Category: From Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – LOVE AT FIRST CHIP – 

June 19, 2021 – A Louisville man really raised the bar when it comes to wedding proposals by making his into a movie.

Sam Foree surprised his fiancé Katie Shircliffe at the Cinemark Theater in Springhurst with the story of their love and life playing out on the big screen … As she settled into a front row seat in the theater and the previews came to a close, a familiar graphic appeared on the screen, “CK Entertainment Services,” the name of the company Foree works under.

“I’ve spent my whole life running and for many years I didn’t even know what real love was,” Foree’s voiceover said as the video shows him running along the Ohio River. “Every once in a while what we are seeking is right in front of our face.”

Music swells and images upon images of Shircliffe begin to gloss over the screen. In total, it’s about a 15-minute narrative with both of their loved ones appearing as guest stars. Clips show fun times like sky diving, family moments, riding go-karts, along with other memories.

more@WDRB

The post They met in AA – Videographer proposes at Louisville movie theater appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – HELPING HELPS EVERYONE –   

JUNE 12, 2021 – “I was like the old song goes, ‘I was looking for love in all the wrong places.’ I was from a family of nine children, and my mom and dad worked constantly, you know, to keep a roof over our head, to keep food in our bellies. And so, I wasn’t getting the attention I was looking for at home, so I started to look for it outside of the house. You know, the people that were doing the wrong things, the kids that were into the wrong stuff were only too happy to give me the attention I was looking for. From the age of 12, I was in and out of jail, homeless, sleeping anywhere and everywhere. I lived under a porch at one point for quite a while, in and out of prison.”  “It’s such an easy thing to describe, to be really honest with you. So here it is, is that a person that doesn’t have addiction problems or doesn’t understand addiction, looks at somebody who’s addicted, and they see whatever it is they’re using as the thing that’s tearing them apart. The addict actually sees that same substance as the thing that’s holding them together, right? And the thought of facing life without it, is almost unbearable.”

more@KSN

The post Jim Wahlberg opens up on his opioid crisis appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

GETTING IT ALL OUT –   

June 17, 2021 – Real Housewives of Beverly Hills newcomer Crystal Kung Minkoff bravely detailed her past struggles with disordered eating on the most recent episode of the hit Bravo series. “I’m a recovering bulimic,” she told the ladies at Richards’ election-night party. “And I say recovering because I don’t know what it’s like to be any other thing.” The co-founder of Real Coco — a coconut-based food and beverage company — detailed that she began her struggles with eating and how she felt about her body when she was just 11. She explained that her disordered eating is now “under control” and she no longer suffers “daily” because of it.  She acknowledged that her bulimia was at its worst at the end of high school and her early college years, which helped her be able to hide her struggles from her parents.  Later in the episode, Kung Minkoff’s husband, prolific filmmaker Rob Minkoff, told his wife that he was shocked that she had been so open and honest with the ladies about her bulimia because she “likes food.” The Bravo star replied, “I love food, and I always wanted to say I loved it. And that was really hard… I couldn’t admit liking food because I had so much shame around food.” Kung Minkoff went on to explain that her body image issues were deep rooted in her childhood, and how she dreamt of being someone different. “I had always felt like the chubby one — wanting to be blonde, blue-eyed and skinny. I totally wanted to be American, and what that meant to me as a child was white,” she said, according to Page Six.

The reality TV couple, who tied the knot in 2007, also discussed how they talk about their bodies in front of their young daughter, Zoe. Kung Minkoff said that whenever Zoe says she has skinny legs, she reminds Zoe that they’re healthy because she works out and takes care of her body. 

more@OKMagazine

The post ‘RHOBH’ Bravely Discusses Past Struggle With Bulimia appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

QUITTING IS THE CURE – ORIGINAL ARTICLE –   

June 21, 2021 – Is calling addiction a disease more harmful than helpful? It’s complicated … but the answer is Yes.

To disease, or not to disease? In addiction circles, that is still the controversial question, despite its official, decades-long recognition as such by the American Medical Association (AMA).

