Leslie Glass's Blog, page 375

New Cure Reduces Stress And Inflammation

From Loma Linda University @ Science Daily: New research shows there might be health benefits to eating certain types of dark chocolate.

Findings from two studies being presented today at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting in San Diego show that consuming dark chocolate that has a high concentration of cacao (minimally 70% cacao, 30% organic cane sugar) has positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity. While it is well known that cacao is a major source of flavonoids, this is the first time the effect has been studied in human subjects to determine how it can support cognitive, endocrine and cardiovascular health.

Lee S. Berk, DrPH, associate dean of research affairs, School of Allied Health Professions and a researcher in psychoneuroimmunology and food science from Loma Linda University, served as principal investigator on both studies.

“For years, we have looked at the influence of dark chocolate on neurological functions from the standpoint of sugar content — the more sugar, the happier we are,” Berk said. “This is the first time that we have looked at the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular-sized chocolate bar in humans over short or long periods of time, and are encouraged by the findings. These studies show us that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity and other beneficial effects.”

The flavonoids found in cacao are extremely potent antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, with known mechanisms beneficial for brain and cardiovascular health. The following results will be presented in live poster sessions during the Experimental Biology 2018 meeting:

Dark Chocolate (70% Cacao) Effects Human Gene Expression: Cacao Regulates Cellular Immune Response, Neural Signaling, and Sensory Perception

This pilot feasibility experimental trial examined the impact of 70 percent cacao chocolate consumption on human immune and dendritic cell gene expression, with focus on pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Study findings show cacao consumption up-regulates multiple intracellular signaling pathways involved in T-cell activation, cellular immune response and genes involved in neural signaling and sensory perception — the latter potentially associated with the phenomena of brain hyperplasticity.

Dark Chocolate (70% Organic Cacao) Increases Acute and Chronic EEG Power Spectral Density (μv2) Response of Gamma Frequency (25-40Hz) for Brain Health: Enhancement of Neuroplasticity, Neural Synchrony, Cognitive Processing, Learning, Memory, Recall, and Mindfulness Meditation

This study assessed the electroencephalography (EEG) response to consuming 48 g of dark chocolate (70% cacao) after an acute period of time (30 mins) and after a chronic period of time (120 mins), on modulating brain frequencies 0-40Hz, specifically beneficial gamma frequency (25-40Hz). Findings show that this superfood of 70 percent cacao enhances neuroplasticity for behavioral and brain health benefits.

Berk said the studies require further investigation, specifically to determine the significance of these effects for immune cells and the brain in larger study populations. Further research is in progress to elaborate on the mechanisms that may be involved in the cause-and-effect brain-behavior relationship with cacao at this high concentration.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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More Than 5 Drinks A Week Could Shorten Your Life

From The University of Cambridge @ Science News Daily: Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death.

The authors say their findings challenge the widely held belief that moderate drinking is beneficial to cardiovascular health, and support the UK’s recently lowered guidelines.

The study compared the health and drinking habits of over 600,000 people in 19 countries worldwide and controlled for age, smoking, history of diabetes, level of education and occupation.

The upper safe limit of drinking was about five drinks per week (100g of pure alcohol, 12.5 units or just over five pints of 4% ABV beer or five 175ml glasses of 13% ABV wine). However, drinking above this limit was linked with lower life expectancy. For example, having 10 or more drinks per week was linked with one to two years shorter life expectancy. Having 18 drinks or more per week was linked with four to five years shorter life expectancy.

The research, published today in the Lancet, supports the UK’s recently lowered guidelines, which since 2016 recommend both men and women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol each week. This equates to around six pints of beer or six glasses of wine a week.

However, the worldwide study carries implications for countries across the world, where alcohol guidelines vary substantially.

The researchers also looked at the association between alcohol consumption and different types of cardiovascular disease. Alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of stroke, heart failure, fatal aortic aneurysms, fatal hypertensive disease and heart failure and there were no clear thresholds where drinking less did not have a benefit.

By contrast, alcohol consumption was associated with a slightly lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks.

