Underage Drinking | Drug Use Prevention
Saving Jake | Interview with Author D’Anne Burwell
D’Anne Burwell’s smart, athletic son—raised in a loving and prosperous home—begins abusing OxyContin as a teenager, and within a year drops out of college, walks out of rehab, and lands homeless on the streets of Boulder. Struggling with fear, guilt, and a desperate need to protect her son, D’Anne grapples with her husband’s anger and…
Read MoreSharing the Family’s Side of the Disease of Addiction
Addiction affects approximately 23 million Americans. Those grappling with this chronic brain disease, in turn, affect some 120 million others – the parents, siblings, spouses, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, in-laws, significant others and close friends of those who struggle. To raise awareness about the family side – not as a competition for which side has…
Read MoreAdverse Childhood Experiences – Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Revolutionizing Pediatric Medicine
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’s TEDMED Talk on how childhood trauma – Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – affects health across a lifetime is remarkable. I urge readers of this blog to view her 15 minute video because childhood trauma is one of the key risk factors for developing a substance use disorder. Revolutionizing Pediatric Medicine to Recognize…
Read MoreHelp for Moms Whose Kids Struggle With Substance Use | Cathy Taughinbaugh
Discovering your child is using or abusing or maybe even addicted to drugs or alcohol can be a mom’s worst nightmare. She is often shocked, guilt-ridden, confused, angry, ashamed, saddened and floundering as she battles the stigma, misinformation and shame to figure out what to do to help her child. And it’s a land mine…
Read MoreSubstance Abuse Recovery on College Campuses | David Greenspan
Substance use disorders are complicated. Meaning: a person is not born an alcoholic or drug addict. Rather they develop the disease, typically influenced by five key risk factors, one of which is early use. The other four include: genetics, social environment, mental illness and childhood trauma. Often, early use (early misuse) begins in middle school,…
Read MoreBlackouts – Are They Real or Just an Excuse?
Alcohol-induced blackouts – how can they possibly not know what they did? How many times have you found yourself uttering incredulous gasps, “What do you mean you don’t remember?” or engaging in an argument with someone you care about because of something they said or did while they were drunk? Have you ever had them just…
Read MoreDrug Addiction – Not My Son | Part II by Mother D
Drug Addiction – not my child! – is a common refrain. Parents can’t even imagine let alone consider their child may be developing (yes, developing) or have the brain disease of addiction. This is due in large part to society’s utter lack of understanding about the nature of this brain disease, the key risk factors contributing…
Read MoreStop Teen Medicine Abuse
Approximately one in 25 teens reports abusing excessive amounts of DXM to get high making teen medicine abuse a critical issue for parents and communities. The following is a guest post by Peggy McKibbin, one of The Five Moms working to raise awareness about this issue and the fight to stop it. Peggy is a mother…
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