Category: From Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Kate Moss From Coke Scandal and Sobriety

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

A ROLLING STONE… –  

Jan. 16, 2021 – The model mum called herself “so emotional” when the teen made her catwalk debut for Miu Miu back in October, days after she turned 18. And throughout lockdown Kate has been helping her only child forge ahead in the modelling world, from covering this month’s British Vogue to shooting campaigns for Fendi.

But while the 46-year-old is clearly hoping Lila Grace follows in her footsteps professionally, she will surely hope she does not follow her lead away from the catwalk. From being talent spotted at just 14, to leading the model pack as the face of heroin chic, to that infamous cocaine scandal, she has enjoyed a life full of rock ‘n roll worthy excess.

Croydon-born Kate was just 14 when she was scouted by Storm Model’s founder Sarah Doukas at JFK airport in New York as her family jetted home from a holiday to the Bahamas. At 5ft7 Kate was initially considered too short for catwalk work, with Amazonian curves dominating the catwalks of the late 80s. However she stuck with it – and trends changed.

more@Mirror

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Hip-hop Drug Use Explained

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

ALIVE AND WELL, MAYBE? – 

Jan. 21, 2021 – Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, was the cause of 151 deaths in our county in 2019 compared to the 92 deaths reported the year before, said the November report. While 275 deaths occurred in 2019 due to prescription drugs — opioids and non-opioids — up from 245 the year prior.

In 2019, San Diego hip-hop heads transitioned from bobbin’ heads to rapper-Juice Wrld’s “Lucid Dreams” to bowing heads and mourning the 21-year-old rapper’s death, which was allegedly caused by ingesting Percocet pain pills.

“Some people feel they need to imitate what’s hot to be a part of the culture,” says Kahlee, “so they overindulge in drug use leading to anything from unproductivity to death.”

Mainstream hip-hop heads dying via overdosing goes back. Rapper and singer Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli reportedly battled drug addiction before his 1998 death in Germany which was attributed to booze and prescription drugs. In 2004, Ol’ Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang Clan was said to have died of an accidental overdose of a mixture of “coke and a prescribed opioid.”

Kahlee310, the Mira Mesa-based host of Dash Radio hip-hop show BarsWeekly, recalls, “I came up with a few artists who got stuck on pills, to the point that when I had a bad back, my homie wouldn’t give me any painkillers ’cause he didn’t want me to get hooked the way some of our mutual rap friends were. I have a close friend who was dropped from his label over his addiction to various pain killers.”

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Fentanyl Is in Everything

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

IS NOTHING SACRED? –  

Jan. 21, 2120 – 2020 was the deadliest year ever for overdoses in Philadelphia. The surge is being fueled by deaths among methamphetamine and PCP users. The city’s top substance abuse official said fentanyl is now prevalent in illegal drug sales in many neighborhoods.

“Until recently…most drug sales involving fentanyl were occurring in Kensington and South Philadelphia. We focused most of our outreach efforts on a subpopulation of drug users in two specific geographic regions,” Dr. Kendra Viner, director of the Health Department’s Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction division said. “Now fentanyl is in everything and everyone who obtains drugs from an illicit source is potentially at risk.” The Philadelphia Health Department will begin a public awareness campaign in early 2021 that utilizes mass media outlets to get the word out about the high risk of fentanyl in illegal drugs, and the city will continue to distribute naloxone.

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How ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Can Help You Cope

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WINTER READING TO KEEP YOU WARM –  

April, 2020 – Holden’s taste in food is pure postwar American. Bacon, eggs, hamburgers and steak all feature in the book. Mainly, however, this 16-year-old survives on cigarettes and Scotch and sodas. But he has an antidote to debauchery: “When I’m out somewhere, I generally just eat a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk. It isn’t much, but you get quite a lot of vitamins in the malted milk. H.V. Caulfield. Holden Vitamin Caulfield.” All the other food in the book fails to stir the appetite, including the school cafeteria’s take on Brown Betty “that nobody ate,” but that malted sounds good, certainly better than a protein shake. And that Swiss cheese sandwich is still—69 years after the book’s publication—terrifically appealing. Holden has great respect for fashion. He gets it from his mother, whose taste in clothes is “perfect.” But he doesn’t brag; we discover his classy wardrobe items when his prep-school cohorts borrow or steal them. There’s the camel-hair coat and fur-lined gloves missing from his closet, the houndstooth jacket he reluctantly lends his roommate, his turtleneck sweater a classmate wears as he commits suicide and the Mark Cross suitcases a less affluent roommate pretends are his. But Holden intuits that personal style, not fine clothing, is what defines the truly fashionable. Hence his signature red hunting hat, which cost a dollar. “I swung the old peak way around to the back—very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way. I looked good in it that way.” He wears it with his pajamas and bathrobe to compose his roommate’s essay. It’s his thinking cap and magic shield. Now’s the time to find your own totem in your closet.

more@WSJ

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Q&A with Chris Herren, Founder of Herren Wellness

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – 

January 20, 2021 – An extraordinary basketball player, Chris Herren was a celebrated star in his native Fall River, MA before graduating high school. He went on to play at Boston College and Fresno State, two seasons in the NBA – including one with his hometown team, the Boston Celtics – and seven seasons overseas before losing it all to the disease of addiction.

