Coronavirus

As Overdose Deaths Surge, Rehab Industry Faces ‘Severe Ethical Crisis’

LISTEN – GETTING HELP – Feb. 15, 2021 - “It’s a very hard system to navigate,” said Ryan Hampton, who spent years trying to get help for his addiction to prescription opioids and heroin. His family “was preyed ... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 16 2021interventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Teen’s Deadly Overdose Prompts Warning About Snapchat’s Role in Selling Drugs

WATCH – WHEN DOES IT STOP? – Feb. 11, 2021 - “I thought the worst thing that can happen on Snapchat were nude pictures or saying something inappropriate or something like that,” Berman said. “I had no idea ther... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 16 2021internetlife expectancyMental HealthOverdose

Is Social Media Bad for Sobriety?

MAYBE – Feb. 10, 2021 - Pro Tip: If you’re on social media and see things that trigger you, you should try to counter that with enjoyable things to ruminate on in positive ways. Some people think of a memory, o... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 16 2021internetinterventionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Who’s Taking Care of Mental Health Professionals?

DOCTOR (CAN’T) HEAL THYSELF – February 11, 2021 - USA TODAY spoke with half a dozen mental health workers who told us the pandemic has been the most challenging year of their professional lives. Every one of th... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusFeb 16 2021interventionlife expectancyMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocatesuicideTrauma

‘Insane’ success of goat Zooms nets £50k

ARE THE HORSES ON STRIKE? – Feb. 1, 2021 - She said they mostly appeared briefly, but one family books one of her other goats, Margaret, every Saturday morning for a longer catch-up. “They call her Mar... Read More...

Books, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusFeb 9 2021internet

Biden Quietly Announces Harm Reduction Among His Drug Priorities

TOO QUIETLY! – Feb. 4, 2021 - The White House seems to have done little to alert media to the changes. Drug Policy Alliance* Director of Media Relations Matt Sutton told Filter that National Public Radio (NPR) ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 9 2021harm reductioninterventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Alcohol deaths hit record high during Covid pandemic

EMPTY BOTTLES, FULL COFFINS – February 2, 2021 - Between January and September, 5,460 deaths were registered with this cause - up 16% on the same months in 2019. It is the biggest toll recorded since reco... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusFeb 9 2021interventionlife expectancyMental HealthRehabrelapse

Journaling to the Rescue in 2021!

SPECIALIZE IN YOUR OWN LIFE – Dec. 30, 2021 - Journaling as inspiration for change could help you consider a new way of doing and thinking about things. Perhaps it will show you what the pandemic has taught you... Read More...

Alcohol AddictionBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusFeb 9 2021interventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery Advocate

6 Reasons AA Zoom Rooms Are Inferior to In-person Meetings by Christopher Dale

IS ZOOM AA INFERIOR TO REAL AA MEETINGS? – Feb. 8, 2021 - In-person meetings also allow small acts of kindness – those mini-miracles that exemplify its members’ commitment to helping others – that don’t carry o... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and Mediacell phoneCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 9 2021internetinterventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Sobriety Surprises: Stars Who Revealed They Got Sober

CELEBRITIES, THEY’RE JUST LIKE US. – February 4, 2021 - From time to time, however, a celebrity will surprise the world and suddenly announce that they got sober. Us rounded up the public revelat... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 9 2021interventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

FDA Can Save Lives if it Wanted to By Targeting Tobacco Addiction

SMOKESCREEN – Jan. 25, 2021 - The Biden administration has a chance to embrace this agenda after Trump’s FDA abandoned it. Ending Covid-19 is their top priority, and rightfully so. But the new administration wi... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 2 2021interventionRecoverysmoking

With Administration Focused On Other Crises, Drug Epidemic Is Exploding

LISTEN – STORMY FEBRUARY – Jan. 29, 2021 - The new administration has also appointed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head the Health and Human Services Department. Becerra, who hasn’t been conf... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 2 2021interventionMental Healthopioid crisisopioidsRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Good riddance to Dry January…

LISTEN – NO BOOZE IS GOOD BOOZE – Jan 30, 2021 - You don’t realize how many times an alcoholic is asked, “Why can’t you just have one glass and stop drinking?” I didn’t know. I wanted to answer that question so... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusFeb 2 2021interventionRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

While US Focused On Other Crises, Drug Epidemic Is Exploding

LISTEN – WHEN WILL IT END? – Jan. 29, 2021 - “Our country is facing many simultaneous crises and President Biden understands that,” an administration official wrote in an email. “The President has laid out key ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 2 2021interventionlife expectancyMental Healthopioid crisisopioidsOverdoseRecoveryRehabrelapse

Alcoholics’ Silent COVID Suffering: What’s a Recovering Addict to do in Isolation?

