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January 6, 2018
Dry January What You Need To Know
But does avoiding alcohol for a month do much for your health? Experts say it can—if you approach it the right way.
First, consider why you’re committing to Dry January in the first place.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with abstaining from or limiting your alcohol intake. Excessive drinking and binge drinking can lead to several negative health effects, including weight gain, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D., tells SELF. “Excessive drinking also impairs your sleeping patterns and increases the risk for certain diseases, including breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and liver problems,” she says.
But taking a one-month hiatus from drinking won’t necessarily turn back the clock—nor will it make it acceptable to drink as much as you want the rest of the year. So it’s important to consider why you’re taking a break from drinking this month
“The biggest benefit is learning where your body is in relation to alcohol and what you want your relationship with it to be,” George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), tells SELF. If, for instance, you’ve been feeling not your best lately and you suspect that your regular (or excessive) drinking habits might be contributing to that, it could be helpful to see how you’re feeling (mentally, physically, socially, etc.) when you don’t have booze for a month.
“For some people, it can be a great way to hit the reset button and get their systems back on track,” New York-based R.D. Jessica Cording tells SELF. Wider agrees, telling SELF that “it’s not a bad idea, especially if you are trying to cut down on your drinking.”
Before locking up your bar cabinet, consider how much you’re actually drinking these days.
In most cases, your Dry January “results” will depend on what your baseline drinking behaviors are, explains Koob, since someone who drinks occasionally probably won’t notice as much of a difference as someone who has four or five drinks in one night—several nights a week. So, for our intents and purposes, let’s assume we’re talking about someone who drinks more than what’s considered “moderate,” which actually depends on who’s defining “moderate.”
The USDA Dietary Guidelines defines moderate drinking as up to one drink per day for women, while the NIAAA defines low-risk drinking as no more than seven drinks per week for women, or no more than three drinks on any single day. So if you’re drinking a lot more than that, keep in mind that this transition may be a bit harder for you than someone else.
You should also be careful—and possibly give your doctor a heads up—before abruptly stopping drinking if you’ve been drinking a lot, as you may experience withdrawal symptoms. “Most people are going to think of it like a hangover but if you have a predisposition to seizures or you’re on seizure medication, abruptly stopping alcohol could trigger a seizure,” says Koob.
So what health benefits can you reasonably expect after a month without drinking?
If you’re having several drinks a week, one of the main benefits of sober January could be a decrease in your overall calories, since a standard drink typically has around 150 calories, says Koob. If you’re trying to lose weight, cutting alcohol is one way to do it without compromising any of the fuel and nutrients your body needs. “Alcohol contributes calories but doesn’t make us feel more satisfied—it often amps up hunger,” Cording explains. Since alcohol has a dehydrating effect, it can also contribute to bloating, she says, noting that its ability to impair your judgment may also lead you to make poor food choices that can contribute to weight gain.
Other possible dry January benefits? “It may help you feel more clear-headed and experience better sleep along with regular digestion,” Cording says. “This can help you feel more energetic and stay motivated to get in your workouts and stick to overall healthy eating habits.” And the sheer fact that you’re not going out drinking most nights can lead to sleeping more and skipping fewer workouts. All of that can impact how productive you are, how focused you are at work, and how you feel overall, says Koob.
When it comes to your immune system, the snowball effect of positive health habits may be more influential than just abstaining from alcohol. According to Koob, being intoxicated can acutely suppress immune function making you more vulnerable to pathogens, while chronic drinking can lead to inflammatory reactions throughout the body. While there isn’t data to suggest that ditching booze can protect you from the flu, it’s reasonable to assume that drinking less, sleeping more, and exercising more can all have a positive influence on your immune system.
While we don’t know exactly what effect dry January will have on your liver, we do know that alcohol puts metabolic stress on the liver and that about half of all liver disease deaths are from alcoholic liver disease, says Koob. So it’s reasonable to assume that abstaining from drinking is generally good on your liver—as long as you don’t use this hiatus as an excuse to drink however much you want the other 11 months of the year.
Once Dry January is over, don’t forget to check in with yourself before toasting your success.
Do you feel better? Healthier? More productive? Have you saved money? Do you really miss being able to chat with colleagues or a date over a beer? Maybe you’ve found that you’re more energized without all those hangovers, or you’re less anxious after a night of drinking. Or maybe you’ve found that you lost a few pounds, but you otherwise feel the same and just miss the social aspects of drinking with friends. All of these are helpful takeaways to consider after your experiment.
Oh, and don’t forget that your tolerance to alcohol’s effects will often be lower after a month without drinking, Koob says, so be careful not to overdo it the first time you have a drink again.
Bottom line: It doesn’t hurt to participate in Dry January, but you’ll reap the most health benefits if you think of it as a springboard to revisit your overall relationship with alcohol.
Remember, ditching alcohol for a month and then resuming your usual drinking habits isn’t going to do much for your long-term health if you tend to overdo it. “This isn’t a great pattern: binge/abstain, binge/abstain,” Wider says. “Just like other substances, alcohol in excess has health consequences, regardless of whether you go dry for a month.” That’s why she says it’s better for your overall health to be a moderate drinker in general rather than going from one extreme to the other.
Cording agrees. “This is a great time to think about what a realistic amount of alcohol is for your lifestyle,” she says. “Think about how to fit it in in a way that feels balanced.”
“Learn from the experience,” says Koob. “What is your relationship with alcohol, and where do you want to be?”
Content Originally Published in Self
If you need a support group to quit alcohol check out AA
If you need help with alcohol, visit Recovery Guidance for a free and safe resource to locates addiction and mental health professionals near you.
