by Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP Benefits of Software in Addiction Treatment For about a year Practical Recovery has included the Checkup & Choices website (www.checkupandchoices.com) in our work. By referring clients to the site we reduce the amount of time they spend with clinicians, thereby lowering their fees.  We also increase the accuracy of both assessment and psycho-education. Psycho-education is that part of psychotherapy in which the clinician delivers basic information about a common topic (e.g., how to cope with craving). Software does not have memory lapses. Unlike the more variable clinician, software asks the same questions and delivers the same information each time (barring the occasional hardware or software problems). Of course, to eliminate memory problems du...

by Thaddeus Camlin Psy.D. A recent study analyzed thousands of social media posts and found reliable predictors of depression in the language people use, or what we can call the language of depression.  The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychological Science, reveals three ways to predict depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.  Extrapolating from the results offers some intriguing considerations that relate to how we think, the way in which our thinking influences our mood and behavior, and how our language might influence addictive cycles. You might also be interested in: The Antidote to Depression Post Content as a Predictor of Depression and Anxiety The first two predictors of depression and anxiety in social media that researchers found were in the content o...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The medical examiner’s report on Tom Petty’s death revealed that the perpetual free faller’s last dance was with opiates, not mary jane.  The statements issued by Petty’s family were quick to clarify that Petty’s use of opiates was in response to a fractured hip, because, God forbid he used opiates for recreation, pleasure, or creative exploration. The knee-jerk reaction on the part of Petty’s family is perfectly natural – nobody would want the legacy of a loved one tainted with one of society’s dirtiest and most un-bleachable stains... addiction. In no way is this article written to suggest that Petty was a “drug addict,” a label whose value is universally questionable. The extravagant cocktail of his death dose and a song portfolio littered with drug r...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. If you wanted an objective appraisal of a home you probably wouldn’t ask the sellers to choose the appraiser. With drug research this is exactly what happens. Congress advocates for the war on drugs, Congress funds the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and with their billion dollar annual budget NIDA is responsible for 90% of the “scientific” research on drugs. Eric Sterling, a lawyer who spent a decade writing U.S. drug laws, is on record (pg. 179 of this book) saying that if any government-funded scientist produced research findings that contradicted the brain disease model of addiction, then the head of NIDA would be called in front of a congressional committee to receive a clear mandate to shut down the research. She might even be fired. NIDA’s r...

Federal Crackdown on Cannabis 2018 by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. The Cannabis Crackdown: On January 4th 2018, Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions issued a memorandum to all United States Attorneys stating that the federal government’s hands-off approach to enforcing cannabis laws was “unnecessary.”  The memorandum rescinded the federal government's hands-off approach to cannabis, effective immediately, due to “Congress’s determination that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that marijuana activity is a serious crime.”  Few crimes are more serious than cannabis activity, thus the memorandum from the AG is an important step towards restoring law and order in our increasingly chaotic society.  States with legal cannabis beware, Ol' Jeffy and his legion of justice warriors are co...

Hollywood Scandals Remind Us of Addiction's Roots by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. What does Hollywood have to do with addiction's roots? The recent wave of sexual abuse revelations in Hollywood is simultaneously tragic and inspiring.  The courage, resilience, and fortitude demonstrated by victims publicly disclosing some of the most disturbing and traumatic details of their lives in the hope of catalyzing positive change reveal the best of human nature.  The details the courageous victims continue to share expose the darkest underbelly of humanity’s depravity.  The attention generated by the Hollywood sexual abuse scandals is finally pushing the issue of sexual abuse into the forefront of our consciousness, which will hopefully manifest change across many levels of society. Addictio...

by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. In modern, “sophisticated” society we like to believe in our lofty righteousness.  We are dignified, upstanding examples of integrity.  We parade about in our chrome-wheeled, semi-electric metal boxes. We adorn ourselves in proper fitting attire from a respectable department store. It is a nice, comforting bubble most of us float around in. Meanwhile, those folks who choose methods of consciousness alteration deemed immoral and unrighteous by the moral majority often experience a dark, shameful underbelly of vindictive tribunals and torturous treatment. Teen boot camps are perhaps the most shameful, immoral stain on the dark underbelly of America’s moral majority and its multi-billion dollar “treatment” industry. When it comes to hypocrisy, there’s nothing ...

Washington's E-DUI Laws: Cannabis Complications by Thaddeus Camlin, Psy.D. Last week we took a closer look at the constantly increasing DUI penalties in light of Washington state broadening their scope of DUI charges.  Washington's E-DUI  laws penalize drivers for the highly dangerous use of cell phones and for relatively benign behaviors like smoking a cigarette or eating a muffin.  One aspect of the ever-expanding DUI market that we did not cover last week, however, was the added complications of cannabis DUI charges amidst the slow death of cannabis prohibition.  Even though cannabis prohibition is on its way out, a new crop of pot-related legal issues is growing in its place. DUI Laws and a Close Look at Cannabis Complications As cannabis crawls toward its much-deserved return...

DUI$ for Dollar$ Washington's E-DUI Law by Thaddeus Camlin Psy.D. With each passing year the penalties for driving under the influence (DUI) of substances intensify.  Recently, Washington state passed legislation, termed ‘E-DUI,’ that penalizes offenders for any distracted driving – use of electronics, eating, grooming, even smoking a cigarette. The penalties for distracted driving pale in comparison to standard DUI penalties, despite evidence that suggests distracted driving is more dangerous than intoxicated driving. The clarity of our cognition decreases as emotional intensity increases, and driving under the influence is an emotionally charged topic. Therefore, our thinking on how we treat DUI offenders may be clouded by emotionality. Thus, amidst the increasing scope of DUI ch...

Fentanyl Overdose and the Opioid Epidemic By Thaddeus Camlin, PsyD. As if the opioid crisis wasn’t already bad enough, fentanyl’s infiltration of the epidemic is acting like an accelerant to an already uncontained wildfire.  Fentanyl surged to public awareness after being attributed to the demise of music legend Prince which was determined to be due to a fentanyl overdose.  Beyond its notoriety for being the Prince Slayer, fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid whose analogues can be up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine. First made in 1960, building off of the creation of demerol, fentanyl entered mainstream medical practice as an anesthetic.  The fentanyl patch, lollipop, and sublingual spray were introduced to palliative care in the 1990s, and by 2012 fentanyl was the ...