There has been a lot of media coverage of the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States—with good reason. Opioids are the main reason drug overdose deaths keep reaching new record levels year after year. Yet, alcohol remains the most commonly used addictive substance in the US, causing even more fatalities. And there are no indications that this is about to change.
For most people the holiday season is a time for joy and celebration, but it can be stressful. And stress is a key risk factor in substance use disorders. While stress during the holidays can happen to anyone, for people with addiction issues such as financial problems, family conflict and general stress are easily amplified, and intense stress frequently triggers substance use in addicts or relapse in people in recovery.
Smoking tobacco is prevalent among people with substance use disorder (SUD). Individuals seeking SUD treatment are much more likely to use tobacco than the general population.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that “current smoking has declined from nearly 21 of every 100 adults (20.9 percent) in 2005 to about 15 of every 100 adults (15.5 percent) in 2016.”
Branden Connelley always thought he had a fairly normal childhood, but unknown to him risk factors for a substance use disorder were in place. He remembers his father drinking too much, and his parents getting a divorce when Branden was in high school. As a teenager, he struggled emotionally, and often felt out of place.
Substance misuse does not always result in addiction requiring residential treatment. The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)—the principal authority for psychiatric diagnoses—no longer uses terms like alcohol abuse or chemical dependence. Instead, the DSM-5 refers to substance use disorders (SUD), which are defined as mild, moderate, or severe to indicate the level of severity.
As an experienced improvisation instructor and coach, Lisa Kays knows that the skills that make an excellent improviser are in many ways the same that make an excellent partner, friend, and colleague: listening, mutual support and trust, willingness to take risks, ability to collaborate, capacity to both lead and to follow, and a sense of spontaneity and fun.
Addiction is a family disease. Active addiction typically prompts families to make slow, incremental, adaptive changes over time in response to the steady progression of the disease. Unfortunately, those changes often exacerbate the problem. In his presentation as part of the Williamsburg Place Lecture Series, family therapist William Mock, Ph.D. explored some accepted techniques that can help reverse this toxic process. Dr.
Addiction is often described as a chronic brain disease. People with substance addictions compulsively ingest psychoactive substances to experience changes in perception, mood, consciousness, and cognition. They want to feel better or at least subdue any emotional pain they may be experiencing. Many are suffering from anxiety, depression, and intense stress, or have experienced trauma.
On September 29, Farley alumni will come together for the annual reunion on The Farley Center campus in Williamsburg, Virginia. Over a hundred alumni are expected for a day filled with food, fun, music, games, presentations, and discussions. It’s an opportunity to reflect, reconnect, and relax with fellow members of the recovery community.
Transgender people are at an elevated risk of developing substance use disorders, according to the Center for American Progress. An estimated 20–30 percent of transgender people misuse substances, compared to around 9 percent of the general population in the United States.