Wellness Retreat Blog

The greater part of persons with alcohol and other drug use (AOD) disorders are also affected by a co-occurring mental health or medical problem which can complicate the treatment of either, leading to an increased percentage of relapse.[1] Formerly, patients with AOD disorders and co-occurring disorders (CODs) have been treated separately for each; however, more frequently, patients with AOD disorders and CODs have been treated for only one disorder, a proven ineffective approach.[2] To begin, persons with co-occurring disorders often do not fit perfectly into the treatments offered through the fields of mental health or AOD, as would patients who

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Caffeine, a stimulant, may biochemically cause neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with new-onset psychosis.[1] According to Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Lieutenant William L. Whiting, while toxicity is known to occur when ranges of 150 to 200 mg/kg have been ingested,1 Cerimele and colleagues have found that even a mere 10 mg/kg is may increase psychotic features in schizophrenic patients.[2] For example, researchers have observed that in some patients caffeine has brought about thought disorders and has caused them to become more socially withdrawn.1 In his article “New-Onset Psychosis: Check Caffeine Use,” Whiting describes a patient his team treated at the Naval

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Current treatment for alcoholism is based upon an abundance of research regarding effective approaches to helping those dependent decrease their usage or abstain altogether, and further development of more effective treatments are emerging as more research is conducted. As treating alcoholism is difficult because there is no single effective treatment and the disease affects people differently, it is proposed that treatments derive from each patient’s specific needs.[1] Statistics show that alcohol use disorders, also referred to as AUDs, frequently go untreated. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) conducted the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

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This is an article published today that poses the question, do you know who that one is? The consequence and accountability of alcoholism has lasting effects and starts in the home. More than one in 10 U.S. children live with an alcoholic parent and are at increased risk of developing a host of health problems of their own, according to a new government study released on Thursday. Researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) analyzed national survey data from 2005 through 2010 and found that, on average, 7.5 million children — about 10.5 percent of the

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Lindsey Corr, MD, a Fellow with Creighton-Nebraska Psychiatry recognizes, in her article “The Struggles of Applying the Science of Evidence-Based Medicine in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,” that medicine remains a science of probability, leading the application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to become problematic in child and adolescent psychiatry.[1] According to Corr, although advancements have been made regarding guidelines for psychopharmacology within psychiatry, EBM remains a controversial topic. First described by Sackett and colleagues in 1995, EBM consists of decision-making based upon patient-evidence, population-evidence, and laboratory-evidence combined and reevaluated regularly.[2] As no two patients will react to a medicine the same,

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The unhealthy use of alcohol—including risky drinking behavior, problem drinking, and alcohol abuse and dependence—may now be treated with medicines, according to increasing research. When coupled with counseling interventions, success rates have increased.[1] The drug disulfiram (Antabuse) was introduced in the 1940s, with the intent to help alcohol dependent persons abstain from heavy drinking. Now, newer medicines, such as naltrexone and it’s intramuscular injection Vivitrol and acamprosate (Campral), have proven effective for drinking abstinence, especially when paired with behavioral therapies. Currently, four medicines are FDA-approved for the treatment of alcohol dependence: Antabuse, Naltrexone, Campral, and Topiramate.[2] Antabuse works by interfering

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Bailey and Sokol state that prenatal alcohol exposure poses many risks to a fetus, including spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, preterm delivery, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).[1] Unfortunately, studies of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure encounter certain obstacles. As data pertaining to alcohol consumption during pregnancy is collected through self-reporting, many women either deny or underreport considerably the amount of alcohol they have consumed while pregnant.[2] With no reliable biomarkers available for credible testing, self-reporting is the main collection route. Bailey and Sokol state that the reported amount of prenatal drinking in the United States is likely significantly lower than

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With the typical onset of bipolar disorder (BD) in women occurring between late adolescence and early adulthood, the chances of mood episodes recurring throughout the reproductive years is considerable.[1] Therefore, treatment of the disorder during pregnancy and postpartum stages must be closely monitored, for both the mother and the fetus. Finer and Henshaw report that fifty percent of pregnancies in the United States are not planned, and with manic episodes bringing about impulsive behavior, women with bipolar disorder who are of reproductive age should be advised of the risks of an unplanned pregnancy and prescribed effective birth control.[2] However, several

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Ecstasy, known scientifically as methylenediocymethamphetamine or MDMA, is a synthetic and psychoactive drug.[1] Chemically, ecstasy is similar to methamphetamine, a stimulant, and mescaline, a hallucinogen. A capsule or tablet that is taken orally, ecstasy induces feelings of euphoria, enhanced energy, and emotional warmth, as well as time, perception, and tactile distortions.[2] When ecstasy first emerged as a faddish street drug, it was sought after by Caucasian adolescents and young adults who indulged in the nightclub and rave scenes; however, over time it has become popular among a wider range of ethnic groups.[3] Ecstasy is also used as a component in

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Hallucinations are not just a symptom of psychotic disorders, but have a number of different physical and psychiatric causes. Sometimes, a patient with multiple disorders will experience different types of hallucinations.[1] Therefore, properly diagnosing patients with hallucinations will ensure proper and effective treatments.1 Ali and colleagues describe the causes of several types of hallucinations—auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and somatic—and detail the common features of each. Auditory hallucinations are defined as “perceptions of sounds without identifiable external stimuli.”1 Commonly, this form of hallucination is connected with the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia. Between 60 and 90 percent of patients who suffer from

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