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August 9, 2016 Treatment Industry & Recovery Community News Vol. 4., No. 1
Celebrity rehab”The Priory” branded UNSAFE after a spate of ‘suicides’
Britain’s leading rehab clinic The Priory has been branded ‘unsafe’ in a devastating report by an official watchdog, following a series of suicides and self-harming incidents by patients. In the most recent case, millionaire company chairman Stephen Bantoft, 49, is understood to have hanged himself less than three hours after checking into an acute psychiatric wing at the hospital. The father of three had not been seen by a doctor. His death was one of two suicides in the hospital last year, and one of ten ‘serious incidents of self-harm’ involving ligatures in the three months prior to March. Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams have been there.
Florida and California have well-earned reputations as states where addiction treatment programs play fast and loose with ethical guidelines, regulatory requirements, and the law. Now, national publications are naming Arizona as one of the next worst states for these violations. I am disheartened to learn that some addiction programs in Arizona are paying marketers for referred addicted patients, a practice that is not only unethical but likely illegal.
READ MORE @ TogetherAZ.com
TREATMENT INDUSTRY
It’s a RUSH ! a Gold Rush
American Addiction Centers Holdings, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2016 Results
Client admissions increased 60% to 2,890 …daily residential census increased 52% to 821 Outpatient visits increased 397% to 13,079 Revenues increased 33% to $71.5 million In April 2016, completed the acquisition of Townsend in Louisiana, adding a 32-bed in-network facility… * May 2016, completed the acquisition of Solutions Recovery in Las Vegas, adding 124 sober living beds… * June2016, opened the 93-bed Laguna Treatment Hospital, in Aliso Viejo, California * June 2016, commenced development of a 150-bed residential treatment center in Ringwood, New Jersey 44 detoxification and residential beds and 48 sober living beds at The Oxford Center…
READ MORE @ NewsSource.com
ADDICTION
Can’t Look Up
Addiction psychologist believes too many kids are dangerously addicted to iPads
One addiction expert thinks that’s causing a public health crisis – and some of his anecdotes about young digital addicts are staggering. Nicholas Kardaras, a clinical specialist at an addiction clinic based in East Hampton, New York, relayed a few harrowing stories from … His book, “Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids-and How to Break the Trance,” will include a sample letter that parents can use to try to opt-out of school programs.
How cracking down on America’s painkiller capital led to heroin crisis
Critics say Florida’s efforts to contain an epidemic unleashed within its borders have only had limited effect in curbing one crisis while making another worse … “The pills were hard to get. They got to be very expensive. Heroin is cheap,” said Fata, 24. “Almost everyone that I was close to, anybody that was doing pills with me, typically they would at least get to the point where pills were not an option. You were either snorting heroin or shooting heroin.” … “What was going on here in Florida was different to any other place,” Fata said. “The pill mills were blatantly illegal. Anybody could walk in and get a prescription. When that stopped, those people either latched on to people who still had a prescription or they moved to heroin.
Two years ago, Matt Powell had reached bottom. A Galesburg, Illinois, native pushing 50, Powell had lost jobs, marriages and homes because of his addiction to alcohol … But now he had hit bottom. He sold a unit of plasma and “got booze and some cigarettes and went down to the riverfront.” Two men jumped him and stole his purchases and remaining $27… Cold, homeless and broken, he began walking up the sidewalk of the Centennial Bridge. His intent was to climb one of the arches and jump off. Bible study, prayer and group meetings are part of the regimen.
READ MORE @ QCTimes.com
ADDICTION
Swipe This
Colorado University recovery center helps students fight ‘screen addiction’
Jeffery used to spend hours – sometimes days – alternating between playing video games, binge-watching TV shows on Netflix and mindlessly scrolling through the online forum Reddit… When he checked into a rehab facility a few years ago, a therapist helped him realize that screen time was just as much of a problem for him as cocaine, pot and alcohol… “I used drugs, alcohol, video games, Reddit and Netflix bingeing as a coping mechanism for life,” said Jeffery, a 25-year-old Toronto native who will soon start his second year of classes at the University of Colorado…
READ MORE @ NewsSource.com
ALCOHOLISM
Stacked Deck?
