Countries like Ireland are taking a new approach to the war on illegal drugs–decriminalizing them. The hope is to reduce the stigma that exists around addiction and encourage people with substance use disorders to seek treatment. But is it a good idea? Legalization measures would open up access to these drugs, making it easier for minors…
DetailsAnyone with significant experience in the rooms of twelve-step programs has heard the relapse stories of people with long-term recovery. In many of these stories, pain played a starring role. Pain can place people in long-term recovery at great risk for relapse. Pain brings more people into contact with medical professionals than any other problem.…
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Finding strength in surrender is a concept that baffles most people. Most people might thing, “Surrender – doesn’t that mean waving the white flag?” When we surrender, aren’t we admitting defeat? Aren’t we giving up when we surrender our worries, our fears, our grief, our self-will, our relationships, our past, our drugs of choice? Where’s…
DetailsIn an attempt to address the problem of increasing deaths connected to overdose of prescription drugs, two U.S. Senators from West Virginia have introduced a bill that would make it harder for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve new and generic opioid drugs. Opioids, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Demerol, are commonly prescribed…
Details Bob Gray, Senior Vice President of Communications for Central Recovery, 57, died on October 15, 2015, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a long illness. Utilizing his three decades of management and marketing experience, over twenty years of it in addiction and mental health, Bob held numerous leadership roles with Central Recovery and its family…
DetailsStudies continue to be conducted to discover possible relationships between the use of hospital pain meds during a hospital stay and extensive use after discharge suggest the need for diligence by prescribing physicians. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, examined data from more than one million adults who had been hospitalized…
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Dear Loved Ones, I know I’ve haven’t been honest with you, but I’m learning that honesty in recovery is going to be critical if I want to get well. So let this letter be a beginning. And let me begin by saying, If there is one thing I wish you understood about me, it’s that…
DetailsBecause of the widespread use of opioid drugs in treatment of chronic pain, key players from around the world have joined forces to address the pros and cons. Opioids are used around the world to treat patients with severe pain, but people in the medical field interpret global statistics differently. While acknowledging the effectiveness of…
DetailsCiting data gathered from more than 170,000 chronic pain patients, researchers have concluded that prescription painkillers can be gateway drugs for heroin use. Ameritox, a company that provides drug-screening equipment to the medical community, issued the statement following a study of urine samples from chronic pain patients. Heroin use in the United States is seeing…
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If you’re sitting around waiting for a positive mental attitude to show up on your doorstep, that’s not going to happen. Try getting up and dragging out those tennies that have been hiding somewhere in the back of your closet, and just do it. Exercise, that is. There’s a biological basis for that advice. Research…
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