In order to develop new medications for alcoholism, researchers need to understand how alcohol acts on the brain's reward system
A Disease You Can Get Yelled At For Having
posted by ATS
These days most of us are willing to believe that drug addiction—including alcoholism—is a disease. Still, we harbor a sneaking suspicion that it’s really a disease of the weak-willed, the spiritually unfit, or people who are not quite like us. The comedian Mitch Hedberg understood this when he riffed: Alcoholism is a disease, but it’s the only one you can get yelled at for having. “Goddamn it, Otto, you’re an alcoholic!” “Goddamn it, Otto, you have lupus!” One of those two doesn’t sound right. Whatever our prejudices, the truth is, given the right circumstances (which can include factors...
They Are Sober, But Why Are They Jerks?
posted by ATS
Why do people, who have been sober for years, behave inappropriately with alarming regularity? Recently, I was asked this question in group therapy(the exact words have been edited as they were not fit to print). The person who posed the question felt she had been misled. She believed that, even after decades of recovery, some people were “still messed up and acting out their issues.” Similarly, a reader who commented on my post, “What Recovering Alcoholics Can Teach Us About Happiness,” discussed her negative experience in AA. She described some longtime members as “seething cauldrons of...
Abstinence, Heavy Drinking, Binge Drinking Associa...
posted by ATS
Previous research regarding the association between alcohol consumption and dementia or cognitive impairment in later life suggests that mild to moderate alcohol consumption might be protective of dementia. However, most of the research has been conducted on subjects already rather elderly at the start of the follow-up. A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease addresses this problem with a follow-up of more than two decades. The study, conducted at the University of Turku, University of Helsinki and National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland based on subjects from the Finnish Twin...
Alcoholic Progression
posted by ATS
Question: What do they mean when after being sober for years, if you start drinking again, your drinking will take off as though you haven’t been dry at all? In fact some say that it is worse, like if you were drinking all those dry years too. I am not planning to do this but a couple of members in my AA group described this, and I just wanted to check it out. I also wonder if you could explain why this happens? Answer: Your friends represent the profound wisdom of AA. Over the years and with thousands and thousand of years in recovery, it has been observed that when the occasional person who, after many years of abstinence from alcohol,...
Why Problem Drinking...
posted by ATS
The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) is widely used to assess adolescent drinking-related problems. The predictive power of RAPI scores, however, has not been examined on a longitudinal basis. A new study of RAPI has confirmed that not only is it an effective screening assessment, but...
Reducing the Toll of...
posted by ATS
Focused programs and public health policies can help reduce the burden of alcohol in Canada, which contributes significantly to acute and chronic diseases, social problems and trauma, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The analysis, by researchers at the...
Antidepressants won&...
posted by ATS
Many of us with alcoholism and another mental illness – such as depression or bipolar – also struggle with what I call “episodic illiteracy.” “Episodic illiteracy” is characterized by the inability to read the warning labels on the prescription...
New drunken driving ...
posted by ATS
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prosecutors say they believe a new state drunken driving law gives police the authority to take blood samples from reluctant suspects without a warrant. The guidance came during a presentation organized by the Missouri Office of Prosecution...
Alcohol Abuse Has Do...
posted by ATS
The rate of alcohol abuse among soldiers has doubled in the past five years, says Dr. Les McFarling, Director of the Army Substance Abuse Program. McFarling attributes the rise to the stress of serving in wars, readjusting to life at home and then repeating the cycle, the Chicago Sun-Times...