The concept of alcoholism (and through it addiction) being a disease dates back centuries, and began to gain prominence in the 19th Century. In part due to the unprecedented success the then-two-decade-old Alcoholics Anonymous was showing in helping sufferers achieve and maintain sobriety, the AMA designated alcoholism an “illness” in 1956. In 1987, the AMA went a step further, formally classifying addiction as a disease.

Alcoholics Anonymous’ role in addiction’s disease designation was indirect. While the AA program certainly resembled a clinical approach to arresting a clear affliction – a process involving recognizing and addressing both a physical compulsion and a mental obsession – the organization itself neither originated nor promulgated such a formal medical distinction.

more@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin

The post The D-Word by Christopher Dale appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – REALITY – 

June 18, 2021 – The measure, a major victory for advocates pushing for systemic change in U.S. drug policy, expands funding and access to addiction treatment services using tax revenue from the state’s pot industry as well as from expected savings from a reduction in arrests and incarceration. 

For years Oregon has ranked near the top of states with the highest rates of drug and alcohol addiction and near the very bottom nationally in access to recovery services. And while critics everywhere have long called the drug war a racist, inhumane fiasco that fails to deliver justice or health, Oregon is the first to take a leap toward radically changing those systems.  “What we’ve been doing for the last number of decades has completely failed,” says Mike Schmidt, district attorney for Oregon’s most populated county, Multnomah, which includes Portland. Schmidt, who publicly supported Measure 110, says he firmly believes the health model — not criminalization — is the best way to battle the disease substance use disorder. 

“Criminalization keeps people in the shadows. It keeps people from seeking out help, from telling their doctors, from telling their family members that they have a problem,” Schmidt says.

more@NPR

The post Oregon’s Decriminalization Experiment Faces The Hard Test appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

I BELIEVE HIM – 

June 13, 2021 – People with low levels of vitamin D might be at an increased risk for opioid dependence or addiction — and the deficit could be fixed with cheap and accessible supplements, a new Massachusetts General Hospital study indicates.

“Our results suggests that we may have an opportunity in the public health arena to influence the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. David Fisher, director of the MGH Cancer Center’s melanoma program and an author of the study published Friday.

Fisher and his colleagues found that vitamin D deficiency strongly increases the craving for opioids, potentially putting people at a higher risk for addiction.

In one arm of the study, normal lab mice were compared with mice that were deficient in vitamin D. When the mice were conditioned with small doses of morphine, those with the deficiency continued seeking out the drug. That behavior was less common in the non-deficient mice. When vitamin D levels were corrected in mice, their opioid responses returned to normal, according to the study.

“The vitamin D level is regulating the behavioral response to opiates, and this appears to be an evolutionary pathway,” Fisher told the Herald.

more@MercuryNews

The post Vitamin D deficiency may increase risk for opioid addiction appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LISTEN – ALL OF THE ABOVE? –   

June 17, 2021 – For the past nine months, citizens have attempted to learn more and have a two-way dialogue with members of the City Council. They have felt increasingly frustrated that council policy allows only three minutes of citizen comments at any one time, with no responses by City Council members. 

“During the hearing examiner process, the City Council told the citizens that, on advice of counsel, they could not speak about the detox matter because it was out of their hands,” said Lewallen. “They said they had no influence over the hearing examiner’s decision.  

“Whether they are a bystander or directly involved in litigation, their lack of transparency and accountability to their citizens has been a constant,” he said. “Which is understandably frustrating to those impacted by this erroneous decision.” 

On Monday evening, just hours after being served legal paperwork, the City Council held a previously scheduled online town hall event via Zoom. They offered citizens unrestricted time to share concerns, and council members were allowed to respond. The town hall ran for about 94 minutes with a substantial amount of respectful, two-way dialogue between citizens and councilors.

The one exception was the drug detox facility issue. Because the city had been sued, Burton and Director of Communications Bryan Rachal informed citizens at the start of the town hall event that council members would listen but not respond to comments about the Discover Recovery issue.

