“I make sure to put the phone down and interact with them because it’s the only time during the week where we get to see each other,” Odenbach said.

The strong pull of technology that can interfere with social engagement is a common experience in a culture accustomed to easy Internet access, a 24-hour news cycle and instant communication.

Even critics who recognize the benefits of social media warn against rapid and unchecked adoption of technology that has the potential to erode intimacy and further fragment attention spans. Many Web denizens are aware of the Internet’s addictive quality and the anxiety that can accompany a foray into social media, such as worrying that even a temporary distraction from the screen will mean missing crucial updates and in-jokes. As a result, some consumers are partially unplugging or seeking other ways to integrate technology into life.

Yet the dark side exists. One extreme example of what counselor Hilarie Cash calls “uncritical” involvement with technology is a college dropout who spent six years playing video games and surfing the Web.

When he decided to return to school, he had to re-learn focus through Sudoku puzzles and teaching himself Japanese, said Cash, who worked with him. Cash, of Redmond, Wash., is an Internet and video-game-addict counselor.

Cash said her client realized that his self-discipline was like a muscle that had atrophied. “[He said] I have to build it back before I can possibly be successful again,” she recalled.David Levy, a professor at the Information School at the University of Washington, believes the social media phenomenon is part of a cultural swing that started with the industrial revolution.

“Really nothing has slowed us down,” said Levy. “In other words, we’ve been witnessing a 200-year acceleration.”

A computer scientist by training, Levy has studied how the Arts and Crafts movement of the 19th Century emerged as a reaction against the potentially dehumanizing effects of industrialization. Levy, who also has a degree in calligraphy and bookbinding, argues that modern society needs to restore a balance between the contemplative and technology-driven, goal-oriented sides of life.

Then there are those who believe technology can help or hinder work and even artistic pursuits, depending on how it’s used.

Take Brian Mazzaferri, the lead singer of I Fight Dragons, a Chicago band that blends video-game music and sounds with pop rock. When publicizing his music online, Mazzaferri felt guilty he wasn’t spending enough time writing and practicing. His early promotional efforts involved adding friends on MySpace, which he found ineffective because it didn’t lead to communication with fans.

“There’s so many things you can do online that make you feel you’re doing something, when in reality you’re doing nothing,” Mazzaferri said.

He now works with Natiiv Arts & Media, a local firm that provides social media training for artists. He started talking with fans and fellow musicians on Twitter and discovered that he could share ideas directly with them, receive feedback and enhance his music.

“A lot of people, especially in our culture, tend to view artists as rarefied,” Mazzaferri said. “You go off and have a meditative, creative state and shut yourself off from the world. I really like the idea of viewing it the other way — that artists have to go to work like everyone else.”

But for others, the boundaries between work and play have blurred to become non-existent.

“My personal life and business life have become one, and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing,” said Michael Brito, a social media strategist at Intel. He estimates he’s online 18 hours a day, either behind a computer or on his iPhone.

“At this point, it’s not detrimental to any of my real relationships,” said Brito, referring to family and friends that he sees offline. “If it ever did, I’d have to sit back and re-evaluate my behavior.”

Still, Brito limits his children’s computer time and has enrolled them in swim and dance lessons. “They don’t have to be behind a computer 20 hours a day,” he said. “We really want them to be more balanced.”

Not everyone feels like they can push back against the inertia of a technology-driven consumer culture.

Levy said he has informally surveyed more than 200 undergraduate students across the country and more than 80 percent of them say they spend too much time online. Younger people “are actually reflecting on this and they are concerned about it,” Levy said. “They also feel like there is no way to deal with it.”

It is possible to scale back. Ken Salkover, a 39-year-old Skokie resident, joined Facebook and started a personal blog about a year ago. He also signed up for Twitter around the holidays.

Now Salkover rarely updates his blog, limits Facebook usage to 15 minutes a day and switched to a new e-mail account to cut off unwanted messages. The digital diet stemmed from a realization that it was too easy to “spend almost all my free time on the computer, either social networking or switching to the television network Web sites.”

