Mental Health

What pushed Ryan Leaf into painkiller addiction?

STICKS AND STONES... – May 18, 2021 - The audience cheered and clapped. And then the MC there at the MGM Grand announced my name and the whole auditorium just booed and hissed,” Leaf, who has since recovered f... Read More...

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Let’s Redefine Mental Health As Brain Health by Dr. Daniel Amen

LISTEN – IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD – May 23, 2021 - For decades, the field of psychiatry has been placing emphasis on the wrong domain—the mind or the psyche—when brain imaging teaches us that mental health is real... Read More...

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Psychedelics Are Coming and Psychiatry May Never Be the Same

THANK GOD – May 9, 2021 - It’s been a long, strange trip in the four decades since Rick Doblin, a pioneering psychedelics researcher, dropped his first hit of acid in college and decided to dedicate his life to... Read More...

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Lamar Odom on His Sobriety 5 Years After Near-Fatal Overdose

KETAMINE IS MY FRIEND – May 17, 2021 - With Lamar’s reported current solution, he believes he has found the best way to helping him maintain his sobriety, telling GMA, “I call it the healthy high.” His trea... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionInterviewMay 25 2021Mental HealthOverdoseRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

Substance abuse recovery services see uptick in demand

WATCH – MORE HEADS NEED BEDS! – May 17, 2021 - While restrictions and mandates have been lifted, and vaccines are being distributed, many centers said they are starting to see an uptick in people coming back f... Read More...

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Pro skateboarder uses own challenges to inspire others towards recovery

WATCH – SOBER IS BETTER – May 20, 2021 - To most skateboarders, time at the local skate park is all about perfecting their craft — time to get on their boards, practice new skills and just let loose. For pr... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMay 25 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRecovery AdvocateRehab

‘I used to bring only tears to my family, now today, I bring smiles’

LIVING IN D’LIGHT – May 21, 2021 - But, she says, after reaching out to addiction support group Heal the Hurt (HTH), her recovery has been ‘astounding’. “Heal the Hurt has helped me to realise that childhood trau... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMay 25 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRehab

How Are You, Really?

FINE, TOTALLY FINE – May 17, 2021 - For many of us, emerging from pandemic life has created a flurry of new emotions. A large body of research shows that labeling these emotions — something scientists call “af... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionCoronavirusdepressioninterventionMay 25 2021Mental HealthRecoveryTrauma

Photographs depict the stark reality of addiction in the US

SNOW ANGELS – May 21, 2021 - Fearless and prolific conflict photographer James Nachtwey has been at the frontline of battles all over the world. On this occasion, he travelled with visual journalist and editor ... Read More...

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Healthcare worker embraces sobriety after spending $212 a week on booze during lockdown

THAT’S ALL? – May 22, 2021- Nikki had a successful career in healthcare, a detached home and, more importantly, two children and a loving and supportive husband. But alcohol held her in a vice-like grip for 15 y... Read More...

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Virtually Sober – When AA Went Away

An original story by Christopher Dale. – Nicholas had been virtually sober once before … well, virtually anyway. Unfortunately neither the liquor store nor the whiskey nor the inevitable DTs were avatars. They were r... Read More...

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Hollywood Has a New Way to Dramatize Addiction

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ADDICTION – May 11, 2021 - But a Hollywood movie cannot just be about boredom. It requires a meaty emotional conflict, preferably one that can be resolved in a couple of hours. Deb, for instance... Read More...

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Oldest booze-free bar in Britain sober since 1890

DRY AF – May 11, 2021 - By the late 19th century, alcohol-free hotels, pubs, and community gathering spaces could be found all throughout the country and remained popular until after World War II, when society ... Read More...

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Psychedelic drug boom in mental health treatment

ONE PILL MAKES YOU HAPPIER – May 10, 2021 - Drugs long stigmatized, such as psilocybin and MDMA, are rising in profile as mental illness treatment options. Just last week, results from a phase 3 trial of MDMA c... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaDrug Abuse and AddictionMay 18 2021Mental HealthPsychedelicsRecovery

Iraq veteran with PTSD died after overdose

WAR CRIME IS REDUNDANT – May 14, 2021 - The inquest heard his records showed several occasions between 2017 and 2020 when he went to A&E after either self-harming or reported suicide attempts. Before his deat... Read More...

