Substance Abuse and PTSD: Let’s Talk About It
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Posted on May 17, 2012 by
substance abuse ptsd

Substance Abuse | PTSD

For veterans struggling with substance abuse, getting help can seem all but impossible.

The stigma attached to addiction and trauma keeps too many veterans out of treatment, whether it’s the warrior ethos that’s been instilled throughout their service or the fear of consequences for admitting they need help.

Veterans Healing Initiative is fighting that taboo. They are talking about substance abuse and trauma, challenging the stigma, and helping veterans get the treatment they deserve.

VHI is dedicated to helping veterans access treatment for addiction and the trauma and the chronic pain issues that often accompany this disease. As a nonprofit, VHI raises funds so those veterans who would otherwise go without care can receive treatment.

But they are doing more than just paying for treatment. They advocating for comprehensive, integrated care for all veterans, and creating capacity by funding expansion of veteran-focused addiction and trauma treatment programs.

Addiction and trauma among veterans spans across all conflicts of all ages.

It doesn’t discriminate based on military status, service record or age. And yet we don’t talk about it, and rarely acknowledge its existence.

The reality is this: Substance abuse is a disease, and the trauma that accompanies the addiction is a serious medical condition. If they’re not treated concurrently, you’ll never win the battle.

For the men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, some for as many as four or five deployments, and for all those who served previously, we owe it to them to do whatever necessary to help them reclaim their lives.

read the full Huffington Post story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

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Thomas Kinkade’s Death Shows that Alcohol Addiction Can be Deadly
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Posted on May 16, 2012 by

alcohol addiction thomas kinkadeThe death of famous painter Thomas Kinkade provides a new reminder of just how easy it is to lose everything to substance abuse.

For many years, Thomas Kinkade has been creating peaceful landscapes and religious-themed paintings that were marketed through a network of Thomas Kinkade stores across the country.

Mr. Kinkade had struggled for some years with alcoholism.

After his death, his brother stated that he had recently relapsed, suggesting that Mr. Kinkade had overcome his drinking problem for a period before he started drinking again. Mr. Kinkade was charged with Driving Under the Influence in 2010, though the charge was never settled.

But mixing alcohol with benzodiazepines can be deadly, as this example shows.

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Knockout Addiction with Andreas Spang
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Posted on May 15, 2012 by

Friend of Solutions Recovery and rising MMA star Andreas Spang is helping Knockout Addiction.

Andreas “Sweet Swede” Spang is one Las Vegan who believes in leading a strong and healthy life with a fit and healthy body.

KO addiction

This Friday, May 18th, Andreas will be going toe-to-toe with Maiquel Falcao in the Bellator Fighting Championship for the middleweight title.  Fridays fight can be seen on MTV2, Spike and EPIX2.

Tune-in to support Solutions Recovery and Andreas Spangs ongoing effort to knockout Addiction.

Click here for more information on Andreas Spang and his upcoming match.

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

 

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Lady Gaga Recalls her Drug Addiction
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Posted on May 14, 2012 by
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Lady Gaga - Drug Addiction

Lady Gaga, a fitness fanatic who works out daily and follows a strict diet, says loneliness fueled her drug addiction during her post-high school years.

“I started doing cocaine because it was like the drug was my friend,” Gaga, 26, said on the Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet talk show May 3, 2012.

“I never did it with other people. It’s such a terrible way to fill that void, because it just adds to that void, because it’s not real.”

She continued: “I began to cherish my loneliness. I have, sort of, since I was around 20 years old. I was very depressed when I was 19. I decided to pursue music, so I dropped out of school and I told my parents I didn’t want any money from them. I got three jobs and I just hit the ground running.

“I would go back to my apartment every day and I would just sit there. It was quiet and it was lonely. It was still. It was just my piano and myself. I had at television and I would leave it on all the time just to feel like somebody was hanging out with me.”

Gaga, who also abused alcohol and suffered from bulimia, stopped doing drugs once she realized it only masked her unhappiness and ultimately hindered her singing career.

