Anyone who has worked with people with addictions and particularly challenging mental health issues, such as eating disorders – if he or she is being honest – will tell you that frustration is a familiar companion on the journey to recovery…or relapse, as the case may often be. This frustration arises when you and your [...]

A new narcotics threat has emerged in recent years under the name bath salts. In truth, this narcotic is anything but what its name describes. A far cry from the water-soluble, inorganic solid products designed to be added to a bath to improve cleaning and act as a cosmetic agent, bath salts in the world [...]

Commentary by Dr. Judi Hollis It was the president! Holding his hand over the headset, the ensign at the nursing station turned white. We all gathered around to see what would happen. President Nixon was calling. The sailor turned to his superior officer urgently: “The President is asking to talk to Senator Talmadge. What do [...]

When the movie, The Secret, debuted, it generated instant buzz. Everyone wanted to know more and more about this Law of Attraction concept. The idea is that everything is made up of energy, and since energy vibrates, that means everything that exists actually vibrates whether you can view it or not. All thoughts, beliefs and [...]

Addictions always originate in unhappiness, even if hidden. They are emotional anesthetics; they numb pain. The first question — always — is not “Why the addiction?” but “Why the pain?” The answer, ever the same, is scrawled with crude eloquence on the wall of my patient Anna’s room at the Portland Hotel in the heart [...]

Father Joseph Martin, a well-known lecturer on alcoholism, said it best: “What causes a problem, is a problem.” I like that because it’s straightforward, simple and concise. But when dealing with alcohol and drug issues, there is a twist. It is called denial. Other issues that cause problems usually do not exhibit this troublesome characteristic. [...]

Beware of the Quick Fix Trap When you live with chronic pain, it can be very frustrating when you aren’t getting the pain relief you want. I know that when I experience a pain flare-up, my first reaction is I want it to stop — now! Because many pain medications were developed for acute pain [...]