Category Archives: Drugs and Addiction

Morning Question #7 – Toxicology not picking up bath salts?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

New drugs

Bath salts.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Do drug tests find Bath Salts?

The jury is still out on that one. Bath salts can be made from hundreds, maybe thousands of chemicals. Standard drug testing and hospital toxicology screens just are not designed to find a whole lot of drugs that are rare or unusual. Drug users are constantly looking for ways to beat drug tests and the labs look for ways to catch the cheaters. The wheel keeps going around. I think that there are lots of kids and older drug users, playing with synthetic drugs these days, and those drugs do not show up on standard drug tests.

If the person asking this is referring to those high-profile cases that make the news. Those CSI types are pretty good at finding things so if they say something was not there, I am a lot more confident it wasn’t there than when someone is reading a standard 5-panel instant drug test.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Morning Question #6 – Could a father’s meth use cause Schizoaffective Disorder?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Drugs

Stimulant drugs.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Schizoaffective Disorder and Meth use.

Schizoaffective Disorder is an unusual condition, though I think it is underdiagnosed. Think about traveling through a swamp full of lots of muck but here and there are some small islands of land. Sometimes you have one foot on land, sometimes two, and other times none. People with Schizoaffective Disorder can have episodes of psychosis, episodes of depression, or Bipolar disorder, sometimes both and sometimes neither. Depending on who sees them and when they are seen the diagnosis can change all over the place.

Mental Health conditions do not seem to be caused by any one gene. Most likely they are caused by the interaction of many genes, risk factors, environmental influences, and so on. Dad doing drugs is not likely to have caused that. Sometimes dad was doing drugs because he had a mental illness or there was a history of some disorder in the family that put him at risk.

Mom’s drug use during pregnancy is another matter. The more she uses the bigger the problem. The day she uses can determine what part of the baby was developing that day and what was affected. Mom’s drug use can result in mental retardation or learning disabilities but so far I have not seen any research out there that says the parent’s drug use before the child was born changed the child’s genes and caused a mental illness. If someone has seen that please leave a comment.

The parent’s drug use after the baby is born?

There are all kinds of research that says growing up in the home with a substance abuser can affect a child’s mental health.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Morning Question # 3. What stimulant drug causes mental illnesses?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Drugs

Stimulant drugs.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

What stimulant drug causes mental illnesses?

Morning Question # 3.

ALL. Yes, any stimulant can cause a mental or emotional problem when you are under the influence. Some stimulants, like Methamphetamine, if you do enough of them, can cause permanent damage to the brain. The DSM includes five stimulant-induced disorders that can last after you are detoxed from the drug. Even Caffeine can cause intoxication and can induce anxiety or sleep disorders. The stronger the stimulant and the more you use the bigger the risk.

Sometimes a question or comment comes in or someone uses a search term that needs a short answer but not a post. Time permitting I will post answers to those questions in the early morning.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Morning Question # 2 Does Methcathinone help you get big in the gym?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Bath salts.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

NO! No stimulant makes you big and strong, you just think you are.

Not even if you consider someone with anorexia to be overweight. Methcathinone is a stimulant just like Methamphetamine. Different chemical formulas but similar results. The people who are telling you this are also pushing the “Jenny Crank” diet. Is losing your teeth your idea of weight loss? The only bulking out you do on powerful stimulants is from the scabs on your face. There is to my knowledge no safe and effective way to get big in the gym other than eating healthy and lots of appropriate exercises. The shortcuts that do work are not safe. The safe shortcuts don’t work.  Want to get big in the gym? Lift more weight, run more miles, and eat a lot of healthy food.

Goodbye to Drugs ritual – Breaking up with an addiction

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Writing a goodbye letter to your drug.
Picture courtesy of pixabay

Is it hard to let go of your addiction?

When the courtship began it was all good. That drug, the alcohol, the gambling they were fun. Your drug of choice stays with you no matter what.

People come and go in our lives but that addiction we develop it stays with us. Women come and go, Sherry is always waiting, along with Bud and Jose and their friends. Crystal will take you in when no one else wants to see you. It can be hard to say goodbye.

We have ceremonies for starting things, marriages, births of children, graduations. There are ceremonies for ending things also, divorce decrees and funerals, and the retirement dinner. How do you say goodbye to that drug?

Do you remember the first time you tried the drug, that first drink, and the feelings that your drug of choice gave you? In the beginning, was it good? Did it make you feel excited, happy, and successful?

