TGIF  December 26, 2014                                                                                                    Volume 2., No. 18

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6th Experience, Strength and Hope Award     Southern California Recovery Event

Young At Heart = Young Heart Study Confirms: You Really Are Only As Old As You Feel   With all of these things taken into consideration, they still found that the risk of death during the course of the study was 41 percent higher for the people who felt older than for the people who felt younger. (The mortality rate was slightly higher for those who felt close to their actual age, but the difference wasn't big enough to be statistically significant.) CONTINUED @ SFgatecom   Germans On Speed Again? Oy Vey Breaking Bad Blamed For Shocking Rise In Crystal Meth Usage in the Fatherland The shocking rise in crystal meth usage across the UK and Europe could be down to the influence of hit TV show Breaking Bad, a leading academic has warned. Germany in particular has seen the highest surge in usage of the Class-A drug reporting a worrying rise of 51 per cent. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has revealed how parts of the EU are now being flooded with methamphetamine. In Britain alone border patrols have seen a surge in attempts to smuggle crystal meth into the country rise by 400 per cent in the past year. CONTINUED @ TheTelegraph.com.uk

Healing NOT Jailing  VIDEO A Cry for Compassion In Treating Addiction VIDEO In his award-winning book, "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction," Dr. Gabor Maté explains the origins of addiction as being rooted in trauma and calls for a more compassionate approach toward the addict. Maté spoke with CBS News. He says, "All addiction is an escape from pain. All addictions come from emotional loss, and exist to soothe the pain resulting from that loss." ALSO: Vicky Dulai personally witnessed the failure of the criminal justice system to rehabilitate drug offenders... CONTINUED @ CBSnews.com   New Insights with Dr. Gabor Maté  VIDEO Conversation About Addiction with Gabor Maté and Arold Langeveld  VIDEO    The story of Santa and his flying reindeer can be traced to an unlikely source: hallucinogenic or "magic" mushrooms, according to one theory. "Santa is a modern counterpart of a shaman, who consumed mind-altering plants and fungi to commune with the spirit world," said John Rush, an anthropologist and instructor at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif.     CONTINUED @ scienceandnonduality

One Bad Apple... Federal Agents Raid South Florida Recovery Home     Three months after a raid by federal and state authorities on a West Palm Beach, Fla., recovery residence operator that subsequently went out of business, federal investigators were back in Palm Beach County this week. According to local recovery community leaders and local media reports, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Dec. 17 visited two Delray Beach locations of Real Life Recovery, which operates outpatient treatment and sober living sites. CONTINUED @ AddictionPro.com   Imagination and Guts The Greatest Creative Tools of All Another example ofLeonard Buschel's enthusiasm is the Addiction/ Recovery eBulletin. What started out a year and a half ago as his own personal selection of good reading material now goes out to 14,000 people every week. By gathering as many new and unique stories from around the web on the topic of addiction and recovery, Mr. Buschel hopes to bring either "something you want to talk to your husband about at dinner or something a drug counselor can print out as a reference at their treatment center." CONTINUED @ SoberRecovery.com

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More Will Be Revealed Using the AA Slogans to Deal with Holiday Stress But somewhere along the way, I surrendered. My attitude and outlook on life in recovery changed completely, and I began to embrace all the things I so fiercely resisted in the beginning--meetings, fellowship, sponsorship, and the truth about my condition.  Over time, I even began to embrace those annoying AA slogans. Today, I find that these simple words of wisdom can help me through any situation in life, much less the holidays. Here's how: CONTINUED @ Hazelden.org  Dear Johnny...Walker A Goodbye Letter to My Old Lover - Alcohol At the party I fell over on the dance floor, ripping my tights. I bruised my elbow and my ego. I cried in the toilets because the room was spinning and I felt sick. On Christmas eve I argued with my brother as he talked politics and I was too drunk to remember where I had hidden the presents. I will never forget the way you ruined Christmas day. My children's joy as they discovered their gifts was eclipsed by my thudding brain consuming my existence, begging me not to lift it from the pillow. CONTINUED @ The Guardian

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Facing the Facts The Future of Treatment in Drug Policy: Stigma Remains a Serious Problem by James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Most Americans do not view the behavior of people who use substances as a purely medical problem. A 2013 survey of public attitudes about people with drug addiction found respondents were significantly more likely to endorse discriminatory policies (such as unequal access to employment and housing), social exclusion and limited support (for government spending on treatment, housing and other services) for people with drug addiction than for people with other mental illnesses. A significant majority of respondents (60 percent) believed treatment for addiction to be ineffective, compared to a minority (40 percent) who held that view for mental illness. CONTINUED @ BlogChron.com  And It's Not AA          VIDEO A New Prescription to End Drinking VIDEO New understanding of how alcohol affects the brain is prompting addiction experts to make a push for using medications to help people quit or cut down on excessive drinking. For years, treatment has meant 28 days of rehab or a 12-step program. Success meant total abstinence. Only 1 in 10 of 17 million Americans with a drinking problem tried. There is also growing recognition that alcohol problems come in wide varieties, driven by a mix of genetics and life experiences in how the brain handles stress and seeks rewards. CONTINUED @ Wall Street Journal

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Treatment Work$ American Addiction To Buy Recovery First American Addiction Centers Inc, a subsidiary of AAC Holdings Inc (AAC), on Monday agreed to buy Recovery First Inc, a Florida-based provider of substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation services, for $13 million in cash. Recovery First operates a 56-bed in-network, inpatient substance abuse treatment facility in the greater Fort Lauderdale, Florida area which includes 20 licensed detoxification beds. Recovery First generates revenue of about $7.3 million. CONTINUED @ Nasdaq.com  Counselors in the Trenches Get to Share Oregon Addiction Counselors Say What Is Needed   More than 3,000 counselors work in addiction treatment across Oregon and see up close how the system is working. Last fall, they were invited to share their thoughts with The Oregonian, distributed by the Addiction Counselor Certification Board of Oregon. They responded with insights, recommendations and hope that Oregonians would support improved addiction treatment. A months-long investigation by The Oregonian discovered troubling failures in Oregon's addiction treatment system.CONTINUED @ OregonLive.com

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Woman's Conf. in Palm Springs, 1/24/2015 Erasing the Stigma of the Addictive Female Enjoying a few martinis with the guys at lunch and taking clients to dinner and drinks had become routine. She traveled quite a bit for work, but sometimes when she woke up in the morning she couldn't remember what city she was in. At one point, Sally made a promise to herself that she would never drink alone, but she soon found herself throwing a few back at the hotel bar and picking up men just to pass the time. Until the late former First Lady Betty Ford was brave enough to share the truth of her drinking problem with the American people, there was no true face of recovery. Mrs. Ford gave us that face, and today there are many who follow in her brave footsteps. More at: 'The Beautiful Face of Recovery: A Conference for Women,' on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, at the Desert Princess Palm Springs Golf Resort. CONTINUED @ DesertSun.com   Left To Our Own Devices Internet Addiction a Growing Problem Though not classified as a clinical disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, more and more people are starting to recognize Internet addiction. Though many think it is not real, research has shown that people with Internet addiction experience significant changes in their brains. In most cases, the connections in the brain that control attention, executive control and emotion processing are altered. These are the same changes that occur in those addicted to cocaine, heroin and other substances.CONTINUED @ TheTrumpet.com

Cult Within A Cult? Narconon: The Church of Scientology's Secret Answer to Drug Rehabilitation Former Narconon employees have claimed the organization has been used to convert people to Scientology. Last year, Lucas Catton, who stepped down as president of Narconon's Arrowhead facility in Oklahoma in 2004, told NBC news the Church of Scientology uses Narconon as a way to recruit new members - an allegation both the Church and Narconon deny. CONTINUED @ IntlBusinessTimes   Take One Step, Twice a Day     VIDEO A Prescription to End Drinking  VIDEO Acamprosate, known by the brand name Campral, works to stabilize glutamate and other brain chemicals disrupted by long-term exposure to alcohol. That can reduce the irritability, anxiety and cravings that accompany withdrawal and can help people in recovery avoid relapsing, says the NIAAA's Dr. Koob, a leading researcher in the neurobiology of emotion. CONTINUED @ WallStreetJournal.com

