12 Step Programs Do They Really Work
If 12 step programs work, why is addiction still growing? That’s a great question many people keep asking. Addiction is growing by leaps and bounds, and there are a lot of reasons for this. America loves alcohol, tobacco, legal and illegal drugs, and marijuana. All of them are addictive and alter brain function telling people […]
Money Worries? Help Is On The Way
Do you have money worries no matter how much you earn, or how good your life seems? Do you keep wondering why you just can’t get out of debt? Do your money worries drive you to drink or to take substances to ease the pain? Does despair over debt cause you or someone you love […]
Is Recovery An Asset Or A Liability
A few weeks ago, I met a new friend at church. We chatted about how old our kids are and where they go to school, the usual new friend fodder. Then she asked me why we decided to go to our church. It’s a typical question, and I could have said: location, killer band, free […]
Rebuilding Character In Recovery
The devastating effects of addiction on physical/emotional health and social functioning have been meticulously catalogued, but far less attention has been given to its toll on character and the role character reconstruction plays in the recovery process. A recent rereading of David Brook’s The Road to Character has spurred this reflection on character and addiction […]
Not Prepared For Son’s Life After Overdose
Life after overdose is trauma beyond imagining for loved ones. My son Josh lay there in the trauma room comatose and hooked up to a ventilator and everything else that could be. As a physician, I was used to taking care of others in that situation; now the shoe was on the other foot. Straddling […]
Five Takeaways From the DEA’s Pain Pill Database
A logo sign at the headquarters of McKesson in downtown San Francisco, From the Washington Post For the first time ever, a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path of every single pain pill sold in the United States — from manufacturers and distributors to pharmacies in every town and city — is […]