The authors note that the different relationships between alcohol intake and various types of cardiovascular disease may relate to alcohol’s elevating effects on blood pressure and on factors related to elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (also known as ‘good’ cholesterol). They stress that the lower risk of non-fatal heart attack must be considered in the context of the increased risk of several other serious and often fatal cardiovascular diseases.

The study focused on current drinkers to reduce the risk of bias caused by those who abstain from alcohol due to poor health. However, the study used self-reported alcohol consumption and relied on observational data, so no firm conclusions can me made about cause and effect. The study did not look at the effect of alcohol consumption over the life-course or account for people who may have reduced their consumption due to health complications.

Dr Angela Wood, from the University of Cambridge, lead author of the study said: “If you already drink alcohol, drinking less may help you live longer and lower your risk of several cardiovascular conditions.

“Alcohol consumption is associated with a slightly lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks but this must be balanced against the higher risk associated with other serious — and potentially fatal — cardiovascular diseases.”

Victoria Taylor, Senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the study, said: “This powerful study may make sobering reading for countries that have set their recommendations at higher levels than the UK, but this does seem to broadly reinforce government guidelines for the UK.

“This doesn’t mean we should rest on our laurels, many people in the UK regularly drink over what’s recommended. We should always remember that alcohol guidelines should act as a limit, not a target, and try to drink well below this threshold.”

The study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, European Union Framework 7, and European Research Council.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Cambridge. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Adapted from a press release by British Heart Foundation. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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10 Ways To Help Keep Your Teen Off Drugs

Parents everywhere are worried about teen substance use, but there are proven ways to help your child make healthy choices and stay on track throughout their childhood and teenage years. You may feel helpless about the behaviors and substances your kids are exposed to at school. You’re not alone.

When it comes to teen substance use, delay is the best prevention. But, how can you influence your kids to delay experimenting with substances when they have so many other influences?

Parents Have The Best Leverage For Preventing Teen Substance Use

Kids love their parents. They want their parents approval and want to please them. Parents who are involve with their children, know their needs and challenges can be the most helpful in guiding them through the rough passages of teen years.

These 10 Tips Work For Teen Substance Use Prevention

Try them all and see how powerful they are.

1. Listen And Talk To Your Kids

Children need to be heard by their family members. Make sure that you check in with them throughout the day and hear them out – not while you’re doing 5 other tasks – but when you can actually listen. And while those 5 other tasks are important, they usually aren’t more important than this. Hear what their day has been like; listen to their joys, fears and sorrows; and listen to anything that might be related to substance use. Learn about their friends.

Talking with your kids means to talk about everything – including drugs and alcohol. You have wisdom to share (even though they may not think so) and they need to hear this wisdom. Relate to them how hard it must be to have drugs and alcohol presented to them and the choices they must make.

2. Mentor Healthy Behavior

If you smoke cigarettes, drink irresponsibly, use illegal drugs or misuse prescription drugs, then these first two steps will be mostly meaningless. Children do not respond to “do as I say, not as I do.” Model healthy behavior for them by being healthy yourself.

3. Do Family Things Together

The family that does healthy activities together mentors healthy behavior, but also, the child sees there are so many things one can do in life that are pleasurable without using. Eat meals together; go on a family trip, even for a day; jog together; visit family friends; have their friends participate with the family; participate in religious/spiritual events; watch funny movies.

4. Be Involved In Their Schools

Know their teachers, their classes, their peers, and especially, their friends. Go to school-related events; be on the PTA or do other volunteer work there; participate in anti-drug school events.

5. Encourage Participation In Extra-Curricular Activities

Studies show that kids who participate in extra-curricular activities such as sports, choir, band, chess club, a gay-straight alliance, or do volunteer work, do better in school and set the stage for their future lives.

6. Educate Yourself And Them About Substance Use And Consequences

In today’s world of reliance on substances, you need to be educated about drugs and alcohol including the signs and symptoms of use, consequences, positive parenting behaviors, and treatment options (if needed). Your children also need to be educated – make it a family affair and learn together.

