Posts Tagged ‘addiction’
Detoxification as Performance Art
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared on Pain News Network on May 31, 2019. “Treatment Box: Rebekkah’s Story” won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Class – Short Format Daytime Program at the 46th Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The 6-minute video was produced by The Truth About Opioids, which is an opioid…
Read MoreHonoring Our Veterans on Memorial Day
Those statistics are difficult to read anytime, but they seem especially troubling as the United States commemorates Memorial Day. This is the time for us to acknowledge that those who have served our country deserve the best medical care available.
Read MoreHow to Know If You Are Addicted
This article, in a slightly edited form, first appeared in Consumer Health Digest on May 15, 2019. Everyone has heard the phrase “opioid addiction,” but few understand what that really means. Journalists, patients, and even many doctors believe they know what addiction is, but they are often wrong. This leads many people to be diagnosed…
Read MoreWhat Is the Truth About Energy Drinks?
Stimulants in a Bottle Does energy come from a bottle? Some people claim it does. You can find energy drinks such as Bang, Red Bull, and Energy Shot everywhere food and soft drinks are sold. Since they contain large amounts of caffeine and sugar, they may be a stimulant for some people. There’s also an…
Read MoreAre Most Retired NFL Players Really Addicts?
We can probably attribute the use or misuse of opioids to the fact that these retired football players were trying to mitigate severe pain.
Read MoreHollywood Romanticizes Addiction
We all love good storytelling. Cinema can mirror the real world or create a universe of its own. Movies can transport us to another world, beyond ordinary consciousness and emotions. It can be an agent for positive cultural change, or it can spread false narratives that are largely adopted by society. It can help solve…
Read MoreWounded Healer
My Review of Drug Dealer MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, a Book by Anna Lembke, M.D. In Drug Dealer MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, Anna Lembke, M.D. offers her views on how a failed health care system created the…
Read MoreHow to Find an Addiction Treatment Provider
Molly’s Story Illustrates How Addiction Can Happen Molly (a pseudonym) was a 25-year-old woman who developed an addiction to opioids. She was initially prescribed opioids for pain by her gynecologist. Although only a small percentage of people who use opioids become addicted to them, Molly’s story illustrates how it can happen. Molly came to me looking…
Read MoreMarijuana and Pain
Marijuana May Help Solve the Opioid Crisis The opioid crisis is a complex problem with many components, one of which is untreated pain. To the extent that it could be used to help patients manage pain, marijuana might have the potential to become part of the solution. However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has…
Read MoreBreaking Bad 2018
TV’s Hit Show “Breaking Bad” Glamorized Meth Abuse The television hit show, Breaking Bad, lionized the idea of making and selling meth. A high school teacher who was dying of lung cancer wanted to leave his family enough funds to live, and he chose drug dealing as a way to achieve his goal. The show…
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