’Roid Rage’, depression and suicide

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The risks of steroid use can include serious and irreversible physical effects, as well as mental perils such as severe depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and violent aggression, known as “’roid rage.”

Addictive Thinking, Stinking Thinking

Addictive Thinking, 2nd Edition

Addictive thought is inherently self-deceptive, yet offers a superficial logic that can be misleading to the addict as well as to the addict’s family members.

Abnormal thinking in addiction was originally recognized by members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who coined the term “stinking thinking.” Addictive thinking often appears rational, but only on a superficial level. Addicts, as well as their family members, are easily seduced by the attendant–and erroneous–reasoning process it can foster.

In Addictive Thinking, author Abraham Twerski reveals how self-deceptive thought can undermine self-esteem and threaten the sobriety of a recovering individual.

This timely revision of the original classic includes updated information and research on depression and mood disorders, the relationship between addictive thinking and relapse, and the origins of addictive thought. Ultimately, Addictive Thinking offers hope to those seeking a healthy and rewarding life in recovery.

Dr. Twerski is founder and medical director of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A rabbi, psychiatrist, and chemical dependency counselor, he is the author of numerous journal articles and books including Self Discovery in Recovery, I Didn’t Ask to be in This Family: Sibling Relationships and How They Shame Adult Behavior and Dependencies, and with “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schulz, When Do the Good Things Start?

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Order today >> Addictive Thinking, 2nd Edition

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Family Female Alcoholism

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Women’s Alcoholism Has Big Impact on Families

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum and Epilepsy

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder linked to high prevalence of epilepsy

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) show a very high prevalence of developing epilepsy and having seizures, according to a national study by Queen’s University researchers.

Six per cent of study participants had epilepsy and 12 percent had one or more seizures in their lifetimes. By comparison, less than one percent of the general population is expected to develop epilepsy. The study results also showed that individuals were more likely to have epilepsy, or a history of seizures, if exposure to alcohol had occurred in the first trimester or throughout the entire pregnancy.

“There are very few studies that have examined the relationship between seizures and epilepsy among individuals with FASD,” says study co-author James Reynolds, a pharmacology, toxicology and neuroscience researcher at Queen’s University. “The consensus recommendation of scientists, clinicians, and public health officials around the world is very clear—a woman should abstain from drinking during pregnancy as part of an overall program of good prenatal health care that includes good nutrition, adequate exercise, and sufficient rest.”

Researchers examined the histories of 425 individuals between the ages of two and 49 years from two FASD clinics. They compared risk factors such as the level of exposure to alcohol or other drugs, type of birth, and trauma with the co-occurrence of epilepsy or a history of seizures in participants with confirmed FASD diagnoses. The report builds on a growing body of evidence that maternal drinking during pregnancy may put a child at greater risk for an even wider variety of neurologic and behavioral health problems than thought before.

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The study results will appear in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The research team included St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Alberta, University of Toronto, and the Toronto Western Research Institute. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

From a press release at EurekAlert.

• See also
• Facial features of fetal alcohol syndrome
• Functional & Dysfunctional Families
• Alcohol-related Brain Damage
• Awakening to Mindfulness
• John Bradshaw On: The Family

Anti drinking ads can increase alcohol use

Anti drinking ads can increase alcohol use, Indiana University Kelley School study shows

Public service advertising campaigns that use guilt or shame to warn against alcohol abuse can actually have the reverse effect, spurring increased drinking among target audiences, according to new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

Instead of the intended outcome, researchers in this first-of-its-kind study showed that the ads triggered an innate coping mechanism that enables viewers to distance themselves from the serious consequences of reckless drinking.

Anti- or "responsible" drinking campaigns have long been a mainstay of health departments, nonprofit organizations and even beverage companies. Yet alcohol abuse remains a persistent and growing problem linked to the deaths of approximately 79,000 people in the United States each year.

"The public health and marketing communities expend considerable effort and capital on these campaigns but have long suspected they were less effective than hoped," said Adam Duhachek, a marketing professor and co-author of the study. "But the situation is worse than wasted money or effort. These ads ultimately may do more harm than good because they have the potential to spur more of the behavior they’re trying to prevent."

Duhachek’s research specifically explores anti-drinking ads that link to the many possible adverse results of alcohol abuse, such as blackouts and car accidents, while eliciting feelings of shame and guilt. Findings show such messages are too difficult to process among viewers already experiencing these emotions — for example, those who already have alcohol-related transgressions.

To cope, they adopt a defensive mindset that allows them to underestimate their susceptibility to the consequences highlighted in the ads; that is, that the consequences happen only to "other people." The result is they engage in greater amounts of irresponsible drinking, according to respondents.

"Advertisements are capable of bringing forth feelings so unpleasant that we’re compelled to eliminate them by whatever means possible," said Duhachek. "This motivation is sufficiently strong to convince us we’re immune to certain risks."

The findings are particularly relevant for U.S. universities, where alcohol abuse threatens the well-being of an entire generation, he said. Each year, drinking among college students contributes to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, 600,000 injuries, 700,000 assaults, 90,000 sexual assaults and 474,000 cases of unprotected sex.

The unintended negative impact of employing shame and guilt in these ads has implications for a wider range of health related messaging, from smoking cessation to preventing sexually transmitted diseases. According to Duhachek, shame- and guilt-inducing campaigns that seek to curb these behaviors can have the same unintentional backfire effects.

Duhachek encourages marketers looking to influence drinking and other behaviors to convey dire consequences along with messages of empowerment. For instance, providing strategies to control one’s drinking or recalling instances where one resisted the temptation to engage in risky drinking behavior may provide a pathway to reducing these undesirable behaviors more effectively.

"If you’re going to communicate a frightening scenario, temper it with the idea that it’s avoidable," he said. "It’s best to use the carrot along with the stick."

Duhachek developed the study with Nidhi Agrawal at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. They interviewed more than 1,200 undergraduate students after showing them shame- and guilt-inducing advertisements, which they specifically created for the research. To ensure no biases on the part of respondents, the team opted not to rely on existing campaigns.

The resulting paper, "Emotional Compatibility and the Effectiveness of Anti-Drinking Messages: A Defensive Processing Perspective on Shame and Guilt" is forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research.

Courtesy of Indiana University.

• See also
• Alcohol Related Brain Damage
• Beyond Codependency
• Awakening to Mindfulness
• Do you Worry about Someone’s Drinking?
• How Many Drinkers?

Pajama Gamblers

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Pajama gamblers could lose their shirts: Online gambling can be dangerously comfortable

People who gamble from the comfort of their home tend to think they’re more in control of their gambling than people who gamble in casinos,

Bill W was Spiritual not Religious

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‘I think Bill W. cofounder of AA was essentially nonreligious – which may seem paradoxical, because he was deeply spiritual.