Leslie Glass's Blog, page 288

Elderly Vets Face Higher Suicide Risk

From Steve Walsh @ NPR: Robert Neilson, a 76-year-old veteran, is seeking treatment at the San Diego VA after contemplating suicide three years ago.

Much of the focus by the Veterans Health Administration has been on the growing number of younger veterans who commit suicide. However, statistics show that the suicide rate for elderly veterans is higher than that of non-veterans of the same age.

Robert Neilson was drafted in 1961. He spent two years in the Army just before the Vietnam War. Three years ago, the 76-year-old came into the VA Hospital in San Diego after contemplating suicide.

“That’s what really brought me into the emergency room. That wasn’t really the first time,” Neilson said. “Two months after I got out of the service, I attempted suicide.”

After he got out of the Army, Neilson remembers going back home to New Jersey. He was standing on a subway platform watching a speeding train.”

“And I figured if I just hold my hands in the air, I could just let [the train] suck me in,” Neilson said. “Somebody shouted, ‘What are you doing?’ And that was enough to snap me out of the trance. But I still didn’t seek any help. I just figured, OK, I’ll just struggle through life.”

And he did. It would take another 50 years for Neilson to get help dealing with the trauma of a sexual assault he experienced in the military.

“And the guilt was, I wasn’t strong enough to overpower that person. Plus, it was a high-ranking person,” he said.

That was all he wanted to say about the incident that has haunted him most of his life.

All sorts of service-related issues can lie dormant only to crop up later in life, said Ron Stark. Stark founded Moving to Zero, a nonprofit group in San Diego aimed at preventing veteran suicide. He counsels fellow veterans there who have contemplated suicide and more than a few are elderly.

Stark retired from the Navy in 1994. He served aboard a submarine in the Arctic in the 1970s and again during Desert Storm. He understands that, for some older veterans, no accomplishment is ever enough.

“We have things about stolen valor. Nobody wants to misrepresent themselves,” he said. “So I’m a Vietnam-era veteran. I’m not a Vietnam veteran. I was in Desert Storm, but I wasn’t in combat. We’re always talking about what we’re not quite.”

Veterans struggling with suicide aren’t always wrestling with memories of combat.

Stark suffered from depression most of his life and he never saw combat. He remembers sitting by the roadside with a pistol and contemplated pulling the trigger.

“The military didn’t make me who I was,” he said.

But the military establishes life-long habits, both good and bad. A soldier strives to be someone people can rely on, especially in critical situations.

We’re not very far ahead in understanding who’s out there, who’s really likely to take their lives in the next hours, days, months.

“You have a bad day at work and you go home. You have a bad day on a submerged submarine, then people die,” he said.

So if you’re not feeling 100 percent, maybe it’s better to keep it to yourself, he notes. Stark describes suicidal feelings as a brief moment of blackness when other options fade from view.

The VA National Suicide Data Report for 2005 to 2016, which came out in September 2018, highlights an alarming rise in suicides among veterans age 18 to 34 — 45 per 100,000 veterans. Younger veterans have the highest rate of suicide among veterans, but those 55 and older still represent the largest number of suicides.

Moreover, the suicide rate for older veterans is higher than that of non-veterans. For veterans age 55 to 74 years old, the rate of suicide is 26 per 100,000, while nationally, the suicide rate in the same age group is 17.4 per 100,000. The rate ticks up even higher for veterans over 85 years old.

The Veterans Health Administration has focused on finding risk factors that could lead someone to kill themselves, such as isolation, previous suicidal thoughts and access to firearms. Another big risk factor is that older men are also more likely to reject treatment for mental health issues.

Among the people who have those risk factors, the VA still doesn’t know who will attempt suicide, said Colin Depp, a psychologist at the San Diego VA who has researched suicide among older veterans.

“We’re not very far ahead in understanding who’s out there, who’s really likely to take their lives in the next hours, days, months,” he said.

The VA emphasizes getting potentially suicidal veterans in the door, where health-care workers deploy a range of treatments, he said.

That’s what has helped 76-year-old Robert Nielson. He was 73 years old before he sought help.

As part of his own treatment, Neilson is now writing letters of encouragement to fellow veterans who are just beginning treatment as part of a VA program.

Neilson pulled out one of the letters he wrote and explained how he can help a veteran he will never meet in person. “I don’t know you but I have faith in you. You’re going to make it,” he read.

The letters are just one more nudge to keep veterans away from that dark moment when suicide feels like the only option.

This story is part of the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration on in-depth military coverage with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The Patriots Connection.

The post Elderly Vets Face Higher Suicide Risk appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Your Recovery Healing First Aid Kit

Addiction is actually the very opposite of taking care of your needs. Self care both for people struggling with addictions, and for their loved ones simply doesn’t exist. There is a kind of destructive conditioning that takes place that has to be replaced with loving self care in every area. Here’s what recovery healing looks like.

For those new to recovery, not using is the first victory. means you’re in recovery. The next recovery victory is healing and balancing each of these five areas.

