD –  

May 4, 2024 – First is the movement your body is owed or requires every day, such as walking, stretching and bending. Second is athletic movement, which you can do a few times a week to improve your fitness or to train for a sport. Third is social movement  you do for fun or to connect with others, such as dancing or volleyball. 

CONTINUE@Yahoo

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

AUDIO – IS ACCEPTANCE THE KEY? –  

May 7, 2024 – A number of major cities are changing the way they address addiction and homelessness. In Philadelphia, the city’s new mayor, Cherelle Parker, is employing an aggressive strategy in Kensington, a neighborhood that is home to one of the largest open-air drug markets in the country. Along Kensington Avenue, people are camped out together in large clusters on the sidewalk or dodging cars as they dart across the street to encampments on the other side. You can see people using drugs out in the open. Needles and pieces of trash litter the ground. Subway cars roar by on elevated train tracks above the street.

CONTINUE@NPR

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STILL NOT ENOUGH –  

May 8, 2024 – Despite methadone’s effectiveness, a labyrinth of state and federal rules  keeps it inaccessible to many people who desperately need it. “What kind of normal person with a job, a life and a family can line up for medication every morning, sometimes far from where they live?”

“It’s almost comical how difficult it is to get this medication and stay on it,” he said.

Yet addiction treatment in the United States is poised for change. This year, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, known as SAMHSA, made permanent a set of pandemic-era rules that loosened several restrictions, including those on take-home doses of methadone.

It’s a move that a broad consensus of academics, advocates and providers says will improve treatment access and success rates. Having the flexibility to take medication at home can mean patients can get to work or get their kids to school on time. They can deal with family emergencies and unexpected travel. And they avoid the stigma of waiting in line at a clinic.

CONTINUE@Stateline

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

BOOMER BUMMER –  

May 8, 2024 – There is a big discussion brewing these days about the number of people who would rather be alone than in a relationship – and how that is going to affect people who do want to be a relationship but can’t find a partner. Regenstrief Institute, a data informatics firm, put out a press release about the new research.

In it, they said studies suggest that a majority of people 65 or older consider themselves lonely, and that fact could affect their health more than 15 cigarettes a day.

Researchers state in their article, published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society that being lonely is a “biophysical stressor.”

Nearly 53% of seniors identified in the study experienced loneliness, and their mental and physical health outcomes were much poorer than their peers – across demographics and health conditions.

CONTINUE@TwistedSifter

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – ONE FROM THE HEART –  

May 9, 2024  –  The Whittington family launched Med Kwik, vending machines filled with over-the-counter pharmacy items. Their daughter, 15-year-old Avery Whittington, who is serving as Miss Western Arkansas’ Teen,  said she was inspired to make opioid overdose awareness her community service after seeing the effects of opioid addiction firsthand.

“We thought it would be a good idea to put machines that were available 24/7 [in] hospitality locations like hotels, airports, hospitals, universities,” Gary Whittington said.

There are now around 20 Med Kwik machines in Arkansas, with the machine at Arkansas Colleges of Health Education in Fort Smith being the first in the state to dispense Narcan.

The Whittingtons said they were inspired to expand the machine’s inventory to include Narcan by a need they saw in the community.

“We’re both from Van Buren, and our family has been raised in Van Buren,” Rachel Whittington said. “We’ve had a couple of seniors that have suffered opioid overdoses, and over the last couple of years, we wanted to put Narcan out and be available for our community.”

Gary and Rebecca are both pharmacists, but Med Kwik and the mission to make Narcan accessible is a family project.

CONTINUE@News5

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