All major sports seem to be grappling with two major problems – doping among athletes to excel and the “work hard, party harder” culture. Both the scenarios have been encouraging young athletes to dabble with drugs and alcohol.

For a sportsperson, the pressure to perform and impress fans may become too much to handle Continue reading →

Acupuncture, one of the oldest healing techniques of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), assists in relieving pain and stress by stimulating specific points in the body under the supervision of a trained practitioner. It essentially involves insertion of thin needles at varied depths through a person’s skin. The particular points where the needles are placed are more often than not help relieve pain and facilitate the natural self-healing process. Continue reading →

Alcohol has got such a social acceptance that it is hardly a forbidden substance. Though it’s legal for adult consumption, alcohol is available to teenagers almost as easily as to others with hardly any legal consequences. This makes alcohol one of the most commonly abused substances. Alcohol dependence and addiction has thus become a major health threat not just in the United States of America, but all over the world. Continue reading →

Many people commonly abuse drugs – some for relief from pain and some to get a high, both often leading to dependence and addiction. However, there could be even more severe consequences due to drug abuse, such as substance-induced psychosis. Also known as toxic psychosis, it is a form of substance use disorder (SUD) that leads to the development of psychosis in an individual. Continue reading →

In the annals of mental health and substance use disorders, there is a term for those who are in and out of emergency rooms (ERs) and jails – frequent flyers (FFs). Unlike hypochondriacs who believe they are always sick and visit an emergency department to be diagnosed for non-existent illness, FFs might visit hospitals for genuine concerns. Unfortunately, medical personnel exhibit lack of concern and contempt while dealing with patients with the frequent flyer syndrome. Statistically, patients with comorbid disorders such as mental illness and substance abuse are more likely to visit ERs multiple times in a year and exhibit the FF syndrome as opposed to someone who has either a mental illness nor a substance use disorder.  Continue reading →

Drinking is widely considered one of the easiest ways to break the ice with people and overcome any kind of stress. As a result, alcohol has become one of the essential elements of all social events and celebrations. During such occasions, people usually get carried away due to peer pressure and the general mood of festivity to overindulge in unregulated and irresponsible drinking. Continue reading →

The past has a way of catching up. That certainly seems to be the case with Purdue Pharma. Accused of deceptive marketing practices, the pharma giant had to face the wrath of several state and local governments, which have sued it for fueling the opioid epidemic. A lawsuit filed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson in September 2017 implicated the drug major for convincing doctors and public that their signature medication OxyContin has low risks of addiction. Continue reading →

Despite the well documentation of the affinity between alcohol dependence and depression, scientists and clinicians alike have been baffled about the co-occurrence of these diseases.

Contemporary researches suggest a close relationship between drinking and depression. While drinking alcohol is a risk factor for depression due to its ability to make adverse changes in the brain, a range of depressive symptoms make a person seek refuge in alcohol. Continue reading →