“I’m doing better than I was once was,” Salkover said. “At some point, you realize how valuable your time is.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-info-overload-may26,0,5853687.story

drug abuse

NFL star found fame on field, alcohol and painkillers off

Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — On a fateful day in 1985, Jim Riley realized how many people had been hurt by his behavior. He was the subject of an intervention.

Athletics opened many doors for Riley, today an established Edmond resident. It also opened him to temptations.

Enid High School has produced many great athletes, including the NBA’s Mark Price, wrestling’s Gary Breece, Major League Baseball’s Ray Hayward and NFL players Lydell Carr, Ken Mendenhall and John Holt.

Enid also produced Riley, an All-State football player and prep All-American in 1963.

An intense, physical player, Riley played both offense and defense in high school, and positions including center and tackle on offense and noseguard and end on defense. He then headed to play football for legendary coach Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma.

Off the field, Riley started drinking alcohol.

In 1967, Riley was drafted as a defensive lineman in the second round by the Miami Dolphins.

At Miami, Riley was an original member of the Dolphins’ notorious “No Name Defense.” He also played in two consecutive Super Bowls and was part of the only undefeated team in NFL history, the 1972 Dolphins.

Football is a contact sport, and athletes often play with pain. When he played with Miami, prescription painkillers were legally available in the Dolphins locker room, Riley said.

Like other players, he took them.

In 1972, a knee injury ended Riley’s football career. What ensued in his personal life was an addiction-driven downward spiral.

In 1968, Jim and Robin Riley became husband and wife. By the beginning of 1985, Jim’s alcoholism, his disease, was progressing, Robin said. It seemed to be affecting his children more. His son’s anger was growing toward his dad.

Robin said years earlier she had heard about interventions, but at the time she didn’t think the tactic would work for Jim. She called a professional interventionist and prayed, asking God if this was his will for her husband.

The situation deteriorated to the point where Robin worried Jim might die if he didn’t get help.

Experiences with an Edmond church, an Edmond woman who was injured by an alcohol-impaired driver and a friend helped convince Robin an intervention was the right thing to do.

Later that year, the intervention was held in the Rileys’ home, arranged so that when Jim awoke he would not be drinking and find the group, which included family members, a business partner and his high school football coach in his home.

Robin said that moment was for her a frightening experience, filled with questions and concerns about how Jim would react.

His former football coach told Jim what had led to the intervention. His daughter, 11, addressed Jim and said, “Daddy, I love you. I don’t want you to die. I want you to get help.”

Then the interventionist asked Jim if he would be willing to get treatment.

All ears listened for his answer.

http://www.edmondsun.com/addiction/local_story_141235903.html?keyword=secondarystory

drug abuse

May 21, 2009, 10:19 am

Using Science to Keep Teens Sober at Prom

Psychologists in Australia are warning that videogame addiction is on the verge of becoming a “national health problem” for the nation’s adults.

Andy Chalk posted on 20 May 2009 7:0

1 am

As the scourge of videogame addiction spreads, it could become as expensive and destructive as alcohol and nicotine addiction, according to an article in the Herald Sun, yet shockingly, the Australian Medical Association has no policy in place to address the problem. The medical community is being criticized for dragging its feet in researching the burgeoning problem; along with the Australian Medical Association’s disappointing lack of preparedness, the American Medical Association has not yet determined whether or not videogame addiction should be classified as a legitimate mental illness.

“There is no doubt computer and computer games addiction is on the rise for adults,” said psychologist William Campos. “It can be all consuming. I had one patient who was so involved with one game called World of Warcraft and would play it up to eight [or] ten hours a day.”

The report adds that the videogame industry has “unsurprisingly” avoided the topic of game addiction. “Certainly many young people go through periods of intense involvement in computer game play, for example with a new game, but this is not a lasting obsession for the majority,” the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia said in a statement. The Herald Sun said the statement shows the industry is “in denial.”

68 percent of Australians now play videogames and the average age of gamers in the country is 30. Despite the recession that began in 2008, Australians blew $2 billion on videogames, a 47 percent jump over 2007.

Boy, can you imagine how bad things would be if Australia hadn’t spent all that time banning the grown-up games?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91823-Game-Addiction-a-National-Health-Problem-in-Australia

drug treatment centers for teenagers

NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) — U.S. researchers have found cocaine regulated molecular pathways that may lead to addiction treatments

.

The study, published in Cell Press, finds long-lasting changes in behavior are elicited as cocaine regulates gene expression in a crucial reward region of the brain.

“Although we have known for some time that changes in gene expression contribute to the long-lasting regulation of the brain’s reward circuitry that is seen during drug addiction, how those specific genes are regulated is not well understood,” senior study author Dr. Eric Nestler of New York City’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine said in a statement.

Nestler and colleagues combined highly sensitive genetic isolation and screening techniques to study regulation of gene transcription in the brains of mice repeatedly receiving cocaine.

The researchers also found a previously unrecognized family of genes — called the sirtuins — involved in cocaine addiction. Chronic cocaine administration was linked with an increase in sirtuin gene transcription while increased sirtuin activity was associated the rewarding effects of cocaine being augmented, while pharmacological inhibition of sirtuins reduced the rewarding effects of cocaine and the motivation to self-administer the drug.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/05/19/Molecular-insights-into-cocaine-addiction/UPI-50801242708775/

xanax

This Mother’s Day, the Partnership for a Drug Free America celebrates a special milestone: the first anniversary of the “Three Moms Campaign.”

It’s a group of special people like Cindy Sierzchula, who have vowed to make a difference.

Sierzchula lost her 17-year-old daughter to a drug overdose more than two years ago.

“Her birthday is on Mother’s Day this year, May 10,” Sierzchula said. “She passed away Feb. 3 of ‘07.”

She explains the purpose of the campaign as “just get the awareness out there. Three moms tell another three moms.”

Sierzchula’s daughter died from an oxycontin overdose. Numbers show that 2,500 teens every day abuse prescription drugs for the first time.

“Every time I turn around, there’s another kid dying from prescription drugs, and I just don’t want to see this continue to happen,” said Sierzchula.

She remembers how her daughter got hooked, while with friends, crushing up oxycontin and snorting it.

“She didn’t feel good. She laid down and she never woke up again. And that’s what happened to a lot of kids who have died from the same thing.”

She thinks of her daughter.

“She had the most beautiful blue eyes. They were just big and beautiful. She had the best smile and laugh, compassionate and loving… I miss her every single day. I don’t cry as much because you get kind of tired of crying. Now, I’m just trying to do good in helping other people to be aware of what’s going on with their kids.”

The Three Moms Campaign is made up of everyday mothers whose lives and families have been impacted by their children’s prescription drug abuse. In addition to speaking to mothers, , Sierzchula speaks to kids at schools and shares her story.

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1154027

addiction, treatment, drug rehab, los angeles rehab

By: Drucilla Dyess
Published: Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Although mental illness has not always been treated as a medical condition, increasing knowledge and greater conceptual sophistication have brought with them significant change. Both the acknowledgment of mental illness by medical science and its quest for successful treatment of these disorders have marked milestones in the journey toward improving these aspects of the human condition. However, there remains a great deal of research to be done regarding the causes and treatment of mental illness.

Mental health disorders affect an estimated 22 percent of American adults each year due to very complex causes that often involve a combination of genetics, biology, and uncontrolled life experiences. Studies have shown that mental disorders are linked to physical changes in the brain and that some mental illnesses run in families, indicating a genetic association. Millions of Americans suffer from various forms of mental health issues ranging from social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder to drug and alcohol addiction to personality disorders. However, successful treatment options including medications and psychotherapy as well as other treatments are available.

Since 1996, the number of Americans who use prescription drugs for the treatment of mental illness has been on the rise. In fact, among seniors 65 and older, the use of psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer’s medicines doubled between 1996 and 2006. In addition, the 10-year period revealed an increase of 73 percent among adults and 50 percent among children in drug use for the treatment of mental illness. This accounts for one in 10 adults and one in 20 children having reported prescription mental health drug use in 2006.

According to health policy researchers Sherry Glied of Columbia University and Richard Frank of Harvard Medical School, the drug usage increase may be due in part to the expansion of insurance coverage for these drugs as well as a broader familiarity with them among primary care physicians. Their report appears in the journal Health Affairs and is titled “Better But Not Best: Recent Trends In The Well-Being Of The Mentally Ill.” Glied said, “What we generally find is there has been an increase in access to care for all populations.” She went on to explain, “Mental health has become much more a part of mainstream medical care.”

The researchers gathered their data from several large U.S. public health surveys that included the National Center for Health Statistics, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Social Security Administration.

Glied voiced concern regarding the little progress that has been made in the access to care for people suffering from more serious mental illnesses. The study found that treatment for older adults having mental limitations and requiring assistance with dressing, eating, or bathing dropped over the 10-year period between 1996 and 2006. Frank agreed by saying, “seniors are most concerning to us.” These patients have been the most under-treated and although many are now getting psychiatric medication, access to specialists is declining among the seriously impaired. In addition, with approximately 7 percent of Americans suffering from serious mental illness ending up in jail or prison each year, the researchers noted, “New policies are desperately needed to reduce the flow of people whose primary problem is a mental disorder into the criminal justice system.”

With the 2008 federal parity law came the requirement employers to provide equivalent insurance coverage for both physical and mental illness in an effort to improve access to care. However, concerns remain that the ongoing recession will leave a growing number of Americans uninsured and this could leading to less mental health coverage for many in the near future.

Source: http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/mental-health/drug-use-mental-illness-rise-3074.html
drug rehab, addiction, treatment, alcoholism

Q: “What is alcoholic dementia? What are its signs and symptoms? How different is it from other forms of dementia? Does it progress in symptoms? Does it continue if a person stops drinking?”

A: The above are all questions asked during my recent public dementia lecture.

Alcoholic dementia is often an overlooked type of memory dysfunction. It is estimated that about 8 percent of people in the U.S. over age 65 may have an alcohol abuse problem. Sixty percent of the elderly drink and 5 to 10 percent are binge drinkers. It may be hard to believe, but Medicare, which is the major insurance for patients over 65, spends more on alcohol-related problems than on treatment for heart attacks. Unfortunately, doctors fail to recognize this type of dementia more than 60 percent of the time. Families and spouses also do not seek medical attention as frequently as with other forms of dementia.

Before going over the signs and symptoms of alcoholic dementia, let’s remind everyone what the acceptable amount of alcohol is for a person over 65. It is actually different for men and women. Women can safely have a four-ounce glass of wine, bottle of beer or one two-ounce drink of hard liquor daily. Men can have double that. Anything more is considered excessive. It is believed that the aging liver cannot process alcohol as effectively as the liver of a younger person.

To diagnose dementia, one has to have memory loss and it has to be severe enough to affect daily functioning for the given person. It may be tricky to diagnose dementia if someone has had a long history of problems functioning and thinking due to alcohol intoxication. Alcohol abuse is also associated with nutritional problems — especially lack of vitamin B1, also known as thiamine.

Symptoms of low thiamine are called Wernicke’s encelopathy, and include difficulty with balance, eye movement paralysis and confusion. Sometimes the symptoms may resolve with replacement of the vitamin B1 and cessation of drinking.

Another unique manifestation of alcoholism and lack of vitamin B1 is called Korsakoff’s psychosis. The most characteristic feature of this malady is confabulation, or filling memory gaps with made-up, sometimes outrageous stories.

When comparing alcoholic dementia to Alzheimer’s disease, it has to be said that distinguishing the two is not always easy. Alcohol-related dementia, just like Alzheimer’s, makes a patient repetitive, forgetful and unable to take care of daily chores. Both diseases get worse over time, and both Alzheimer’s and alcoholic dementia patients are often NOT aware of their memory loss.