Then did bad things start happening? Did the drug take you places you didn’t want to go? Did it send you to jails, institutions, homeless shelters, or to lonely places?

It is easy sometimes when all looks bleak to remember the good times if only you could reach that same high again. But you know that it takes ever more and more drug to reach the same high and then one day even the drug can’t get you high. Then it takes more of your drug just to get well, just to feel normal.

It is hard breaking up with someone you have been with for a long time, even when the relationship has gone bad. You remember those good times, long ago when the relationship was new and you wonder how you could live without that drug.

Ending a romantic relationship is often done with a goodbye letter, the “Dear John” or “Dear Jane’ letter. If you want to be free of your drug you may need to write it that same letter.

Dear Methie, Dear Alcehol, we had some good times way back when, but you done me wrong. You said you could make me rich and famous, but you took my money and put my picture on the wanted list. You said you would be my friend, but then you left me alone in jails, prisons, and hospitals. Now you have taken my life and left me looking for ways to end it. It’s time for me to say good-bye ole drug of mine.

Once that letter is written read it over. Have you said it all? Is it clear that you and the drug are through? Or did you leave the door open, breaking up and still wanting it to call again? Rewrite the letter if you need to. Make this one final. The relationship is over. Then send the letter the way your drug of choice will understand.

Some people find it helps to tear the letter up and flush it down the toilet, the way the drug tried to put your life in the toilet. Are your dreams up in smoke? You may need to take that letter to a safe place and burn it. Some people feel that everything about their life has gone downstream; they may wish to tear the goodbye letter up and toss it in the river.

Creating a ceremony marking the end of your relationship with that drug that used and abused you is a good way to start the next chapter of your life.

Some people prefer to do this sort of ritual alone. For others, it is helpful to have a trusted friend, counselor, or sponsor to help with the goodbye process.

However, you chose to do this goodbye ceremony, do it, and toss that drug of choice out of your life. Stop choosing drugs and start choosing yourself.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Bipolar Disorder, Alcoholism and Addiction

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Bipolar.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

HUGE connection between Bipolar Disorder and Substance Disorders.

There are so many connections between having Bipolar Disorder and having a Substance Use Disorder. In treatment facilities that screen for mental illness, it is not uncommon for Bipolar to be the single most common co-occurring mental illness. Anti-social disorders are common in court order referrals and sometimes you might see a lot of clients with PTSD but most often it is the combination of Bipolar Disorder and a Substance Use Disorder that really stands out.

Drugs and alcohol can mask psychiatric symptoms, can create them and both intoxication and withdrawal can look like mental illness, but the combination of Bipolar Disorder and a substance use disorder is so common it is an expectation.

Bipolar Disorder coexists with substance abuse more often than with all the Depressions put together. All mood disorders other than Bipolar Disorder are sometimes labeled unipolar depression to separate them from the bipolar condition.

The overlap between these two conditions is huge. The Epidemiological Catchment Area Study reported that more than 60% of people with Bipolar also had a substance use disorder.

Alcohol was the drug of choice for both people with Bipolar Disorder and unipolar depression.

Because many people with Bipolar Disorder report liking the mania or hypomania they most often go undetected and untreated for long periods of time. Most of the time they come in for treatment because of an episode of depression. Many also escape detection until they have legal consequences that send them to a treatment program.

Most people who finally do arrive at the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder have seen five or more health care professionals and have spent ten or more years on the process before getting diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

The extreme fluctuations in mood in Bipolar Disorder interact with drugs and alcohol. The reported rate of Bipolar Disorder is 1-2 % though it seems likely that many subclinical cases go undetected for prolonged periods of time.

Cyclothymia is another diagnosis related to Bipolar Disorder that has low highs and not so low lows. It is sometimes described as on the bipolar spectrum. For a full diagnosis of Cyclothymia, you need to have had the condition for at least two years.

This disorder is rarely diagnosed and treated as it does not cause the huge impairment or legal consequences of the more severe forms of Bipolar Disorder. People with Cyclothymia have periods of feeling better and stop treatment. They only come in when depressed and hide the hypomania well. In my own clinical experience, this condition is probably vastly underdiagnosed.

When we talk about having a substance use disorder most people will respond that they are not drug addicts or alcoholics. There are forms of the disease of addiction that stop short of physical addiction but result in ruined lives, broken relationships, and periods of time incarcerated.

The hallmarks of a substance use disorder are:

Obsessions – you can’t stop thinking about it.