7. Discuss Social Media’s Glamorization

No matter where they are, children and teens are bombarded about the wonders of substances. Limit their time on social media and monitor what they are watching or games they are playing while discussing why this is being done and how the media glorifies using.

8. Set Boundaries, Expectations, And Supervise Them

Good parenting involves setting healthy boundaries (Yes means YES and No means NO). Help them through the temptations and problems that may be influencing the desire to use and provide supervision. This means exploring choices and consequences regarding use.

9. Use Positive Reinforcement

Let your child know when you are pleased with their choices and continue to encourage such healthy decisions. Don’t just assume they know you are happy for their choices – tell them and show them.

10. Store Alcohol & Medications Behind Lock And Key

While you want to trust them, leaving drugs and alcohol out for easy access is too much of a temptation for many kids. 

In summary, use your good parenting skills to help your children get through their childhoods and teenage years. And know that if there are problems, there is information and treatment readily available to help you.

If you need help with teen substance use or other behaviors, check out Recovery Guidance for a free and safe resource to find addiction and mental health professionals near you.

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Prenatal Marijuana Use Linked To ADD & Low Birth Weights

From The University of Colorado @ Science Daily: With marijuana use during pregnancy on the rise, a new study led by the Colorado School of Public Health shows that prenatal cannabis use was associated with a 50 percent increased likelihood of low birth weight, setting the stage for serious future health problems including infection and time spent in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

“Our findings underscore the importance of screening for cannabis use during prenatal care and the need for provider counselling about the adverse health consequences of continued use during pregnancy,” said the study’s lead author Tessa Crume, PhD, MSPH, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The study was published last month in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Crume and her colleagues utilized survey data from 3,207 women who participated in the Colorado Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in 2014 and 15. They found the prevalence of marijuana use in the state of Colorado was 5.7 percent during pregnancy and 5 percent among women who were breastfeeding.

They also discovered that prenatal marijuana use was associated with a 50 percent increased chance of low birth weight regardless of tobacco use during pregnancy. Prenatal marijuana use was three to four times higher among women who were younger, less educated, received Medicaid or WIC, were white, unmarried and lived in poverty.

Crume said the numbers are surprising but also reflect changing attitudes toward marijuana, especially in a state like Colorado where it is legal.

“There is increased availability, increased potency and a vocal pro-cannabis advocacy movement that may be creating a perception that marijuana is safe to use during pregnancy,” Crume said.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggests that cannabis use among pregnant women has increased as much as 62 percent between 2002 and 2014. At the same time, the potency of the drug has increased six or seven fold since the 1970s along with the ways it is consumed — eating, vaping, lotions etc.

“Growing evidence suggests prenatal cannabis exposure has a detrimental impact on offspring brain function starting in the toddler years, specifically issues related to attention deficit disorder,” Crume said.

“But much of the research on the effects of prenatal cannabis on neonatal outcomes was based on marijuana exposures in the 1980s and 1990s which may not reflect the potency of today’s cannabis or the many ways it is used.”

The study found that 88.6 percent of women who used cannabis during pregnancy also breastfed. The risk of cannabis to the infant through breastmilk remains unknown. Various studies have found that cannabinoids are passed to the baby in this way. One of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Erica Wymore, MD, MPH, from Children’s Hospital Colorado and the CU School of Medicine, is currently conducting a study to evaluate this issue.

The researchers recommend that health care providers ask pregnant women about their cannabis use and advise them to stop during pregnancy and lactation.

“Obstetric providers should refrain from prescribing or recommending cannabis for medical purposes during preconception, pregnancy and lactation,” Crume said. “Guidance and messaging about this should be incorporated into prenatal care. And screening of pregnant women at risk for cannabis dependency should be linked to treatment options.”

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Shop For Great Recovery Products

The ROR family and staff represent over 30 years of recovery. Over the decades, we have learned that there are many tools both to grow your own recovery and encourage others around you to be part of the family solution. Like other chronic, relapsing diseases Substance Use Disorder recovery requires vigilance, and treatment and retraining. Recovery also needs special tools to rebuild lost self-esteem, overcome shame, feel pride in recovery, and manage behaviors.