Over 900 genes linked to alcoholism
The sheer number of genes that contribute to the trait suggests pharmaceutical treatments for alcoholism could be difficult to develop. Researchers have identified 930 genes in rats linked to alcoholism, indicating that it is a highly complex disorder influenced by many genes and the environment … While the researchers stressed that the genetic complexity of alcoholism complicates potential treatments, they found a signalling pathway which can control a sense of reward in the brain and may be a possible target for treatments due to the number of alcoholism-associated genes it contains.
No secret that many successful people hide their addictions to alcohol and drugs-often for many years-but, then, either die young or crash. Lisa Smith assumed the former and writes in this painful account of her years of addiction, “Nobody knew that I had stopped contributing to my 401(k) because I fully expected to be dead by forty … Thanks to addiction I was desperate to be alone and I dreaded being alone.” Booze is the easiest; our culture turns on it. It’s especially the social glue of our youth. Ordering cocaine to be delivered to her apartment in New York City was as easy as Amazon’s one click order option.
Complaints about sober-living homes take hold in Huntington Beach
He said the city is aware of more than 20 licensed facilities, including four residential detox centers, and has received complaints about 10 facilities. Gates said it was unclear whether the 10 referred to were licensed or unlicensed. City officials say it’s hard to keep track of the number of unlicensed sober-living homes operating in Surf City.
Toddler dies after methamphetamine given to counter methadone
PHOENIX, AZ (WCMH) – An Arizona mom is accused of killing her 22-month-old daughter by giving her methamphetamine to counteract the methadone the child accidentally swallowed … Investigators told the paper that Natalie Russell had researched methadone overdose information online before giving the child methamphetamines.
Johnny Manziel Is Reportedly Done Being Sober Already
Remember when Johnny Manziel vowed to get “completely sober” starting July 1? If you thought his commitment would run its course in about one month, sadly, you may have been correct. Page Six is reporting that Manziel was spotted at Rock & Reilly’s Irish Pub in West Hollywood on Saturday breaking his self-imposed pledge.
Scary as it is, aspartame, or the sweetener in Diet Coke, is on an EPA list of potentially dangerous chemicals contributing to neurotoxicity, right beneath arsenic. The American Academy of Neurology has discovered that artificially sweetened drinks are connected to a higher risk of depression – at least 30% as much. “Sweetened beverages, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical-and may have important mental-health consequences,” said study author Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, with the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Parents on Overdose: ‘Don’t think it can’t happen to you’
Mark and Judy Frank with their daughter, Hannah, stand at an abandoned dam in the town of Manlius where Mark and Judy’s son Adam Frank used to hang out with his friends. Adam died on May 23, 2016 Adam’s friends painted the wall in honor of him…Adam had overdosed in February, but blood work didn’t show anything in his system and he told his parents he’d bought Xanax on the street that had been mixed with something else, his parents said. (Xanax is a powerful drug often prescribed to treat anxiety, panic disorders and insomnia.) They now believe he lied.
Sara Gideon, Maine’s Asst. Majority Leader At Opioid/Heroin Event
AUGUST 26 & 27, 2016 – The two events are free to all and open to the public. Why? It’s time to bring awareness and education about the current Opioid/Heroin Epidemic. This epidemic is devastating the great state of Maine and the United States as a whole, with hundreds of deaths a day nationwide. “Recovery is a Process” and Rockers In Recovery® has amassed some epic speakers and some long-term in recovery rockers on the topic. This is to help communities know that there is hope and they can find resources.
We already know that obesity is linked to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Now it turns out that being overweight also ages your brain to look 10 years older than a skinnier person’s the same age, according to a new study…On the bright side, both fat and skinny groups scored the same on tests of knowledge and understanding, so at least you’re not getting dumber or losing cognitive function even if you’re carrying extra weight.
But scientists don’t know the full implications of these changes in brain structure yet. “This must be a starting point for us to explore in more depth the effects of weight, diet and exercise on the brain and memory,” stated the report..
John Gotti’s Grandson Getting Treatment in Jail in Drug Case
A lawyer says mobster John Gotti’s namesake grandson says he’s seeking out treatment while jailed on a drug charge… The 23-year-old Gotti was arrested Thursday at the Queens home where his late grandfather once lived. He’s charged with selling oxycodone pills.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office says undercover officers bought a total of over $46,000 worth of oxycodone from Gotti on 11 occasions.