Physical Healing

We list physical health at the top of the list because it sets the basis for all healing. Following the basics of physical health is an essential foundation for the other four areas of recovery healing. Physical health entails seven basics. If you didn’t learn them as children, now’s the time.

Eat healthy. Living on junk food, snack bars, Starbucks sugary/caffeine drinks, chips, and candy alone can sabotage your success. Have real food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Give your brain and body the nourishment it needs to heal from neglect. This includes: good protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fat and carbs.
Get enough rest. Don’t over-do-it as you have done in the past. Either too much caring for others or too much partying makes you sleep deprived. Stop. Rest more. Take some time to just relax and let go. But most of all, sleep, sleep, sleep.
Exercise 5 times per week. All right, this may seem excessive, but exercise can be a half an hour walk. It can mean taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It can mean yoga, or dance or any number of activities that get you moving. Just move is the operative exercise word.
Seek medical help as needed. Don’t wait when you have symptoms.
Take medications as prescribed. This is critical if you need meds for your addiction recovery or other mental illness.
Maintain basic hygiene. Take showers, wash your hair, hands and face, brush your teeth. Keep your clothes clean. Change your clothes. Do all the self care necessary to look and feel good.
Stay clean and sober. You may be taking meds to stay off your drug of choice or a medication for depression. For our purposes, you are clean and sober if you’re doing what your doctor or addiction plan tells you to do.

Emotional Healing

Our emotional lives are also often neglected when dealing with addiction. Neglected emotions can cause problems such as denial, anger outbursts, unresolved grief, and depression. There are many ways to focus on feelings. It means allowing yourself to feel but not allow your feelings to rule your life.

Feel your feelings, but don’t get stuck in them. Feelings aren’t good or bad, they just are. You can feel mad as long as you don’t act out your anger on others, or have anger rule your emotional state.
Journal about you thoughts and feelings. Writing helps to get it out. When you write about it, you are letting it go.
Talk to family and friends, or a therapist. Talking is another way to loosen your feelings and help overcome the negative ones.
Be Creative. Find a way to express yourself. Personal expression includes: color in a coloring book, bake, paint pictures, learn to cook, sing in a choir, or plant a garden.
Get out in nature. Just look at what’s around you, get your feet planted on the ground. Experience the seasons.
Play with children. Enjoy play and show the children in your life you have time and emotional space for them.
Cry over a sad or happy movie. Some people are so hurt by their experiences, it’s hard to cry or laugh. Movies can help access those feelings, and the tears from relating to stories on the screen can bring some relief.
Attend support groups such as AA, NA, Al-Anon, Codependency Anonymous, or Emotions Anonymous, or a grief support group or a spiritual group.
Find a therapist or do family therapy. It helps. It really helps to have a professional in your life to guide you through the healing process.

Intellectual Healing

This doesn’t have to be a scary word. Throughout our lives, we have to keep our brains active for many reasons. Whatever schooling we had, it’s not enough to help our coping skills now. We need to keep learning new things, or we’ll be stuck in old destructive habits.  We have to continue to engage with new ideas and activities.

Think on positive things in your life and community. Keep up on positive recovery and health news.
Stay connected and interested in others around you. What are they doing and thinking? What tools do they use to keep positive?
Learn something new, maybe a language or a recipe. Take up a sport you haven’t tried.
Listen to books on tape or read.
Attend classes or return to school.
Write about your life, also called journaling.
Do puzzles and Sudoku. We also love Scrabble.
Explore ideas about your job, how can you do it better, or enjoy it more.

Relational Healing

While many focus on this aspect as being in relationship with others, we believe that it is a 2-part-process. Step one is relationships with others and step two is a relationship with ourselves.

Engage in activities with friends and family such as going to movies, out to dinner, and spending time talking about thoughts and feelings.
Attend support groups. These can be religious/spiritual groups/book groups.
Exercise with others. This includes playing sports, walking with a friend, doing yoga, or anything that involves movement.
Volunteer to help others. Service is an important component of healing. Anything you do for others counts to help you heal from whatever trauma you have experienced.
Get love and give love and support. Giving is important, getting love and support is important, too.
Nurture non family relationships with neighbors, your kids’ teachers, co-workers and others. This is part of staying connected.
Enjoy alone time. Occasionally, take a time out from everything and everybody else. It’s good to take a nap, read a book, watch your favorite show alone, soak in the tub if you enjoy baths.

Spiritual Healing

Spirituality is what makes our spirits soar. Here we connect to life and the living. Here we also connect to a sense of well-being, of peace, compassion, and acceptance. We may connect to a Higher Power – or not. But we feel a connection that is beyond our self. Everything that we do that is about healing is about the spiritual, for spirituality encompasses us in our entirety.

