The effects of parent drug abuse on young children, ages 6 to 12 and younger, are detrimental and lasting. Young children with parents using drugs may experience traumas including abuse or neglect. They may see things that traumatize them or that are hard to understand. They may feel unloved, hurt and frightened. Traumatic events, neglect, […]
Loving an addict can feel like you’re on a perpetual rollercoaster of emotions — anger, sadness, hate, love, fear, relief, guilt, disbelief — sometimes experiencing all within mere moments. It’s not surprising that research shows loved ones of addicted individuals suffer from increased stress, depression and poorer overall well-being. As much as our addicted loved
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Recent findings from an American research group point to a connection between drug problems in veterans, depression and emotional trauma exposure that occurs as early as childhood or as late as after the end of military service. Diagnosable problems with drugs or alcohol appear fairly frequently in men and women who have served in the
More than one in five American men smokes, but over 70 percent of smokers want to quit. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. and is responsible for one in every five deaths in the country, a total of over 480,000 every year. Quitting and overcoming cravings for smoking
A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii assessed the impact of cigarette smoking and caffeine intake on the mental health of people who participate in polysubstance abuse, concluding that caffeine use, in particular, can have a substantially negative mental health impact on these individuals. Polysubstance abuse and polydrug abuse are two terms that
People with opioid addiction or opioid abuse have increased chances of dying when they also have co-existing problems with alcohol use disorder or a personality disorder, according to recent findings from a team of British researchers. Broadly speaking, people affected by opioid use disorder (diagnosable opioid abuse and/or addiction) have higher chances of dying prematurely
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A new study has investigated the continuing opioid abuse crisis—largely fuelled by prescription painkillers—and has suggested that overprescribing and addiction are driving overdose deaths rather than non-medical abuse. The opioid problem has been growing for some time across the U.S., with overdose rates more than doubling between 1999 and 2013 and with just over half
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New evidence from a group of American researchers points to drastically increased risks for prescription opioid addiction in people who already have a history of substance abuse related to the consumption of non-opioid substances. Prescription opioid addiction is a pressing and fairly widespread problem in American society. In a study published in February 2015 in
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A study dating back to the 1970s demonstrates how changing environmental factors and cues can actually help people overcome addiction and avoid relapsing. The study, heavily questioned and doubted in its own time, is now being viewed as valuable to current ideas about how we change behaviors and how addiction can be conquered. Learn how a
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Illegal drugs can cause a variety of health problems. So can prescription drugs when they’re misused. Many of these problems are widely known, such as loss of short-term memory associated with marijuana, tooth damage from methamphetamine, and anxiety linked to cocaine. How Drugs Can Affect Your Health These drugs can also have serious — even