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Recovery restores relationships, the ability to work, go to school, and become productive again, or have a meaningful life for the very first time. All profits from the ROR shop go directly to providing support, prevention tools and information to the 120 million people impacted by mental illness and Substance Use Disorder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Killing Drug Dealers Doesn’t Protect Children From Addicted Parents

From USA Today: President Trump’s proposal to solve the opioid crisis by executing drug dealers is reminiscent of the failed War on Drugs, and it’s an absurd solution to a public health crisis that ravages families, children and entire communities across the nation. Children of addicted parents need support and stability, in their own homes or in foster care.

Children Should Not Pay The Cost Of Addicted Parents.

Children are entering foster care because their parents are addicted to opioids, and the epidemic is only getting worse. This crisis demands a response focused on treatment and prevention, so we can keep these families together and protect our most valuable resource: our children.

Between 2012 and 2016, the number of children in foster care increased by more than 10% — bringing the total to nearly half a million. This upsurge disrupted a decade-long downward trend.

Strikingly, in the past eight years, the number of child removals in which substance abuse is a factor has nearly quadrupled, particularly in regions with higher levels of opioid prescribing and opioid deaths.

In These Same Regions Where The Opioid Epidemic Is Most Prominent, Our Youngest Children Are Hit Especially Hard.

Many suffer as a result of their parents’ addiction: In 2016 alone, 676,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect, and approximately 29% of maltreatment victims are younger than 3.

But state child welfare agencies are struggling to keep up. As these children enter foster care, budgets are stretched, caseworkers are overloaded, and safe homes that can meet kids’ needs are limited. This lack of resources endangers the children who are most vulnerable, and in too many cases, children are harmed in the very system meant to protect them.

States Must Do More To Prevent Child Abuse In Families And Out-Of-Home Care.

Leaders and policymakers must reform our overburdened foster care systems to protect children suffering the cruel consequences of the opioid crisis, because for our kids, families and communities, the consequences of inaction are too great.

Child maltreatment, whether in a child’s home or in foster care, inflicts long-term consequences on well-being and development. Research shows that abuse and neglect can delay and even prevent healthy brain development, including cognitive thinking and language abilities. Survivors of abuse are at a heightened risk of developing poor mental and emotional health and falling into alcohol and drug abuse.

That’s Why We Must Act Quickly To Ensure Foster Care Systems Protect Our Children And Not Perpetuate The Cycle Of Abuse.

To protect our most vulnerable children, Children’s Rights has worked to reform some of the most egregious foster care systems. We represent children like “L.T.,” a remarkably strong and resilient 16-year-old in Florida who has been moved 25 times in four years and was sexually assaulted while in the state’s care. And children like “S.A.,” who entered Texas foster care at the age of 5. Within four months of entering care, she reported being sexually abused by an older child, and the agency did not interview her or provide her with a medical exam or treatment. When she aged out of care 13 years later, she had been shuffled among 28 caseworkers and 33 placements throughout the state, including foster homes, residential treatment centers and shelters.

Children like L.T. and S.A. needed safe, loving homes and the opportunity for a permanent family, and now we’re in the epicenter of an opioid epidemic leaving even more children in need than ever.

Congress has taken essential first steps toward preventing the need for children to enter foster care in the first place by passing the Family First Prevention Services Act, which provides money for preventive services such as in-home training, family therapy and substance abuse programs.

In March, partly in response to the opioid crisis, Congress raised the funding level for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act state grants from $25 million to $85 million. The money will help states protect infants exposed to controlled substances.

But this is only a start. We must continue to invest in evidence-based drug treatment, mental health and counseling programs that help keep families together. And for those kids who must depend on the state to meet their most basic needs for care, we have to re-engineer foster care systems so that they actually provide the therapeutic support and the stability young people need.

Our nation is in a crisis, one that demands real, thoughtful solutions. Until then, our children should not have to pay the cost. We can and must do better.

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How I Got Financial Recovery

By Jenny B

I’m in Debtors Anonymous. Yes, it’s a terrible name. Couldn’t they have called it something else? Have you ever heard of it? Did you even know if exists? It was my path to financial recovery.

I traveled the road from privileged to pampered to spoiled to entitled to enabled to troubled to difficult to enraged to destructive to nervous breakdown. Some time my 30s, I found myself sober but messy, fragile and broke. I’d gone through all my savings. This put me on a  path I never ever imagined I’d go on. I had always been loose with money but now the tricks I had for robbing Peter to pay Paul were far more dangerous than when I actually had the money, or credit to pay it back.

Money Is Spiritual

I didn’t know that when I walked into the program of Debtors Anonymous. For a long time I couldn’t even call myself a debtor. I come from a good family. I had some money of my own. So, wait? Why didn’t I have any? How did I spend everything I had? Why couldn’t I earn enough to make ends meet? Why couldn’t I pay my taxes? How had I gotten sober only to find myself in a financial crisis in my mid 30s with no way of knowing how to get out of it?

For some of us, the financial piece has to be part of the recovery.

I had been waking up at 4 am in a panic, cold sweats and sometimes staying like that until 5 or 6 am for a year when I finally realized I had to do something about my financial troubles. The tax man, and advice of a sponsor in another 12-step program also pushed me into getting help, but it wasn’t an easy decision to make. The humiliation of it all. What a fall from grace, I thought.

What I learned was very different. I learned I’d had a very toxic relationship with money for as long as I could remember. I come from a good family who always provided everything I needed, which caused this weird feeling, something I can only liken to survivor’s guilt. I didn’t feel like I deserved it, but then without it, I felt like I was nothing. Where I lived, what I wore and what I could afford had defined me forever. Losing it was like losing my skin. I was cold and naked and felt totally ashamed. However, what it forced me to do was grow up in ways I didn’t even know I had to grow up and my life changed completely. Again, from the inside out. 

I Rebuilt From Scratch

My debt wasn’t as horrible as some of the stories I heard. The IRS was my biggest problem. Like crack, which was something I never did, I was too scared to get into trouble with credit cards so my debt across four cards wasn’t a big deal compared to the sum I owed the IRS. So, I started going to DA and doing my numbers. After a few months months I wasn’t waking up at 4am anymore, though I still did feel like a loser. A few months after that I had completed enough to do something called a PRG – a pressure relief group where other members of the program look at your numbers and help you make a spending plan. Thats where the magic really starts to happen.

Today things are manageable. Sometimes they’re good, definitely always getting better. But, that’s because I work really hard at my financial recovery. I balance my numbers at the end of every month and  I have since I started in the program. For me, fear lives wherever there isn’t clarity and balance. I was vague with my numbers. Things like taxes used to arrive and surprise me. This year, I was locked and loaded and filed on time. That didn’t used to happen. 

20 years ago when I began acknowledging and addressing the fact that I substance abuse problems, there was a lot of stigma about being an alcoholic/addict. While the stigma stills exists, it really doesn’t seem as bad. Most families have a member who’s dealing with some kind of addiction issue. Today, admitting to being a 12-step program for finances still feels odd. It’s not well-known so most people have no idea what I’m talking about. They hear the word debt and their eyes glaze over. The reason I want to write about the DA program is because often we’re told that AA, or rehab, or whatever treatment modality we’re using will spill over into other areas of our life. For me, that was not the case.

Learning How To Manage Money Is A Skill

Until someone showed me how to look at my numbers, I didn’t know what to do. Until someone mentored me on how to deal with the IRS, and credit cards, I just felt lost and scared. These can be complicated matters that require knowledge of the tax system, understanding of how debt and creditors work, and a basic working knowledge of math. I was lacking in these things. No amount of prayer or tenth steps was going to fix that.

Recovering addicts and alcoholics can sometimes seem fragile. “Why can’t he get his life together? He’s sober!” I’ve heard people say that. Well, for some recovering people the loss of years of schooling or professional training, or falling off a career path leaves real damage. That damage can be repaired, but for some of us, it does require learning a totally different set of skills.

The skills, tools, friends and mentors that DA has given me has provided me with direction on how to find my way out of debt, how to ask for what I worth in working environments, and how to have a spending plan that is safe and effective.

