Robin Williams’ Hidden Pain Revealed by Comedy Store Owner, Plus…

Yahoo News anchor, Bianna Golodryga talks with Jamie Masada, founder of the Laugh Factory and a long-time friend of Williams.  Dr. Jeff Gardere explains that depression and substance abuse is more common than one may think, and Williams was no exception. “He was a lifelong addict. It’s a lifelong illness that you take a day at a time … this is a medical problem – we have to stop seeing people who have drug addiction as evil, bad, weak people.”

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How Real A Risk  

Is Social Media Addiction? 

A blog post by social media marketer Jason Thibeault, “Why I just quit Facebook,”is sparking new debate about the risks of social media addiction. Thibeault’s essay went viral soon after he posted it on LinkedIn on Thursday, getting more than 700,000 views the next day.

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Singer Reveals How He Overcame Dangerous Battle With Prescription Drug Addiction

“Welcome Home,” Habedank’s first solo album, comes a little more than a year after the singer checked himself into a treatment facility outside of Nashville, Tennessee, to combat his prescription drug dependence. Habedank was originally introduced to prescription medications to treat an ulcer on his throat, but his usage eventually spiraled out of control.

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Time to Warn Drinkers About the Risk of Cancer

People have become accustomed to labels on cigarettes warning about the risk of smoking causing cancer and other diseases. And our research, published in the latest edition of BMC Public Health, shows similar labels could help consumers better understand the harms of drinking alcohol.  There is growing evidence that alcohol increases the risk of certain types of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

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Teenager Rebecca Durkin Killed ‘Cruel Alcoholic’ Mother

Judge Clement Goldstone QC said she had suffered “long-term cruelty” at the hands of her mother. “You did your best for each other, but you suffered long-term cruelty at her hands. Her addiction to alcohol clouded her judgement,” Judge Goldstone, the Recorder of Liverpool, told her. “You’d had enough and that is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.”

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Drink And Drug Addictions ‘Blighting Lives  

Of Classical Musicians’ 

Addiction is blighting the lives of many classical musicians as they grapple with performance anxiety and antisocial hours, a cellist has said. The cellist, who was addicted to alcohol and prescription pills, said the problem was rife in the classical music world. Lander, who began drinking to self-medicate her concert hall panic attacks, told Radio Times: “Addiction problems are widespread among classical musicians, for many reasons.

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Drug Czar Promotes Treatment, Tells Personal Story 

As the nation’s drug czar continues to warn people about the potential death and destruction from substance abuse, he’s also encouraging them to tell their stories about treatment and recovery. Usually he starts with himself. Michael Botticelli, acting director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, also embraces another title: “I’m one of 23 million Americans in recovery who have gone on to live productive lives.”

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Celebrity Big Brother’s Leslie Jordan Reveals Dangerous Crystal Meth Addiction VIDEO

“Part of my recovery – I’m in recovery – I go to these meetings and stuff,” he began before Kellie asked him about what his addictions were. “Alcoholic,” Leslie said before adding: “And crystal meth. Back in the day in gay bars, they’d give you a bump and you’d dance all night and then it got to the point where I’d do my bump and just want to go home.”

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Dr. Gabor Maté’s Lesson from Robin Williams: Take Depression Seriously  

Death, Robin Williams once said, is “the ultimate closing.” The turbulent comic genius found that closing recently, at his own hands. The thought of suicide was not new to him and in a 2010 interview he accused himself of not having “the balls to do it.” Why and how the fear of dying was finally overcome by despair at the thought of living must remain a mystery, but the questions raised by Williams’ tragic death are for all of us to ponder.

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Why We Feel Terrible After Too Many Drinks AUDIO

It can be nice to relax with a glass of wine, a beer or a shot of whiskey. But one drink too many, and you may be paying the price. To understand why drinking can make us feel so good and so bad, you have to know a little about science, says journalist Adam Rogers, author of Proof: The Science of Booze.

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Cigarettes More Deadly Than Marijuana

Formaldehyde, tar, the highly addictive nicotine and arsenic can be traced in one cigarette. Cigarettes are also inflammatory to the lungs, teeth, gums and heart. Gum disease anywhere from gingivitis to severe periodontal disease leading to tooth loss are correlated to prolonged cigarette use with or without moderation.

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Opinion: White Bread is Harder to Give  

Up Than Crack 

I’ve been to a Narcotics ­Anonymous meeting for my addiction to carbs but they just banned me from attending in future. I listened to all their stories of pain and woe and understood where they were coming from. Sure, some of them had been to prison and had their families turn their backs on them. But I’ve also felt that struggle.

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Advocates Raise Awareness for Heroin Epidemic   VIDEO

During International Overdose Awareness Day on Saturday, several local groups stepped up to raise awareness for the growing heroin problem in Las Vegas. Families that lost a loved one to the deadly addiction shared their stories with the community in hopes their experience could help prevent another overdose tragedy.

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A Message About Drug Use With A Fake Graveyard NPR  AUDIO

The tombstones, she says, are meant to shock people. Marian Huhman, a University of Illinois professor who specializes in public health social marketing campaigns, says it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of such programs. “But I want to emphasize that [it] doesn’t detract from the importance of these kinds of grass-roots efforts that are a very inexpensive way to get an important public health message out there.”

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