Mini-Strokes Linked to Onset of PTSD
People who experience a mini-stroke, often called a transient ischemic attack (TIA), have an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study finds.
Eating Disorders “on the Wire”: An Interview with Jenn Friedman
Food fuels the body and can nourish the soul. But what happens when it seduces and torments? According to information from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders:
Why Opioid Prescriptions Should Include Risk Assessment for Drug Abuse and Addiction
Over half of the 41,502 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2012 were due to prescription drugs, and 72 percent of these were related to opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin. In 2012, there were 259 million prescriptions written for painkillers in the U.S., enough for every single adult in the country to have…
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Vermont Aggressively Tackling Heroin Epidemic
In America, we are still in the early phases of what some have termed a heroin epidemic. But in Vermont, where heroin use has been growing by leaps and bounds, there is nothing theoretical about the arrival of a truly dire situation.
Triggers: A Fact of Recovery
One of the most challenging aspects of recovery is how to handle triggers. No matter what the source addiction is—whether it’s alcohol and substance addictions, sexual addictions, addictive co-dependencies or something else—we all have to deal with things that make us want to re-engage in the self-destructive patterns that brought us into recovery in the…
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Doctors Increasing Use of Buprenorphine in Addiction Treatment
The use of buprenorphine to treat opioid dependence has increased dramatically in the last 10 years, particularly among general physicians, indicating a clear shift in opioid maintenance therapy in the United States, a new study finds. Buprenorphine is a modern opioid medication designed to, among other things, help people affected by opioid addiction break a…
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Is There a Link Between Prescription Opioid Abuse and PTSD Severity?
Prescription opioid abuse is the collective term for both the misuse of opioid medications by legitimate prescription recipients and any form of opioid medication use by people without a legitimate prescription. In the U.S., people participate in this form of prescription drug abuse fairly often. In a study published in May 2014 in The American…
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Addicted to Love
Love addiction is a term many people are not familiar with. Although it is not a diagnosable condition according to many experts, there is evidence that some people become addicted to the feeling of being in love and to being around the person they love. Some would call this a behavioral addition, while others call…
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Six Essential Rules of Addiction Recovery
What does it really take to get sober and stay sober? If you talk to several people in recovery, you may get several opinions. Some will emphasize the importance of a sponsor or attending a lot of meetings. Others will insist that they couldn’t have gotten sober without the religious undertones of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Health Officials Scramble to Respond as Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic Sweeps through Tennessee
America’s rapid explosion of prescription painkiller abuse has put health officials across the country on the defensive. Nowhere is this truer than in Tennessee, where a virtual epidemic of addiction is stressing the state’s health care system to the breaking point.