Posts Tagged ‘addiction education’
Memoirs of an Addicted Brain
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
I recently finished the book Memoirs of an Addicted Brain by Marc Lewis. Lewis describes his experiences with addiction over many years from a personal and scientific point of view. Lewis describes his personal experience of taking a variety of substances and interjects with descriptions of the chemical change going on in the body when drugs are taken. Lewis gives the readers a biology lesson that is easy to understand. He helps the reader understand the science behind why the drug is so pleasurable and addictive. Lewis takes an honest look about his own addiction and describes the serious consequences he faced as a result but that still did not get him to stop. After years of trying to control his addiction to different substances, Lewis finds sobriety and becomes a neuroscientist.
For me, it was helpful to see how the addiction resulted from the chemical change going on in the brain when it comes to addiction. In my job, it’s easy to see the emotional effects of addiction on the family and the individual. This book was a good reminder that there is a physiological change happening in the addict’s brain, not a loss of will power or the addict intentionally hurting themselves and those around them. I also found the description of the craving associated with addiction really helpful in understanding the process of relapse. In my role as a clinical case manager with AiR, I recommend this book for people in recovery and their families to help them understand the science behind addiction.
For more information on Lewis’s work, blog, or to get the book, go to his website: http://www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com/.
Tags: addiction, addiction education, books about addiction, brain, drugs, marc lewis
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Gaming Addiction “Like Cocaine” According to New Article
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Due to the overwhelming amount of studies recently released alerting society of gaming addictions and most view it as an epidemic sweeping young people. Today gaming addictions include not only the young, but also their parents and grandparents. With influences like the high rate of unemployment, the high stress situations people find themselves in every day and the boredom that comes with retirement, games offer an escape and provide an outlet for pent-up energy, aggression and disillusionment.
What’s more, the amount of gaming isn’t necessarily the problem; instead, the cultivation of need in regard to gaming creates an addiction, one Steve Pope, a Lancashire, UK therapist calls “equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces” in an article on MCV gaming magazine’s website.
Obviously, kids are particularly at risk, as Pope explains, “It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally, as well as leading to physical problems such as obesity. It gives parents peace and quiet, but it becomes a concern when it is all the child wants to do.”
Preventative measures need to be utilized in combating this completely preventable addiction. Even if parents are unable or unwilling to stave the onset of gaming addiction, schools might be able to lend a hand, utilizing addiction consulting provided by outside companies specializing in addiction prevention, treatment and aftercare. To combat a national epidemic everyone must band together with preventative education and the connections available to help those already falling into the trap gaming creates.
Tags: addiction consulting, addiction education, addiction prevention, adolescent addiction, child addiction, cocaine, gaming addiction, school addiction consulting, video game addiction
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Addressing Substance Abuse Concerns
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
A Family Educational Series in partnership with Hazelden.
Join Hazelden and Assistance in Recovery in the first of a series of free educational events that will provide information to family members and loved ones of those struggling with addiction.
Most people are aware that drugs and alcohol cause problems in our society. Our media sources daily blare the news of violence, traffic fatalities and broken homes due to drug and alcohol use. The aftermath of addiction seems easy to spot once the addiction has spun so far out of control that it has become a media event. We wonder why the addiction wasn’t spotted earlier and if it was, why didn’t “those people” just quit or do something about it?
This presentation “What is addiction?” answers these questions and more. Attendees will gain a better understanding of drug addiction and how to begin to identify the signals of problematic use within themselves, their families, and community.
Monday, November 9, 2009
5:30 p.m. Registration
6-8 p.m. Presentation, “What is Addiction?”
Hazelden’s Fellowship Club
680 Stewart Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55102-4199
Register online at hazelden.org/familyed by November 2. If you have any questions please give us a call at 877-320-0247.
Save the dates — more free educational events for family members and loved ones of those struggling with addiction:
December 14, 2009
Intervention
Presentation by AiR’s Gordon Brown. It’s not just about getting help for your loved one.
January 18, 2010
Families Living With Addiction
How to help loved ones get into treatment, how to work with insurance, and how to help ourselves.
February 8, 2010
Case Management with People in Recovery
Presentation by AiR’s James Stolz. Building resiliency and the management of substance dependence.
Tags: addiction education, alcoholism, assistac, drug addiction, hazelden, intervention, substance abuse education
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