Breathe in for five counts, hold for five counts and breathe out for five counts. Yoga breathing slows your heart and helps to calm your spirit. When you are counting your breath, you’re not focused on what makes you mad, sad, or afraid.
Play with your pet. Enough said. This activity is known to lift your spirits.
Meditate. This is a catch word everyone is using these days. Meditation works for those who can still still and concentrate long enough to do it. Not everyone can. Listen to a meditation tape and see it if can work for you.
Pray means reaching above the everyday for positive energy. You don’t have to pray to any particular God for prayer to ease your spirit.
Attend religious and/or spiritual services. Research shows that people who attends services live longer. But organized religion is not for everyone.
Teach compassion and tolerance to your children. This is for everyone.
Feel joy and sorrow, and accept all. This is not as touchy feely as it sounds. There are many parts of life. Rarely does a human experience only the good, warm and supportive. Acceptance of what is and can’t be controlled is a very important part of recovery healing.

When we break down each of these 5 areas of recovery healing, we can see things we already do and perhaps, new things to do. We understand that these 5 areas weave in and out of one another.  For example, going jogging helps us physically, increases our endorphins which make us feel good emotionally, gives us time to be alone or with others, and may help us to get into a sense of connection to life as we take in the beauty that surrounds us. These are the ways to live a fulfilling, healthy life.

If you need help with addiction or mental health, check out Recovery Guidance for a free resource to locate professionals near you.

The post Your Recovery Healing First Aid Kit appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Abuse Overview 11 Revelations For Change

Have you been abused? This abuse overview reveals all the behaviors that produce lasting emotional scars. The good news is that awareness is growing as more and more people explore the signs and become empowered to heal.

Did you know that abuse often accompanies addiction? If you’ve been raised in a family with substance or alcohol use, you may be programmed to experience abuse in adult relationships, too. Healthy relationships don’t thrive in families where substance use reigns. Can you identify abuse in your life, and more important, can you heal?  Here is an overview of abuse is and 11 top articles on the subject.

Abuse Begins With Power

Abuse is all about power. Jeff VanVonderen, a certified Interventionist from A&E’s hit series Intervention, explains:

“In order for abuse to happen, by definition, it has to come from a place of higher power to a place of lesser power. People in low-power positions can’t abuse people in high-power positions.”

It can also be defined like so:

Abuse occurs when one person’s behavior or words are intentionally aimed at hurting another. Abuse is painful, but does not necessarily stop someone from doing what s/he wants to do. A combination of abusive behaviors can turn the abuse to violence. Abuse becomes violence when it causes you to fear for your life. (From the South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic Violence)

What Is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence and abuse are often used interchangeably, but they refer to two different types of assaults. Legally, domestic violence is based on living arrangements.

“Domestic violence is any act occurring between people who live together, or have lived together, that causes harm or makes one believe the intention is to cause physical or psychological harm.” (From the South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic Violence)

Peer to peer altercations, like when siblings fight, can be very hurtful and leave deep wounds, but they are not abusive situations. Instead, they are cases of domestic violence. Domestic violence also includes incidents of children assaulting parents.

Reach Out Recover has an entire section on abuse, and here are some of our most often read articles on this important subject.

Six Kinds Of Domestic Violence

You may think domestic violence is limited to either physical abuse or bullying, but abuse is all about gaining and keeping power. The cycle of violence can continue to repeat itself and the abuse often worsens over time. Here are six ways abusers gain and maintain control over their victims… (Keep Reading)

10 Signs Of An Abusive Relationship

What are the signs of an abusive relationship, and what steps should a victim take?  If you or someone you love is suffering from behavior described below, be aware that the situation needs attention… (Keep Reading)

4 Stages Of Abuse

For so much of my life I lived with the unknown: walking on egg shells, always wondering what was real, and trying to gauge my husband’s mood. This was life as I knew it, living with a husband who abuses alcohol repeatedly for 30 years. I didn’t know our marriage was constantly cycling through the four stages of abuse. But thousands of people live with abusers who don’t have substance use disorder… (Keep Reading)

What Is Emotional Abuse?

Emotional abuse in relationships is more common than we would like to admit.  If we’re going to be realistic about it, abusive relationships are rampant.  1 in 4 American women experience physical violence by an intimate partner… (Keep Reading)

7 Sneaky Ways You May Be Abused

Are you lavished with love one minute and raged at the next? Abusive behavior is a way to manipulate and control. And it’s so confusing. On one side you want to be loved and loving, and those are great qualities. But controlling people who become emotional abusers are not able to manage or understand their feelings. Instead, they use their feelings to manage others… (Keep Reading)

25 Lasting Effects Of Emotional Child Abuse

Emotional abuse isn’t always recognized as abuse but leaves lasting scars nonetheless. I was called “girl child and an ugly one,” and told I was too stupid to have a career. When a husband called me thunder thighs, I didn’t eat anything for two years and still thought I was fat. You get confused about who and what you are and what’s happening around you… (Keep Reading)

When The Men Are Abused

Men are abused at an alarming rate and often do not seek help. This is Eric’s story of abuse. Eric and Andrea seemed like a perfect couple. They had cookouts and went camping; they hid the abuse well… (Keep Reading)

4 Reasons Why People Stay In An Abusive Relationship

According to the CDC, one in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical abuse. For one in five women and one in seven men the abuse is severe, yet many take a long time to or simply refuse to leave an abusive partner. Here are four reasons why it’s so hard to leave an abusive relationship… (Keep Reading)

