Written By: Julie Hsu, MFT Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program The opioid crisis has gotten a lot of publicity, but the general belief has been that children and adolescents are seldom affected. However, what began as a public health problem of primarily young and middle-aged males is now an epidemic of prescription and illicit […]
Reported By: Alexandria Hein, FoxNews.com Health As communities nationwide battle a growing opioid and heroin use epidemic, researchers and public health officials are scrambling to identify how abuse may begin. One of those sources, research suggests, could be high school athletics. But studies conducted thus far have produced conflicting results regarding whether participation in sports encourage […]
Reported By: Aimee Cunningham, NPR Health News “Parental monitoring and warmth are a protective device against kids’ binge drinking.” While a sense of inevitability often surrounds the topic of teen drinking, adults can play an important role in preventing underage alcohol use. Two recent studies provide guidance for parents. One finds that parents […]
By: Jack Rodolico, NPR Health News “I ended up sniffing a whole one, and I blacked out… it ruined me that time. But I loved it.” When Jack O’Connor was 19, he was so desperate to beat his addictions to alcohol and opioids that he took a really rash step. He joined the Marines. […]
By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Part II of blog series on Co-Occurring Disorders Read Part I: Co-Occurring Disorders: Diagnosis Regardless of which issue presented first, mental health or alcohol/substance abuse, recovery depends on acknowledging and treating both the alcohol/substance abuse and the mental health issue. The most […]
By: Taryn Bogonovich Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Intern Teens have been known to experiment with new ways to get a “high”. You may have heard the news recently about a new craze referred to as “Sizzurp” or “Purple Drank”, which is a mix of soda, candy and prescription cough syrup with codeine. While rap musicians […]
Prescription drug abuse in America is becoming increasingly alarming by the minute. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there were approximately 7 million people in the U.S. who reported nonmedical use of psychotherapeutic drugs in 2010. Pain relievers remain as the most widely abused medications, followed by tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. Among […]
KQED, the public media station for Northern California recently did a series of stories on the increase of suburban California teenagers who are transitioning from using painkillers to black tar heroin. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhgdZHPxYds&w=560&h=315] California Watch, a reporting initiative started by the Center for Investigative Reporting, posted this story and video (shown above) on August 15th, […]
An article published in the Saturday, June 9th, 2012, New York Times put a brilliant spotlight on the prescription drug abuse of Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse, and other medications prescribed to treat symptoms of A.D.H.D, by high school students pushing themselves to succeed in high school and get into top colleges. At high schools across the […]
National Alcohol Awareness Month was first started in 1987 by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) to create awareness about the use of alcohol and the serious consequences associated with its misuse. The NCADD reports that teens who experiment with alcohol before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol […]