Teenagers Prone to Addiction

The teenage years are perhaps when we are the most vulnerable. Our brains are still developing and we are susceptible to a number of different pressures that can impact our decision making process. A new study conducted on adolescent and adult mice may have pinpointed why teenagers are more prone to addiction and risky behavior than adults.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found some differences in brain response to a food reward between adolescent and adult rodents. Again, this could explain why adolescents take more risks and are more prone to addiction, depression, and schizophrenia.

“The brain region that is very critical in planning your actions and in habit formation is directly tapped by reward in adolescents, which means the reward could have a stronger influence in their decision-making, in what they do next, as well as forming habits in adolescents,” study researcher Bita Moghaddam told LiveScience.

“Teens could do stupid things in response to a situation not because they are stupid, but because their brains are working differently. Somehow they perceive and react to a situation differently,” Moghaddam said.

There is still much we do not understand about the human brain and certainly there are differences between animals and humans. However, much of the processes taking place are similar, so it may be fair to say that what we see happening between adult rats and adolescent rats may also be seen with adult humans and teenage humans.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences

Military Suicides Are Down but Violence Is Up

As we look back on the last decade of war in Iraq and as soldiers who have been abroad off and on for years come home, the true aftermath of war has begun to rear its ugly head. Fortunately, the rate of suicide amongst soldiers is on the decline which is a good sign considering the number of cases of post traumatic stress; suicides among soldiers in the active duty Guard and Reserve totaled 278 last year, down 9 percent from 2010. However, a new Army report has shown that domestic violence, sex crimes and other destructive behaviors are on the rise.

"There's a lot of good news in this report, but there's also some bad news," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told a Pentagon press conference. "We know we've got still a lot of work to do."

"I think we've at least arrested this problem and hopefully will start to push it down," Chiarelli said.

Sadly, violent sex crimes and domestic violence have risen by more than 30 percent since 2006 and child abuse by 43 percent.

"After 10 years of war with an all-volunteer force, you're going to have problems that no one could have forecasted before this began," he said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder has been labeled an epidemic, the report estimates that there could be 472,000 service members with the condition, half of them in the Army. Some 24,000 soldiers were referred to substance abuse programs in the 2011 budget year. The Army had over 126,000 diagnosed cases of traumatic brain injury from 2000 to 2010. More than 95,000 mild cases such as concussions, 20,000 moderate cases, and more than 3,500 in which there were severe, penetrating injuries.

Chiarelli released a 200-page report for commanders, health care providers, and other military leaders. The report was designed to assess the physical and mental health condition of the force, disciplinary problems, and any gaps in how the Army deals with them.

Source:

MSNBC

Florida - Kentucky Prescription Drug Pipeline Closing Down

There are a number of people who have become aware of the fact that Florida is the center of the prescription drug epidemic that has been crippling countless Americans. People travel from all over the east and mid west to acquire prescriptions for opiate pain killers from Florida doctors and “pill mills”; only to travel back to their state of origin to fill them. Last summer, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law a new bill that was written in order to cut down on prescription drug abuse by controlling “pill mills” in the state. Fortunately, as a result, the pipeline of prescription painkillers from Florida to Kentucky has started to close off, according to the attorneys general of both states in an announcement this week.

In the past, whole van loads of people would travel to Florida from Kentucky to buy pain pills at clinics. These people always paid cash and received pain killers after little or no examination, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. In 2010, an estimated 60 percent of pills sold on the black market in Kentucky came from Florida, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said at a conference on substance abuse.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said the state has seen significant results since the prescription drug monitoring system was set up. She noted two years ago, 98 of the top 100 U.S. prescribers of oxycodone were in Florida, now that number is 11. The number of registered pain clinics in Florida has dropped from 943 to 579, she said. Clearly Florida is making great progress in the fight to stop prescription drug abuse and it seems like as more time goes by there will be more good news to report.

Every 19 Minutes A Person Dies From Prescription Drug Abuse

Sadly, a number of people do not realize how dangerous prescription drugs can be despite legality. Just because a drug may be deemed legal as long as one has a prescription, hardly makes a drug safe - especially prescription narcotics. People are dying every day at unprecedented numbers. People are losing their lives to prescription narcotics and it seems that little can be done to curb this ever growing problem.

Every 19 minutes a person dies from prescription drug abuse in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2007 there was an estimated 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths, UPI reports. More people are abusing prescription drugs today than in 2007; this has grown quickly into the worst drug epidemic our country has ever seen.