How The Past Comes Back To Haunt Us

Does what happened in the past stay in the past? Absolutely not. One of the most significant triggers for childhood relationship trauma are adult relationships… (Keep Reading)

My Path To Healing Emotional Abuse

Healing emotional abuse takes a lot of self-awareness and time. So don’t beat yourself up for behaviors and feelings that linger. Emotional abuse is damaging and takes a lot of forms, but what is it exactly? Emotional abuse is fundamentally someone exerting control over you for their own purposes or reasons that have nothing to do with your best interests. You may not be aware that destructive conditioning takes place over a long period of time… (Keep Reading)

How To Stop Self Abuse

I’m going to tell a little story about self-abuse and why it has no place in a healthy, long-term recovery. For one, if you’re a person in recovery, there are going to be tough days, tough months, sometimes even tough years. If you’re a person in recovery from addiction and trauma, it helps to get mentally healthy and find ways to cope that are productive and safe. Particularly so old habits don’t turn into self-abuse during trying times… (Keep Reading)

A Few Final Thoughts On Abuse

Whatever abuse you have suffered from, it was NOT your fault. If you some day want to forgive the person who abused you, remember that forgiveness doesn’t mean reconciliation. If you have a tough time moving on and healing, there is a reason. Our brains store traumatic events in long-term memory so we can further protect ourselves from future harm. Recovery groups like Al-Anon, Celebrate Recovery, AA, CoDA, ACoA, and NA can help you recover from abuse too. Many people who struggle with addiction (up to two out of three) were abused as children.

The post Abuse Overview 11 Revelations For Change appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Abuse 101

Abuse is a hot topic for our readers as addiction and abuse so often coexist. Everyone wants to know if they have been abused and more importantly, how to heal. Here is an overview of what abuse is and some of our most read articles on this subject.

What Is Abuse?

Abuse is all about power. Jeff VanVonderen, a certified Interventionist from A&E’s hit series Intervention, explains:

“In order for abuse to happen, by definition, it has to come from a place of higher power to a place of lesser power. People in low-power positions can’t abuse people in high-power positions.”

It can also be defined like so:

Abuse occurs when one person’s behavior or words are intentionally aimed at hurting another. Abuse is painful, but does not necessarily stop someone from doing what s/he wants to do. A combination of abusive behaviors can turn the abuse to violence. Abuse becomes violence when it causes you to fear for your life. (From the South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic Violence)

What Is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence and abuse are often used interchangeably, but they refer to two different types of assaults. Legally, domestic violence is based on living arrangements.

“Domestic violence is any act occurring between people who live together, or have lived together, that causes harm or makes one believe the intention is to cause physical or psychological harm.” (From the South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic Violence)

Peer to peer altercations, like when siblings fight, can be very hurtful and leave deep wounds, but they are not abusive situations. Instead, they are cases of domestic violence. Domestic violence also includes incidents of children assaulting parents.

Reach Out Recover has an entire section on abuse, and here are some of our most often read articles on this important subject.

Six Kinds Of Domestic Violence

You may think domestic violence is limited to either physical abuse or bullying, but abuse is all about gaining and keeping power. The cycle of violence can continue to repeat itself and the abuse often worsens over time. Here are six ways abusers gain and maintain control over their victims… (Keep Reading)

10 Signs Of An Abusive Relationship

What are the signs of an abusive relationship, and what steps should a victim take?  If you or someone you love is suffering from behavior described below, be aware that the situation needs attention… (Keep Reading)

4 Stages Of Abuse

For so much of my life I lived with the unknown: walking on egg shells, always wondering what was real, and trying to gauge my husband’s mood. This was life as I knew it, living with a husband who abuses alcohol repeatedly for 30 years. I didn’t know our marriage was constantly cycling through the four stages of abuse. But thousands of people live with abusers who don’t have substance use disorder… (Keep Reading)

What Is Emotional Abuse?

Emotional abuse in relationships is more common than we would like to admit.  If we’re going to be realistic about it, abusive relationships are rampant.  1 in 4 American women experience physical violence by an intimate partner… (Keep Reading)

7 Sneaky Ways You May Be Abused

Are you lavished with love one minute and raged at the next? Abusive behavior is a way to manipulate and control. And it’s so confusing. On one side you want to be loved and loving, and those are great qualities. But controlling people who become emotional abusers are not able to manage or understand their feelings. Instead, they use their feelings to manage others… (Keep Reading)

25 Lasting Effects Of Emotional Child Abuse

Emotional abuse isn’t always recognized as abuse but leaves lasting scars nonetheless. I was called “girl child and an ugly one,” and told I was too stupid to have a career. When a husband called me thunder thighs, I didn’t eat anything for two years and still thought I was fat. You get confused about who and what you are and what’s happening around you… (Keep Reading)

When The Men Are Abused

Men are abused at an alarming rate and often do not seek help. This is Eric’s story of abuse. Eric and Andrea seemed like a perfect couple. They had cookouts and went camping; they hid the abuse well… (Keep Reading)