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5 Benefits Of Dry January
From Health by MARIA MASTERS For millions of people, January 1 marks the first day of not just a new year, but a “dry” January, or month-long break with booze. Started by the UK’s Alcohol Concern organization in 2013, the movement’s main goal is to help people “reset their relationship with alcohol.” But what happens to your body when you become a temporary teetotaler?
“Nothing bad,” says Jamile Wakim-Fleming, MD, a hepatologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “[Abstaining temporarily] is only going to be beneficial.” (One caveat: heavy drinkers should only quit with medical assistance, since they can experience a life-threatening form of withdrawal.)
Thirty-one days of sobriety might even help you cut back long-term: A 2016 study published in Health Psychology found that six months after the end of Dry January, people who had participated in the movement (even those who didn’t abstain for the entire month) reported having fewer drinks per day, drinking fewer days a week, and getting drunk less often.
In general less booze is a good thing: “The effects of alcohol are cumulative,” says Dr. Wakim-Fleming (who was not involved in the study). “If people drink one glass a day starting in their teens, they may be fine after 10 or 20 years—but after 40 or 50 years, they might start to experience liver problems.”
And while it’s true that moderate drinking (that’s one drink a day for women, two for men) might improve your heart health, research suggests not everyone may experience these benefits. What’s more, our relationship with alcohol may not be as healthy as we’d like to think. Case in point: According to government statistics from 2015, about 1 in 4 Americans over 18 said that they had binged at least once in the past month.
Inspired to give Dry January a go? Here’s what you can expect during your month off the sauce.
You may lose weight
It’s no secret that alcohol is loaded with calories. At 7 calories per gram, a standard glass of wine (5 ounces) can contain about 130 calories, and a serving of beer (12 ounces) nearly 330 calories. And there’s some evidence that the boozing catches up with us: A 2017 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who binged on alcohol at least once a month over the course of one year were 41% more likely to become overweight after a 5-year period. (Bingeing, for women, is more than four glasses of alcohol in one sitting.)
You’ll get deeper sleep
It’s true that a nightcap can help you doze off faster, but according to a 2013 study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, alcohol disrupts the most restorative phase of sleep that occurs later in the night.
You could kick a cold faster
Alcohol can suppress your immune system, which might hinder your ability to fight off an illness. Even one night of too much drinking—in this case, drinking until you’re drunk—can interfere with your body’s ability to produce cytokines, or chemicals that help fight off infections, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Your skin might look younger
Alcohol can act as a diuretic, which can increase fluid loss and lead to dehydration, possibly damaging the skin, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Plus, adds Dr. Wakim-Fleming, when people stop drinking, they get more calories from foods; this tends to improve their vitamin intake, which can also make their skin appear healthier. (One small study in the 2009 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that twins who abstained from alcohol were perceived to be younger than their identical imbibing siblings.)
You’ll get better at resisting peer pressure
The participants in the 2016 Dry January study not only drank less later in the year, they also felt more confident turning down drinks. “Dry January was associated with healthier drinking habits overall,” says Dr. Wakim-Fleming. “Even though they didn’t stop drinking alcohol completely, they were more likely to say no when they didn’t want to drink anymore.”
The post 5 Benefits Of Dry January appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
11 Sober Celebrities Dish On Addiction
This spotlight can complicate healing, but for those who make it out the other side it can become a powerful tool — a way to draw attention to the message that recovery is possible. Here are 11 celebrities who have lived to share hard lessons and hope, and some of what they say.
1. Kristen Johnston
By David Shankbone (David Shankbone) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The actress’ career accelerated with her role in “3rd Rock From the Sun,” and her addiction to alcohol and prescription painkillers accelerated with it. It peaked years later when her substance use caused her stomach to literally rip open, an incident she details with unflinching frankness and humor in her 2012 memoir Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster. Now eight years sober, she’s gone from a self-described “hot mess” to a vocal advocate for recovery and recovery high schools. Her philosophy on sobriety, she explains in her book, is this: “If pushing a peanut up a hill with your nose keeps you sober, well, then, just push a peanut up a hill with your nose.”
“It’s time for addiction to stand up and demand some respect. Because every time someone is ostracized for being an addict, every time there’s a breathless, trumped-up, sensational headline, every time we giggle at a wasted celebrity, and every time addiction is televised as salacious entertainment, yet another addict is shamed into silence.”
New York Times essay , 2013
2. Matthew Perry
By Policy Exchange [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Perry’s troubles with alcohol and prescription painkillers kicked into high gear during his years as one of TV’s “Friends,” but treatment helped him create a healthy new normal. Today, he’s a fierce champion of treatment for addiction rather than incarceration. Helping those who share his struggles, he told People magazine in 2013, is the “thing I like the most about me.”
“When you’re having a bad day, the best thing you can do is call somebody and ask them how they’re doing, and actually pay attention and listen to the answer to get out of your own head.”
Hollywood Reporter interview , 2015
3. Carrie Fisher
By Riccardo Ghilardi photographer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
She’s the legendary Princess Leia, but she’s almost as well known for her openness about her struggles with substance use and mental health issues. She has detailed it all with her trademark blend of brutal truth and humor in books, stage shows and movies.
“Happy is one of the many things I’m likely to be over the course of a day and certainly over the course of a lifetime. But I think if you have the expectation that you’re going to be happy throughout your life — more to the point, if you have a need to be comfortable all the time — well, among other things, you have the makings of a classic drug addict or alcoholic.”
