Veterans have a higher risk of abusing substances than members of the general population. Sadly, this risk is exacerbated during holidays like Thanksgiving, which involves the heightened tensions of family visits and a high likelihood of the presence of alcohol. While it is true that relapse can become more likely during the Thanksgiving holiday, help…
It is damaging to assume that when a tragedy like a global health crisis occurs, less newsworthy problems disappear. Individuals struggling with mental health issues, physical disabilities, non-COVID-related health conditions, and substance use still endure these conditions in this time of quarantine and lockdown. In fact, if anything, problems like addiction are exacerbated by the…
Mental health issues and addiction do not simply disappear when other issues take center stage. As the nation — and the world — face the current global pandemic, it is more important than ever that individuals struggling with these types of issues have access to high-quality remote treatment. In fact, in a quarantine situation, drug…
On May 7, 2020, the National Institute of Health issued a press release highlighting the findings of a new data analysis, which they had funded, and which had been published in the American Jour-nal of Preventative Medicine. The striking discovery found that patients who visited the emergency department for an opioid overdose are 100 times…
The Washington Post has reported that suspected overdoses ,not all of them fatal, nationally jumped 18% in March 2020, 29% in April 2020, and 42% in May 2020. These numbers were collected from data gathered from ambulance teams, hospitals, and police. The theory is that the culprit behind the spikes is the Coronavirus pandemic. The…
Of the roughly 21 million Americans with a substance abuse problem, only a little over 2 million have sought treatment of any kind. There are many reasons why this number is persistently low: there’s the perceived cost. Also, there can be a social stigma associated with admitting you have a problem. Plus, the idea that…
No one plans on becoming addicted. And it can be challenging to know when an individual has crossed the line from recreational use into addiction. It is especially difficult for the addicted individual to answer this question for themselves. That is why it is essential to ask yourself, “Does my loved one need addiction treatment?”…
When we talk about an “epidemic,” we often think of it as something that doesn’t affect all of us. Regarding the heroin epidemic, in particular, it’s tempting to think of it as a problem relegated to specific groups. But the numbers say otherwise. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heroin…
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has reported that in 2016 alone, almost one million Americans used heroin. And those numbers do not appear to be going down. Heroin addiction has tripled in the last ten years, and researchers have linked it to the current opioid epidemic. These are only some of the reasons…
Common Myths About Drugs There is a great deal of misinformation circulating about drugs and the people who do them. This is due to a variety of reasons. But, regardless of the reasons why there is false information, it is important to know the real facts. Without the truth, people will have a harder time…