When students further their education by going off to college or university, there is a certain new-found freedom. College and experimenting with alcohol seem to go hand in hand as there’s always talk of an upcoming party or a bar…
GHB (or Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate) was originally intended to be used as an anesthetic, but in recent years it has become one of the most used drugs at parties and raves, and it is also widely used as an anabolic steroid sold…
Prescription medications is fast becoming one of the easiest and most frequently abusive way to get high. Part of the reason for this is that these drugs are very easy to access or steal. According to certain statistics an average…
The liver is an essential organ. It filters literally every nutrient that is consumed by the body. It serves as an even more important filter for alcohol, and it is important to know that the liver detoxifies the alcohol in…
So your sixteen-year-old son comes home at 3am one Sunday morning obviously intoxicated and proceeds to stumble into the bathroom where he “hugs” the bowl and is sick for three hours. You, of course, have been waiting up for him – semi panicked because he stopped responding to your texts and calls at midnight (even though he said he would be turning off his phone) – and you are there holding his head as he retches up the alcohol and assortment of food stuffs from the evening indulgences. You have gone through the whole gamut of emotions: anger, fear, joy (at the sound of him stumbling with his keys – he’s safe!!!!), disappointment and genuine concern. As you help him into bed at 6am (carefully placing a large bowl at the bedside – just in case) you begin to reflect: you knew he was going to drink. A party of high school seniors will inevitably involve “partying”. You remember when you were his age and what was involved. You’ve even shared a beer or two with him as a rite of passage and a means of bonding. You know that he’s a good kid; sensible – conscientious etc. As you stare down at his pale face you cherish the sense of relief that he is home now – safe – and in your care. You trust that he did not get into a car with anyone who was equally drunk (you’ve had that conversation with him many times) and you begin to accept the fact that this will probably not be the last time he will be in this state. You tell yourself that this is what all teenagers go through and that there is nothing abnormal involved. But …… there is still a nagging “issue” running through your mind that prevents you from falling asleep. “How do I respond to this? What do I say to him when he wakes up? How do I be a good parent in this situation?”
You may never think about the connection between fear, anxiety, stress and alcohol but it has been scientifically proven that there is one. Co-author, Emma Childs, out of the University of Chicago, has stated that there is a connection between…
It has been scientifically proven that excessive drinking causes a great deal of damage to your body, especially your brain. Science has proven time and time again that abstinence is the best, but also helps your body recover from the…
The sale and use of opioid pain medication is on the rise- in the United States- in a country of 311 million, there were 335 million prescriptions written for painkillers in 2011, according to IMS Health.
Opioids are highly addictive, and numerous risks are present from their use- they can severely depress respiration, and when mixed with alcohol or other drugs can be deadly. In 2008, 14, 800 Americans died from opioid overdose- more than that from heroin and cocaine.
The huge amount of opioid prescriptions reflects the lack of a clear and central regulatory body to determine their distribution. Although the Drug Enforcement Association (DEA) is the primary body, the prescription and administration of these drugs is conducted and regulated on a state-by-state basis. Many states continue to lack the infrastructure to monitor the prescription of drugs across the state, known as a prescription-monitoring program (PMP). In 2008 15 states were lacking a program like this, although now 48 have legislation in place allowing for PMPs, and 41 have gone so far as to set up a database.
In 2008 anti-depressants were the third most commonly prescribed drug in America, however many scientists are starting to question their utility in curing the symptoms of depression, a very frequent concurrent disorder of addiction. While anti-depressants are still lauded as a tool in supporting the treatment of depression, new concepts arise, in particular the application of the idea of brain plasticity to the treatment of depression.
In depressed brains, the serotonin signal that communicates with neurons is weakened- therefore it was postulated in the 1960s that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) would improve the symptoms and quality of life of depressed patients. Patients showed significant improvements in symptoms, leading to the growth in development and sale of anti-depressants such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.