If you are the parent of a teenage son or daughter, there is a chance that you may be OK with him or her having a drink of alcohol from time to time. You may set down guidelines, such as only drinking at home, or only drinking in situations that there will not be any...Read More

It is probably fair to say that teenagers are susceptible to mood swings and temperamental behavior. The adolescent years are chock full of changes, both mentally and physically, the result of one transitioning into adulthood. While the propensity towards angst and depression are common and in most cases a part of growing up, for some...Read More

Parents who expose their children to heavy alcohol or drug use put them at a number of risks. While there is no way of telling which children will experience problems later in life due to their parents’ behavior, it practically goes without saying that many children will develop unhealthy relationships with mind altering substances based...Read More

A significant number of parents accept that sooner or later their teenage child/children will consume alcohol. Some even contend that occasional alcohol use is just a part of growing up, saying to themselves, “we drank alcohol in high school and turned out OK.” Alcohol use, just like practically every other mind altering substance, can lead...Read More

In the United States, we have a long history of leaving people with mental illness behind. Two of the major causalities for this is the fact that there is a huge stigma associated with mental illness and it is an extremely difficult to gain access to adequate care. The result is that millions of Americans...Read More

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, as it has been every year since 1987. In 2016, the theme is: “Talk Early, Talk Often: Parents Can Make a Difference in Teen Alcohol Use.” Alcohol Awareness month is sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) who, according to their website, hope to increase:...Read More

When people discuss the prescription drug epidemic in America, the vast majority are referring to opioid painkillers; and for good reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are 44 overdose deaths everyday in this country related to such pain medications. There was a study published recently that sought to inform...Read More

In the United States, we begin teaching adolescents about the dangers of mind altering substances at very young age, the hope being that the knowledge will prevent premature experimentation with drugs. Scientists have understood for quite some time that the adolescent brains is at a greater risk of harm due to the fact that they...Read More

Parents missing the signs of disconnecting… We often talked about the fact that parenting is a journey and a process. It can start out with a bang…the excitement of childbirth and then we proceed slowly crossing off the list each milestone and moving on to the next event. Our lives become consumed with providing a...Read More

In the field of addiction treatment, medications are sometimes used off-label in place of medications that can be habit forming. While drugs like Seroquel XR ® (Quetiapine ER), an atypical antipsychotic, have been approved for treating schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, the drug has proven beneficial and is commonly used off-label to treat anxiety...Read More