“How would you define recovery in one word?” Kelly asked. “Free,” I answered. Kelly is a young woman struggling with an eating disorder. She was talking with me, because I am recovered from anorexia and bulimia. I have been there. “Free” means a lot more than simply freedom from destructive behaviors with food. It means [...]

I once had a good friend named Hal.  Although we did not see each other often, when we finally got together, we would talk, laugh and simply enjoy each other’s company.  It did not really matter what we did then, because for us, being together was more important than having an agenda. After about five [...]

The beginning I have always believed that the best sort of treatment for alcoholics and addicts is in some kind of residential situation. Alcoholics are great conmerchants and can easily pull themselves together for an hour or two while they go to an AA meeting or a visit to their counsellor or therapist. 24 hour [...]

One of the more challenging types of chronic pain involves neuropathic (burning, tingling, shooting, etc, nerve pain) symptoms that opiates do NOT adequately address. A report came out in October 2007 published by Science Daily that discussed why painkillers don’t work for neuropathic pain from fibromyalgia and states in part: “When the painkillers cannot bind [...]

Nutrition Review April 28, 2009 Special Issue… At a press briefing on Sunday, US officials announced that the government is taking swift measures to contain an influenza outbreak that threatens to turn into a pandemic. Several hundred people in Mexico and 20 people in the United States have come down with a new kind of [...]

For many years I’ve been proposing collaboration not competition through the use of a multidisciplinary team approach when working with people living with chronic pain and coexisting disorders including addiction. I believe it is imperative for pain management physicians to work hand-in-hand with other healthcare disciplines in order to provide the best treatment outcomes for [...]

Soft Green World I spent the last week in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There were 400 or so people gathered for a Mental Health / Addictions conference and several of them are good friends.Santa Fe is a beautiful place with a history of Deep faith and mystery as well as a true melting pot of [...]