4 Reasons Why People Stay In An Abusive Relationship

According to the CDC, one in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical abuse. For one in five women and one in seven men the abuse is severe, yet many take a long time to or simply refuse to leave an abusive partner. Here are four reasons why it’s so hard to leave an abusive relationship… (Keep Reading)

How The Past Comes Back To Haunt Us

Does what happened in the past stay in the past? Absolutely not. One of the most significant triggers for childhood relationship trauma are adult relationships… (Keep Reading)

My Path To Healing Emotional Abuse

Healing emotional abuse takes a lot of self-awareness and time. So don’t beat yourself up for behaviors and feelings that linger. Emotional abuse is damaging and takes a lot of forms, but what is it exactly? Emotional abuse is fundamentally someone exerting control over you for their own purposes or reasons that have nothing to do with your best interests. You may not be aware that destructive conditioning takes place over a long period of time… (Keep Reading)

How To Stop Self Abuse

I’m going to tell a little story about self-abuse and why it has no place in a healthy, long-term recovery. For one, if you’re a person in recovery, there are going to be tough days, tough months, sometimes even tough years. If you’re a person in recovery from addiction and trauma, it helps to get mentally healthy and find ways to cope that are productive and safe. Particularly so old habits don’t turn into self-abuse during trying times… (Keep Reading)

A Few Final Thoughts On Abuse

Whatever abuse you have suffered from, it was NOT your fault. If you some day want to forgive the person who abused you, remember that forgiveness doesn’t mean reconciliation. If you have a tough time moving on and healing, there is a reason. Our brains store traumatic events in long-term memory so we can further protect ourselves from future harm. Recovery groups like Al-Anon, Celebrate Recovery, AA, CoDA, ACoA, and NA can help you recover from abuse too. Many people who struggle with addiction (up to two out of three) were abused as children.

The post Abuse 101 appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

12 Year Old Boy Prevents Suicide

From Rob Bailey-Millado @ New York Post: If they Snap something, say something. That’s what one 12-year-old Pittsburgh boy did after spotting a disturbing Snapchat posted by a little girl living more than a thousand miles across the country in Texas.

Gabe Rongier only shared one mutual connection with her, so he didn’t know for sure the girl wasn’t pranking when she posted she “wouldn’t be here tomorrow.” But he couldn’t ignore her desperate cry for help.

Today, the boy scout and aspiring SWAT officer from Fox Chapel is being hailed as a “little hero.”

Gabe thought fast and dialed a suicide prevention hotline. The tele-counselors connected Gabe to an “Officer Chandler” from the Grand Saline Police Department in East Texas.

“He went to her house [and] checked up on her,” Gabe tells CBS Pittsburgh. “The next day he called me and said, ‘She’s fine. It’s real’ … I feel relieved that she’s OK. I feel like I did something good.”

Using a geo-tracking device to locate the distressed girl’s home, the officers say they intervened just in time to save her life. This week, Gabe received a package containing a Grand Saline Police Department patch and a traditional law enforcement “Challenge Coin.”

The enclosed letter from K9 Officer McKenzie Chandler reads: “It takes a big man to do what you did.”

Gabe’s proud parents, Fred and Lori Rongier, admit they thought it was just another online hoax at first.

“I was almost shocked to see it was a true story. I didn’t believe it at first — but I had to believe it,” Fred says. “When he went to bed, I always kiss him, [but] I’ve been telling him since that day, ‘You’re my little hero.’ ”

Mama Lori adds, “Of course I’m proud of him but really I hope other young people his age might see the story and be inspired to take action and help somebody in need.”

Grand Saline Police Chief Jeremy Barker says that certainly could happen, telling Pittsburgh’s ABC Action 4 News, “It’s reassuring to know there are kids out there like Gabriel who showed bravery and heroism in doing the right thing for someone else.”

The post 12 Year Old Boy Prevents Suicide appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Doctor Gets Life For Unlawful Opioid Distributing

From KSN.com: A judge has sentenced a Wichita physician to life in prison. The sentencing comes after Dr. Steven Henson was convicted of unlawfully distributing opioids.

“I want this case to send a message to physicians and the health care community,” McAllister said. “Unlawfully distributing opioids and other controlled substances is a federal crime that could end a medical career and send an offender to prison.”

The family of Nicholas McGovern, one of Stephen Henson’s patients who died from drugs distributed by Henson, began crying and embracing each other after hearing the life sentence.

The family didn’t want to speak to the media afterwards but during the sentencing several family members including McGovern’s wife and mother tearfully spoke to the court about how his death changed their lives forever.

As one last, plea, Henson told the court he trained hard to become a physician and had one goal, to take excellent care of his patients.

Henson was taken into custody immediately following the sentencing. Dr. Steven Henson will be sentenced today according to the U.S. Attorney.

Back in October, Henson was convicted of unlawfully distributing methadone and alprazolam, the use of which resulted in the death of a victim on July 24, 2015.

The doctor was also convicted of conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs outside the course of medical practice, unlawfully distributing various prescription drugs, presenting false patient records to investigators, obstruction of justice and money laundering.

