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Is Dependence on Prescription Opioids Linked to Sleeping Problems?

December 3, 2014 / Articles>Early Recovery

Relatively large numbers of people in the U.S. abuse an opioid medication normally prescribed to treat pain or certain other medical issues. In turn, a substantial number of prescription opioid users and abusers will develop opioid dependence or full-blown opioid addiction. In a study published in June 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, researchers from […]

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Study Examines New Approach to Treating Eating Disorders

December 2, 2014 / Articles>Eating Disorders

The development of an eating disorder is believed by experts to have both a biological and an environmental component. The mix of the two influences may differ based on the individual, but there are certain factors that significantly increase a person’s risk of developing an eating disorder.

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How and Why Addicts Should Forgive Themselves

November 29, 2014 / Articles>Addiction Treatment

Forgiveness is consciously releasing feelings of anger or resentment toward someone who has harmed you. It means to stop blaming someone else for things that have happened to you. It means to cancel a debt and give up all claim for reimbursement, to stop looking for apologies or amends from the other person. As part

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Drug Combo ‘Gumbo’ Wreaks Havoc in Southeast Texas

November 28, 2014 / Articles>Drug Addiction

Southeast Texas is in the midst of a gumbo epidemic, and it isn’t the Creole classic you may be thinking of. The “gumbo” causing problems is a combination of drugs: usually marijuana mixed with ecstasy, cocaine and PCP (phencyclidine), with some even adding synthetic marijuana into the mix. Although the drug is causing problems in

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How to Stay Sober and Sane at Thanksgiving

November 25, 2014 / Articles>Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

What do you think of when you think of Thanksgiving? For some people, Thanksgiving calls to mind happy times with family and friends over a delicious turkey dinner accompanied by plenty of satisfying side dishes and pumpkin pie. But if you struggle with alcohol or addiction, your memories of Thanksgiving over the years probably include

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Sex Addicts More Impulsive, Study Finds

November 25, 2014 / Addictions

People affected by sex addiction have a form of non-substance-based behavioral addiction that centers on compulsive and harmful involvement in sex-related conduct, thinking or fantasy. Alternative terms used to describe the same condition include hypersexuality and compulsive sexual behavior. In a study published in August 2014 in the journal Dual Diagnosis, researchers from two U.S.

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Amygdala Response Predicts PTSD Symptoms After Boston Bombings

November 23, 2014 / Articles>Trauma and PTSD

Thanks to an in-progress study of Boston-area teenagers, a group of researchers had the unexpected opportunity to study how emotional responses predicted PTSD symptoms in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

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Recognizing and Treating Bulimia

November 21, 2014 / Articles>Eating Disorders

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by a recurring pattern of binge eating followed by either purging with laxatives, diuretics or self-induced vomiting, or through extreme dieting. It is a mental health disorder, meaning that recovery from the illness will require not only behavior modification but also a focus on improved emotional health.

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Gamblers, Alcoholics Share Risk/Reward Brain Changes, Differ on Cost Assessment

November 21, 2014 / Articles>Mental Health

Addiction researchers have firmly established that some of the damaging brain changes found in people with non-substance-based behavioral addictions are roughly equivalent to the damaging changes found in the brains of people addicted to drugs, medications or alcohol. In a study published in 2014 in the journal Addiction Biology, a team of German researchers compared

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When Are Recovering Sex Addicts Ready for Relationships?

November 19, 2014 / Articles>Early Recovery

Sex addiction, at base, is an intimacy disorder. And “intimacy,” according to Linda Hatch, Ph.D., sex addiction expert and therapist, “is the ability to be real with another person.” This might seem like a simple thing, but any addict, not just those who experience sexual compulsion, is a person who struggles with being real, (i.e.,

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