READ MORE @ ABC News
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Go Make a Movie
REEL Recovery Film Festival
is a social, educational, networking and recovery forum showcasing first-time filmmakers and experienced professionals who make films about addiction and recovery. Our audience is treatment professionals, people in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives, educated moviegoers & the general public.
Jim McMahon: NFL ‘in cahoots with big pharma’ for painkillers VIDEO
Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Maggie Gray about the NFL’s handling of player injuries, criticizing the league’s reliance on painkillers instead of alternative substances like marijuana. McMahon hypothesized that the NFL is “in cahoots with big pharma.”
Celebs and Their Sex Addictions – Is It Just an Excuse for Tomcatting? VIDEO
According to Dr. Louise Stanger, Ed.D, LCSW, who has been an addiction and intervention specialist for more than 30 years, “Sex addiction is like any other addiction.” Ozzy Osbourne is the latest on a list of celebrities who have blamed their infidelities on sex addiction. The same week an interview with the Black Sabbath singer’s mistress ran in People magazine – in which celebrity hairstylist Michelle Pugh detailed their four-year relationship and gushed that “he gave me the greatest love of my life” – his rep blamed his cheating on sexual compulsivity, saying, “Over the last six years, Ozzy Osbourne has been dealing with a sex addiction” for which he “has gone into intense therapy” since the affair was exposed in May.
READ MORE @ News Source
MEDIA
The Future Has Arrived
How Screen Addiction Is Damaging Children’s Brains
I’ve worked with hundreds of heroin addicts and crystal meth addicts, and what I can say is that it’s easier to treat a heroin addict than a true screen addict-Dr. Nicholas Kardaras … A new book out on August 9 called Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, one of the country’s top addiction experts, details how compulsive technology usage and reliance on screens can neurologically damage the developing brain of a child the same way that drug addiction can. Through extensive research, clinical trials with diagnosed screen addicts…
READ MORE @ Vice.com
DRUG POLICY
Reality Check
Police: Incarcerate not high treatment
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., stressed the importance of prosecution and prison time – not just treatment – as a response to the growing opiate problem in the state. “Treatment is very, very inefficient,” said Jeffrey Stamm, director of Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federal program that assists local law enforcement in targeting drug crime…” We’ve got to have laws that catch up with what’s going on…”
READ MORE @ BismarckTribune.com
ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS
Spiritual Medicine
The 12 Steps Carry Wisdom for All – OPINION
There are 12 steps on the road to recovery for the individual who suffers from the disease of alcoholism.
They are not many, though they are each important, and they are all humanly possible. Each step, when taken successively and all together, empowers the individual to grow forward on the path of life with honesty, integrity, courage, sobriety and sanity…And all of us would do well to keep the 12 steps close to our hearts that our days may be measured by such wisdom.
READ MORE @ NewsSource.com
ALCOHOLISM
Booze in their blood?
Alcoholism in Finland Hits 30 Percent
Regardless of whether someone is the drinker or someone’s life is directly affected by it, people would rather talk about anything else than their own or someone else’s drinking problem…In Finland, this issue seems especially hard-hitting. A medical expert says that a million and a half Fins, mostly women, are impacted from alcoholism, and recent statistics show a 30 percent increase in medical care as a result of alcoholism … While there are rehab centers in Finland, the most important part of getting sober is the belief that you can. Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the best support systems for those who want to stop drinking, has meetings to offer help for those who want to stop.
READ MORE @ I4U.com
CELEBRITY CELEBRATION
BIRTHDAY OF THE WEEK
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith (born August 9, 1957)[1] is an American actress. Griffith began her career as an adolescent in nonspeaking film roles before making her credited debut in Arthur Penn’s Night Moves (1975). She rose to prominence for her role in Brian De Palma’s Body Double (1984), which earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Griffith’s subsequent performance in Something Wild (1986) garnered critical acclaim before she was cast in 1988’s Working Girl, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her a Golden Globe..
