Being Human The idea of a physician who struggles with their mental health or well-being or “impaired doctor” might sound strange to many. Doctors are seen as health caretakers, so one might think they take care of their health too. Yet, studies show a different story. One study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal found…
In 2017, Dr. John S. Rose and his team at the University of California, Davis Health System looked into data from a 5-year study. They wanted to see how U.S. physician health programs (PHPs) help doctors with substance use disorders. Their focus was on comparing family medicine physicians (FMPs) in recovery to other doctors. Research…
Most, if not all, people who have an alcohol use disorder (a.k.a. dependency on or addiction to alcohol) have looked for a “magic bullet” to help them sober up after a bout of heavy drinking. And certainly, a variety of myths continue floating around (especially by word-of-mouth or on the internet) about sobering up. Let’s…
If someone you love is struggling with an addiction, then encouraging them to find treatment is one of the kindest things you can do for them. Substance abuse wreaks havoc on every part of a person’s life, damaging their health, finances, and relationships. If the process of staging an intervention is in their best interest,…
Heroin is a drug in the opioid family. Its short-acting nature means it has a significant impact following usage but leaves the bloodstream relatively quickly. The way it rapidly leaves the bloodstream means withdrawal periods for heroin are shorter than for other drugs. While this implies withdrawal symptoms will emerge within less than a day…
For the estimated 22 million people in the United States in recovery from substance-use disorders[1], recovery group meetings have been part of a daily protocol to help them stay “clean and sober” one day at a time. But once the COVID-19 pandemic kicked into high gear, the vast majority of in-person meetings closed down and…
Rehab 101 – How to Identify “The Next Right Thing to Do” in Recovery When many of us arrive in recovery—be it at a treatment center, a 12 Steps meeting or some other organized mode of recovery from substance abuse or addiction—the last thing we’re familiar with doing is “the next right thing.” That is,…
According to a just-released estimate by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a record number of drug overdose deaths were reported this past year—93,000—a 29% increase over the previous record (in 2019).[1] Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends, said, “This is a staggering loss of human life. The nation…
The findings of recent research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) demonstrate both the potentially lifer-saving value of getting medically assisted treatment if you have an opioid use disorder (OUD, a.k.a. opioid dependency or addiction). In the study, of the roughly 50,000 adults who received outpatient treatment for opioid use disorder, there were…
According to a current assessment published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “Opioids are the most effective and widely used drugs in the treatment of severe pain.”[1] Given they’re so commonly used, what is problematic is how addictive these powerful pharmaceutical drugs are. The Mayo Clinic states, “Opioids are highly addictive, in large…