Cravings – repeated urges to use

Loss of control – using more and more often than planned.

Increased tolerance – Needing more to get the same high or getting less of a result from the same amount of drug.

Withdrawal effects when you run out of the drug.

Psychological addiction or dependence occurs long before physical addiction.

Bipolar Disorder may have existed before the substance abuse but did not get diagnosed because there had been no severe mania. Some people with Bipolar begin using to cover up the symptoms or to help themselves cope. We think of this as “self-medicating.

Drugs and alcohol may increase the risk of developing Bipolar Disorder.

People with Bipolar disorder and substance abuse issues are hospitalized more often and for longer. They are more likely to have rapid cycling Bipolar Disorder and to have developed the symptoms at a younger age. They are also much more likely to have mixed episodes of both mania and depression at the same time.

Co-occurring Bipolar Disorder and substance abuse are much more resistant to treatment and people with both conditions at the same time are far more likely to drop out of or fail to complete treatment.

Alcoholism is more often a result of having Bipolar Disorder rather than a risk factor and those with alcohol as their primary drug of choice do better in treatment than many other co-occurring disorders.

Further complicating this picture we should know that any alcoholic with or without a mental illness is likely to have severe mood swings. Alcohol withdrawal and alcohol intoxication can mimic many mental illnesses and it can take some period of sobriety before a baseline for diagnoses is clear.

Alcohol and illicit drug use will also interfere with getting the medication right resulting in many med changes that might otherwise not have been needed.

So there are some brief thoughts about the connections between Bipolar disorder and substance abuse, especially alcohol abuse.

If you or someone you care about has a problem with drugs, alcohol, or may have a mental illness please encourage them to go for professional assessment and treatment.

Other articles about Bipolar Disorders and related conditions can be found at:

Bipolar or Major Depression?

Bipolar – misdiagnosed or missing diagnosis?

Am I Bipolar?

Bipolar doesn’t mean moody

Are you Hyperthymic?

New Bipolar Drug Trial

Bipolar Disorder Genetics research study – Come one come all

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

How safe if your young child from drugs?

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Drugs

Drugs.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Are you keeping your child away from drugs?

We would like to think that we can keep our children safe. We expect drug use to be something teens or young adults might do. Not young children. The truth is that younger and younger children are trying drugs. Most kids have been exposed to drugs and alcohol by the end of the third grade. Even kids from drug and alcohol-free homes are at risk. If you are thinking “my kids would never do drugs” you may be fooling yourself.

If you are thinking alcohol, that’s not a drug, think again. Any alcohol use by an eight-year-old is a problem. The younger they begin to use drugs, the more likely there will be problems. Not just the problem of addiction but also changes in emotions and learning. The more a student drinks the lower the GPA they will have. One study said “F” students drink on average twice what “A” student’s drink.

Very young kids get their first drugs at home.

First experiences with drugs frequently happen at home. Sneaking some of their parent’s cigarettes or alcohol is many a child’s first experience with drugs. That half-consumed beer or the carelessly left pack of cigarettes is an easy way to get started. But there are bigger dangers lurking even if the parents don’t smoke or drink.

Early grade kids get their drugs under the kitchen sink or in the garage.

Those cleaning solvents, the gasoline, the spray paint, all these things can be used to inhale or huff. Spray cans are an easy way to alter consciousness. A lot of inhalant abuse goes unnoticed by parents who think “no not my child” until it has caused permanent health problems.

It is not the “pusher” that gets your kid on drugs.

We used to think that there were unscrupulous people out there trying to get our kids hooked on drugs. Most people are introduced to drugs by a close friend or family member. Boys are often started off by an older male cousin or uncle; girls learn drug use from an old sister, aunt, or their first boyfriend.

Most kids who use drugs on a daily basis tell me that at first, they didn’t have to pay for it. Friends gave it to them for free. Later on, the circle of friends began to pool their money to buy it. It is not until the drug habit gets regular and expensive that the kid has to come up with the money to pay.

Street drugs are not the biggest part of the problem

Abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise. In a previous post “Grandma is the drug connect”  I wrote about how unknowing family members, grandma, in particular, are becoming the drug supplier of choice for today’s teen.

When it comes to drug overdoses street drugs are way behind prescription drugs as a cause of death.

So have you really thought about this problem of young kids doing drugs? Just how sure are you that your child is safe from drugs?

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Caustic Bath Salts Kill

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

New drugs

Bath salts.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Calling these things bath salts is fiction if I ever heard a fanciful tale.