“Wishful Drinking,” memoir, 2008
4. Eric Clapton
By Majvdl (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
The guitar legend’s past includes addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs, and, at one point, a $16,000-a-week heroin habit. The arrival of his son, Conor, however, gave him the motivation he needed to attempt sobriety once more, and this time — in 1987 — he succeeded. It was a sobriety he maintained even after Conor’s tragic death in a 49-story fall at age 4.
“A woman came up to me after the meeting and said, ‘You’ve just taken away my last excuse to have a drink.’ I asked her what she meant. She said, ‘I’ve always had this little corner of my mind which held the excuse that, if anything were to happen to my kids, then I’d be justified in getting drunk. You’ve shown me that’s not true.’ I was suddenly aware that maybe I had found a way to turn this dreadful tragedy into something positive. I really was in the position to say, ‘Well, if I can go through this and stay sober, then anyone can.’ There was no better way to honor the memory of my son.”
“Clapton: The Autobiography,” 2007
5. Daniel Radcliffe
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By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Daniel Radcliffe) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The “Harry Potter” star has revealed he was sometimes drunk on the set in later episodes of the franchise. It was an addiction that he says developed in response to his very public success and the pressure to maintain it. Today, he’s entering his fifth year of sobriety and has embraced a quieter lifestyle that he says makes him happier and better suits his personality.
“I was living in constant fear of who I’d meet, what I might have said to them, what I might have done with them, so I’d stay in my apartment for days and drink alone. I was a recluse at 20. It was pathetic — it wasn’t me. I’m a fun, polite person and it turned me into a rude bore. For a long time people were saying to me, ‘We think you have a problem,’ but in the end I had to come to the realization myself.”
Sky Arts interview , 2014
6. Russell Brand
By D B Young from London (Russell Brand London Revolution Protest) [CC BY 2.0 or CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
He’s an actor, author, comedian and activist who has never shied away from courting outrage and controversy. His drug and alcohol use has been no less outrageous, leading to a dozen arrests before he committed to recovery. Now 12 years sober, he often acts as a sponsor to other recovering addicts, organizes addiction treatment fundraisers, and shares his first-hand view of substance use disorders.
“Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution. If this seems odd to you it is because you are not an alcoholic or a drug addict. You are likely one of the 90% of people who can drink and use drugs safely. I have friends who can smoke weed, swill gin, even do crack and then merrily get on with their lives. For me, this is not an option. I will relinquish all else to ride that buzz to oblivion. Even if it began as a timid glass of chardonnay on a ponce’s yacht, it would end with me necking the bottle, swimming to shore and sprinting to Bethnal Green in search of a crack house. I look to drugs and booze to fill up a hole in me; unchecked, the call of the wild is too strong.”
The Guardian essay , 2013
7. Jamie Lee Curtis
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By Alan Light (Jamie Lee Curtis) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
After cosmetic surgery in her 30s, the film star became addicted to painkillers and was soon drinking heavily. “I’d anesthetize myself on a daily basis,” she said in a 2008 interview. Concern about what her substance use was doing to her daughter propelled her to change, and she recently celebrated more than 15 years of sobriety. She’s passionate about sharing her story as a way of diverting others from the same path, and she works with a variety of anti-drug organizations to raise awareness about prevention and treatment efforts.
“The morphine becomes the warm bath from which to escape painful reality. I was a lucky one. I was able to see that the pain had started long ago and far away and that finding the narcotic was merely a matter of time. The pain needed numbing. My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life … but it takes work — hard, painful work — but the help is there, in every town and career, drug/drink freed members of society, from every single walk and talk of life to help and guide.”
Huffington Post essay , 2009
8. Sir Elton John
By Tomtom80 Thomas Waleczka (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In the early 1970s, the musical superstar says he was so naïve about drugs that he didn’t even know what a joint was. But his first experience with cocaine was a revelation. Suddenly the shyness that plagued him offstage evaporated, but in its place came addiction and eventual isolation. He credits his decision to change his life’s deadly trajectory to his support of Ryan White, the Indiana teen who in the 1980s contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion and who stood up against the fear and discrimination surrounding what was then a new and deadly epidemic.
“When I knew Ryan, I knew that my life was out of whack. I knew that I had to change. And after he died, I realized that I only had two choices: I was either going to die or I was going to live, and which one did I want to do? And then I said those words, ‘I’ll get help,’ or, ‘I need help. I’ll get help.’ And my life turned around. Ridiculous for a human being to take 16 years to say, ‘I need help.’”
NPR interview , 2012
9. Robert Downey Jr.
By Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
His substance use — and the trouble it brought — kept the tabloids in fresh material for years. Today, the actor has 15 years of sobriety under his belt, and the stories being written are ones of career and personal redemption. Still, his success in dealing with addiction has not meant others in his orbit are now inoculated against their own struggles. The arrest of his adult son for felony drug possession led him to note, “Pick a dysfunction and it’s a family problem.”
“You’re confronted with histories and predispositions and influences and feelings and unspoken traumas or needs that weren’t met, and all of a sudden you’re three miles into the woods. Can you help someone get out of those woods? Yes, you can. By not getting lost looking for them.”
Vanity Fair interview , 2014
10. Demi Lovato
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By Neon Tommy [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
She went from “Barney and Friends” to pop star, but along the way she dealt with mental health struggles that led her to self-medicate herself into devastating addictions to drugs and alcohol. There was a time, she admitted in an interview, when she couldn’t make it 30 minutes without cocaine and would smuggle it with her on airplanes. With hard-earned sobriety now in place, she’s a vocal spokesperson for mental health and addiction treatment causes.