To all my friends in recovery who can’t figure out why there never seems to be enough money, or who live in fear of the creditors who call all day long, I recommend you look into programs that support financial recovery. There’s no shame in realizing you need support in that area, and like all the other 12-step programs, if you work it, it works.

To sobriety, life, love, and financial recovery

Ohio Imagining Substance Education

 From The Washington Post By Sarah Vander Schaaff

Ohio, a state where 4,329 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, a death rate second only to neighboring West Virginia, is taking the fight against the opioid epidemic into the classroom with a new style of drug-abuse-prevention education.

Kevin Lorson helped develop HOPE: the Health and Opioid Prevention Education program. (Courtesy of Wright State University)

Ohio’s plan, controversial in a state that prizes local control over schools, features lessons that begin in kindergarten. Instead of relying on scare tactics about drug use or campaigns that recite facts about drugs’ toll on the body, teachers are encouraged to discuss real-life situations and ways to deal with them and to build the social and emotional skills that experts say can reduce the risk of substance abuse.

Joy Edgell, principal of Belpre Elementary School in southeastern Ohio, said that, until recently, kindergarten safety efforts typically focused on stranger danger and on avoiding household hazards. But three years ago, a first-grader brought a heroin needle to school in her backpack. She explained how her father used the needle and said that she brought it to school to keep a younger sibling from stepping on it.

“I gave her a hug,” Edgell said.

Then she called the police.

“This is here. This is real,” Edgell told her staff.

This year, Belpre began a pilot of the Health and Opioid Prevention Education, or HOPE, program, developed by Kevin Lorson, a health and physical education professor at Wright State University and a team of educators with a grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

In one lesson, 25 children sat on a carpet and helped their teacher make a chart.

“What is an adult?” the teacher asked, writing responses on a large notepad affixed to the wall.

“What does the word ‘trusted’ mean?”

Finally, she put the two key words together and asked pupils to brainstorm about people who could help them make healthy choices and feel safe, people they could identify as “trusted adults.”

A second lesson emphasized the importance of never taking or touching medicine “unless a trusted adult helps you.” That prompted one child to tell the class about the time he fell, and his third-grade sister offered him pain medication she had been prescribed for an injured arm. “I told her I couldn’t take her medication!” the boy announced.

From the mouth of this “smart cookie,” as his teacher called him, came one of the core goals of HOPE: to instill in children at an early age the ability to make healthy choices and ultimately curb what Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine called “the worst public-health crisis in our lifetime.”

HOPE also fulfills a practical need, one created in 2014 when the Ohio legislature passed a bill requiring schools to teach the connection between prescription opioid abuse and heroin addiction.

“You do know no one is doing this, right?” Lorson told state leaders in 2016 during a discussion of the bill’s requirement. Schools lacked the tools to follow through, he said.

The signs that drug misuse was affecting some children in Belpre, a city of 6,500 separated from West Virginia by the Ohio River, had been appearing with more and more regularity, school officials said.

More kindergartners exhibited trouble regulating emotions and outbursts. In some cases, grandparents and other relatives served as primary caregivers, stepping in because a parent was struggling with addiction. And in 2015, Hunter Burkey, a popular senior at Belpre High School, died of a heroin overdose.

In response, the district added training to recognize signs of trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Educators learned to look at the circumstances that might be affecting a student with behavior problems.

Edgell described what might happen to a boy whose father was in jail. “He’s living with Grandma. Grandma is sick. He’s going to have a rough week.”

With the drug epidemic affecting their small community, carving out time from core subjects to teach HOPE “wasn’t a hard sell,” Assistant Principal Elizabeth Braun said.

The lessons have helped illuminate complicated home lives. Fourth-graders doing a role-playing exercise to practice standing up for themselves and refusing drugs wanted to make sure the teacher knew a parent “was still a good person” even if he or she had trouble with addiction.

And a few sixth-graders “got emotional,” teachers said, while thinking about misusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs.The reality at Belpre Elementary and other Ohio schools in the state is that some children’s ADHD medication — Adderall is an easily misused stimulant — is taken or stolen by family members.

