White Bison Inc. is a 20-year-old Native nonprofit organization that focuses not only on alcoholism recovery but also on the ways in which a history of colonization contributed to addiction in the American Indian community. Operating from a modest office on a quiet street, White Bison reaches Native communities well beyond this city south of….
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The vast majority of New Yorkers struggling both with mental illness and substance abuse don’t get treatment for both conditions at the same time – a barrier that can result in relapse, discontinued treatment and, in some cases, suicide. It’s a problem that’s gone on for years because of a flawed Medicaid coding system, and….
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Their first love might be the rum or vodka or gin and juice that is going around the bonfire. Or maybe the smoke, the potent marijuana that grows in the misted hills here like moss on a wet stone. But it hardly matters. Here as elsewhere in the country, some users start early, fall fast….
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We love quick, tidy solutions in this country. With health problems, in particular, we’re impatient. Pills to ease each and every symptom? Great. Same-day surgery? Terrific. A scheduled cesarean section? Bring it on. ¶ But in the case of drug and alcohol dependence, it’s becoming increasingly clear that there is no such thing as get-well-quick….
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The chapel at Immanuel Presbyterian Church was filled to capacity last Saturday afternoon, with mourners moving up to the balcony. Much to the surprise of his family, hundreds — from infants to senior citizens — came to honor John Robert McGraham, a homeless man who was brutally murdered on Oct. 9. McGraham, 55, was doused….
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Could an aversion to bitter substances or an overall heightened sense of taste help protect some people from becoming addicted to nicotine? That’s what researchers at UVA have found using an innovative new method they’ve developed to analyze the interactions of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Their findings one day may be key in identifying….
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This week – the countdown toward the federal election – has been Mental Illness Awareness week. The cost of mental illness to the Canadian economy in terms of health care and lost productivity is estimated to be $51 billion a year. Given the absence of mental health and addiction issues from the campaign, it appears….
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GUELPH, ONT. NICOLE VISSCHEDYK The Canadian Press “You walked into the office and sat down. Did it ever cross your mind that I wasn’t sober?” Sitting in the quiet, bright office of a doctor, the question jarred me. Dr. Graeme Cunningham is director of the addiction division at the Homewood Health Centre. He answered his….
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Not all alcohol abusers look or act alike. Nor do they start on the road to alcoholism the same way or share the same set of problems. What they have in common is that they are all, in some way, damaging their lives. There are many ways to be diagnosed as being alcohol dependent. Alcohol….
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Gambling addiction can leave a person’s life in shambles, but there is a road to recovery. Both nationally and locally, there are support groups, treatment options and assessment tools to help people get through gambling problems, and keep them away from gambling. The first step, though, is finding out if a person is a problem….
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