A Brief Look at Psychogenic Polydipsia, Hyponatraemia, And ‘Aquaholism’ In May 2015, I went to the cinema with my oldest son to watch Mad Max: Fury Road. The reason I mention this is because one of the characters in the film (who live in a world where water is a scarce commodity) tells someone else not[…]
Tag Archives: Mental Health
22
Jan
Jan
There’s Nothing Chronic About This “Chronic Brain Disease.” The experts at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are very clear: “Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease.” (Here’s the NIDA party line in a bit more detail.) As you can see, addiction is viewed as a chronic disease much like cardiovascular disease or diabetes. And they should know, right? After all the[…]
22
Jan
Jan
It Can’t Be About Your Expectations For Them When a loved one is in crisis, it can be hard to know what to say. It can feel safer to do nothing in the hope of avoiding messy feelings or uncomfortable communication. What your loved one needs as they take their first steps toward recovery, however, is your[…]
22
Jan
Jan
A new study explores the roots of drug and alcohol use in teenagers. Drug and alcohol abuse has always been a major problem for many young people. According to the 2014 Monitoring the Future survey of drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, the reported use of illicit drugs has generally gone down though alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco are still[…]
21
Jan
Jan
Know How to Do it, But Need The Social Push The United States has come a long way in encouraging people to smoke less or quit. We need a similar push against alcoholism and binge drinking. Public health measures do help. On U.S. campuses, nearly 40 percent of students confess they’ve downed 5 or more alcoholic drinks at a time[…]
20
Jan
Jan
How to Deal With Angry Controlling People Anger can tyrannize relationships. One woman I treated had stopped having any male friends because she was afraid of her partner’s unrelenting jealous anger. If she went to lunch, for instance, with a male colleague from work her partner would barrage her with cell phone messages during the meal. Initially, unable[…]
20
Jan
Jan
People Have to Be Met Where They Are (At All Levels) A Depressing Video I recently watched a video about the use of new technology to change health behaviours in the elderly. It should have been inspiring and uplifting. Instead, it was depressing. The unhealthy elderly man in the video, let’s call him Jim, desperately needed to[…]
20
Jan
Jan
Alert: If You’re Trying to Manage Your Drug Use, You’re Not Enjoying it Anymore As an active addict, I was an amazing storyteller. “I don’t have a problem” was one story I liked a lot. Another related one: “It’s all under control.” A third and more specific variation: “Coke is not interfering with my life.”[…]
19
Jan
Jan
Dr. Sadaqat Ali: Unlike anything else we eat, alcohol is absorbed differently, is eliminated differently, and affects us all in a different way as well. More information on all of these issues means better decisions when it comes to drinking. We all drink water and it is important to us. We know its significance, but[…]
19
Jan
Jan
Are Smarter People More Likely to Harm Themselves With Drugs & Alcohol? Dr. Kanazawa has reissued his assertion that more intelligent people binge drink and get drunk more, according to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The following data from that study relate childhood IQ to binge drinking and drunkenness: “Very dull” Add Health respondents (with childhood IQ[…]