WHAT WOULD BILL AND BOB SAY? – Jan. 27, 2021 - Some of this is well-publicized. Unsurprisingly the anxiety, fear and isolation COVID-19 has caused lends itself to increased risks for alcoholism and substance a... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 2 2021interventionMental HealthRecoveryRehab

‘Lockdown broke me: After 15 years of sobriety, I drank. Secretly, alone.’

KEEP COMING BACK – Jan. 25, 2021 - This January, I would have been 15 years sober. In 2006, after 24 years of drinking addictively, I crawled — metaphorically — into a meeting of recovering alcoholics, got wit... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousCompassionCoronavirusFeb 2 2021interventionlonelinessMental HealthRecoveryRehabrelapse

It’s Hard to Stay Sober in a Pandemic, Holly Wants to Help

SUGGESTIONS TO GO BUY – Jan. 27, 2021 - While there’s no one-size-fits-all treatment strategy to address problematic drinking, many people turn to 12-step programs for peer support—most notably, Alcoholics Ano... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusFeb 2 2021interventionMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

The Pandemic’s Toll on Children’s Mental Health

SUFFER THE CHILDREN, AND TEENS, TOO – Jan 12, 2021 - KRISSY WILLIAMS, 15, had attempted suicide before, but never with pills.The teen was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 9. People with this chronic mental... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionFeb 2 2021interventionlife expectancylonelinessMental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocatesuicideteenagersTrauma

Gambling Addiction Experts Focusing on Robinhood App

BETTING REAL MONEY – Jan. 30, 2021 - But industry experts say Robinhood’s addictive elements have been such a well-known problem that rival startups, like Public and Titan, have been casting themselves as abbre... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusFeb 2 2021GaminginternetinterventionRecoverySmartphone Addiction

Zooming Through Recovery

PASS THE ELECTRONS – Jan. 15, 2021 - Group therapy helps build up the strength necessary for recovery through the essential process of validation. Coping with addiction is unbelievably challenging — doing so wi... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninternetinterventionJan 26 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Mobile Clinic Helps Las Vegas Homeless Combat Addiction

A SAFE BET – January 23, 2021 - Services include: clean needle exchange, wound care, substance abuse rehabilitation, and doses of naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses. Linkage to Action will also provide ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionhomelessinterventionJan 26 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRehab

Lost Touch: How a Year Without Hugs Affects You

PRIMITIVE NEED NOT BEING MET – Jan. 25, 2021 - Nina Smith is 40, and lives alone in south London. She experienced a protracted recovery after a spinal injury in 2018, requiring long periods of bed rest. People ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusdepressioninterventionJan 26 2021lonelinessMental HealthRecovery

How ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Can Help You Cope

WINTER READING TO KEEP YOU WARM – April, 2020 - Holden’s taste in food is pure postwar American. Bacon, eggs, hamburgers and steak all feature in the book. Mainly, however, this 16-year-old survives on cigaret... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionJan 26 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRehab

699 People Died in SF in 2020: 235 From COVID-19

INSANITY IN AMERICA – Jan. 15, 2021 - The DOPE Project has also seen an increase in the number of overdoses prevented by Narcan, a medication commonly sprayed up the nose to reverse an opioid overdose. This yea... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionJan 26 2021Overdoserelapse

“I have been anorexia’s prey”

WASTING AWAY – January 20, 2021 - I have been anorexia’s prey, all while thinking that it was my friend and protector, my arbiter of discipline. When I heard that gyms were going to be closed during th... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryCoronavirusEating Disorderfood addictioninterventionJan 26 2021Mental HealthRecovery

How Bad IS Quarantine for my Body?

TRY BENDING OVER – January 22, 2021 - ...Leah Whigman, associate professor at UTHealth School of Public Health in El Paso, told VICE. “Is there any value in saying, I screwed up big time, I’m going to die earlier n... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusdepressionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionJan 26 2021lonelinessMental HealthRecoveryRehab

Experts Say Why Pandemic is Causing More Relapse and Overdose

WATCH – Despair and Addiction – Jan. 8, 2021 - “She was staying with a mutual friend.” It’s still very fresh in Danielle Owen’s mind as she recounts a tragic story of personal loss. Owen says her friend’s husb... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionJan 19 2021life expectancyMental HealthOverdoseRecoveryRehabrelapse

Marijuana Shops Report Brisk Business Despite Pandemic

WATCH – High profits – Jan. 9, 2021 - “Despite all the market challenges, everything from COVID to supply chains and beyond, Maine has done a really good job getting this market up and running,” said Thomas Wi... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCoronavirusDrug Abuse and AddictionJan 19 2021marijuanaRecoverysmoking

Therapist Puts New Face on Alcoholism

Not Without Blemishes – Jan. 13, 2021 - “Since the onset of COVID, alcohol use skyrocketed as a coping mechanism. Everyone’s looking for relief. People drink for relaxation, to calm nerves, to sleep, as a ritual, t... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusdepressioninterventionJan 19 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab