On a fairly regular basis doctors fail to identify people with alcohol use disorders. This failure is often due to simply not asking the right questions. The consequences of such failure may be substantial, especially if the person has major surgery or develops a severe illness and then manifests acute alcohol withdrawal. Screening and brief […]
Interveening with Your Teen
You don’t need to be scared off by the word “intervention.” An intervention can be as simple as a conversation in which you express your concern to someone about his or her drug use – it is not an attack on that person, and it doesn’t always need to be followed by rehab. The point […]
Living With an Addict
Addiction is a devastating disease that affects not just the addict, but the loved ones as well. It is a painful experience that can have long-lasting emotional, behavioral and financial consequences. Here are some tips for living and dealing with a person who’s addicted to drugs: Take care of yourself. Dealing with a drug addict […]
Marijuana-Induced Psychotic Episodes
Mikkel Arendt, Ph.D., a fellow at the Center for Basic Psychiatric Research at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, and coworkers used the Danish Psychiatric Central Register to identify patients treated for a first marijuana-induced psychotic episode between 1994 and 1999. There were 535 such patients. The researchers then followed those patients for at least […]