The most striking difference between the two forms of dementia is that alcoholic dementia affects mostly the front and the back of the brain (called the frontal lobe and the cerebellum) and Alzheimer’s affects more the side part (temporal lobe). The frontal lobe is very important because this is where the social grace, executive functioning, inhibition and judgment centers are located.

The back of the brain, or cerebellum, is responsible for balance and walking. What it means is that patients with alcoholic dementia tend to have problems with daily life, tend to be impulsive and angry, have outbursts of difficult behavior and may be dangerous at times. They also may have problems walking. (Remember, they also may have the vitamin B1 problem!!!)

Alcoholic dementia cannot be diagnosed when a patient is acutely intoxicated or withdrawing from alcohol. This is because almost always patients in these situations will have an acute confusional state called delirium. Only after the acute confusion clears can one start evaluating dementia.

Another very interesting phenomenon is that patients with alcoholic dementia often score very well on standardized memory tests. Remember, these tests mostly check the temporal lobe, or the side of the brain, and not the front or the back. (If someone has an ulcer on their foot and you only see his hands, he may get a clean bill of health despite being sick, so checking the right part is very important.) There are sophisticated tests specifically for evaluating the frontal lobe and they are very helpful in diagnosing alcoholic dementia.

When it comes to treatment, abstinence is the only way to go. This is not often possible without family taking over control of the affected person’s life, and that is a very painful process. Trying to help families dealing with a loved one who has alcoholic dementia is one of the most challenging things we geriatricians do. Medications for memory stabilization often prescribed in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia have not been tested in alcoholic dementia, so when given they are given “off label,” meaning that the results may not be as encouraging.

Sometimes medications for depression and treatment of anger may actually be more effective. The involvement of a specialist is essential here. At times I see in my practice dramatic improvement with the person’s abilities and memory after alcohol is out of the picture, but I would not call it the rule.

Dr. Beata Skudlarska is a Bridgeport geriatrician.Bridgeport Hospital Center for Geriatrics

Source: http://www.connpost.com/women/ci_12293083
alcoholism, rehab, treatment, addiction

FOR women, drug use often leads to crime, but for men it is crime that leads to drug use, a new study has found.

The research, by the Australian Institute of Criminology, found women were more likely to be dependent on illegal drugs than men when they were arrested the first time.

They were also likely to be more socially disadvantaged than their male counterparts.

Among men, violence and property offenses each accounted for about 25 per cent of the main offenses for which they were arrested.

About 40 per cent of women were detained for property offenses, and only 18 per cent for violent crimes.

But women who were dependent on alcohol were more likely to commit a violent offense than a property crime - a trend similar to men who regularly consumed large amounts of alcohol.

“Alcohol is associated with violent offending in women as it is in men, although perhaps not to the same extent,” the study said.

About 29 per cent of male prisoners and 35 per cent of females attributed their offenses to being intoxicated with drugs or alcohol.

Overall, women detained by police were four times as likely to have used illicit drugs at least once than women in the general population.

About 70 per cent of women detained were using illicit drugs regularly, the report found, and they tended to use drugs more frequently than men.

Women often used injectable drugs such as amphetamines and methamphetamine or heroin.

Men were more likely to have been using alcohol and cannabis than other illicit drugs when they were first arrested.

“For males it is more likely that crime leads to drug use or that the two occur in a similar period,” the report said.

The report also found women arrested by police were more likely to live in public housing than male detainees, and more than half of them were not in the workforce, while 85 per cent derived their legitimate income from welfare benefits. They also had more mental health problems and often had a history of physical and sexual abuse.

The report suggested: “One way to reduce the number of women entering the criminal justice system is to reduce drug dependency through early intervention.”

To reduce women’s drug use and crime, treatment had to also take account of mental health problems and social and occupational disadvantage, it found.

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/high-incidence-of-drug-use-among-arrested-women-20090504-asmu.html

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