Addiction

When Binge Drinking Turns From Youthful Partying to Big Problem

By Anna McKenzie Because alcohol is not perceived to be as harmful as other drugs, binge drinking is fairly common. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 51% of the population 12 and older reported binge drinking in the past month. Excessive alcohol… Read More

Understanding the Addictive Mindset

People are surprised when they hear that I used to be an addict. I’ve been told I don’t fit the “cookie cutter mold” of what people expect an addict to be. My home life wasn’t horrible and to the outside eye, I probably seemed like a lucky kid. Sometimes I just tell… Read More

Do Religious Families Play A Role In Addiction?

Religious Families and AddictionWritten by Thomas Gagliano, MSW In order to understand why religious families inadvertently and at times unintentionally create an environment where their children run to addictions rather than God as their coping mechanism, we must first begin by understanding the mindset of a child. When we look back on our childhood, we look back through adult lenses. Since then, we have grown by our maturity and life experiences, which may have distorted the truth of our childhood. Many of us carry messages that tell us we are bad children if we get mad at our parents or disagree with them. This message can have a profound impact on the way the person feels about himself or herself in adulthood. It is important to respect our parents but we can also have different opinions. A child needs to feel their opinion is important to their parents or the child may feel he or she isn’t important. Validating and acknowledging a child’s feelings is essential if they are to have self-worth. If children are afraid to share their true feelings and doubts in fear of reprisal then who can they trust? All of these messages set up the destructive entitlement that leads to addiction. It’s no coincidence that most addictions begin before the age of 18. Read More

What I Wish I’d Known as a Teenager

I worried about grades as a teenager. I mean, I really worried. Today, I know this was not typical anxiety about school. Looking back, I struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder and perfectionism. Among other things, I was obsessive-compulsive about never wasting time. Not. One. Second. Further, I was laser-focused on… Read More

Growing Up With An Addicted Parent

I remember, as a twelve-year-old, sitting alone in our living room after one of our then-typical family meltdowns…trying to make sense of the pain and general devastation of our once very happy family…trying to understand how kind, decent and loving people could cause each other such unrelenting pain, how we… Read More

Webinar Recap: Addiction Interaction Explained

Dr. Erica Sarr, primary therapist at Gentle Path at The Meadows, facilitated an educational webinar titled Addiction Interaction in Young Adults: Drugs, Sex & Tech for clinical professionals on August 24, 2017. Dr. Sarr, who specializes in the intersection of sexuality, mental health, and technology, touched on topics such as porn use in young adults, gaming addictions, drug abuse, and age-normative behaviors for young adults during the 45-minute presentation. Read More

Repeated Exposure to Porn in Childhood Increases Risk of Sex Addiction

By Joe Turner In a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on the internet, exposure to the explicit sexual content lurking in its dark corner is inevitable. The fact that we have a world of information at our fingertips is as harmful as it is useful, especially to curious youngsters who are just beginning to become aware of their sexuality. Read More

U.S. Surgeon General Issues a Call to Action on Addiction

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s release of Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health at yesterday’s Facing Addiction Summit was an unprecedented moment in our country’s fight against addiction and substance misuse. It is the first time in history that a U.S. surgeon general has issued a report focused on drug and alcohol addiction. The report comes at a time when more and more Americans are struggling with the effects of addiction to opioids and heroin. One person dies every 19 minutes from an opioid or heroin overdose. And, the statistics related to other addictions are no less grim. One in seven people in the United States will face a substance misuse disorder, and only 10 percent will get the treatment they need to overcome it. Read More