Old Diseases Made New

When we fail to provide adequate treatment for substance disorders, we pay a price in terms of overall public health.

I’ve long suspected that the single most important question when it comes to understanding addictions is— who gets it, and why?

In other words, given the reality that so many people drink and use mood and mind-altering drugs, why do only some – usually a minority, but a substantial one– go on to qualify for what we currently term a Substance Use Disorder (SUD)?

I’ve long thought the answer would have to involve genetics. Not only genetics, however. Other factors can and do play a role.

Mark S. Gold MD, an eminent figure in the scientific study of addictions, reviews the current state of knowledge in Psychology Today. Here’s the link:

Genetics and Addiction: What We've Learned

Take Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD), for instance. Gold notes that the heritability of alcohol dependence is up to 60%. If I recall correctly, that’s well above some other psychiatric disorders. Comparable to bipolar disorder.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that “twenty-two...

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The Bill Comes Due

ALD (alcohol-related liver disease) in the United States is projected to cost $355 billion in direct healthcare-related costs and $525 billion in lost labor and economic consumption.

The Power of Drug Company Marketing

...a number of years ago, the Institute of Medicine set forth guidelines intended to reduce the influence of advertising on how physicians prescribed medications... to date, relatively few physicians have actually adopted those guidelines.

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Update on Genetics

Being at risk does not mean that at some point, all those folks will wind up needing treatment. The vast majority will not. Still, that elevated risk is important to those who will be.

Update on Genetics

Being at risk does not mean that at some point, all those folks will wind up needing treatment. The vast majority will not. Still, that elevated risk is important to those who will be.

Writing and Ripping

Recovery isn't just about big, life-changing decisions. It's mostly in the myriad little choices we all make, every single day of our lives.

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Exercising for Chronic Pain Relief

We've known for several decades that regular exercise, even the mild sort, helps lessen symptoms of depression. It comes as no surprise that it may also help with CPS and the mood problems that accompany it.

Borderline, Revisited

The term was invented in the 1930’s to describe someone prone to becoming psychotic or severely disturbed under stress, but who otherwise was capable of functioning normally.

Self-Diagnosis

Most of the time, there’s an extended period in which the drinker is engaged in something called ‘comparing out’. That's when they're focused on what isn't wrong with their drinking, and ignoring or minimizing what is.

Exercising for Chronic Pain Relief

We've known for several decades that regular exercise, even the mild sort, helps lessen symptoms of depression. It comes as no surprise that it may also help with CPS and the mood problems that accompany it.

Drugs in Jail

If 70% or more of a jail population has been identified as having a drug or alcohol problem – that does happen – then what you’re really operating is a treatment center that happens to have bars on the windows and guards at the entrance.

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