Prosecutors alleged at trial that Henson wrote prescriptions in return for cash, post-dated prescriptions and wrote prescriptions without a medical need or legitimate medical exam.

The post Doctor Gets Life For Unlawful Opioid Distributing appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Justin Bieber Fights Depression In Recovery Journey

From Rachel DeSantis @ People: Justin Bieber revealed he has been “struggling a lot” in an emotional Instagram post — and a source tells PEOPLE it’s all part of his recovery process.

The “Love Yourself” singer, 25, shared his message on Saturday, writing that though he feels “super disconnected and weird,” he has faith that he will bounce back.

“Just wanted to keep you guys updated a little bit hopefully what I’m going through will resonate with you guys. Been struggling a lot. Just feeling super disconnected and weird,” he wrote, including a picture of himself praying next to manager Scooter Braun and Kanye West.

He continued, “I always bounce back so I’m not worried just wanted to reach out and ask for your [sic] guys to pray for me. God is faithful and ur prayers really work thanks .. the most human season I’ve ever been in facing my stuff head on..”

A source tells PEOPLE that Bieber’s transparent message about his struggles was a “big step” for the star, who PEOPLE confirmed in February has been receiving treatment for depression.

“The whole point of counseling and therapy is to get to the bottom of why you feel the way you feel. Once you reach the truth about yourself, you tell other people the truth,” the source said. “This was Justin being authentic and telling people his truth. So that Instagram post was an important part of his recovery.”

The source continued, “It was a big step for him to do that. He was a little nervous about being public, but he also knows that his road to improvement comes with this level of honesty. He decided that now was time to address things, and to let everyone know what’s going on.”

Following Bieber’s decision to seek treatment, an insider told PEOPLE he was “feeling very positive” and working hard to uncover “some root issues” through counseling sessions with both spiritual and secular components from pastors and licensed professionals.

“Everyone is optimistic that this will help him figure out his next chapter,” said the source.

Things continued to look up for the singer when he turned 25 on March 1, as a source told PEOPLE he was in a “really good place.”

“He’s got all the money he will ever need, and he’s starting to really center himself and focus on his future,” the insider said. “Therapy has helped empower him: he’s focusing on the positives, not the negatives. He knows that he’s beginning a new life.”

His milestone birthday was celebrated on Instagram by wife Hailey Baldwin, 22, whom he secretly married last fall.

The post Justin Bieber Fights Depression In Recovery Journey appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

How To Stop The Self Abuse

I’m going to tell a little story about self-abuse and why it has no place in a healthy, long-term recovery. For one, if you’re a person in recovery, there are going to be tough days, tough months, sometimes even tough years. If you’re a person in recovery from addiction and trauma, it helps to get mentally healthy and find ways to cope that are productive and safe. Particularly so old habits don’t turn into self-abuse during trying times.

Back Up. What Is Self-Abuse?

Self-abuse is behavior which causes harm to the self. It does not have to be self-harm of the cutting variety to qualify as unhealthy, self-destructive behavior. Personally, I eat my feelings, isolate, and probably the most destructive—engage in negative self-talk. It also usually goes in that order. I’m disappointed or upset about something so I eat heavier than normal or eat too much sugar. This lends itself beautifully to isolation. Then, the more isolated I become, the worse the self-talk gets, and I lose perspective.

Break Down How The Brain Reacts To Self-Abuse Please 

For this recovering alcoholic, to keep perspective (ie., stay mentally sane) I need to be talking to other healthy adults in recovery. The longer I go engaging in unhealthy behavior and not discussing it with anyone, the darker and more irrational my thinking gets. I also need to be exercising and eating healthy to feel physically well and confident. When that stops, so do the endorphins and the massive amounts of sugar and carbs create mood swings and make me feel fat. This all contributes to the destabilization of my thinking and can leave me quite twisted.

So, What Happened? 

I had a few very small disappointments and it led me down a rabbit hole of despair. I shame spiraled, I suffered, and I beat myself up so badly, it sent me into a professional’s office where I was reminded, I have a character defect of self-abuse. The good part about this tough moment in time was I had a moment of enlightenment around it, which has led me into new forms of recovery. Remember, emotional breakdowns often lead to breakthroughs. 

Childhood Trauma Can Have Lifelong Repercussions

Even though no one in my life today is abusive to me, I’m still capable of creating chaos and drama for myself that will keep me feeling small, helpless and hopeless. The tragic part about this self-abuse is that it is in no way reflective of my life today. I’m doing well at work, I’m self-supporting, I’m a great dog mom, and when in a relationship I’m a supportive, healthy partner.

How do I reframe my thinking from being self-destructive to being healthy and part of the solution?



Meditations And Affirmations

I’m doing a 13 minute, 21-day meditation specifically designed for helping create a positive headspace. I start every single day with it. It prevents me from going into my habitual stinking thinking and forces me to start the day with a positive mind. I was advised to do it at night as well but haven’t gotten that far. I will say with 100% confidence that it helps and is working. Also, even ten minutes a day will do if you’re a beginner like me.