Several citizens shared that there was a need for this type of facility in Camas, but the location was wrong. “We do need that in our community,” said Robert, a disabled veteran. “Everybody knows that. We’re just concerned with location.”

more@ClarkCountyToday

The post Is the drug detox facility actually a ‘nursing or convalescent home’ per city code? appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – OH HOW THEY LOVE THE BUZZ –   

June 15, 2021 – Researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences observed that when access to the solution was discontinued, the bees exhibited a “marked” increase of consumption of ethanol as well as a slight in crease in mortality, according to the study. The bees would then willingly consume sugar solutions with alcohol concentrations as high as 20% and then display behaviors similar to alcohol-intoxicated humans, including impaired locomotion, foraging and learning, researchers said. The results of the study demonstrated that the worker bees could develop a dependence on alcohol, especially interesting considering that naturally occurring nectar is often contaminated by alcohol that fermented from yeast, the scientists said.

Among the honeybee workers, foragers outside the hive appeared to show the greatest resistance to the detrimental effects of the alcohol, likely due to evolution as the foragers occasionally encounter ethanol in nature, according to the study.

more@ABCNews

The post Why honeybees may be key to understanding alcohol addiction appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

BUT ONLY 12 STEPS TO FREEDOM – 

June 18, 2021 – 

1. Measure your drinks.

“The first step is to understand how much you’re actually drinking,” says Katie Witkiewitz, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico and author of the 2019 study, “Advances in the Science and Treatment of Alcohol Use” in Science Advances.

A standard glass of wine is 5 ounces, which contains about 12% alcohol. A shot of distilled spirits like vodka is 1.5 ounces and equally 40% alcohol. One 12-ounce can of beer contains about 5% alcohol, and a standard glass of sherry is 3 to 4 ounces and contains about 17% alcohol, according to the NIAAA.  Use the NIAAA’s drink size calculator to determine the amount of alcohol in various drinks. 

2. Track your intake.

“Once you have a sense of how much you’re drinking, it’s helpful to track how many drinks you’re having per day,” says Witkiewitz. “You could use a calendar, journal or any number of tracking apps.” Drink Control Alcohol Tracker or Less are two examples of free tracking apps available on iOS devices.

3. Make a plan.

People who set daily drink limits consume 10% fewer drinks each week than those who don’t, according to data from 10,000 U.S. users of the app Cutback Coach. And beginning the week well is an indicator of success: Members who stay under their planned limit on Monday and Tuesday are nearly four times more likely to reach their goal for the week.

“Start easy,” suggests Crews. Instead of aiming for complete abstinence, for instance, aim to drink fewer than seven days a week. “Try sober Mondays or sober Mondays through Wednesdays,” he says. 

4. Tell family members and friends you want to get healthier. 

Reframe drinking as you would any other health behavior you want to change, such as eating better or getting more exercise, and share it aloud with those closest to you. This social approach can help normalize the change you’re trying to make, says Witkiewitz. “You don’t have to have a problem with drinking to want to improve your health and quality of life by reducing your drinking.”

more@Forbes

The post 16 Tips For Cutting Down your Drinking appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

IT’S A MYSTERY –   

June 17, 2021 – Mike said that this high win, combined with the difficulties he was facing in his personal life and marriage, led to an addictive gambling cycle. He became in charge of millions of dollars. Soon, he started trading money that did not belong to him, hoping that his first success would be repeated.

“The first time I took it, I lost it all in about 20 minutes one night. The market moved very rapidly, and I liquidated everything. It was about 2 am. I went back to bed and had to lie down next to my wife. She had no idea what I had been up to,” Mike said.

Mike was soon facing criminal charges for embezzlement. However, with the help of his family, he was able to pay back $2.5 million to his employer. He is now getting treatment for his cryptocurrency addiction.  According to specialists, cryptocurrency addicts display the same kinds of behavioral addictions as addicted gamblers and sex addicts. There are no figures for the number of people in the US that are currently addicted to cryptocurrency trading, but the cryptocurrency addiction is clearly on the rise.

“There are so many people out there that are trading cryptocurrency that are making money, and they’re telling everyone that they’re making money. We are not hearing from the people that are losing money,” he said.

Sex addiction can be conceptualized as the compulsive engagement in sex despite negative consequences. Moreover, it is a behavior that is emotionally distressing rather than fulfilling. While not always recognized as a legitimate diagnosis, sex addiction has real consequences, including a negative impact on relationships and well-being.

more@HighviewHerald

The post Sex, Drugs and Cryptocurrency appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.