Are you asking yourself, “Is marijuana a gateway drug to highly addictive substances?” There are other people just like you asking the same question. Perhaps you’re curious and want an answer for yourself or a loved one who either uses marijuana or is courting an addiction to “harder” drugs. Such drugs include heroin, cocaine, and…
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…
BOARDPREP MEETS THE CHALLENGE IN TAMPA BAY With the number of opioid overdose deaths rising in many states since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic[1], a longstanding “supply” issue has gained more attention, including in the halls of Congress. The supply in question? Doctors and clinicians who can prescribe buprenorphine. Given the explosion of cases…
“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” – Will Rogers When we’ve “finally had enough” and come into recovery—via an addiction treatment center, an impaired professionals program or a 12 Steps fellowship—most of us are told that abstinence from drinking or using drugs is an essential beginning—”we don’t drink or use, no matter…
Given the rising need for addiction treatment and mental health services due to the increased stress and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic—both on individuals and society as a whole—BoardPrep Recovery Center, located in Tampa, Florida, is taking extra precautions and establishing solid safeguards at its residential treatment facility, as well as increasing use of outpatient…
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…
In a recent report by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) updating how opioid use disorder (addiction to opiates) should be diagnosed, assessed and treated[1], a number of important guideline revisions, as well as new recommendations, have been put forward to the addictions professional community, taken together offering increased hope and encouragement for those…
“For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all.” – Bill Wilson, 12 Steps & 12 Traditions Last night, I participated in a Zoom “remote” 12 Steps meeting of people in recovery and the discussion topic was ‘humility.’ Toward the end, a fellow with over 30 years of sobriety—a doctor on…
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface, but connected in the deep.” – William James Although our entire world is facing the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in addiction treatment are facing a particularly trying time. While people everywhere are marshaling their efforts to…
Nurses are some of the most overworked professionals in the United States. Not only do they work long hours, but they must endure physical and emotional demands that most other professionals do not. Unfortunately, with easy access to prescription medications, many nurses find themselves in the throes of addiction. Nurses Who Struggle with Addiction Nurses…