December 30 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Every word of God is pure;

He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him

STEP 2 :Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

So what are you waiting for ! I knew my life was a train wreck but I was also very skeptical about God . Like many I believed if God was there why would he let me suffer so much . It was simple i chose to live the life I wanted to live , far away from God . God is patiently waiting for you to come to Him admit your life is a mess and ask Him for help , like I said I was skeptical but also very desperate .In my life stuff was so bad , I had nothing too lose and everything to gain . I tried everything else might as well give God and the steps a try. Wow ,God is real the steps helped me find him ,He loves me and He missed me. No I can't explain it but thirteen years clean was something I dreamed of but under my own strength could not pull it off. He will do the same for you ,I double dog dare you to believe and ask Him for help.

Exposure to Alcohol Before Birth Linked to Social Skills Problems in Childhood

By Join Together Staff | December 12, 2013 | Leave a comment | Filed inAlcohol, Mental Health, Parenting, Research & Youth

Children whose mothers drank during pregnancy are more likely to have problems with social skills, compared with their peers whose mothers did not drink while pregnant, according to a new study.

A mother’s drinking during pregnancy was also found to be associated with significant emotional and behavioral issues in their children, according to HealthDay.

The study, published in Child Neuropsychology, included 153 children ages 6 to 12. Of these children, 97 had a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The researchers evaluated the children’s thinking, as well as their emotional, social and behavioral development. They found children whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy had more social problems, even after their IQ was taken into account. They were less able to connect past experience with present actions, or understand why people do what they do. They received lower scores on tests of planning and organizational skills, attention and working memory.

Parents of children with prenatal alcohol exposure said the children showed more inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. These children were more likely to have symptoms of depression.

The researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, said their findings indicate a great need for early detection and treatment of social problems in children that result from prenatal alcohol exposure. Intervening early is important, they said, because children’s developing brains have an ability to change and adapt as they learn.

Ohio Legislator Proposes Requiring Hospitals to Report Opioid-Dependent Newborns

By Join Together Staff | December 19, 2013 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related, Legislation, Parenting, Prescription Drugs, Prevention & Youth

A bill proposed by an Ohio legislator would require hospitals to report the number of opioid-dependent babies born each year, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“It’s one of the few measurements we will have ongoing for future legislators to see if we’re impacting these addiction issues in a positive, negative or neutral way,” bill sponsor Representative Lynn Wachtmann told the newspaper. “That’s one of the frustrations I’ve heard time and time again — it’s hard to get good measurements in place so we know how we’re doing.”

The measure specifies that information reported by hospitals could not be passed on to law enforcement agencies. Other bills under consideration by the Ohio legislature include requiring hospices to track medications and dispose of them when they are no longer needed; banning doctors from prescribing certain drugs to treat opioid addiction unless the patient is also receiving behavioral counseling; and requiring counties to offer a full spectrum of drug-addiction and mental health services.

This summer, Ohio Governor John Kasich announced a $4.2 million pilot program to treat pregnant women addicted to heroin and prescription drugs.

24th Annual Leadership forum

DECEMBER 28 V 23 TWELVE STEPPING WITH THE POWER IN THE PROVERB

He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward
Than he who flatters with the tongue.

STEP 10 :  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Well there you have it ! The truth and nothing but the truth will do. Telling people what they want to hear cannot and will not help them in the long run. True recovery starts with you  being honest with yourself and especially others. Long gone are the days of making excuses and lieing to get what you want. Being honest with yourself will effect all of your relationships.My mom used to say your not fooling anyone but yourself ,looking back she was right. The Proverb mentions rebuking a man by telling him the cold hard truth. Speaking the truth admitting your mistakes will earn you humility, respect , trust  ,and favor. Thirteen years of soberity and I am still discovering defects in my character that my wife loves too point out. It is stuff I never gave any thought too until she brought it too light.She is not trying too harm me ,back in the day that is what I thought ,but now I get it.Truth hurts especially if there is an area in your life that needs change. Using the Proverb and step ten will keep you sober !

KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE !

You Probably Have ADHD

Deceptive marketing and celebrity endorsements have created an ADHD culture, much to the delight of the pharmaceutical companies.

photo: Shutterstock

By Allison McCabe

12/23/13

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• Should We Dump the DSM?
• Addicts and Adderall
• Colleges Clamp Down on ADHD Drugs
• Kids Ever More Medicated for ADHD
• Everyone and Their Mom Is On Adderall

I recently took a six question quiz on the website Everyday Health to determine if I have adult ADHD. The quiz was written by “Psychcentral Staff” and included questions such as “When you have a task that requires a lot of thought, how often do you avoid or delay getting started?” And “How often do you feel overly active and compelled to do things, like you were driven by a motor?” I answered honestly, and got this result: “ADHD may be likely.” I have never been diagnosed with ADHD, I am generally focused and calm and no one would ever describe me as hyper. After reading my results, however, I had my doubts. Or maybe I wanted to have my doubts; wouldn’t it be nice to have a condition which would allow me, after receiving the right diagnosis and medication, to miraculously make new friends, get better grades, finish projects, and have among my similarly-diagnosed peers people like Adam Levine, lead singer for Maroon 5?
According to the CDC, childhood diagnoses of ADHD have risen from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million today and 15 percent of high school age kids are diagnosed with ADHD. These numbers represent “a national disaster of dangerous proportions,” according to Dr. Keith Conners, a long time proponent of recognizing and destigmatizing ADHD. Despite the numbers, Dr. Conners says that there is no ADHD epidemic. Instead, “This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.” 

Every single major ADHD medication has been in trouble with the FDA for misleading advertising, some more than once.

