The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week released well-reasoned guidelines for how doctors should prescribe opioid painkillers. The voluntary standards could make a difference in curbing the alarming increase in prescription drug deaths. In 2014, overdoses of opioids, like oxycodone and hydrocodone, and related drugs like heroin were responsible for 28,647 deaths, up 14 percent from the year before....Read More

It looks like our nation has found a “bullet” deadlier than the traditional calibers. As of 2015, heroin is killing more people than guns. This shift in statistics has happened rather quickly. In 2007, gun homicides outnumbered heroin deaths 5 to 1. By last year, heroin deaths crept past gun homicide numbers. In 2015, there were 12,979 gun homicides...Read More

We are in the midst of an epidemic of opioid addiction and death. Almost everyone knows someone living an opioid addiction or who has died from one. And they all have the same question: why can’t we, didn’t we, stop? Why, they wonder, do we hock, trade, sell everything we own; why do we steal and...Read More

From the moment we take the first step in recovery from the disease of addiction, we accept the principle that we are powerless over our addiction.  Intuitively we know this about many aspects of our lives, but sadly alcoholics and addicts struggle to their deaths with this concept when it comes to their own illness. ...Read More

Coping and Caring for Yourself When a Loved One Drinks By Buddy T | Reviewed by a board-certified physician Updated July 06, 2017 Are you wondering how you can cope with a drunk mother during the holidays, or how you can help her? Have friends told you that you are an enabler for your spouse? Do you find...Read More

Written by Christian Nordqvist  Last updated: Tue 8 September 2015 An alcoholic is a man or a woman who suffers from alcoholism – they have a distinct physical desire to consume alcohol beyond their capacity to control it, regardless of all rules of common sense. According to Alcoholics Anonymous UK, who say they have no unique definition...Read More

‘Alcoholic’ is a term used to describe someone who suffers from alcoholism – they often have a physical and/or psychological desire to consume alcohol beyond their capacity to control it, regardless of how it affects their life. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), in 2015, 15.1 million American adults (6.2 percent of the population) had...Read More

The use of alcohol and drugs can negatively affect all aspects of a person’s life, impact their family, friends and community, and place an enormous burden on American society. One of the most significant areas of risk with the use of alcohol and drugs is the connection between alcohol, drugs and crime. Alcohol and drugs...Read More

By Jeff Nesbit, Contributor |Dec. 19, 2016, at 1:32 p.m. There are so many issues dividing America right now. But there is a terrible scourge that both national political parties agree on: we’ve become a nation of drug and alcohol addicts, and it is destroying millions of lives and families, and harming countless communities and cities. The...Read More

Every September, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) promotes Recovery Month to increase awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use issues and celebrate communities. During the month beyond, many of the recovering millions will stand up, stand out, speak out, and be proud of their recovery. Faces & Voices of Recovery...Read More