Is Walmart to Blame For The Opioid Epidemic?
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Villains certainly make prime scapegoats. Because villains make great targets they are also susceptible to false allegations and wrongful convictions. Despite its dominance in the retail sector, global mega-merchant Wal-Mart manages to retain a special sort of derision from many. Recently, Wal-Mart’s been under fire for ignoring red flags as opioid […]
New Year’s Resolutions & The Abstinence Violation Effect
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD The ‘us & them,’ ‘normies and addicts’ mentality continues to lose its stronghold in addiction theory. The more addictive behaviors are recognized as a manifestation of normal human learning rather than diseased character defects and spiritual maladies, the better. New Year’s resolutions, and their reputation for failure that often precedes them, […]
Sparks of Hope for the Holidays
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Sparks do not burst from a vacuum, they are incandescent blasts from intense heat and friction. The famous Christmas Carol ‘Feliz Navidad’ was back in the headlines recently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Most stories talked about the song-writing process of its creator, José Feliciano, as one of magical ease, a spark […]
Family Communication: Be PIUS This Holiday Season
By Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Holidays are ripe with tales of family gatherings gone sour. Many families anticipate disruptive antics from at least one family member, maybe more. As the beloved Lion King character, Zazu, memorably proclaimed about rabble-rousing kin, there’s one in every family, two in mine actually! Whether there are one, two, or 10 […]
Cultivating Gratitude for Thanksgiving 2020
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Gratitude tends to be hard-earned. When life’s complexities converge and we endure a series of painful complications, gratitude may seem like a fool’s errand at precisely the time when it is most needed. Thanksgiving reminds us, no matter our circumstances, to pause and appreciate. Nestled amidst a global pandemic, this iteration […]
Questioning the ‘Substance Abuse’ Label
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD Abuse conjures amongst the most abhorrent of associations. People who are abused often turn to substances because they provide reliable and effective short-term relief from intrusive and disruptive trauma symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks. From that perspective, referring to people who were abused as ‘substances abusers’ doesn’t make much […]
Oregon Decriminalizes Drugs & Legalizes Psilocybin Treatment
by Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD The glare cast from the hot spotlight on the Presidential Election drowned out what is arguably the single best day for drug policy reform in U.S. history. Oregon became the first state to both decriminalize drugs and legalize psilocybin treatment. Four additional U.S. states legalized recreational cannabis. All drug policy reform propositions up […]
The Urgency of Drug Policy Reform
By Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD The urgent need for drug policy reform cannot be understated. In the past few weeks, two stories about drug crime shone yet another spotlight on the lunacy of U.S. drug policy. Oxycontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma plead guilty to three felony charges and incurred an $8 billion dollar fine for actions contributing […]
Alcohol and Sexual Performance: Too Much May Mean Not Enough
by Tom Horvath, PhD., ABPP Macbeth, Act II, Scene 3: [Alcohol] provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance It was not until 1976 that scientific evidence supporting this line from Shakespeare was published. In a study of 16 male volunteers, ages 18-24 (mean age 20), the diameter of erections was approximately 10% larger […]
Anecdotal Account of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy
by Anonymous A psychedelic treatment renaissance is underway, driven by a proliferating body of empirical support. The schedule I status of psychedelic compounds all but suffocated scientific research for decades and continues to stifle the pace of progress. While the weight of excessive bureaucracy continues be a drag on scientific investigation of psychedelics and their […]