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Eating disorders propelled by idealization of thinness

DYING TO LOSE WEIGHT – May 13, 2021 - “Quick things like Tik Tok and Instagram are so focused on the image, and so that’s what people are really tuning into, much more than other content,” Dr. Kathryn Pieper, c... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaEating Disorderfood addictioninterventionMay 18 2021Mental HealthRecovery

Cody Ware shares his mental health story

WATCH – BACK ON TRACK – May 13, 2021 - Ware has opened up with frank transparency about his past, using it as a means to move forward in his ongoing fight with the effects of depression. In the film, he details his ... Read More...

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Woman whose mugshots went viral shares her recovery

WATCH – SOBRIETY COMES IN ALL SHADES – May 14, 2021 - I kind of was like, ‘I’ve already been to prison, how much more can it hurt to get my face tattooed?’ and I really didn’t realize what I was getting myself ... Read More...

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Read How Pros Embrace Mental Health Awareness Month

MONTHLY SELF CARE – May 14, 2021 - Erica Taylor, co-founder and chief growth officer, TINSEL Experiential Design, New York “During quarantine, I got very into jigsaw puzzles as a way to do something with my ... Read More...

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Brad Garrett: ‘The ‘Most Painful Day of My Life’

EVERYBODY LOVES BRAD – May 15, 2021 - Though the idea of divorce was heartbreaking, Garrett and Diven knew that a tumultuous relationship would have created a volatile home environment for their children. They ... Read More...

Addiction RecoveryBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCelebrity SobrietyMay 18 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Musical Interlude

Lemon Jelly - Come – Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London that formed in 1998 and went on hiatus starting in 2008. Since its inception, the band members have always been Fred Deakin and Nick Fra... Read More...

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Q&A with Fay Zenoff, Recovery Strategist/Podcast Host

STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – May 13, 2021 - Fay Zenoff holds a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business and has a 30 year career in management with experience in a variety of sectors including education, t... Read More...

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Dr. Berger’s “12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety” drops June 3rd

WATCH – DR. BERGER DOES IT AGAIN – May 12, 2021 - 12 Essential Insights for Emotional Sobriety reflects a capstone on the series and is a culmination of five decades of clinical practice, direct recovery experi... Read More...

12 Step ProgramAddiction RecoveryAlcohol AddictionAlcoholics AnonymousBooks, Memoirs, Films, and MediaCompassionDrug Abuse and AddictioninterventionMay 18 2021Mental HealthRecoveryRecovery Advocate

Salvation Army Sued for Not Paying Minimum Wage to Addicts

SANTA TOOK ALL THE CASH – May 12, 2021 - According to the Washington Post, the US Department of Labor had reviewed the Salvation Army’s “work therapy” program and determined it was unlawful and ordered the nonp... Read More...

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Women Experience Addiction Differently

HITTING THE GLASS...FLOOR – May 14, 2021 - When it comes to addiction, gender matters. Women often get addicted for different reasons than men, they go into treatment for different reasons, and they get and stay sob... Read More...

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Andra Day’s New Day

ROLE OF A LIFETIME – May 11, 2021 - Living with Holiday for such an intense stretch of time seems to have gifted Day the opportunity to consider different ways of being and thinking, particularly around the ide... Read More...

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‘America’s new asylums’

CRIMINAL INJUSTICE SYSTEM – May 14, 2021 - “Unfortunately, mental health seems to only come to the forefront when there are cases of tragedy,” he said. Experts say the episode demands a larger public convers... Read More...

depressioninterventionlife expectancylonelinessMay 18 2021Mental HealthRecovery

Quote of the Week – Brené Brown

“Only when we are brave enough to explore our darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light” —Brené Brown ... Read More...

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How A.A. Survived an Existential Crisis

SECRET PASSWORDS – May 12, 2021 - The switch from in-person to online at the onset of the pandemic was overnight. “It all happened really quick,” recalls Anne, the group’s elected “overall chair” for 2020. (All... Read More...

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Who’s to blame for America’s opioid epidemic?

FOLLOW THE MONEY – May 5, 2021 - It was an American epidemic long before Covid-19. Opioid addiction and overdoses have scythed through the US heartland, often compounding misery in regions already ravaged... Read More...

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