Talking To A Healthy Human Being

Currently, I have a therapist, a sponsor, and several action buddies. Only one I have to pay. Action buddies are other people in recovery who I speak to once a day to stay accountable to my recovery programs and recovery actions. My actions range from traditional 12-step work all the way to making sure I’m doing my taxes and buying groceries. It takes a village to stay healthy, positive, accountable and right-sized so I have a village of people who will help me.

Small Actions Forward

One of my disappointments was professional. A deal I was trying to put together fell through and there was a fair amount of money on the table, so I felt awful. To combat that loss, for the next month I’m sending out three emails a day to try and drum up new business. It doesn’t matter if people I write to get back to me, it’s the actions toward forward motion that make me feel better. As I’ve heard many times, “Get out of your head and into action.” 

Take Care Of Myself

If I can’t control business, other people, or the world, what can I control?? Getting to my appointments, getting out of bed and onto the hiking trail, walking the dogs, eating healthy, getting sponsored and sponsoring others. Doing any combination of these things make me feel productive and better

Faith

Easier said than done but these are the moments I search for my Higher Power. What does HP want for me? What can I do to help another person? How can I find meaning in what’s happening? Or, at very least, how can I add prayer and faith into my life to feel better? Faith is different for everyone. Some people like traditional religion and God and I think that’s great. For me, spirituality is a little different, but I believe it can be anything. Anything bigger than you that you can believe in.

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The Pain Of Trauma

From Psychology Today:

What can a trauma survivor do when the pain of past trauma resurfaces and nothing works to make it better? As a trauma therapist, I deploy a comprehensive therapy routine that addresses all aspects of wellness: cognitive, emotional, physical, spiritual and social.   

But there are times when even such a comprehensive approach isn’t enough to lift a survivor above the pain of the trauma aftermath. What then?

Sources 0f Pain

Let’s begin by reviewing common sources of ongoing pain for survivors:
(1)  The difficulty of letting go of how life was before trauma took place, or the way we remember life then.
(2)  The difficulty of living with ongoing trauma symptoms like hypersensitivity to stress, conflict, noise, or anything else that places high demands on the senses.  These sensitivities create an ongoing sense that life is out of control and scary and something bad is about to happen.
(3)  Chronic sadness about the loss of things as a consequence of the traumatizing experience.   This can be the loss of people, precious belongings, body functions, a job or career, a treasured phase of life.

Regardless to how much healing takes place, many trauma survivors experience losses that can never be replaced. Accepting this is an important step in the journey of trauma integration. Until this acceptance take place, we are likely to blame ourselves for not thriving, and even then, self-blame often reappears.

I still remember the moment when I was able to explain my struggle to a therapist by saying that I felt as if a piece of my body had been cut out of me and I was being asked to grow another one.

When someone loses a limb, everyone knows they won’t grow another to replace it. Learning to live with this reality is challenging, of course, but there’s no emotional energy wasted on waiting, hoping, trying to grow a new one.  

Accepting the inevitability and normality of ongoing pain is for most trauma survivors an important step in managing the grief, loss, and pain of trauma. Rather than fighting the pain or feeling bad about having it, survivors can try to direct their energy into letting the pain become a secondary part of life rather than the primary focus. This is not a once and done activity, but a lifelong process.

Diversion of Pain

When pain feels like it is too much, or when it has taken root at a very young age due to early trauma, the temptations are strong to turn to “creative” outlets for pain. Some of these are in part constructive; others are obvious forms of self-harm.

Scolding ourselves for not being good enough.Using numbing substances or diversionary activities to divert attention from pain.  These may include binge eating, drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, sex, etc.Flitting from one fix to another – a new healer or guru, a new modality of therapy, medication, research, an insightful essay or book, anything “new” out there that keeps alive hope of healing from the pain.

Pain diversions are common response after trauma. Their presence is a key reason for the need for a comprehensive approach addressing all aspects of wellness that I have come to believe is necessary for treatment of trauma.

Within the framework of Expressive Trauma Integration, self-compassion is a valuable tool that I incorporate into a client’s individualized sustainability plan (ISP). ISP is a framework I devise with each client for maintaining the progress made. Self-compassion is not always the first tool to begin using, but I consider it essential for times when routines are difficult to maintain.

Self Compassion is a Key Requirement for Effective Pain Response

“Fake it till you make it” does not work in the aftermath of trauma. All of us, in the best of circumstances, encounter pain in life. Life itself is (also) painful. Trying to mask this reality, trying to “fake it till you make it”, is counterproductive  It certainly never really worked for me, nor do I do know any trauma survivor for whom it worked.

Trying to mask my pain with other thoughts and feelings only made me feel like I was underperforming. This echoed existing feelings of not being good enough that come with trauma, so in the end, I felt even worse.  

Trauma’s roots lie in the most basic survival systems of our being. No positive images, regardless of how carefully projected in the mind, can touch them. A client is not assisted when coached to try the impossible, rather it’s a setup for a deepening sense of failure.

When we try to replace what we feel with other emotions without first validating the underlying emotions, the nervous system gets activated and begins to signal distress (with a sense of contraction). “Something is not right here!” It’s far better to try and observe what we feel, without judgment.  This creates expansion and helps the nervous system calm down.

