Recently, the San Francisco Chronicle had a heartbreaking letter written by Ricci & Vernae Graham’s about the loss of their son Malcolm to an opioid overdose. The Graham’s son is a typical story. He got hooked on prescription opioids after a football injury, over time became addicted, had mood problems, got in trouble with the
We must and can do better to prevent and treat alcohoism and addiction. We have had success with another addiction – smoking. The U.S. reduced smoking rates from nearly 60% in the 1950s to about 20% today. We did it with a collective will to stop that killer and with a focus on prevention and treatment
Americans are addicted to legal drugs and by drugs I mean pharmaceutical drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are the most profitable industry in the world. Marcia Angell, M.D. first woman editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine reports that in 2002 the $35.9 billion the top drug companies earned were greater than the profits of the other
Joy training for the addictive brain? Yes, it’s possible I’m happy to say. I was at my brother Lee’s 12 Step N.A. meeting when he got his 1 year chip. Yeah Lee!! There were 100 people in the room celebrating each other for their hard work to stay sober from 1 year to 28 years.
Pills for problems – can’t take just one. Pills, pills, pills. By pills I mean Vicodin, Lortab, OxyContin. So many pills for so many problems. Got pain? Feeling sad or blue? Not happy enough? Or, do you just want to get high? Take a few pills. As an addiction counselor I’ve seen the number of
The Blessing of Relapse? Really. Yes, really. Let’s say Joe has been using alcohol and pot since he was 13. At 29 he’s tired of being exhausted, broke, fighting with his girlfriend, having his parents upset with him. He’s done. Joe starts attending AA/NA 12 step meetings. But, he doesn’t do the 90 meetings in
My cousin Kim was up in July for my sister Lane’s memorial. My smart, sweet, difficult sister who died at 56 from alcoholism. Kim and I were lamenting about Lane’s death and Cory Monteith’s. Sad, very sad. Cory’s death touched a national chord and Lane’s our personal one because we have a family riddled with addiction.
Is Dr. Drew Pinsky is responsible for the celebrity death of Mindy McCready, a 37-year-old country singer who appeared on his “Celebrity Rehab” television show?* No, not fully, but certainly he is partiaily responsible. Like Dr. Phil who has clients on TV for entertainment value, so does Dr. Drew. Dr. Pinsky says he hasn’t seen
As I talk to people in the business community, at my networking groups and certainly among my clients about my sister Lane’s passing I hear story after story of loss: “My brother died at 41 from heroin, my sister at 38, my daughter at 30 from an overdose.” The truth is addiction kills the body
Losing my sister Lane to addiction – there isn’t a tougher subject I could write about. Both as a sister and as an addiction counselor for nearly 30 years. Addiction is a a killer. It’s a disease that touches nearly every family so I write this for myself, but also for those of you that