Double Down on Dopamine Addicted to Games: What is a Gambling Addiction?    Psychologist Susan Edgar knows firsthand how difficult it is to recognize the signs and symptoms of a gambling addiction. Though a person may not be physically ingesting an addictive substance, he or she is still getting high, Edgar said. "When the gambler is in action it doesn't matter if they are winning or losing. It's the doing that causes the dopamine rush," she said. Answer the SIX Questions here... CONTINUED @ DelawareOnline.com   Into The Light                     VIDEO Resiliency & Recovery by Jennifer Storm VIDEO This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Jennifer Storm, Pennsylvania's Victim Advocate, shares her personal story of healing from sexual abuse, followed by self-destructive drug and alcohol addiction, in "Resiliency & Recovery.'' Her journey of recovery has resulted in a career dedicated to helping other victims through public service. CONTINUED @ YouTube

Laughter Heals, So Does Honesty Craig Ferguson Was My Sober Guiding Light   Someone - I'm not sure who and maybe it was your aunt - has always told you that nothing good ever happens after midnight.  We all hear it at one time or another.  And, as a man who needed to give up drinking and partying a long time ago, I've tried to take comfort in that familiar adage on the rare but disconcerting occasion when my preference for a tamer lifestyle has felt a little more like a preference for a lamer lifestyle. CONTINUED @ Salon.com   Family Affair  VIDEO Brooke Shields: Hollywood Wasn't My Undoing, Loving My Alcoholic Mother Was  VIDEO Brooke Shields is an old hand in showbiz. She started out as a child actor managed by her mother, Teri Shields. And while the pair loved one another deeply, as Shields recalled in both her memoir "There Was A Little Girl" and on TODAY Wednesday, the biggest challenges for her as a kid were wrapped up in her mother's addiction issues. "Hollywood didn't undo me," she explained. "Being famous at a young age didn't really undo me. Loving an alcoholic was sort of my emotional undoing to a certain extent."CONTINUED @ Today.com

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Best of the Week: December 20–26

COMING UP IN THE FIX// Do Drug Treatment Programs In Prison Work? * New Year’s Meditation * Anxiety * Using The 12 Steps As A Tool In Trauma Treatment *New Ask An Expert on Antidepressants and Sex * Happy New Year! * PLUS: Other incisive articles

	HOLIDAYS// Sentimental Hygiene, The Sanity Clause and Holiday Benders The eight weeks between Halloween and New Year’s Eve are a minefield of triggers for people in recovery. . . By Dawn Roberts
	TIMING// Uncrazy Holidays I’d decided to wean off an antidepressant just in time for a holiday meltdown and, in typical fashion, was going about it very quietly. This was a kamikaze move, though sure, I had my reasons. By Kristen Rybandt
	MOTHERS// Transforming Trauma into Recovery A mother's fierce determination to overcome severe abuse empowers her own recovery and helps her family heal. By Barry Lessin
	Q&A// The Patron Saint of Harm Reduction The Fix Q&A with Dan Bigg of the Chicago Recovery Alliance on exasperation, solutions and everything in between. By Zachary Siegel
	YOUR WORDS// Comment Section in a Recovery Magazine—A Love Poem Netizens say the darndest things. By Dillon Murphy

 

BEST OF THE QUICK FIX Christie Declares War on Drugs 'Hasn't Worked' New York Addresses Heroin Crisis With Movie Theater PSAs Jackie Chan's Son Formally Charged With Drug Offense

Supreme Court Rejects Stricter Regulations on Abortion Drugs Florida Trio Arrested for Turning Teen Into Drug-Addicted Prostitute Kardashians Keep Dave Grohl From Smoking Pot

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

The Addict's Back This week, Zachary Siegel spoke with Dan Bigg about his struggles pushing for harm reduction. Readers appreciated Bigg's work:

Dan has always had the addict's back. "Any positive change" has provided needed support for those stigmatized by the healthcare system. Being at the forefront of Naloxone distribution and education has put this life saving procedure into the hands of those that need it most. Thanks, Dan!! -peter moinichen