Browsing all posts in Addiction in the News.

Desperation Leads to Desperate Measures to Get Prescription Pain Pills

I recently read an article in a Chicago paper about a "polite…white-collar professional" who had figured out he could get prescription drugs by going to open houses and garage sales and asking to use the bathroom. Naive homeowner after naive homeowner said, "Okey dokey" to the stranger, who then scoured their medicine cabinets for Vicodin [...]

Software Designed to Detect Depression in Blogs

There are some who say that the way in which we communicate – as well as the words used – can say a lot about the way we feel at the time. For researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), depression can be detected in blogs and online texts.

Celebrity Doctors: Miraculous Ability to Diagnose in Abstentia

I saw this article today that made me both laugh and shake my head in disgust – the topic was Dr. Drew Pinsky diagnosing Sandra Bullock with ” love addiction.” Here’s the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/29/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main6443548.shtml My first reaction was to roll my eyes. I mean, does anyone seriously consider Dr. Drew credible these days? This guy [...]

Denial and Binge Drinking

Binge drinkers tend to have a lot more denial than people who drink every day.  It’s a shame, because binge drinking has been shown to be far more dangerous – people are more reckless when they binge drink.  Case in point this week: I read a terribly sad story about a 17-year-old high school senior [...]

Check Your Drinking 2.0

I recently read an article about this online tool to check your drinking behavior. It was created by a Canadian addiction researcher and it seems like a pretty decent tool. It allows you to check off if you are just using it to research, so you don’t skew results.  Once you answer all the questions [...]