The rise in unintentional drug overdose deaths is directly tied to an increase in use of prescription opioids, the CDC notes in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For every unintentional overdose death linked to opioids:

• nine people are admitted for substance abuse treatment
• 35 people go to the emergency room
• 161 report drug abuse or dependence
• 461 report non-medical uses of opioids

Opioid misuse and overdose deaths are highest among:

• non-Hispanic whites
• men ages 20-64
• poor
• rural populations

There are two main groups at risk for prescription drug overdose according to the CDC. They are the nine million people who report long-term medical use of opioids and the estimated 5 million who have used opioids without a prescription or medical need in the past month.

Collaborative Behavioral Management

A large percentage of people coming out of jail or prison are addicted to drugs or alcohol in one form or another. Being back out in society can be hard on parolees due to the pressure surrounding them and seeing old friends and places. It can be difficult for them to not go back to using; this can result in parolees breaking the conditions of their parole and ending up back in prison.

Some states have begun offering incentives to those who have good conduct and test negative during their weekly drug tests. A new study shows a program that provides a system of incentives for good behavior helps parolees reduce marijuana use. However, there was not much success among those who use stimulants or opiates, Medical News Today reports. The system is called collaborative behavioral management, where by every week for three months, officers, treatment counselors and parolees at six parole offices in five states worked with a behavioral contract that included three target behaviors. If conduct was good the parolee was rewarded through a system of points that allowed them to receive gift cards or other incentives.

Lead researcher Peter D. Friedmann of Rhode Island Hospital said in a news release, “Since the majority of drug violation arrests in the U.S. are for marijuana, these findings have important implications for the management of a substantial proportion of parolees. The study shows that an intervention grounded in behavioral science is feasible and effective in real-world correctional settings.”

ADHD Drugs In Short Supply

51.5 million prescriptions for ADHD medication were prescribed in 2010 and more and more people are finding it harder to find a place that can fill their prescription. Dr. Nancy Snyderman has found that production shortages, underground markets, and the DEA putting limits on how much of these types of drugs can be produced every year have a lot to do with the shortages.

A number of people get prescriptions for the drug not for ADHD but rather to help them study for heavy college class loads, allowing them to study longer and more attentively. While amphetamines are highly addictive they have also proven to be quite effective for those dealing with attention disorders. If those people cannot get their hands on the medication they require their quality of life will be disrupted.

Please watch the short video below about the report:

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Working in the Field of Addiction

What should be the requirements of working in the field of addiction? Many people believe that in order to provide adequate treatment for those suffering from addiction that counselors need to have a high level of education. While having a degree in the field may be useful, it may not be a pre-requisite to being a good counselor.

Here are the thoughts of Phyllis A. Gardner, PhD, President, IC&RC and Professor of Sociology, Texarkana College regarding this interesting topic:

“As I survey the landscape of our profession, I see some amazing developments in several areas. A national health care reform bill was passed, including parity for behavioral health. There is a growing recognition of the need for integration of addiction treatment with mental and physical health care. However, these same advances have heightened concerns that the practice of treating addiction will be limited by education level, particularly to master’s degrees. Thus in a movement to further legitimize our profession, we risk leaving many dedicated professionals behind.

Our culture has a tendency to swing wildly from one extreme to another every time we have an epiphany. Such dramatic shifts can lead to polarization. We sociologists talk a lot about this phenomenon – people taking increasingly extreme positions in response to an opposing view.

We’ve seen this propensity all around; it’s not just us! The list of examples is endless in medicine, religion, economics, politics and even our global environment. So in this world of polarizing debates and paradigm shifts, I think it is important for the leaders in the field of addiction treatment and prevention to be wary of extreme positions.

We all know the roots of our profession by now. So many of our best practitioners began with little formal education at all. Today we are fortunate to have many highly educated professionals equally dedicated to those we serve. All around the world these people work together for the benefit of others in an evidence-based, ethical practice – and we applaud their dedication.

Through the years, IC&RC has been at the forefront of setting professional standards and protecting the public. Yet, not all of our seven credentials have degree requirements. While it is incumbent upon us to continue our quest to educate our professionals, I pray that we remember that competence is more than just a degree. Our non-degreed brothers and sisters in this profession would never have found a foothold if a degree was all that mattered.

Let us remember the value of a broad-based approach. As we continue our research and evidence-based practice, as we educate our practitioners, as we insist on the highest ethical standards, let us not forget the lessons we learned about addiction and treatment so many decades ago: there is a place at our table for all professionally trained, ethically sound practitioners – not just those with master’s degrees.”