I was quoted (deep) in the New York Times front page feature story today, “Drowned in a Stream of Prescriptions,” by Alan Schwarz . . . Very compelling piece but oh so sad . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/us/concerns-about-adhd-practices-and-amphetamine-addiction.html
On his blog portraits of addiction, Andrew Seaward just posted something Lena Butler of Test Country wrote about (some of) my addictions work. It can be found here:
http://portraitsofaddiction.com/2013/02/02/almost-addicted/
I hereby offer a hearty thanks to both of them.
Some think that because marijuana isn’t a “hard” drug it doesn’t cause problems. The reality is that although drugs like methamphetamine and the opiates can be devastating and even a single use might be too much, regular use of marijuana can also exact a high price and wreak havoc on lives in various ways. The full text of my latest post on Psychology Today can be found here:
See the post on my blog Almost Addicted on Psychology Today:
A news source reports that the NRA said it was “prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.”
Meaningful will have to mean a total ban on assault rifles for the public and background checks for anyone wanting to buy as much as a BB gun.
If the NRA insists on these “contributions” then I will be impressed, even though I will not forgive it for its obstructionist, insane stances on gun issues to date.
Any organization that opposes having background checks for those who purchase weapons ought to be shut down. Any organization that supports the sale of weapons that include the words “automatic” or “semi-automatic” in their name needs to be banned. And any organization that supports the sale of assault weapons for sale to the general public should be considered a terrorist organization. Will sanity trump the money that such organizations pump into US politics?
The folks who are rewriting the diagnostic manual in psychiatry have often built their careers on the diagnosis in question and/or have received money from Big Pharma, so that the diagnoses they craft are potentially fraught with conflicts of interest and bias. Even though the folks rewriting the diagnostic manual in psychiatry tried to rectify matters, their efforts fall short.
Read the whole post at : http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/almost-addicted/201212/what-exactly-went-my-psychiatric-diagnosis
I became a crossword aficionado roughly 6 months back and I barely rate. I subscribe to the New York Times, know that Monday’s puzzles are the easiest and Saturdays are the hardest, and over the last half year have exactly once solved a Thursday puzzle. (When I say “solved” I mean without looking at references, searching the web, etc., to help solve the puzzle.) I still occasionally can’t finish Tuesday puzzles and am approaching 50% on Wednesdays.
Today’s–a Tuesday– puzzle has several answers that are two words, the first beginning with “P” and the second beginning with “G”–which includes “Proving Ground,” “Princess Grace,” and “Peanut Gallery,” among others.
A couple of my usual sources for enlightenment about these puzzles said that the theme of this puzzle is “Rated PG,” but given that “PG” is an old fashioned way of talking about pregnancy–along with the fact that “Princess Grace” was the answer for one clue and “Diana” was the answer for a clue for “the mother of William and Harry”–tell me that this puzzle isn’t about Princess Kate’s presumed pregnancy . . .
My contentment will be short lived, no doubt because Wednesday might pose problems, Thursday might be nearly impossible, and Friday and Saturday will both go way past the “nearly” mark . . .
Hope you have a good weekend given that I, no doubt, won’t. Cheers.
Hey all! I have just begun to write a blog for Psychology Today and here is my inaugural post.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/almost-addicted/201211/almost-addicted
More to follow . . .
Several more states voted for gay marriage last week. I now repeat something I have publicly said before: At some point in the near future the issue of whether gays should be allowed to marry will be as controversial as the question of whether blacks and women should be allowed to vote.
Because of this, at some people are going to look back at opponents of gay marriage much the way we do at historical figures who opposed women’s rights or endorsed slavery: anachronistic at best; misguided, immoral, and/or oppressive at worst.