The millions of fans who lined up at midnight for the release of the final Harry Potter book may be on to something, as scientists have found reading books may help us live longer by as many as two years. Their study, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, also found that adults who reported reading magazine and newspaper showed an increase in longevity compared to nonreaders..Overall, researchers reported that adults who read books survived almost two years longer than nonreaders,
READ MORE @ FOX NEWS
MEDIA: BOOK REVIEW
Eating Your Way to God
Cooking One’s Way Into a New Relationship with Food
In “Through The Fire: Cooking Our Way Into a New Relationship with Food,” personal chef Charity Dasenbrock blends personal stories about her relationship with food and the emotional, psychological and spiritual sides of nutrition – known as eating psychology. A certified Eating Psychology Coach, Dasenbrock includes self-help exercises for those struggling to find their holy spaces in their bodies…
Why A Mom Offers A Safe Place for People Struggling With Drug Addiction VIDEO
The facility where Selena spent her final days didn’t have Naloxone, a medication which reverses and prevents drug overdoses. Vincent’s organization strives to provide Naloxone to family members and drug users and has an initiative to provide the medication to all jails and rehab facilities. “Not a day goes by that I don’t get a call from somebody that I have provided Naloxone to or I have provided Naloxone training to that they say thank God I have that.” … Vincent said, “If we don’t keep people healthy and we don’t keep people alive, they can never find recovery
READ MORE @ WFMYNews2.com
HEALTH WARNING
Pleasure Unwoven VIDEO
Viagra Risks: What Happens When You Take Too Many Blue Pills VIDEO
Inevitably, since Viagra is a drug that enhances nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator – it can lower blood pressure – too much can lead to an increased risk in cardiovascular difficulties from blood pressure fluctuations to heartbeat irregularities. Other common symptoms include blurry vision, sudden decrease in hearing or loss of hearing, accompanied by dizziness and ringing in the ears … Therefore, doctors recommend taking just one pill of Viagra per day.
An Open Letter to Gary Mendell & SHATTERPROOF from Burl Barer
Dear Shatterproof, We recently received your latest fund-raising promotion titled, Stay Dry in July. After reading it with great interest, we would appreciate clarification on a few key points. Your literature states: “Every dollar you raise will help us provide evidence-based resources, work with elected officials to strengthen laws, and support all Americans who’ve been touched by this disease.”
24 hospitalized in ‘fake pot’ overdose at Ohio music festival VIDEO
...patients were treated with Narcan, said Nikki Workman, spokeswoman for OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. Narcan is used to counteract overdoses of opiates such as heroin or oxycodone. Paramedics initially believed the overdoses were caused by opiates but when victims did not respond to the Narcan they had the candies tested and they came back positive for a high dosage of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, The DEA began cracking down on synthetic marijuana, sold in colorful packages with names like Cloud Nine, Maui Wowie and Mr. Nice Guy,
Virginia Mayor arrested in meth-for-sex bust VIDEO
.Richard “Scott” Silverthorne is mayor of Fairfax, Virginia, a wealthy Washington suburb of 22,000 people. He’s also a substitute teacher in the county public schools…Police set up a group sex encounter with Silverthorne, who allegedly agreed to bring drugs, along with other men. On Thursday, the parties rendezvoused at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Tysons Corner, where the mayor was arrested.
Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention Helpful In Stimulants Addiction
.Meditation and mindfulness training may lower the likelihood of relapse for those struggling to break their addiction to stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine, a UCLA study on mindfulness based relapse prevention suggests.
Results of the small clinical trial showed that mindfulness training is particularly beneficial for adults dependent on stimulants who have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, common disorders among people with substance addiction….Lead author Suzette Glasner, associate professor at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, said,
Teens are increasingly swearing off alcohol, cigarettes, drugs like synthetic marijuana, and prescription painkillers, according to the latest survey of of more than 50,000 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey. For some illicit substances, such as cocaine and heroin, consumption has dropped to its lowest point since the MTF’s inception in 1975 (fading stigmas around marijuana consumption may be responsible for its relatively consistent popularity amid this decline). The most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that cigarette smoking is at its lowest level in 24 years-11 percent in 2015, down from 28 percent in 1991.. The kids, apparently, are all right.
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