There are also called plant foods. No one I know of is putting this stuff in water and plants that get this stuff aren’t long for this world. What these so-called “bath salts” do is put people in the hospital emergency room. Sometimes they are fatal.

By calling them bath salts or plant food and putting a notice on the label that says “not intended for human consumption” the manufacturers and sellers of these products are getting around the Controlled Substances Act. These products are often found in head shops and boutiques along with glass pipes and “body detox” products. That the sellers know what people will do with these products is clear.

There are no specific ingredients for these products and manufacturers keep changing their formula to keep ahead of the laws. In the process, one key ingredient is becoming the dominant one. Most of the bath salts contain Methcathinone in one form or another.

Don’t confuse Methcathinone with Methamphetamine or Methadone. Pseudoephedrine is a precursor for both Methcathinone and Methamphetamine but the similarities don’t go much farther than that.

Dr. Smith of the Cookeville (Tennessee) Regional Medical Center wrote a two-part series on bath salts recently which appeared in the drugfree.org newsletter. He reports that the effects of Methcathinone are like those of Ecstasy (MDMA) in the early stages but as time goes on the effects become more like Methamphetamine. While Methcathinone was a rare event in the past Dr. Smith reports that he regularly sees people in the emergency room as a result of bath salts.

Methcathinone is a synthetic version of Khat which I mentioned in my recent post 7 New drugs Parents should be aware of.

The effects Dr. Smith reported seeing in the ER from bath salt users included sweating, high body temperature, high blood pressure, low thirst, paranoia, hallucinations, seizures, violence, and self-injurious behavior, including suicidal thoughts and actions.

Deaths have been reported as a result of smoking bath salts, but how common this is, remains unknown. Most toxicology screens are not intended to pick up these rapidly changing synthetic chemicals and they are probably being under-reported.

A further concern is that people who buy their drugs in head shops are consuming an ever-increasing number of synthetic chemicals. The belief here, especially among teens is that since they are being sold legally they are safe or relatively safe. Most young people have no sense of the amount of risk they are taking by using these products.

Adding to their popularity is the belief, not always correctly, that these products will not show on a drug test and therefore are not going to cause any problems.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a report to physicians on spotting the side effects from smoking synthetic drugs. These drugs, particularly “synthetic marijuana” or synthetic cannabinoids resulted in over 4,500 calls to poison control centers in the United States in a one-year period.

Among the reported symptoms of high levels of synthetic cannabinoids are agitation, excess sweating, and inability to speak.

The sale and use of synthetic recreational drugs, both bath salts, and synthetic marijuana, is an evolving problem that is currently poorly recognized or treated.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Grandma is the drug connect.

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Drugs

Drug counseling.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Grandparents are some teens drug supplier of choice.

Medicine cabinet.

Bathroom medicine cabinets. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Grandmas. along with grandpas, mothers and dads are becoming the major suppliers of illicit drugs for today’s teens. Grandma may not know it yet, but the drugs she supplied could put her grandkids in the hospital emergency room. This hasn’t happened just once; it has occurred repeatedly all across America. Teens are getting their drug supplies by raiding the old people’s medicine cabinets and dresser drawers.

This is not an isolated incident. Abuse of prescription medications, popping the old folk’s pills, is replacing Methamphetamine as the drug of choice for today’s teens in many places across America.

Kids have always raided the old folk’s stash, purloined the liquor and smoked dads weed, but this is different and more ominous. Kids are ending up in emergency rooms from overdoses of unknown prescription medication. Frequently the teens don’t know what they have taken. Not the pharmaceutical names or the consequences. With the rapid increase in prescription drugs on the market the standard drug tests don’t begin to detect all the life-threatening drugs or combinations teens may have taken.

Combine unknown prescription drugs with alcohol or the new synthetic drugs and the results can be fatal. The casualties add up at an ever more rapid rate. Today’s teens are more likely to become addicted to prescription painkillers than to illegal street drugs.

The liver may work hard, but put alcohol in the bloodstream and that poor little liver is overwhelmed. It just can’t cope with all those pills. Lots of bad things including death can happen.

We try to control this. At least I hope doctors are trying. When they see someone who is abusing prescription drugs, or just that grandma is using too many, they may not write more prescriptions. Grandchild’s supply may dry up.

Deprive a hooked person of their prescription Opiates or Opioids and it is a short progression to the illegal ones. You can buy the pills on the street, but Vicodin and Oxycodone sold at the bus stop don’t come cheap.

