Category: From Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

READING MATTERS –

St. Martin’s Press – Challenging both the idea of the addict’s “broken brain” and the notion of a simple “addictive personality,” The New York Times Bestseller, Unbroken Brain, offers a radical and groundbreaking new perspective, arguing that addictions are learning disorders and shows how seeing the condition this way can untangle our current debates over treatment, prevention and policy. Like autistic traits, addictive behaviors fall on a spectrum — and they can be a normal response to an extreme situation.

 By illustrating what addiction is, and is not, the book illustrates how timing, history, family, peers, culture and chemicals come together to create both illness and recovery- and why there is no “addictive personality” or single treatment that works for all.

Combining Maia Szalavitz’s personal story with a distillation of more than 25 years of science and research,Unbroken Brain provides a paradigm-shifting approach to thinking about addiction.

Her writings on radical addiction therapies have been featured in The Washington Post, Vice Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, in addition to multiple other publications. She has been interviewed about her book on many radio shows including Fresh Air with Terry Gross and The Brian Lehrer show.

CONTINUE@Macmillan

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – THE PROMISES COMING TRUE –

Dec. 3, 2024 – He celebrated the major moment on social media with people applauding him for being clean for nine years. It’s hard to forget the emotional episode from Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, where Mike detailed his years-long battle with addiction.

Mike even admitted that in three years, he spent half a million dollars on drugs before finally hitting rock bottom and checking into rehab.

He did that again in 2024, sharing a slew of photos showing how his life has flourished since he gave up drugs.

“9 years clean & sober!! Now we are free. Time to celebrate,” he wrote in the caption.

The post included snaps of his wife Lauren, who was there with Mike during the early years and supported him during his battle with drugs.  

CONTINUE@MonstersAndCritics

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LIKE CIGARETTES? –

Dec. 4, 2024 – Proposals include banning digital devices for kids under three and restricting their use for those between three and six, except in rare cases. The report also advises rolling out so-called “dumbphones” for teens up to 16 and discouraging social media use entirely for children under 12. 

The experts also took aim at educational apps with “instant gratification” mechanics. They recommend their removal from schools to avoid negative impacts on learning. Schools should focus on analogue teaching for younger students and limit digital tools in early education, they said. 

On the public health front, the panel pushes for recognising tech-related mental health issues — like addiction and anxiety — as pressing health concerns. It suggests adding screenings for digital overuse into routine doctor visits. 

The report calls for mandatory health warnings on digital devices, detailing potential risks like overuse and exposure to harmful content — similar to the ones on cigarette packets, but presumably not as extreme. Similar warnings should pop up on screens when certain apps or platforms are accessed.

CONTINUE@TheNextWeb

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

VIDEO – FOR OVER 16 TOO? –                                                                                        

Nov. 30, 2024 – The National’s Ian Hanomansing asks tech journalist Carmi Levy to break down how realistic this sort of ban is and if it’s something Canada should consider. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media companies have taken steps to keep users under 16 off their platforms or face fines.

CONTINUE@CBC 

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

AUDIO – AND DEPRESSION TOO –

Nov. 29, 2024 – It’s estimated more than 400,000 Australians are living with dementia, which impacts them as well as their loved ones. 

A new pilot study is exploring how songwriting can help, especially for those with early onset dementia. GUESTS: 

Associate Professor Samantha Loi, neuropsychiatrist at Royal Melbourne Hospital and the University of Melbourne

Paul Wheelton, carer for his wife Angela

Phoebe Stretton-Smith, music therapist 

CONTINUE@ABC

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

LIFE GOES ON –

Dec. 4, 2024 – Surviving overdose is a major sentinel event with significant short- and long-term consequences, depending on the substance involved, severity of the overdose, and timeliness and effectiveness of medical intervention.

Sometimes, an overdose is sufficiently life-changing to motivate someone to enter treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), take MAT, and change their lives. Most times, however, it is a lost opportunity, and overdoses and addiction continue.

Neurological damage is typical in overdoses but rarely evaluated the same way as traumatic brain injury or stroke. For example, opioid overdose with loss of consciousness and depressed respiration can mean severe oxygen deprivation (hypoxia). This can result in cognitive impairments, memory problems, or permanent brain injury-related disability. Stroke or seizures may also occur during overdose, especially when cocaine or amphetamines are involved. 

CONTINUE@PsychologyToday

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

AUDIO – SHARING THE GOOD NEWS –                                                                                        

Dec. 4, 2024 – Former ‘Bachelorette’ contestant Zac Clark shares his path to sobriety and how it inspired a passion to help people like him. 

CONTINUE@Slate

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

GET YOUR OWN DRINK –

Dec. 3, 2024 – Two Delta flight attendants were kicked off their route after failing a breathalyzer test and being deemed too drunk to fly. The first blew 0.024, just over the legal limit of 0.002, and was fined $290. The second blew an astonishing 0.143, which is seven times over the legal limit for flight crews and almost double what is allowed for American drivers.

The incident did not affect the flight’s departure. “Delta’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry and we have zero tolerance for violation,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “The employees were removed from their scheduled duties and the flight departed as scheduled.”

The Netherlands has stringent rules regarding flight crews consuming alcohol. While America’s Federal Aviation Administration demands a gap of at least eight hours between drinking and flying, in the Netherlands crews are prohibited from drinking within 10 hours of a flight.  

CONTINUE@Yahoo

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

BETTER SAY GRACE –                                                                                        

Dec. 4, 2024 – The number of people under the age of 50 diagnosed with bowel cancer has increased at an alarming rate. “Unhealthy dietary patterns, marked by high consumption of red and processed meats, fast foods, refined grains, alcohol and sugary beverages, present a worrying relationship with an increased risk of gastrointestinal cancers.”

Responsible for 1 in 3 cancer deaths worldwide, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers can occur virtually anywhere in the digestive system, from the throat to the stomach, pancreas, intestines, rectum, and anus.

Epidemiologist Zegeye Abebe and colleagues reviewed research on dietary patterns and GI cancers, identifying 28 eligible studies for further analysis. While there were some contradictions between individual investigations, collectively the studies suggested healthy dietary patterns generally decreased cancer risk.

Some of the same team also analyzed data from 97,561 people and found those who had a diet containing high fiber and unsaturated fats were less likely to develop colorectal cancer. This cancer is predicted to kill 1.6 million people in 2040.  

CONTINUE@ScienceAlert

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Addiction Recovery Bulletin

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! –

Dec. 10, 2024 – Tio Hardiman, Executive Director for Violence Interrupters, NFP, Two Time Gubernatorial Candidate, and Former Presidential Candidate, has dedicated his life and career to community organizing for peace and social change. In 1999, Mr. Hardiman joined CeaseFire, an award-winning public health model that has been scientifically proven to reduce shootings and killings. In 2004, Tio created the Violence Interrupters Initiative. In 2004, under Tio’s direction, CeaseFire received additional funding from the State of Illinois to immediately expand from 5 to 15 communities and from 20 to 130 Outreach Workers and Violence Interrupters. 

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?

A. Cocaine and alcohol. Clean Date: 11/20/90.

Q. What do you like most about 12-step meetings?

A. The people and the opportunity to share what’s going on in my life.

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?

A. Addiction is an illness.

CONTINUE@AddictionRecoveryeBulletin

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