Pharmaceutical companies have spent the past two decades engaging in aggressive and sneaky marketing that has included diagnosis- and drug-pushing doctors, playing on parents’ fears, and involving schools in the effort to attract, diagnose, and treat kids who suffer (or who appear to suffer) from ADHD. Ads for ADHD medication targeting parents feature headlines such as “Reveal his potential,” and “Thanks for taking out the garbage.” One ad has a hand-drawn picture of a kid and in large, childish writing, states: “Today I got a good mark. And made a new friend. What a great day!” In one particularly manipulative ad, a cheerful mom appears under the headline “I am not a bad mom;” the mom explains that her son’s school was ready to throw him out if his behavior continued. After taking the ADHD medication, however, her son “has become a thousand times better" and she has presumably been exonerated from bad motherhood.
Every single major ADHD medication has been in trouble with the FDA for misleading advertising, some more than once.
ADHD medications are marketed to doctors by psychopharmacology experts such as Dr. Joseph Biederman, a Harvard University child psychiatrist who is a huge proponent of stimulant medication to treat ADHD. Dr. Biederman also believes that the disorder is significantly underdiagnosed, and that failure to medicate will almost certainly cause risks as serious as drug dependence and problems with the law. As an example of Dr. Biederman’s enthusiastic support of stimulant medication for ADHD, in 2006 he told Reuters Health, “If a child is brilliant but is doing just OK in school, that child may need treatment, which would result in their performing brilliantly at school.” According to the marketing efforts aimed at doctors, much of which has been based on findings from Biederman’s research, ADHD drugs will “allow your patients to experience life’s successes every day.” One brochure for Adderall XR contains the remarkable statement that “Amphetamines have been used medically for nearly 70 years. That’s a legacy of safety you can count on.”
A Senate investigation in 2008 found that Dr. Biederman’s research was largely funded by drug companies, including Shire, the manufacturer of many of the leading ADHD medications. He was also paid $1.6 million for speaking and consulting. Dr. Biederman denies that the money had any effect on his research.
The more insidious marketing efforts are the ones that are not obvious. The main advocacy group for people with ADHD is CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). CHADD was started in 1987 with the goal of bringing more attention to ADHD and its treatment. According to the group’s website, CHADD was founded “in response to the frustration and sense of isolation experienced by parents and their children with ADHD. At that time, one could turn to very few places for support or information. Many people seriously misunderstood ADHD. Many clinicians and educators knew little about the disability, and individuals with ADHD were often mistakenly labeled ‘a behavior problem,’ ‘unmotivated,’ or ‘not intelligent enough.’” CHADD offers advocacy, support, and a CDC-funded clearinghouse for “evidence-based information about ADHD.” They put out a magazine called Attention with articles such as “What’s in a Parent’s ADHD Tool Box?”

Pharmaceutical companies know what they’re doing: in 2012, sales of stimulants reached almost $9 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2002.

I checked the website's funding, and found no mention of the fact that the group was started with seed money from Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, the primary manufacturer of ADHD drug Ritalin. Furthermore, the drug company provided funds to create “fact sheets” about treatment, one of which claimed: “Psychostimulant drugs are not addictive.”
CHADD has also lobbied the DEA to loosen government restrictions on stimulants and has worked on an educational video about ADHD with the Department of Education. The 11 main sponsors for CHADD’s 12th annual conference in 2000 were all drug companies. Shire led the pack, and was also revealed to have paid $3 million so that CHADD’s magazine, “Attention” would be delivered to doctors’ offices across the country.
Perhaps the most deceptive—and saddest—marketing efforts are the ones aimed at children.  “What’s Up with Astra?” is a comic book about a girl who has trouble with school and friends because of her inability to focus or stay still. Fortunately, a group of superhero medical experts called “the Medikidz” show up to tell Astra that she has ADHD. They explain how the disorder works in her brain, and introduce her to “Nora and Dopey,” who teach her how she can treat her ADHD.
The Medikidz were created by two pediatricians who were frustrated by the lack of child-friendly resources available to explain medical conditions. In addition to ADHD, the comic books deal with diseases and disorders including brain tumors, cancer, and allergies. According to their website, “Credibility is the cornerstone to the Medikidz offering - professional medical writers and doctors write all the content, which is subsequently peer-reviewed by leading consultants in each respective field. Medikidz also gains the endorsement of established and well-regarded medical institutions, foundations and spokespeople.” 
According to the New York Times investigation, however, credibility may not be such a strong cornerstone for Medikidz, at least in the case of the ADHD comics. Shire paid to have them produced. From the comic: “Medicines may make it easier to pay attention and control your behavior!”
Drug makers also enlist schools to help with their recruitment. Diagnoses are almost too easy when resources such as the American Psychiatric Association include criteria for ADHD such as “makes careless mistakes” or “often has difficulty waiting his or her turn.” The New York Times article describes the case of Andy Perry, a rambunctious child from Mercer Island. Andy’s public school teachers recommended to Andy’s parents that he be evaluated for ADHD and medicated with Ritalin. The school psychologist gave Andy’s mother a pamphlet which included the statement: “Parents should be aware that these medicines do not ‘drug’ or ‘alter’ the brain of the child. They make the child ‘normal.’” Later, Andy’s parents noticed the Ciba-Geigy logo on the back of the pamphlet. The school acknowledged that the pamphlets had been provided to them by representatives from the drug company.
Andy Parry was on Ritalin for three years even though, according to his father, he never had ADHD.“Somebody came up with this idea, which was genius. I definitely felt seduced and enticed. I’d say baited,” Andy’s father told The Times.
Pharmaceutical companies know what they’re doing: in 2012, sales of stimulants reached almost $9 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2002.