“I had a Sprite bottle filled with vodka and it was just nine in the morning and I was throwing up in the car and this was just to get on a plane to go back to LA to the sober living house that I was staying at. … I had all the help in the world, but I didn’t want it. When I hit that moment I was like, it’s no longer fun when you’re doing it alone.”
Access Hollywood interview , 2013
11. Rob Lowe
By dodge challenger1 (Rob Lowe in the ChallengerUploaded by mangostar) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
He was a hard-partying Brat Pack bad boy when he became a star in the 1980s. Today he’s a happily married father of two who this year celebrated a quarter century of sobriety. To mark the day, he tweeted: “To those struggling with addiction, there is true, real, hope. Twenty-five years ago today, I found recovery and a life of promise. #Grateful.”
“You want to get sober for your parents, you want to get sober for your job, you want to get sober for the cops, you want to get sober to protect your image. A lot of good reasons, by the way, but unfortunately, the only thing that works is that you have to want to get sober for you.”
Content Originally Published in Elements Behavioral Health
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January 5, 2018
7 Ways To Stick With Dry January
Did you take the Dry January challenge? Millions are doing it worldwide this year. That means no alcohol for 30 days. Can you handle it? You may already know how hard it is to stop the partying, or even to refrain from popping the cork at home. So many rituals are involved in drinking. And myths, as well. You may think drinking makes you feel better, even though you know hangovers make you sick the next day. So when is it hardest? On the weekends, of course. Many people can get through the week without the booze, but struggle with temptation as the weekend arrives. There’s the bar scene, the wine list at dinner, and Sunday brunch beckoning. All these factors arise during your precious time off from work. These expert tips will help you ride out the next four weekends and make your Dry January a success.
Do What You Always Do
Just because you’re giving up drinking doesn’t mean you have to stay home while your social circle is downing shots at a dance club or sampling the vino at a new bistro. In fact, not showing up might just give you a case of FOMO, which could cause you to lose your resolve later in the month.
Instead, “do the same things you would usually do with your friends and loved ones, but just do them without drinking,” suggests Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RDN, author of Drinking to Distraction. You may even notice that after 10 o’clock, your friends get boring or stupid, and you’ll likely be glad you’re not the one who will waste three-quarters of the next day sleeping off a hangover or regretting a drunk dial.
UnFollow The Drinkers
Everyone has that one friend (or five) who constantly posts pics of herself at parties with a drink in her hand, looking like she’s having a blast. Don’t torture yourself! Unfollow your harder-drinking buddies for the month, so you don’t start to feel deprived every time you go on Instagram.
Fill The Fridge With Fun Booze Alternatives
Sometimes it’s the rituals around drinking—the pop of a cork, the glug-glug sound of booze pouring into a glass—that we crave even more than the taste or effects of the alcohol itself, says Hollenstein. Think about what you like most about about your go-to drink and give yourself nonalcoholic options to indulge in instead. La Croix can stand in for hard cider, a bottled kombucha could fill in for your favorite yeasty beer, and some fancy juices now come in corked bottles.
Explore The World Of Zero Cocktails
Most bartenders can make beautiful alcohol-free versions of any drink on their fancy menu. Don’t want to drop $10 on a nonalcoholic drink? Oder a zero proof drink. If you’re hosting friends or otherwise staying in, whip up these yummy mocktails, and thank us later.
How Much Money Will You Save
If you find yourself feeling really down that you can’t imbibe, try this instant cheer-up idea: Pull out your phone, fire up the calculator, and multiply the average cost of a drink at your favorite watering hole by the number of drinks you’d normally buy in the month of January. Doesn’t that number look good?
Spend The Money You Save On Self Care
Passing on a good bottle of wine while everyone else is enjoying themselves isn’t easy. So give yourself props for sticking to your goal by indulging in some self-care that will reinforce how good you feel—a leisurely run, a relaxing mani-pedi, or even the quiet luxury of sleeping in and catching up on rest.
Concentrate On The Positives
As you hear the clicking of glasses and see so many people drinking and enjoying themselves, fight the temptation to give in by contemplating what giving up booze has done for you so far. Are you more energized? Less bloated than usual? How’s your skin looking? If you’re not sure you’re seeing any health benefits yet, think about the resolve it took to make the commitment to give up alcohol for an entire month—and know you have the strength to see it through.
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Lead generation for addiction treatment Is body brokering and a felony in Florida
From The New York Times By DAVID SEGAL More than 200,000 people seek addiction treatment on the phone or online every month. Few of them realize that their pleas for help are a valuable commodity — one that is quietly fought over by those angling to turn a distress signal into cash.
Addicts represent big money to treatment centers, which are happy to pay a middleman $50 for a “lead” on a patient who might generate $40,000 or more in insurance claims in a matter of months. That is why television ads offering help to addicts air constantly nationwide.
But lead generators, or lead gens, aren’t necessarily the ideal path to rehab clinics — as Dr. Alan Goodwin, an inquisitive psychologist in Palm Beach, Fla., accidentally discovered earlier this year. That discovery led him on a monthslong personal mission to try to understand the ethically murky business of customer acquisition in the treatment world.
It started when Dr. Goodwin, who works as an education and health care consultant, phoned a local substance abuse awareness coalition with a question about the format of a presentation he was to make. Instead of the organization, he got a recording saying the number had been disconnected — but before he could hang up, the message continued.
“We can help you find an alternative addiction specialist,” the recording said, according to Dr. Goodwin. “Please stay on the line while we look.”