“We want our kids to know they are not alone. We want them to know that we really are a safe place. Your parents didn’t make a good decision. You are still going to be okay,” Braun said. Teacher feedback about HOPE has been positive, particularly because the 20-minute lessons are developmentally appropriate, easy to implement and do not feel like “one more thing,” Braun said.

But while early prevention education sounds good in theory, the state can’t force its more than 600 school districts to follow a specific approach. Ohio is “a very strong local-control state,” said Kenna Haycox, senior policy consultant at the Ohio School Boards Association. “Boards have the authority to determine their academic curriculum.”

Ohio law prohibits the State Board of Education from establishing health-education standards. It is the only state in the country that lacks such standards.

“You have the state with the opioid epidemic and a state without health-education standards,” said Wright State University’s Lorson, former president of the Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

The extent of opioid abuse in Ohio has galvanized the state’s leaders to take the fight into the classroom.

Vernon Sykes, the ranking Democrat on the Ohio state Senate’s education committee, has spent a year and a half working on a bill that would allow for state health education standards. He has been trying to overcome resistance from legislators who are concerned it will affect the state’s abstinence-only approach to sex education.

Bumper stickers on state vehicles tout Start Talking!, a campaign Republican Gov. John Kasich championed to connect communities with resources for discouraging misuse of drugs. The initiative also promotes HOPE on its website. DeWine, the attorney general, led a committee that last year endorsed prevention education beginning in kindergarten.

“We teach reading and writing every year,” he said in a telephone interview. “What makes us think we can wait until the fourth or fifth year to do something about the drug problem? If this is as important as I think it is, we need to get serious about it.”

“Prevention is not about one drug,” said Michelle Miller-Day, a professor of communication studies at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and an expert on prevention curriculum. “It is about social, emotional development in kids so that when they are faced with stressors or boredom or a quick fix for pain or ‘I need to stay up late to study,’ ” they can deal with emotions naturally.

Social context is important, she said, and telling kids to simply say “no” is not enough when “the good-looking captain of the football team is offering me a beer,” said Miller-Day.

Knowing how to make effective decisions (assessing options, reflecting on what will happen) should start long before hearing messages such as “Don’t do drugs. This is what it does to your brain and liver,” she said.

Reaching kids when they are 6 or 7 and forming habits and behavior is important, said Melanie Lynch, an award-winning health teacher in the North Allegany school district in Pennsylvania. By the time students are in high school, Lynch said, “I’m not doing a whole lesson on vaping. I can’t afford that kind of time.”

HOPE also relies on the classroom teacher rather than an outside guest or a special assembly.

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10 Counseling Questions

If you are new to counseling or even if you have been in therapy in the past, there are important counseling questions you need to answer for your therapist in your first sessions. The information you provide will help you and your counselor/therapist/psychiatrist (or whatever kind of mental healthcare provider you choose) to begin to develop a therapeutic relationship – a relationship of trust, openness, and honest communication. Because without trust, openness, and honesty, your sessions will be ineffective for you and your healing process.

During the first session, you will typically be asked for the reasons you are coming to therapy and your therapist will complete what is known as a bio/psycho/social/spiritual history. This is a way to gather information regarding a number of things including current problems requiring you to begin therapy, physical and mental health concerns, family, work, education, cultural/spiritual, and legal histories and a history of physical/emotional/sexual abuse.

You will also be asked about your alcohol and/or drug use, eating disorders, gambling problems, or other addictive behaviors.

Still other questions will be asked, depending on the therapy and therapist. Besides looking at this history and defining the problems, you should also be asked about your strengths, your supports, and your current coping skills.

10 Vital Counseling Questions Your Therapist/Counselor Needs To Know

What is your story

Be honest and open about your history and what is happening now. If you aren’t willing to discuss your story, then therapy will not be effective. However, you need to know that telling your story is your decision and the pace in which you discuss this is up to you and you will not be forced to talk about anything against your will.