With the unwavering support of his family and friends, Chris has been sober since August 1, 2008, and he now shares his story with the goal of making a positive difference in the lives of others.

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your Drug of Choice? When did you stop using?
A. My recovery date is August 1, 2008. Since my teenage years I struggled with alcohol and drugs, which progressed to pills, then heroin and vodka. Being a high-level basketball player managing a serious emotional and substance use disorder, I always had this internal battle. This past August, I celebrated 12 years sober.

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a choice or wicked twist of fate?
A. I truly believe that addiction is a disease that is multi-layered. It can be brought on by a traumatic experience, genetics plays a part and it always starts with one drink or one blunt. The scary thing about addiction is that you don’t know who it will impact until you pick up. 

Q. Do you log on to Zoom 12-Step meetings? How often? Do you share?
A. Zoom meetings have become an unbelievable resource for people in recovery and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be able to connect with people in recovery through a virtual meeting has been such a gift and one that I am fortunate to participate in through my nonprofit, Herren Project. They offer virtual recovery meetings every night and online support for families. When I join, I choose to listen and be present. I feel like I share my story often enough and a meeting is my time to provide support.

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“I have been anorexia’s prey”

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WASTING AWAY – 

January 20, 2021 –  I have been anorexia’s prey, all while thinking that it was my friend and protector, my arbiter of discipline.

When I heard that gyms were going to be closed during the pandemic, I spiralled into paranoia. My mind was plagued with visions of my future obesity, accompanied with delusions that my friends, family and partner would find me repulsive. While I recognised the absurdity of these claims, the power of the illness was overbearing; my rationality did not stand a chance. My fears were validated by the endless barrage of home workouts which were marketed to me and I loathed myself for not creating an at-home gym using my couch and some sacks of rice or lifting my fridge a hundred times a day. My mind repeated its bigoted script: You are so lazy, you are weak, you are repulsive.  With so much time on my hands during Victoria’s extended lockdown, with uni being online and still with no work for me to go to, it became even easier to berate my appearance. Hours were spent in front of the mirror, pinching my skin, measuring my waist, checking my reflection from every angle for signs of imperfection.

I felt profoundly lonely in these ruminations and feelings. It seemed like everyone else could eat and exist without a second thought. But I recognise now that I wasn’t the only one. Around one million Australians suffer from eating disorders and the limitations of extended Covid lockdowns and restrictions have reportedly  worsened many people’s illnesses. Disruptions to routine, use of videoconferencing (which exposes individuals to their own image) and increased marketing of weight-loss programs have also culminated in heightened negative body image and restrictive behaviours in the general population.

more@TheGuardian

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‘Sound of Metal’ explores a musician’s journey into deafness—and himself

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Great new movie on Amazon Prime – 

Jan. 9, 2021 – She calls Hector, Ruben’s sobriety mentor, who gives Lou directions to a deaf community for recovering drug addicts. The community is run by Joe (Paul Raci), an impassioned sage who can help Ruben mitigate his fall into the abyss. But Ruben must first accept his deafness and learn to be still. At one point, Joe asks a rebellious Ruben, “I wonder, all these mornings you’ve been in my study, sitting, have you had any moments of stillness? Because you’re right Ruben, the world does keep moving and it can be a damn cruel place. But for me, those moments of stillness—that place—that’s the kingdom of God.”

“Sound of Metal’’ was inspired by “Metalhead,” a scrapped film project by co-writer Derek Cianfrance (“I Know This Much Is True”) based on a true story about a drummer who loses his hearing. The film is largely devoid of gratuitous eye candy. There is nothing to gawk at visually, there are no over-the-top action scenes, no big sets, no sex, no SFX, no chase scenes, no clever over-produced sequences of any kind.

more@AmericaMagazine

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Experts Say Why Pandemic is Causing More Relapse and Overdose

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – Despair and Addiction –  

Jan. 8, 2021 – “She was staying with a mutual friend.” It’s still very fresh in Danielle Owen’s mind as she recounts a tragic story of personal loss. Owen says her friend’s husband found her friend unconscious on the kitchen floor and immediately called 911, but then, she received a phone call with the worst news. “I got a call that within the hour she had passed.” Owen’s friend had died from a drug overdose. The loss of her friend made her feel helpless. “What do I do? Run to her rescue? There was nothing I could do at that point to save her,” she said.

Unfortunately, the bad news did not stop there. Less than a month later, Owen received another call saying the husband of Danielle’s friend, who had found his wife dead, also overdosed and died. “He had been in treatment in Orlando for about six months,” said Owen. They sadly left behind a little girl.

more@ABC

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