The medical group’s phone number, he quickly realized, had been hijacked by a drug-treatment referral service.
A man who identified himself as Jacob came on the line, and started asking Dr. Goodwin the kind of questions you ask an addict in crisis. Dr. Goodwin instantly invented a new persona: a 67-year-old with early onset Alzheimer’s, an unhinged wife named Betty and a drug-addled son who had just introduced him to heroin.
“I can get into it,” Dr. Goodwin said later, recalling his imagined identity. “My father was a retailer, but he somehow was involved with Second City, the improv comedy troupe in Chicago. So it might be genetic.”
With his call, Dr. Goodwin had chanced across the underbelly of the treatment industry, where new customers are corralled, often with a hard sell. By the time his conversation with Jacob was over, he had developed a new vocation — dialing up and lecturing the sketchy rehab referral services that have become telemarketers to the addicted.
He spent months struggling to map this realm, inventing a small cast of characters to help him find answers and meticulously documenting his encounters. All the while, he tried to determine who was behind the most ubiquitous TV ad on the air, one featuring a figure he called “the man in blue.”
Speedy Service, One Call Away
This was a project he assigned to himself. Now 76, Dr. Goodwin had spent decades in the addiction treatment field and had become the kind of trusted voice now occasionally called by clinics for advice. Because of that, he already knew that some clinics used underhanded tactics, which outraged him.
“I went into activist mode,” he said. “What I saw was pure opportunism.”
Lead generators, those who connect the people seeking a service to the people selling it, operate in a variety of businesses — carpet cleaners, locksmiths, personal injury lawyers and, as America confronts a persistent opioid crisis, drug treatment centers. Dr. Goodwin became a student of the business, starting with Jacob, the man he found himself speaking to during that first call.
Jacob connected him to Palm Partners in Delray Beach, Fla., which describes itself on its website as “one of the country’s most trusted alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers.” A representative at Palm Partners asked a few questions before urging him to spend the weekend detoxing in a sober home, followed by weeks of therapy.
When the rep offered to send a car — that very afternoon — to pick him up at home, it was time to end the ruse. “I’m not an addict,” Dr. Goodwin said he told the representative. “I’m Dr. Alan Goodwin, and I have some concerns about what just happened.”
Dr. Goodwin thought his critique would at least get an audience, and perhaps even prompt some changes. It was the first of many disappointments.
‘A Huge Opportunity’
Lead gens in addiction treatment can run afoul of so-called patient brokering laws, which prohibit commissions and kickbacks for referring patients to a provider. Florida, for example, this year made it a felony to profit from patient referrals. But the gamesmanship continues.
“We have to constantly monitor the web for fake versions of our clients’ websites,” said Daniel Gemp of Dreamscape Marketing, a Maryland firm that works with addiction clinics. “Fake social media reviews. Fake Facebook profiles. We have worked with 28 different industries and we have never had to play more defense than we do in addiction treatment.”
Some lead-gen operators in this field are hard to find, let alone get on the phone. But the chief executive of a major player, TreatmentCalls.com of West Palm Beach, Fla., contended that he performs a valuable service. Jason Brian, who founded TreatmentCalls.com in 2014, said that he will not work with clinics that lie about themselves, including where they are located and what services they offer. So, he said, people who reach clinics through his call system are more likely to enroll with quality providers.
And after Florida criminalized paid health care referrals, Mr. Brian said he took the word “referral” out of his ads to stay on the right side of the law. Further, he now says that his company isn’t, strictly speaking, in the referral business, because every caller in his system is automatically routed to a rehab clinic without any input from TreatmentCalls.com. His company, in his judgment, is merely connecting — not referring.
Critics counter that deception is built in to this and other business models. Callers are unlikely to be told that they are getting medical recommendations that have been shaped by financial incentives.
Ben Cort, a consultant to rehab clinics, has conducted his own first-person experiments with addiction treatment lead gens. He said he has been placed on hold for a few minutes and then put up for a kind of instant auction after his personal information — age, insurance, drug of choice — were collected.
“People are making decisions in real-time because their loved ones are in immediate peril,” Mr. Cort said. “One more overdose and that’s the end. So nobody is researching rehab the way people research college, and that creates a huge opportunity for lead gens and clinics to take advantage.”
An ‘Aging Activist’ Finds a Cause
Dr. Goodwin has treated hundreds of addicts in a career that has spanned three decades. He grew up in a suburb of Chicago and earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Alabama. He was a freshman there when he volunteered at a state psychiatric hospital — and found his life’s work.
Starting in 1977, he served as the executive director of the Indian Rivers Mental Health Center, in Tuscaloosa, which eventually named a building in his honor. In the 1990s, he helped a private hospital, The Manors, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., create an addiction treatment program.
He later became an entrepreneur and now runs a company that designs what he calls group e-learning for colleges and other entities. He also cocreated a board game, “Drugs/Alcohol: Play it Straight,” the most public example of his knack for mixing the fun with the serious.
Today, looking professorial and perpetually tousled, he calls himself an “aging activist.” Inspired by Robert F. Kennedy, he has championed various causes over the years, large and small. Recently he organized a successful donation drive to ship flashlight batteries to Puerto Rico, after hurricanes Irma and Maria, an effort that was covered in his local newspaper.
Though no longer employed in the treatment field, Dr. Goodwin is still regarded by physicians and clinic owners as a resource. In April of last year, an investor in a clinic in West Palm Beach got in touch with him, he said, asking for patient referrals. Dr. Goodwin said he wanted to check out the place first. After a few days, he concluded that clients there were being grossly overcharged.