In times of high stress, when predictability and day-to-day comforts are not accessible, self-compassion remains the one thing I keep on practicing when it’s hard to maintain other sustainability routines. I remind myself repeatedly that I do the best that I can at every given moment.

Ways to Bring Self-Compassion to the Pain of Trauma

Self-compassion components in moments of pain:
(1) Mindfulness.  Notice what you are feeling in this moment. Name it. If you have the resources and inclination, draw or create an artistic rendering.
(2) Remember “common humanity”. Everything that you are feeling, even if you think you are the only one who feels it, is part of the larger human experience. Whether shame, guilt, fear, jealousy, contempt, whatever, others also share this.
(3) Self-kindness.  Be kind towards yourself, setting aside judgment.
This is perhaps the hardest practice of all. It is much easier to show compassion to others, even strangers, than to ourselves. Trauma leaves us with a sense that we are not good enough, not a whole person; that we are damaged.
The way I understand and practice self-compassion is not about being grateful for everything that is happening to you. Rather It is about getting attuned to how you feel and honoring that feeling without self-judgment.

Until you are able to let go of the judgment – try to let it be.  Don’t fight it or try to change it. Give yourself time to be present with what is here, whether anger, shame, guilt, sadness, jealousy, whatever…
When you are able to name what you feel, you will find the feeling changes a little already, even momentarily. Try to rest in this place, even if it lasts only a few seconds. Gradually you will find you can stay there longer and go there more often. From this will grow strength for further steps in the journey of trauma integration.

Here’s an activity that you can try, originated by Kristin Neff:
Notice what you are feeling at this moment,  Eg: I feel xxxx.
Say to yourself: Everybody feels xxxx, xxxx is a part of life.
Say to yourself: May I be kind to myself at this moment.

You can also try the experiential self-compassion activity at the end of this blog.

The most important reminder for today is that after every cold winter comes spring. Spring brings back to life seeds you already carry within but have forgotten about in the struggle with pain. There are moments when it seems the pain of trauma will never go away. In these moments, turn to self-compassion. And when you can’t do that, try to remind yourself that after every Winter comes Spring. 

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Better Late Than Never: Exercising Helps You Live Longer No Matter When You Start, Study Says

From Time:

By now, it’s undeniable: regular exercise comes with a range of health benefits for people who stick with it over time. But is it ever too late to start?

Most research hasn’t been designed to answer this question, since exercise studies typically record people’s physical activity levels at one point in time: in youth, middle-age or beyond. But Pedro Saint-Maurice, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and his colleagues wanted to find out whether exercise’s benefits changed if people remained active for most of their lives, or if, like most of us, they waxed and waned in sticking to their exercise regimen over their lifetimes.

“We don’t know much about long-term participation in exercise,” he says. “How does keeping an active lifestyle, or going down and up again, or remaining at low levels of activity impact health risks?”

In a study published in JAMA Network Open, they asked more than 315,000 U.S. adults — between ages 50 and 71 — about their leisure-time activity at four different points in their lives: when they were 15-18 years, 19-29 years, 35-39 years and 40-61 years.

People who said they exercised anywhere from two to eight hours a week at each time period had a 29% to 36% lower risk of dying from any cause during the study’s 20-year period, compared to people who rarely or never exercised. They also lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by up to 42% and cancer by up to 14% compared to inactive people. The more people exercised, the greater their risk reductions.

Given the many health benefits of exercise, that’s not shocking. But Saint-Maurice was surprised when he looked at people who were not active when they were younger, but who increased their exercise levels after their 40s beyond levels they had when they were younger. They also showed declines in their risk of dying early that were similar to those of people who exercised consistently throughout their lives — a drop of 32% to 35% compared to people who didn’t exercise. Drops in heart disease and cancer risk were similar to the steady exercisers, too. For these people as well, those who increased their exercise levels the most saw the greatest benefits.

So why bother exercising consistently throughout your lifetime? There are other benefits, both mental and physical, to staying consistently active — plus, experts say, if you make a habit of exercising when you’re young, you’re more likely to keep up those patterns later in life. The more important message, says Saint-Maurice, is that the results suggest it may not matter as much when you start a exercise regimen. Even if it’s later, you’ll still benefit.

“It’s good to maintain an active lifestyle at all times regardless of your age,” says Saint-Maurice. “But one good thing is that if you have not been active, you can still benefit if you start becoming active in your 40s and 50s, based on our results.”

It’s worth noting that the people were reporting on their exercise habits from decades ago, so there might have been recall errors. And the survey did not ask which types of exercise people were doing. Most of the people who were exercising were getting the government-recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week. Research shows that physical activity doesn’t have to occur in big chunks; even small amounts can add up.

Other studies have hinted at why exercise may be so effective at lowering the risk of early death. Regular physical activity can reduce obesity, as well as Type 2 diabetes, which are both risk factors for heart disease and can contribute to premature aging and death.

“It’s a great message,” says Saint-Maurice, “to know that it’s not too late if you haven’t been on the right exercise trajectory.”

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