“I woke up one day and was like, ‘You’re an a**hole; you’re not an artist,” says Gaga. “If you were a real f***ing artist, you’d be focused on your music. You wouldn’t be spending your money on the white devil.’ ”

Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, eventually kicked the cocaine habit and started studying yoga, which she continues to do today to keep herself healthy—physically and emotionally.

see the full Examiner story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

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Las Vegas Doctor Sentenced for Illegal Painkiller Distribution
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Posted on May 11, 2012 by
pill addiction rehab

Painkiller Addiction

A Las Vegas doctor who advocates medical marijuana therapy was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for unlawfully distributing addictive painkillers.

James Tinnell, 74, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to one count of distributing the drugs.

Eleven other drug distribution charges against Tinnell, who has given up his longtime medical practice, were dismissed.

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt on Monday also ordered that Tinnell be placed on two years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

Hunt ordered Tinnell not to prescribe prescription drugs to anyone while he is on supervised release.

In arguing for the two-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Crane Pomerantz said Tinnell contributed to the “epidemic” of prescription drug abuse in Nevada.

But Tinnell told Hunt he was aware of his professional responsibility when prescribing drugs and always handed out smaller doses than many of his professional colleagues.

“If I did anything to my patients that was harmful to them, I am sorry,” he said. “It was like a war every day to keep them from getting more and more.”

Hunt said he shared Pomerantz’s opinion and told Tinnell he was concerned that the physician had “dispensed these very powerful drugs” to patients with little or no physical exam.

Hunt gave Tinnell, who is free on his own recognizance, until Aug. 10 to surrender to prison authorities.

read the full Las Vegas Review Journal story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

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5 Signs You’re Getting Addicted to Your Pain Pills
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Posted on May 10, 2012 by
pain pill addiction

Pain Pill Addiction

We often read about how to tell if we’re addicted to prescription pain pills and what to do if we are addicted.

But what about the early signs, signs that could indicate the need to take action before we become dependent?

Few people wake up one morning suddenly addicted to prescription opiates.

The process is typically more gradual, which means there are numerous opportunities for early intervention.

Here are the earliest signs that your use of pain medication is beginning to cross the line into addiction:

#1 You’re starting to use your pain medication to feel better, not just to ease pain

#2 You’re thinking about increasing your dose even though your doctor has not recommended it

#3 You’re starting to take the medication automatically, even though your pain has subsided

#4 You’re spending more and more time thinking about and getting medication

#5 You’ve lost interest in non-drug pain management options

Click here to see the full Psych Central story and more details on each addiction sign

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

 

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Florida “Pill Mill’ Fueled Painkiller Abuse Epidemic
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Posted on May 9, 2012 by
Pill Abuse

Pill Mill Brothers - Chris and Jeff George

The prescription painkiller business was booming in 2009, making millionaires of Chris and Jeff George, twin brothers who operated several pain clinics in South Florida.

Unfortunately for them, their customers had a tendency to die, and not always in a subtle fashion.

In November of that year, three customers were on their way to a George brothers’ clinic when the driver tried to weave her Toyota Camry through the lowered arms of a train crossing.

The car was struck by commuter train going 79 mph. The driver and a passenger were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. The third occupant died six months later.

An associate of the Georges who read about the accident in the paper called Chris George to break the news. “Did it say they were pain clinic people?” George asked.

It didn’t, but the Roxicodone scattered through the backseat of the crumpled car, and on both sides of the train tracks, made it obvious to investigators that this threesome from Tennessee didn’t come to Fort Lauderdale to get tans.

Chris George worried that the accident would bring police scrutiny to the family’s pain clinics. To avoid situations like this, he and his workers coached their customers in keeping a low profile. “You’ve got to be an idiot to get hit by a train,” he complained.

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Substance Abuse Rising Among Baby Boomers
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Posted on May 8, 2012 by

substance abuseThink of a stereotypical drug addict and a vision of a young, tattooed high school dropout might come to mind. Drug addiction is typically associated with young adults, not with retirees.