“They wanted to own fancy cars,” he said of the owners, “not to help anyone.”
Mr. Goodwin took his findings to the state’s attorney general. He said he was amazed that prosecutions for insurance fraud didn’t follow.
“My dad loves a challenge,” said his son, Joey Goodwin. “And when he found out what was happening in rehab, this was a challenge right in his neighborhood. Literally, because so many clinics are near his home in Florida.”
The acting part of his phone calls came naturally, Dr. Goodwin said, because of the years he had spent role-playing in group therapy settings. “Plus, I’ve worked for years with all the people I was pretending to be,” he said. “I’ve worked with the elderly heroin addict. I’ve worked with the kid smoking pot. I know them all.”
Listen to One of Dr. Goodwin’s Calls 12:18
In this call, Dr. Goodwin tells a hotline operator that he’s looking for treatment for his marijuana use.
After his first call, he started typing up his conversations, in part to keep track of a handful of different personas he’d created, each with their own name and biography.
They included a churchgoing, 18-year-old Duke University freshman who had recently tried pot. (“I kept my voice really low,” Dr. Goodwin said, explaining how he tried to sound young.) There was also a multimillionaire claiming to be calling on behalf of an autistic son who was dabbling in drugs.
He wanted to understand who was behind the pitches. Clinics? Phone banks? Who ran them, and how did they parcel out leads?
But Dr. Goodwin said he had a second purpose in mind: to persuade clinics he reached to change their ways, if he found their procedures lacking. Which he often did.
For instance, most people he spoke to lacked medical training, so in follow-up calls he would urge clinics to staff up with professionals. And nearly everyone pushed the priciest treatment, Dr. Goodwin said — even if he was playing a character who barely used drugs at all.
But every time he offered advice, he said, he was rebuffed, starting with that very first call to Palm Partners.
“The person on the phone just blasted me,” he said, describing the conversation after he revealed his true identity. “He said something about helping thousands of people and how I was wasting their time.”
Dr. Goodwin invented characters with drug problems to speak to hotlines and treatment centers. After he told one clinic that he had just slit his wrists, the person on the other end of the line told him to board a plane and fly to New Jersey.Johnny Tergo for The New York Times
Dr. Goodwin said he asked for a manager to call him back — not to get the phone rep in trouble, but to get the company “to really look at their practices.”
“He hung up on me,” Dr. Goodwin said. “I later left a message. No one ever called me back.”
Messages left with Palm Partners by The New York Times were not returned.
Gaming the System, With Just a Few Clicks
The story of lead generation in addiction treatment begins, strangely enough, with a nonprofit supported by the Church of Scientology. Narconon started in 1966, according to the Church’s site, and uses the teachings of the Church’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, as its guiding principles. Conventional mental health practices are eschewed, high doses of vitamins are encouraged and clients are urged to sweat a lot, often in saunas.
Back in 2000, most clinics got their clients from physicians and insurers. Narconon clinics instead turned to the World Wide Web, according to the former Scientologist and Narconon critic Katherine McBride, who oversees narcononreviews.net under the pseudonym Mary McConnell.
Soon, she said, the internet was home to countless sites promoting Narconon clinics. Over the years, Narconon’s success produced imitators who packed sites with keywords in hopes of kicking their services to the top of search results.
Google continuously tinkers with its algorithm to make it harder to game. Until the company imposed restrictions in mid September, bidding for phrases like “rehab near me” fetched high cost-per-click rates in its paid ad system. But Google still has not found a way to end the phone number hijacking scam that Dr. Goodwin encountered time and again.
It is a hustle carried out with a bit of internet chicanery.
When anyone searches the name of a business online, the results include a box that turns up to the right, containing an address, phone number and other information. Google generates these boxes in-house, using its own algorithms. It’s a product called Google My Business, and it is Google’s answer to the Yellow Pages.
Typically, one of the links in the box is labeled “suggest an edit.” It allows users to change details of the listing. Google’s goal is to offer a simple way for people to correct addresses and phone numbers. But relying on users across the world has a flaw: Bad actors can use the function to insert their own phone numbers, in effect redirecting calls from the intended company to another.
Google has safeguards to reduce foul play. For example, a business can take control of its own Google My Business listing — making shenanigans tougher to pull off — via a system where Google snail-mails the business a postcard with a verification code. But the safeguards aren’t perfect — the workarounds are complicated but motivated competitors can still divert calls.
A Google spokeswoman declined to say whether a fix for this problem was in the works, other than noting that the company is always looking for ways to improve its system.
“We use manual and automated systems to detect for spam and fraud,” the spokeswoman, Liz Davidoff, wrote. “But we tend not to share details behind our processes so as not to tip off spammers or others with bad intent.”
At one point, Dr. Goodwin discovered that someone skilled in these dark arts had hijacked the number for the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, a nonprofit that represents a variety of treatment-related entities. Instead of reaching the association, a guy named Jacob — a different Jacob than the first one, it seemed — answered.
This time Dr. Goodwin pretended to be “Alan Richard,” a wealthy man whose wife thought he was smoking “a little too much weed.”
Jacob advised against the rehab centers in Florida, suggesting that they were little more than resorts for kids on drugs. Better to head to Michigan, where a company called Behavioral Rehabilitation Services operated a clinic.
Next, that company’s intake coordinator came on the line. After a brief patient assessment — What drugs are you taking? What kind of insurance do you have? — the coordinator offered two options: a $32,900 shared room, or a semiprivate room for $40,000 at a facility in Harrison, Mich.
