The simple sentence “I need a drink” is one of the biggest red flags of alcohol use disorder. It means one of two things: you need a drink to cope with something, or you need a drink because you don’t feel right without it. If you say it, take a pause and think about what…
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Fentanyl and Meth: What you need to know
May 9th is National Fentanyl Awareness Day in the United States. The use of illegally-made fentanyl is driving a national health crisis as people use it unintentionally and die from overdoses. Fentanyl is now involved in more deaths of people under age 50 than any other cause in the country, including even heart disease, cancer,…
Methamphetamine Awareness Day
The opioid epidemic has commanded national attention for years while methamphetamine abuse lurked in the shadows. A lot has changed since President George W. Bush declared the first National Methamphetamine Awareness Day on November 30, 2006. There were some declines in meth use for a while. 16 years later, the epidemic has gotten worse –…
Gaslighting and Addiction
Every year, the Merriam-Webster dictionary selects a word of the year. For 2022, it’s “gaslighting.” The dictionary publisher noted that look ups for the word increased by 1,740% over the course of the year. Gaslighting and addiction are intertwined. Read on to learn more about how addicts gaslight others as well as themselves, and what…
Helping American Indians Get Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol and drug addiction hit American Indians much harder than the general population. Methamphetamine in particular has reached epidemic proportions. But there’s hope through partnership and better means of treatment to help those in need, including digital treatment programs that can be accessed from anywhere and health plans that cover the costs of treatment entirely.…
Candy, cash, gifts: How rewards help recovery from addiction – AP article on Contingency Management
Carla Johnson covers how the contingency management approach to treating substance use disorders is more effective in this article. She quotes Harold Lewis, who had been struggling with an addiction for years and started getting better when he got into a program where he earned rewards for staying in treatment: “Recovery should be fun because…
Overdose Awareness and Prevention
International Overdose Awareness Day is August 31st. We here at Affect join those fighting to help people win the battle against Substance Use Disorders by helping to raise awareness and give information and resources when overdoses occur. You can get involved, honor a lost loved one, or donate at www.overdoseday.com The number of overdoses is…
Solving Criminal Justice Addiction Treatment Challenges
Affect Therapeutics works with partners across the criminal justice system to provide a solution that works better. We work with courts and lawyers, case managers, parole and probation officers and more to address their challenges and lighten load that drug and alcohol-related arrests create. What is the scope of the drug and alcohol problem in criminal…
Women who drink to cope have higher alcoholism risk
Research indicates that people who drink to cope have a higher risk of developing alcohol use disorder. And studies have found that women are more likely to drink to cope than men. While men once outdrank women, the gender gap in alcohol consumption has narrowed. For the first time since researchers began measuring consumption, women…
Methtacular: Humor and the power of laughter in addiction treatment and recovery.
The old saying, “Laughter is the best medicine,” has a lot of truth to it. It’s particularly true that humor and laughter play a big role in recovering from substance use disorders, and research confirms it. Laughter itself is medicine with proven therapeutic benefits in mental health. When we laugh, we alter dopamine and serotonin…