But as the baby-boom generation, now ages 48 to 66, expands the ranks of an already sizeable older population, substance abuse is on the rise among elders.

Tobacco addiction continues to be the leading addiction among older adults, according to Dr. Douglas M. Ziedonis, professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at University of Massachusetts Medical School, but abuse of prescription drugs, alcohol and even marijuana and other illegal drugs is an often hidden, but serious, issue.

“We think the numbers we have (on substance abuse) just reflect the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Gary S. Moak, clinical associate professor at the medical school and a geriatric psychiatrist who practices in Westboro.

“We are seeing the leading edge of what will be a tsunami.”

A report released by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration projected that the need for substance abuse treatment among Americans over age 50 would double by 2020.

The report found that based on a survey done between 2006 and 2008, an estimated 4.3 million adults, or 4.7 percent of adults age 50 or older had used an illicit drug in the past year. Marijuana use was more common than non-medical use of prescription drugs for adults age 50 to 59, while non-medical use of prescription drugs was more common among those 65 and older.

see the full Telegram story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

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Teen Drug Abuse Linked to ‘Impulsive’ Brain Activity
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Posted on May 7, 2012 by
teen drug abuse

Teen Brain Scan

A brain network associated with impulsivity is linked to teen drug abuse, new research finds.

Teens with diminished activity in a neural network in the front part of the brain are more likely to experiment with drugs, cigarettes and alcohol in early adolescence, the researchers found.

Interestingly, this network is not the same one that is linked to the impulsivity of teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

That could mean that ADHD is not as much of a risk factor for drug abuse as researchers have worried.

“The take-home message is that impulsivity can be decomposed, broken down into different brain regions,” study researcher Hugh Garavan of the University of Vermont said in a statement, “and the functioning of one region is related to ADHD symptoms, while the functioning of other regions is related to drug use.”

Garavan and his colleagues scanned the brains of 1,896 14-year-olds as part of a large international project called IMAGEN. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they identified parts of the brain that were linked into networks by determining which areas became more active at the same time as one another. During the scans, the teens did a task that involved pressing a button and then having to keep themselves from pressing that button at a certain cue. This task requires the brain to inhibit behavior. [Inside the Brain: A Journey Through Time]

The researchers found that a quiet orbitofrontal cortex, the part of the brain tucked behind the eyes, was linked to more experimentation with substances, and that the diminished activity likely contributed to this experimentation rather than being a cause of it.

read the full Live Science story here

Our Las Vegas based Drug and Alcohol treatment programs will assist you in your recovery from chemical dependency, whether it be alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, opiates, or other addictive substances. We offer Chronic Pain, Detox, Intensive Outpatient, and Residential Treatment Programs. Solutions Recovery, Inc. is able to assist you in your recovery. For more information please visit our website at www.Solutions-Recovery.com.

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Drug Decriminalization, the Taboo Topic
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Posted on May 4, 2012 by

Substance AbuseIn recent years the topic of decriminalizing certain drugs, predominantly marijuana, has become a staple of many liberal campaigns. In Anjeanette Damon’s recent article, she reveals several ranking Republicans are now beginning to explore whether these drugs should become legal. In her fascinating article Anjeanette discusses public opinion on the matter, and why Republican views are beginning to change. The question of what this means for local rehab centers and their substance abuse programs still looms.

From her article in The Las Vegas Sun,

Voters might be wondering if Republicans are smoking something these days after two ranking Republicans recently supported exploring whether marijuana and other drugs should be decriminalized, if not legalized.

For years, supporters of legalizing pot have viewed Nevada as a potential stomping ground, hoping the libertarian streak that runs through Democrats and Republicans in this state would be kind to their efforts.

So far, however, they’ve failed at the ballot box.

And it’s never been a mantle that politicians have been fond of taking up. An effort, for example, to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada failed in the Legislature last year.

In the past, the issue has been marginalized as one only hippies, teenagers and rap stars cared about. Now, however, it appears to be taking root in what many might have considered a hostile environment — the Republican Party.

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