“I have no idea what the difference is,” Dr. Goodwin said. “I didn’t ask. I just went for the most expensive choice.”
After that, a third person came on the line and told him that he would receive a free one-way plane ticket to Detroit, on Delta Air Lines. (“You will be responsible for your transportation home,” she added, according to Dr. Goodwin’s notes.) In a follow-up call, Mr. Richard was informed that everyone detoxing from marijuana was entitled to on-demand massages.
Still pretending to be Alan Richard, Dr. Goodwin later called back to say that his personal physician was concerned about the lack of medical information that had been requested during the intake process. Could his doctor speak to the medical director?
He had to ask a few times before getting connected to a nurse. Then, Dr. Goodwin unmasked himself.
“She sounded a little panicked,” he said. “She said she’d have some administrator call me, but no one ever did.”
The executive director of Behavioral Rehabilitation Services, JJ Bush, told The New York Times in a brief interview that he knew nothing about the company’s marketing efforts but would have someone in that department get in touch. No one did. A follow-up phone call was not returned.
Even after months of calls, Dr. Goodwin’s picture of the business remained fuzzy. When he asked phone reps who they worked for, they either refused to say or, Dr. Goodwin suspected, they lied.
The Mysterious ‘Man in Blue’
But of all the mysteries Dr. Goodwin encountered, none was as confounding as a television ad featuring the person he called “the man in blue.” In it, a bearded man wearing blue scrubs speaks directly into the camera, accompanied by tinkling piano music.
“If you’ve been trying to quit your addiction to drugs or alcohol without any luck,” the man in blue says, “then you need to call the number on your screen now.”
The ad promoted “The Addiction Network.” But each time Dr. Goodwin dialed the number he saw on the screen, a representative at a different clinic answered. None of the clinics seemed affiliated with any other. And none seemed interested in discussing it.
“I got pushback whenever I tried to find out anything about the ad,” he said. “Everyone was pretty evasive.”
If the man in blue is a puzzle, Mr. Brian of TreatmentCalls.com can solve it.
On a sunny afternoon, Mr. Brian, the company’s founder and owner, sat in his office and explained how his business works.
In a typical day, his company and its affiliates air hundreds of TV ads across the country, along with many online ads, he said. Combined, those ads generate roughly 2,000 calls a day. The mid-September changes made by Google, he said recently, have had no effect on the company.
Through the magic of modern telephony, incoming calls are automatically routed to a rotating list of treatment centers, which prepay to receive a set number of calls per month. It costs treatment centers between $40 and $50 each time their phones ring, whether the person signs up for treatment or not.
The man-in-blue ad has aired so often because it generates lots of calls, Mr. Brian said. (It has also inspired a batch of YouTube parodies.) And the man in blue himself? “He’s friend of mine’s son,” Mr. Brian said. “He’s an actual doctor.”
TreatmentCalls.com’s ads are generic on purpose. The man-in-blue ad, for instance, long promised little more than a “free referral.” But even that was been toned down lately. Concerned about Florida’s new patient-brokering law, Mr. Brian snipped the word “referral” out of his ads. Recently, he said by email that he simply sells “calls.”
The company’s model is good for consumers, Mr. Brian said. His employees monitor calls, he said, and the company will not renew its deals with clinics that mislead people.
“Our clients aren’t lying about the quality of care or their qualifications,” he said. “People who call a center directly could get a snake oil salesman.”
Treating Patients, as ‘Commodities’
The TreatmentCalls.com model has its critics. One of them is Mr. Cort, the consultant. He noted that people in Mr. Brian’s system may have no idea that their call has been sold to a clinic. Further, because the clinic is randomly selected, it may be the wrong one for the client.
“Callers who are patients are not simple commodities,” Mr. Cort said. “When no thought is given to appropriate referrals based on a patient’s specific needs it demonstrates either a lack of understanding or a callousness.”
As Dr. Goodwin made more calls over the months, he wondered if he could say anything that would cause a clinic to advise against immediate enrollment. Sometimes this meant presenting himself as the most casual of drug users. Other times, he added berserk details to his story.
That reached an extreme when he told a clinic in New Jersey that, in a drug-fueled depression, he had just slit his wrists. To his amazement, the phone rep did not suggest that he head straight to a hospital. Instead, Dr. Goodwin said, he was counseled to immediately board a plane and fly to the clinic.
Someone else, however, “did the right thing,” Dr. Goodwin said. When the owners of the clinic’s affiliated detox center heard about his call, they phoned the authorities. Soon, three police cars pulled up to Dr. Goodwin’s house.
“The officers were furious when I explained what I was doing,” he recalled, sounding chastened. “At that point, my wife said, ‘You don’t need to be doing this any more.’”
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7 Tips for recovery resolutions that stick
Statistics show that by February, most folks’ new year’s resolutions have failed. Is it a lack of will power? Unrealistic expectations? Too lofty a goal? Or do we just chalk our failures off to us being human, become frustrated, and give up?
Recovery Resolutions Can Be Easier To Keep
Those in recovery, fortunately, have powerful, life-changing tools that others don’t have. By applying recovery tools to our particular resolution, we may find a much better rate of success. The following are tips to help you better succeed on breaking those unhealthy habits or simply improving your chances at becoming a better person in the new year. Some of the terms that follow may be unfamiliar to you. Get comfortable with them, we’ll be using them a lot.
Don’t Make A Mountain Out Of A Molehill
Our minds often jump to the mountain and see our resolution as an overwhelming task. We can use slogans like ‘One Day at a Time’ or ‘Keep it Simple’ to frame the resolution into small tasks that are manageable and not stress-producing.
