By Dr. Tian Dayton This is mental health awareness month. Which means, in my experience, that it is still, to some extent at least, alcohol awareness month. Many people who suffer with undiagnosed depression or anxiety reach for alcohol or drugs to calm their nerves or relieve them of emotional pain. In other words, they […]
Why We ‘Self-Medicate’ Our Own Depression or Anxiety Read More »
Drug overdose deaths have nearly tripled in the United States since 1999, with whites and middle-aged Americans bearing much of the brunt, a new government report shows. More than 16 out of every 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2015, compared to just over 6 in 1999, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Drug OD deaths nearly tripled since 1999, CDC says Read More »
Lindsay Lohan’s father, Michael Lohan, thinks drug addicts should be forced to take opiate-blocking drugs. In a letter to President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, Lohan — a recovering addict and a counselor with the Long Island Teen Challenge rehabilitation program — wrote, “This epidemic is threatening our country far worse than the threat posed
Michael Lohan Fights to Help Drug Addicts Read More »
Benzodiazepine Abuse Overview Benzodiazepines are a type of medication known as tranquilizers. Familiar names include Valium and Xanax. They are some of the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States. When people without prescriptions obtain and take these drugs for their sedating effects, use turns into abuse. Doctors may prescribe a benzodiazepine for the
Substance Abuse and Addiction Health Center Read More »
By Kim Wilson I remember as a little girl waking up on the morning after my parents had a party the night before. I was usually in the company my elder brother and two boys of close family friends. The four of us (while parents still slept) would smoke the stumped-out cigarettes, drink the dregs
New Year Drunkalogue Read More »
It’s 2 a.m., you’ve written one sentence for the five-page paper due in a few hours and you haven’t even started looking at your notes for the big test; then you realize your coffee supply is running low. For students, this is the most dreaded week of the year—finals week. There are many kinds of
Academic Doping: The Rise of the Study Drug Read More »
The American heroin epidemic has become more dangerous, as reports of heroin laced with carfentanil are being reported throughout the country. Carfentanil is the most potent opioid used commercially, 10,000 times stronger than morphine. It is a version or analogue of fentanyl, the painkiller that most recently made headlines with its role in the death
Heroin Laced with Elephant Tranquilizer Hits the Streets Read More »
When prescription opioids started getting too difficult or too expensive to procure, people addicted to them started turning to heroin–a shift that’s created an “epidemic” of heroin use in whole new groups of people. Now, a new opioid is rising in use and overdose: Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50-100 times more potent than morphine,
Why Fentanyl Is So Much More Deadly Than Heroin Read More »
What is alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) Highlights? Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is the name for the symptoms that occur when a heavy drinker suddenly stops or significantly reduces their alcohol intake. The symptoms of AWS may appear anywhere from six hours to a few days after your last drink. The most severe type of withdrawal
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An estimated two million Americans are dependent on prescription opioids, and the number of deaths linked to the drugs has skyrocketed in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Are you in recovery after battling addiction? Tell us what made you quit. What helped you, and what advice do you have
Prescription Addiction: Why did you quit? Read More »