Teens in my town have caught on to smoking heroin to avoid the withdrawal symptoms from the prescribed opiates. Smoking heroin gets expensive fast. They soon find that most of the potency goes up in smoke. So the new connection, the one grandma never expected, is all too ready to show the new addict how to assemble a rig and how to shoot up a vein.

There is a solution to the problem of keeping kids out of the old folk’s pills. Lock the meds up and keep the key a secret. Unfortunately, we older types forget where we put the key. We also don’t remember that there are leftover meds for all sorts of things, in cabinets, drawers, and on the kitchen table. We used to have to take these pills but stopped taking them. We still have pills left.

Some people try flushing them down the toilet. Not recommended. It does all sorts of things to the environment. There are other ways I have heard of, but I won’t tell you about those ways here as they are also not recommended.

There is a much better solution. Surrender unused medication at the next:

NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE BACK DAY on April 28, 2012.

A list of the collection sites is found at Collection sites. 

Please consider – This is no small thing!

Over the last 13 months, the American public has turned in almost 500 TONS of unneeded prescription drugs. That is – for us non-math majors just short of ONE MILLION POUNDS of drugs that were lying around the house. These were drugs that might have ended up sending your kids or grandkids to the hospital emergency room or worse.

Please turn your unneeded drugs in and don’t become the next grandma drug connect.

This post was featured in “Best of Blog – May 2012”

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel

Health Improvement programs – what works what doesn’t

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By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

Full ashtray

Smoking cigarettes.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

Have you seen any shortage of weight loss programs?

Not from what I can see. Weight loss especially quick weight loss and get in shape fast programs are everywhere. In the vast literature of “self-improvement,” weight loss and fitness is king. Some programs work, at least a little. Many do not, especially in the long run.

SAMHSA recently looked at health improvement programs targeted towards the mentally ill. It is especially difficult for people on psychiatric meds to maintain or reduce their weight. Fitness is a goal that eludes many mentally ill. Psychiatric meds pack on the pounds or demolish the appetite and result in severe weight loss. There seems to be no middle ground.

So what worked and what did not?

Short-term improvement programs did not work!

The longer the program the better! We have all heard about quick weight loss programs. A very few really do take some weight off quickly in time for that reunion. The problem with quick weight loss programs is that the weight comes right back on a, d usually brings some of its friends. The net result – you weigh more after the crash diet than before.

For long-term permanent weight loss, even weight management to stabilize weight, six months was a minimum time. The longer the length of time in the program the more effective it was.

Wellness education by itself did not work!

Reading books and taking classes do not work unless coupled with a set of activates that produce the desired results. Having a guide or a partner who does the activities with you is much more effective than listening to a teacher tell you how to do something healthy and then having to do the activity on your own.

Diet alone rarely works.

Programs that include diet or improved nutrition were only effective when they also included an increase in activities. Conversely, an increase in activity is often offset when the increase in appetite which makes you hungry and you eat more. It takes both an increase in activity and a reduction in food intact to result in significant weight loss.

Interestingly though, people who increased their activity and exercised more had improved health even when they did not diet and lost no weight.

Conclusions about health improvement programs for the mentally ill.

While these are important ideas for everyone, they are especially important to those with mental illnesses. More than 42% of adults with serious mental illness are obese. Over 80 % of those with schizophrenia do not physically exercise despite the fact the anti-psychotics are notorious for causing weight gain. Research suggests that as little as a 5% weight loss improves health.

It is important to reiterate that more than half of all the cigarettes smoked in America are consumed by someone with a mental health or substance abuse disorder. There has been some research that suggests that nicotine is soothing to those with emotional problems. Anyone who has worked in the mental health field learns to identify the person with psychosis by the scent of tobacco even before they see the client. People with psychosis often are two and three packs per day smokers. Even if nicotine may have an effect on some of the brain’s receptors and make people with psychosis feel better I remain concerned about the poisonous effects of nicotine. Additionally, anything on fire is likely to cause damage to the body when sucked into the lungs.

A healthy lifestyle for someone with a mental illness should include not just weight loss but an improved activity level and other lifestyle changes that result in a healthier life. Those changes are more likely to be effective when the health improvement program includes others as active participants, continues over a long time frame, and involves exercise, diet, and improved lifestyle choices.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

Want the latest blog posts as they publish? Subscribe to this blog.

For videos, see: Counselorssoapbox YouTube Video Channel