Do you have concerns about therapy

Explain your concerns and fears about therapy in general, or if there have been problems with a previous therapist

Are you suicidal

Have you had thoughts or plans  with regard to suicide. Tell if you have had suicidal feelings in the past and what you did about them, or if you are feeling like you want to end your life now

Do you want to harm yourself

Tell your therapist if you harm yourself, and if so how. Let your therapist know if you have any guns or other weapons you can use to harm yourself or others

Do you want to hurt someone else

It’s important to let your therapist know if you are so angry at others in your life that you want to harm them, or have a plan to harm them, or have weapons to carry out harming others.

Are you being abused at home

Be honest about abuse. Let your therapist know if you and/or your children are in danger at home at this time and need protection so a plan can be made to keep you and your family safe

Do you have physical or mental health concerns

Difficult health/mental health issues due to your current life situation should be revealed right away as they may be of immediate concern and need attention. Let your therapist know what your health issues are

What is true extent of your drinking and/or drugging or other addictions

It’s hard to be open about how much substances are being used, but lying or minimizing your use will render therapy ineffective.

What are your concerns regarding confidentiality and what must be legally reported

Not everything you say is confidential and it is your right to know this. Being willing to sign a release of information to other treatment providers so that all your providers can work as a team (such as your physician, probation officer, etc.)

What will you do in case of an emergency

Explore what you can do if you need to talk to a therapist immediately (many therapists do not offer on-call services for nights and weekends. You need to know if  there is a back up, a hotline, what the nearest hospital or emergency room is. You can develop a safety plan including hospitalization if needed.

As you can see, being open about your issues is the only way you will be able to heal from your trauma or problems. It is important that you and your therapist develop a healthy rapport; studies reveal that the most important part of therapy is not the type of therapy or the type of therapist, but the relationship you have with your counselor.

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Spring Cleaning Is Detachment

Spring cleaning is an old concept that has grown beyond dusting behind the sofa. Spring cleaning can mean a deeper kind of decluttering that extends to destructive personal relationships, as well. The KonMari method of decluttering and organizing asks that each item (or person in our story) under consideration be mused over and kept only if it “sparks joy.” The KonMari method of simplifying and organizing the home led to the runaway bestseller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” by Marie Kondo. And the theory applies to human relationships that have become unmanagaeble, too. Here’s why.

Spring Cleaning Is A Form Of Healthy Detachment

There is something cleansing about decluttering, culling, and tidying up: it creates space in our homes and offices. We can see more with less. This same principle applies to relationships that are unhealthy and sap us of our strength, energy and creativity. Some relationships, especially those in families with substance use disorder hurt you every day no matter how hard you try to make things better. Pruning relationships is a task that we sometimes put off for years, even decades, but detachment from those who hurt or hold us back is pruning for personal growth.

When Relationships Die Detachment Is Needed

Relationships in which others benefit from our care and love but do nothing to enhance, support, embrace, or value us literally make us die on the vie.  Our energy that could be used in a productive, empowering fashion is diverted to the unhealthy, the dried up and crumbly in a misguided attempt to renew and refresh them. It is doubly so within familial relationships, where we give and give until our energies are depleted. We suffer the angst in our own lives in all manner of lifestyle diseases including stress, high blood pressure, bloat, and diabetes. All because we see detachment as something that we just don’t do in a family.

Family Loyalty Can Kill

Families are supposed to stick together, to look out for each other, to have each other’s backs, to offer support in the face of hardship and loss, and abuse. When relationships between family members are unhealthy, we take on a role of caregiver and pour our energy into its revival. And we do it again and again, often with the same family member. Because that’s what families do. No man left behind, right? Even if it depletes, even bankrupts us in every way. Family members, like plants, have to be allowed to grow. That’s why there are pruning shears and the tool of detachment. Detachment may feel sharp as scissors but is actually a much kinder cut.

At My House We’re Waiting For Spring

The massive blue hydrangea sits in a pot by the French doors to my deck, its clustered blooms pressed against the glass waiting for Spring to arrive, so it can adorn the deck from the outside looking in. Each stem holds a fellowship of single flowers, together making a voluminous ball of blossoms. These blooms were produced from the tips of shoots that were pruned in the previous season. The plant lives only because it was pruned. We can all learn from that.

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