Stress and the Developing Brain

Stress and the developing brain – the impact of the chronic stress a child experiences when living with undiagnosed, unhealthily discussed substance abuse [something I refer to as secondhand drinking / drugging] can have a significant impact on the developing brain. To this point, Bruce S. McEwen’s September 21, 2011 article, “Effects of Stress on…

Read More

The Benefits of Therapy

Therapy for recovery from an addiction or chronic exposure to secondhand drinking – what might be the benefits? I read this post by Suzanne Harrington, “Do You Need Your Head Examined?,” appearing on the October 23, 2011 Independent.ie, Lifestyle page. Having spent three years in intensive therapy with an addictions specialist myself, I found her…

Read More

Methadone Treatment: Isn’t It Just an Alternative Addiction?

Methadone Treatment — isn’t it just another addiction? I was asked about Methadone Treatment for prescription drug addiction at one of my recent lectures and realized that I did not fully understand it, myself. So, I contacted Tim Cheney, co-founder of Chooper’s Guide,  and learned the following: Q. What is methadone treatment and for what…

Read More

Cancer Trumps Addiction – What’s With That!?

Addiction vs cancer or any number of other diseases for that matter… One of my biggest frustrations is the way friends, family, neighbors and society-at-large view and respond to people with diseases, like cancer, as compared to the way they respond to people with diseases like addiction (whether to drugs or alcohol) or mental illness.…

Read More