So you can see here that my DIY coffee mug rack has metallic letters and the first layer of paint is in the same paint. I LOVED the look of the metallic spray paint I purchased and I was ITCHING to use it on something so I thought having the metallic paint peeking out from under a neutral shade would be so modern-shabby-chic!
However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the handbook used in the medical community to diagnose mental disorders) does recognize one behavioral addiction: compulsive gambling.
A Look At Our Newest Addiction*
Good documentaries ask tough questions. Director Tiffany Shlain wants to know: how much internet is too much internet? Or maybe: have our digital lives started to over power our physical lives? Shlain has a self-professed love/hate relationship with technology. She founded the Webby Awards, which proclaim the excellence of content on the internet. She also is a major advocate for the National Day of Unplugging. Her latest film, Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death, & Technology explores her complex feelings towards the digital world in a year when she faces challenges best solved by technology: a father with brain cancer and a high risk pregnancy. Her poignant, fun look at our modern lives is intoxicating to behold, full of animation, archival footage, and action. Watch the trailer in the video below. Coming to select theaters on September 16th, Connected promises to be a thought-provoking look at where we draw the lines between our biological lives and our virtual loves.
Dopamine, the main chemical involved in addiction, is secreted from certain nerve tracts in the brain when we engage in a rewarding experience such as finding food, clothing, shelter or a sexual mate. Nature designed our brains to feel pleasure when these experiences happen because they increase our odds of survival and of procreation.
But the days when our species dwelled in caves and struggled for survival are long gone. Dopamine Nation explains how living in a modern society, affluent beyond comparison by evolutionary standards, has rendered us all vulnerable to dopamine-mediated addiction. Today, the addictive substance of choice, whether we realize it or not, is often the internet and social media channels, according to Lembke, MD.
These are some of the signs of mental relapse [1]: 1) craving for drugs or alcohol; 2) thinking about people, places, and things associated with past use; 3) minimizing consequences of past use or glamorizing past use; 4) bargaining; 5) lying; 6) thinking of schemes to better control using; 7) looking for relapse opportunities; and 8) planning a relapse.
Clinical experience has shown that occasional thoughts of using need to be normalized in therapy. They do not mean the individual will relapse or that they are doing a poor job of recovery. Once a person has experienced addiction, it is impossible to erase the memory. But with good coping skills, a person can learn to let go of thoughts of using quickly.
There are many risks to recovery at this stage, including physical cravings, poor self-care, wanting to use just one more time, and struggling with whether one has an addiction. Clients are often eager to make big external changes in early recovery, such as changing jobs or ending a relationship. It is generally felt that big changes should be avoided in the first year until individuals have enough perspective to see their role, if any, in these issues and to not focus entirely on others.
In the abstinence stage of recovery, clients usually feel increasingly better. They are finally taking control of their lives. But in the repair stage of recovery, it is not unusual for individuals to feel worse temporarily. They must confront the damage caused by addiction to their relationships, employment, finances, and self-esteem. They must also overcome the guilt and negative self-labeling that evolved during addiction. Clients sometimes think that they have been so damaged by their addiction that they cannot experience joy, feel confident, or have healthy relationships [9].
4) People feel that they should be beyond the basics. They think it is almost embarrassing to talk about the basics of recovery. They are embarrassed to mention that they still have occasional cravings or that they are no longer sure if they had an addiction.
These are some of the generally recognized benefits of active participation in self-help groups: 1) individuals feel that they are not alone; 2) they learn what the voice of addiction sounds like by hearing it in others; 3) they learn how other people have done recovery and what coping skills have been successful; and 4) they have a safe place to go where they will not be judged.
A missing piece of the puzzle for many clients is understanding the difference between selfishness and self-care. Selfishness is taking more than a person needs. Self-care is taking as much as one needs. Clinical experience has shown that addicted individuals typically take less than they need, and, as a result, they become exhausted or resentful and turn to their addiction to relax or escape. Part of challenging addictive thinking is to encourage clients to see that they cannot be good to others if they are first not good to themselves.
Denied users will not or cannot fully acknowledge the extent of their addiction. They cannot imagine life without using. Denied users invariably make a secret deal with themselves that at some point they will try using again. Important milestones such as recovery anniversaries are often seen as reasons to use. Alternatively, once a milestone is reached, individuals feel they have recovered enough that they can determine when and how to use safely. It is remarkable how many people have relapsed this way 5, 10, or 15 years after recovery.
Just after graduating from medical school, Carl Erik Fisher was on top of the world. He was winning awards and working day and night. But a lot of that frantic activity was really covering up his problems with addiction.
I think addiction is not a disease. To call it a disease is misleading. Now, I say that with the understanding that for some people, the word "disease" is really powerful and liberating. It [can] provide an organizing framework for making sense of their struggles and a feeling of safety. And I would never want to police an individual's understanding of the word. But on balance, when we look at it as a socio-cultural phenomenon, I think the notion of disease can be misleading because it takes focus away from the forces of racism and other forms of oppression that are so often bound up in addiction. Initially, the word disease was introduced to try to force open the doors of hospitals and otherwise get medical treatment for people with addiction. That's because the medical profession had largely abandoned its duty to take care of people with addiction. So those advocacy efforts were absolutely necessary. But people still struggle with getting access to care. People still struggle with stigma. People still struggle to get insurance benefits for problems with addiction. There is a useful version of the word "disease" when talking about addiction that says therapy and medications can save lives. But the term is messy, and it also locates all of the causes in biology and overlooks some of the other determinants of people's health.
One simple pivot we could do is to shift our focus away from controlling people's use to meeting people where they are and helping them with what matters most in their life. For too long, medicine has been dominated by an abstinence-only model. Now, I myself am in an abstinence model. I don't think I should drink or use again. And for many people, that's necessary and lifesaving. But addiction is also profoundly diverse, and we have emerging evidence that there are some folks who can really improve their functioning even when they have a substance problem without totally cutting out use. Or they could be in a sort of partial abstinence when they stop using heroin. I don't think that it's wise to be cavalier about drug use, especially if somebody has had a problem before. But there are a lot of people who don't want treatment because their current treatment system is really domineering. For example, it's a crisis that people are discharged from treatment because of continued use. One definition of addiction is continued use despite negative consequences. So, I think it's imperative that as medical professionals, we work harder to work with people where they are while also recognizing the profound dangers of addiction.
Tobacco remains the most deadly drug because of the huge numbers of lives lost to lung cancer and other preventable lung- and heart-related conditions caused by nicotine addiction. Even though e-cigarettes contain no tobacco, we still do not know the long-term physical health impacts of vaping, and depending on the levels of nicotine and patterns of use, those who vape nicotine may be subjecting their brains to the same alterations that make it so difficult for tobacco smokers to quit and priming them to the use of combustible tobacco.
I wonder how much of the Common Core educational program incorporates addiction education into school curriculum, if any? If the young had better knowledge to make informed behavioral decisions, maybe there would be less substance abuse taking place.
This program was successfully piloted in Palm Beach County for nearly two years and will be expanding in up to twelve counties to break the overdose cycle. Floridians battling with addiction can utilize CORE for stabilization and to receive medical assisted treatment that is specialized to sustain a clean pathway to success. CORE will be expanded in two phases. Phase one counties include Brevard, Clay, Duval, Escambia, Gulf, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, and Volusia counties.
Located on a picturesque campus in Westborough, Massachusetts, the New England Recovery Center provides onsite detox, rehabilitation and inpatient alcohol and drug addiction treatment in two beautiful, state-of-the-art facilities near you featuring expansive windows, a fitness center, media room, outdoor patios, and scenic walking areas. 2ff7e9595c
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