Examining the Effect of Marijuana in the School
Adolescence is a time for experimentation. High school and middle school students are exposed to many opportunities to engage in risky behavior. They are often first introduced to drugs, alcohol, and sex during these socially challenging years. Marijuana is one common drug that teens experiment with. Many of them see this as a harmless drug and do not associate it with the negative consequences attached to other drugs, such as heroin, opioids, or cocaine. However, it is well established that marijuana use can decrease a student’s academic... Read More
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The subject of cannabis use and schizophrenia has been explored in depth in the past several years. There has been evidence of a clear link between cannabis use and psychotic episodes and a link between episodes of psychosis and the later onset of schizophrenia. But until now, no one has looked at how cannabis-related psychosis increases the risk for the development of schizophrenia. In addition, little research has looked at how this risk varies over time. To address these voids in research, Edison Manrique-Garcia of the Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine at the... 
What exactly is an “addiction therapist” anyway? You may have decided to take a look at your drug and alcohol use to consider whether it’s a problem, or you may have already decided that it is a problem and want to stop or cut back. You’ve decided you want some professional feedback on your situation and want to know what, if anything, you might do about it. So you search the internet for “addiction therapist” or look on GoodTherapy.org or ask around, etc., and get a couple of numbers and set up a consultation or two. But then what?
Well, the first thing to consider is that an addiction... 
I’m a big fan of analogies and metaphors. When I think about eating disorders and recovery, analogies and metaphors often form in my mind, and I use them to describe and explain the process of the development of and recovery from a disordered relationship with food and the body. I’ve developed quite a supply of them, but I’ve never written them down—until now.
Here are some of the analogies that I’ve created over the years. I hope you find them helpful.
Video Game
Recovery is like playing a video game. In a video game, you start out with little experience or skill, and you eventually... 
When we think of addiction, we often automatically think of drugs. Due to the illicit nature of various street drugs, one must go and surreptitiously seek out the substance. However, binge eating is a type of addiction that we may not associate as one of the major addictions. For binge eaters, there are diets that could help them lose weight and help them learn to modify their food intake.
Some people feel that overeaters can control their behavior and “just stop eating.” What most individuals do not understand is that a person with food addiction has the same physical and mental response... 
Mindfulness is a therapeutic approach that focuses on increasing a client’s attentiveness and awareness of the present, through acceptance and understanding, without judgment. Mindfulness-based approaches have been shown to help increase emotional regulation in people with many different psychological issues, including, drinking problems, suicidal ideation, gambling addiction, self-harm behaviors, depression, anxiety, and many others. One of the many benefits of mindfulness therapy is that it can address multiple issues at a time. Individuals who have addictions often pick up a new behavior when... 
It is estimated that compulsive gambling affects 2% to 4% of Americans and disproportionately more men than women. Although men tend to develop gambling addictions at a younger age, women now make up more than one-quarter of all compulsive gamblers, and their symptoms tend to worsen faster once compulsive gambling develops.
Due to the advent of internet gambling and as states are increasingly legalizing gaming, betting, and slots, the field has changed, and adolescent gamblers are fast becoming a new generation of compulsive gamblers. In young people, gambling problems develop much like they... 
College students have high rates of internet use. This generation has access to multiple forms of instant communication, through Skype, Twitter, and Facebook and uses the internet for nearly all of their entertainment. Music is downloaded and listened to through internet sites, and videos and television programs are available at any time of the day or night. These factors lead to internet overuse and even addiction for many individuals. College students are among the most vulnerable for this type of behavior. Additionally, college students tend to engage in irresponsible 
The following is an open letter to my sister Andrea Haber, who died from complications due to alcoholism on 10/31/11.
Dearest Anj:
Just a note to let you know how much I miss you. It’s still so bitterly ironic to me that what killed you is the very disease I’ve devoted my life to battling. But in a way, your alcoholism never gave you a chance.
I’m sorry we never talked about it, although you can’t say I didn’t try. There was a time, a few years back, when you told me you wanted to talk about it, and my heart leapt. But that talk, like so many hoped-for moments, never materialized.
I... 
Substance misuse among college students has been extensively researched. There is also limited research addressing the issue of substance (legal and illegal) misuse in college students with 
Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
-Florence & The Machine, “Shake it Off”
On the outer surface, compulsive shopping takes the form of acquiring objects with or without the means do to so. The next layer, what the shopper experiences in the moment just before a purchase, is a quickened heart rate, flushed adrenaline face,... 
Viewing internet pornography (IP) is an activity that has grown dramatically in recent years. Some individuals who view IP admit that it has negatively impacted their lives by increasing their feelings of anxiety and depression and creating conflict within their intimate relationships. Some people who spend an excessive amount of time viewing IP experience problems with work, finances, and even sexual fulfillment. Others, however, do not develop problems resulting from IP. Research has demonstrated that IP use is caused by lack of impulse control, compulsive behavior and is often used as a coping... 
