How to Identify and Help a Health Care Professional with a Substance Use Disorder – PART ONE [Note to Reader: This post is “Part One” of a 2-part blog-post. “Part Two” will follow shortly after publication of this post.] The nature of addiction has been studied by scientists and researchers for decades. The American Psychiatric…
[Note to Reader: This is “Part One” of a 2-part blog-post—“Part Two” will appear later this week.] According to a recent study by Drs. J. Lyden and I. Binswanger, America’s opioid epidemic has become a nationwide public health crisis. And it is not limited only to the abuse of prescribed pain medication. “Initially driven by…
If you or a loved one struggles with prescription drug misuse, you may be wondering, what is amphetamine? Amphetamine, a powerful central nervous system stimulant drug, raises levels of pleasure chemicals in the user’s brain. The flood of chemicals causes extreme pleasure, calmness and suppresses appetite. The drug relaxes some people and energizes others. Repeated…
Methamphetamine has been portrayed in movies and popular television shows, like “Breaking Bad”. It may leave you wondering, what is methamphetamine? Methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant drug, raises levels of pleasure chemicals in the user’s brain. The flood of chemicals causes extreme pleasure, calmness and suppresses appetite. The drug relaxes some people and energizes others. Repeated…
If you or a loved one struggles with opiate misuse, you may be wondering, what is carfentanil? Carfentanil, a powerful opiate drug, raises levels of pleasure chemicals in the user’s brain. The flood of chemicals causes extreme pleasure, calmness and suppresses appetite. The drug relaxes some people and energizes others. Repeated drug use causes the…
Are You a Healthcare Professional Trying to “Hold Your Liquor” (or Other Substances) During the COVID-19 Pandemic? It’s clear on so many levels the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an especially hard toll on healthcare professionals, severely taxing them emotionally, mentally and physically. The stress and strain comes in the context of them simply “doing their…
A report by data firm Protenus reveals an alarming problem in the midst of the opioid epidemic, and it’s called “opioid diversion.”[1] The report states that in 2018, over 47 million doses of legally prescribed opioids were “lost” due to healthcare employee theft and misuse, a startling increase of 126 percent from the previous year.…
“The concerns we have are related to the big challenges people are facing right now with COVID-19: isolation and uncertainty resulting in very high levels of stress.” — Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) According to a White House drug policy office analysis, there was a significant rise (11.4%)…
Fentanyl is a powerful opiate drug that artificially raises dopamine levels in the user’s brain
A longtime physician with whom I’ve become good friends once told me he had a really hard time reconciling in his mind that he had a substance abuse disorder, i.e., identifying he was an addict. When I asked him why, he said something to the effect of, “I think it’s because I’d always thought an…