http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog Addiction and Drug Education Blogs and Podcasts, looking at drug use trends and treatment, and how addiction is tied to the brain as well as the body Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:29:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2007-2008 service@cnsproductions.com (CNS Productions) service@cnsproductions.com (CNS Productions) Addiction education 1440 http://www.cnsproductions.com/144logo.jpg http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog 144 144 A leader in the creation of drug education books and videos for educators, health care professionals and the public --- used by treatment facilities, counselor-training programs, law enforcement, and businesses and industries concerned about drugs in t... Addiction and Drug Education Blogs and Podcasts, looking at drug use trends and treatment, and how addiction is tied to the brain as well as the body addiction, drugs, education, recovery, substance abuse education, prevention, chemical dependency, AOD CNS Productions CNS Productions service@cnsproductions.com no no http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/800/ http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/800/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:41:11 +0000 CNS http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/?p=800 http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/800/feed/ 0 00:01:01 As our understanding of the reward-reinforcement systems and other brain functions increases, more medications are being developed for the treatment of addictions - naltrexone and ... As our understanding of the reward-reinforcement systems and other brain functions increases, more medications are being developed for the treatment of addictions - naltrexone and buprenorphine for opiods,  bupropion  for tobacco and others.  And they hold promise for help with more than just drug addiction. Dr Inaba comments. Demand reduction, Dr. Darryl Inaba, Harm Reduction, In the News, Podcasts, Recovery & relapse, Treatment & Testing, Understanding Addictions & Brain Chemistry CNS Productions no no http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/uppers/628/ http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/uppers/628/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:22:41 +0000 CNS http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/?p=628 http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/uppers/628/feed/ 0 00:01:01 People with substance abuse issues often find that the Holiday Season can bring up old wounds - we look at some of the issues around ... People with substance abuse issues often find that the Holiday Season can bring up old wounds - we look at some of the issues around guilt for the addicted person. Also news about treatment for gambling addiction, and a chat about the addictive qualities of caffeine. Listen to podcast Transcript (edited): Welcome to the CNS podcast featuring Dr Darryl Inaba research director for CNS Productions. CNS: Hi and welcome once again to the addiction podcast from CNS Productions, I’m Howard LaMere here with Dr. Darryl Inaba. Darryl, in continuing with the holiday motif, we’re talking about guilt as one of the reasons for an increase in addiction during the holidays. Darryl: I think it’s absolutely accurate. Lynn O’Connor of Wright Institute did a study of women who seem to have more guilt and shame than men. The study looked at addicts and alcoholics entering treatment and measured guilt, shame and alpha-beta pride and found that those coming into treatment suffer tremendous amount of guilt, tremendous amount of shame about they’ve done. They have a low self esteem, low pride in themselves and are on the receiving end of a lot of anger from their families who have seen them make promise after promise only to break them all.  Recently I’ve been working with gamblers and I am finding this anger more prevalent in gambler families. During the holidays there is a lot of societal pressure to interact with friends and family - those we might have injured and hurt, so there is going to be a lot more guilt, shame, and feelings of low self esteem, which contribute to the desire to alter your state of conscientiousness. The easiest way for people with compulsive disorders to alter their states of consciousness is to partake in those activities that screen or suppress their feelings of guilt and shame for a while. This desire to feel better leads to more slips and therefore more relapses during the holiday season. CNS: More so than the rest of the year, just because of the pressure. We’ve talked about drug relapses, we’ve talked about food. Now there’s another topic in the news – caffeine addiction. A report from the surgeon general stated that caffeine was habituating, rather than addicting. I don’t think anyone who drinks coffee would dispute the fact that it’s addicting. I mean I have to have that first cup of coffee in the morning, I try, I try having tea, green tea, which has caffeine anyway and it’s still not the same. I mean, there’s something very addictive about caffeine and so how can anyone say it’s not addictive? Darryl: Well, it goes beyond denial, there’s certainly going to be denial in terms of any kind of addiction. When it comes to caffeine it’s almost a cultural reticence or a fear that this - the last thing left to alter our states of conciseness - is going to be taken away, or looked on negatively, and so caffeine… CNS: More guilt… Darryl: A lot more guilt.  Caffeine has remained under the radar for lots of reasons. It’s escaped any crucial examination. We’ve looking at nicotine and other substances like alcohol, but caffeine is probably the last thing we’ll look at with that much scrutiny. Caffeine is defiantly an addictive substance. It’s a xanthine alkaloid, it’s a stimulant, it creates similar, although at much lower levels and intensity, changes in the body as does cocaine, and nicotine and methamphetamine. It affects the same processes in the brain. Scientists have looked at caffeine for a long time and believe that anytime you drink over five hundred milligrams a day of caffeine, your brain and your brain chemistry is altered. Researches see the beginnings of compulsive or addictive tendencies.  Above eight hundred to one thousand two hundred milligrams of caffeine a day a person begins to have negative body toxic effects. I’ve always felt that caffeine maybe responsible for a lot more deaths than cocaine and heroin just from the toxic effects i Compulsive Behaviors, Dr. Darryl Inaba, In the News, Podcasts, Recovery & relapse, Treatment & Testing, Understanding Addictions & Brain Chemistry, Uppers CNS Productions no no http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/treatment-and-drug-testing/97/ http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/treatment-and-drug-testing/97/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:34:17 +0000 CNS http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/?p=97 http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/treatment-and-drug-testing/97/feed/ 0