There is a strong correlation between mental illness and substance misuse. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Multiple national population surveys have found that about half of those who experience a mental illness during their lives will also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa.” Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating…
The last day of August was International Overdose Awareness Day a day of raising awareness about overdose and helping to reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. It also acknowledged the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died and those whose overdoses resulted in permanent injury. September is Recovery Month. Recovery Month is all…
In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, BORN Ontario, and the University of Ottawa found “an association between maternal cannabis use in pregnancy and the incidence of autism spectrum disorder in the offspring” and “the incidence of intellectual disability and learning disorders was higher among offspring of mothers…
Adults over forty who reported a history of repetitive head trauma through contact sports, physical abuse, or military service had increased symptoms of depression and difficulty with cognitive functioning, as compared to those without such a history, according to a study published online in the journal, Neurology. Scientists from the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and…
Thousands of people die each year from drug overdoses. In the United States, drug overdose deaths rose again in 2019, according to new preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2020. The CDC predicts the final count for 2019 will be close to 72,000 overdose deaths, an increase of…
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth are more likely to experience poor health than their heterosexual (straight/cisgender) peers. As a webpage by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about LGBTQ health explains, “LGBTQ youth are part of every community, come from all walks of life, and are present in every racial,…
Emotional self-regulation is a crucial life skill. Our ability to modulate our emotions keeps them from becoming excessive, counterproductive, or inappropriate. We cannot help having emotions, of course—and they are quite important after all—but when we let our emotions control our decision making, we tend to run into trouble. It’s quite normal to be temporarily…
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) describes addiction as “a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, [with] continued use despite harmful consequences, and long-lasting changes in the brain.” “The chronic nature of addiction means that relapsing to drug use is not only possible but also likely,” explains NIDA. “Relapse rates are similar…
Addiction is a complex bio-psycho-social-spiritual brain disease that requires comprehensive treatment that addresses all of the known needs of the patient, concurrently. Such high-quality treatment may be hard to find in your area, yet many patients and their loved ones hesitate to choose a treatment center considered too far away from home. Often the best…
Historically, people addicted to drugs and alcohol were looked at as having something wrong with them; they were considered a moral failure with a character flaw. For that reason, many people with a substance use disorder (SUD) still choose not to seek the help they need—often internalizing the stigma that they are somehow defective. Too…
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