“What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” President Trump “Gaslighting” is a form of persistent manipulation and brainwashing that causes the victim to doubt her perception, her memory, and ultimately her sanity. The term is derived from the 1944 film Gaslight, in which a husband tries to convince his wife that she’s insane by causing her to … Read More
Aggressive Solutions to the Opioid Crisis
The opioid epidemic is considered the most unrelenting drug crisis in U.S. history. In 2016, approximately 64,000 people were killed by opioid-related overdoses, including prescription painkillers and heroin. Two people recently in the news, are determined to find solutions to this crisis: Federal Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the Northern District of Ohio and Alex M. Azar II, the new … Read More
Don’t Tolerate Trump
When I went to Washington D.C. for the Women’s March last January with my daughter, granddaughter and partner, I never thought we citizens would tolerate a President who has consistently displayed nothing but arrogant, erratic, belligerent and vengeful behavior. What is it going to take for Congress to invoke the 25th Amendment to protect us from his reckless taunts to … Read More
We Need a Cultural Shift in How We Think about Addiction
The recent The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health calls for a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For too long, many people have viewed addiction as a moral failing. This stigma has created an added burden of shame for people with substance use disorders which makes them less likely to come forward and seek help. … Read More
Let’s Try Portugal’s Solution to the Heroin Epidemic
Last year approximately 64,000 Americans died of overdoses, as many as were killed in the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars combined. More than fifteen years ago both Portugal and the U.S. were struggling with illicit drug use. The U.S. cracked down, spending billions of dollars incarcerating drug users. Portugal, on the other hand, decriminalized the use of all drugs in … Read More
What Happened?-Dealing with the Bully
I’m reading Hillary Clinton’s account of her stunning loss in the 2016 Presidential election. In her memoir, What Happened, Clinton talks about the well-coordinated campaign by the Trump operatives to fuel anger throughout the country. As Trump continued to provoke violence in his rallies, she kept thinking, “People are going to be shocked by this.” But as we know, they … Read More
Drug Deaths Accelerate in 2016
Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 because of synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl and its analogues. Drug overdoses killed about 64,000 people in the United States in 2016, which is an increase of 22% over drug deaths recorded in 2015. Drug deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled from 2015 to 2016. There has also been … Read More
Why Aren’t Men Outraged by the Republican Effort to Strip Women of Gynecological Care and Maternity Benefits?
President Trump is the most hostile president the United States has ever had regarding reproductive rights and measures to promote sexual health. The current Republican health care plans (not dead yet) are an attack on obstetric and gynecological care showing nothing but contempt for women. The assault includes blocking Planned Parenthood from collecting Medicaid reimbursement for a year, forcing 50% … Read More
Grieving the End of Addiction
This is a guest post by Helen Jenkins about the stages of grief experienced by some who give up an addiction When we force a loved one in rehabilitation to immediately be happy or pick up where they left off, we deny them the right to grieve. Systemic therapist, Lindsay Kramer, notes that drug use can be intimate in nature: … Read More
The Washington D.C. March
The day before the Inauguration, I went to the Newseum in Washington, DC., the dynamic interactive museum about the history of news including the printing press that printed copies of the Declaration of Independence after the hand-written original was signed. Among others, it has a fabulous exhibit about the Civil Rights Movement. Widely displayed are photos and news clippings from … Read More
Princess Leia Cast a Light on Bipolar Illness
Carrie Fisher did not shirk her role as an advocate for the de-stigmatization of bipolar illness. She brought the subject of bipolar into the popular culture in her writing and her one-woman show, “Wishful Drinking” where she first posited the idea of “Bipolar Pride Day.” Ms. Fisher was first diagnosed with bipolar at age 24 but like many people who … Read More