Keep It simple
“Keep it simple” is a recovery term that helps in every area of your life. In the recovery resolution department, having too many goals is a recipe for disaster. Stick to one. Make your resolution clear, concise and include baby steps on how to reach it.
Examine Your Recovery Resolutions To Choose Your Issue
What is it you want to accomplish this year? Better relationships, lose weight, greater focus on getting work done, enjoying life more? Really think it through. Identify your resolution. In recovery we call it “making an inventory.”
Write Your Resolution Down
Put that resolution in a special place. People in recovery call it a “God Box.” When something they’re written down goes into the “God Box,” they let go of it and leave the rest to God, or whatever higher power you may believe in. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do the footwork, you do. The key here is not to obsess over the results or get impatient. The recovery process is to work on your goals, without having expectations.
Keep Your Mind Focused On The Result You Want To See
There are a variety of ways to stay positive when working to stick with a resolution. Journaling, daily affirmations, positive thoughts, and clear pictures in your mind all help to keep you on track. particularly if you start slipping into negative thinking.
If You Fall Off The Wagon Get Back On It
Don’t beat yourself up if you slip back into old habits. Get back on track the next day. Actually, we can start our day over any time of the day. We love ourselves enough to do that. Try a 12 step meeting if you want recovery help. Get a counselor or therapist if you can afford one. Consider getting a sponsor, someone who has traveled the journey you want to take. Talk to friends you trust. Remember the three “A’s” – “be Aware. Accept it. And take Action.” Yes, that’s another recovery term.
By Patti Pearson
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January 4, 2018
Fewer High School Students Are Having Sex
Across the U.S., the number of high school students who report having sex has dropped, according to new federal data.
The report, based on a nationwide self-reported survey of high school students and published by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that the proportion of students who said they had ever had sexual intercourse dropped from 47% in 2005 to 41% in 2015, the latest data available.
This decline in sex among high school students is likely a contributing factor to key recent trends: teen birth rates hit a record low in 2017, and teen pregnancy has been consistently dropping. The study authors say that more research is needed to understand the trend and to help it continue.
A decline in younger people having sex is a positive change for public health, according to the CDC. Having sex at an early age is associated with having more sexual partners overall, not using condoms, teen pregnancy and having sexually transmitted infections at a young age.
One reason for the drop is that fewer younger students—those in 9th and 10th grade—reported having sex, the researchers noted. They did not see a drop in sexual activity for 11th and 12th grade students. Fewer black students in all grades said they had sex, and fewer Hispanic students in three grades said the same. “[This] represent[s] positive changes among groups of students who have been determined in previous studies to be at higher risk for negative outcomes associated with early sexual initiation,” the researchers write.
Though the study does not look at potential reasons for why fewer young people are having sex, the researchers note that a lot changed in the U.S. from 2005 to 2015, including a proliferation in technology and social media use as well as requirements and funding for education in preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Other federal data shows that most teenagers are now using contraception when they have sex.
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‘Mindful Drinking’ Is the Latest Health Craze. Here’s What It Is
In pursuit of the goal of feeling better on weekends, Kate Atkinson, 35, began to zero in on her drinking habits. She started going to CLUB SÖDA NYC, a social network that helps New Yorkers develop healthier, more intentional relationships with alcohol through booze-free events and workshops, and things began to change. She still drinks sometimes, but says she’s “become more mindful of my decisions and where they might lead.”
Atkinson is far from alone. These days, a chasm is widening in American culture: Binge drinking and alcohol dependency rates are higher than they’ve ever been, but, on the flip side, a growing number of individuals are drinking less, at least some of the time. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that the percentage of Americans who said they had used alcohol within the past month took a small but statistically significant decline between 2014 and 2015, the most recent year with available data.
Off-and-on drinkers like Atkinson can fill their calendars with alcohol-free events, like those from CLUB SÖDA, which consistently sells out its 200-person gatherings; Daybreaker, which hosts sober early-morning raves for as many as 700 people in 17 cities globally; and Sober Grid, a 10,000-users-strong social app for people who don’t drink. Others use mindfulness—a focus on the present moment that recent research has found to be effective in helping heavy drinkers cut back—and similar strategies to booze when it suits and teetotal when it doesn’t. And this month, more than 5 million people around the world will atone for excess holiday drinking through Dry January, a month-long experiment in sobriety. Together, to borrow a phrase from CLUB SÖDA cofounder Ruby Warrington, these disparate cohorts are the “sober curious.”
“There are many shades of gray when it comes to alcohol addiction,” Warrington says, “and perhaps there can be shades of gray when it comes to sobriety, also.”
CLUB SÖDA and its ilk aren’t necessarily helping people get sober. Warrington and her cofounder, Biet Simkin, are careful to state before each event that CLUB SÖDA is not an addiction recovery group, and Simkin estimates that only 30% of attendees never drink. The group isn’t even angling for people to drink less, though that’s often the result. Instead, it’s more about cultivating “mindfulness around drinking, and questioning what effort are they actually putting toward bliss in their life, other than shooting mezcal down,” Simkin says.
That message resonated with Ebenezer Bond, 41, who started going to CLUB SÖDA two years ago, after realizing how often he drank while entertaining clients as the cofounder of an experiential marketing firm.
“I just got to a place where I wanted to stop having alcohol be such a presence in my life,” says Bond, who now typically limits drinking to Friday and Saturday nights. “I still like alcohol, but I wanted to bring more focus into my life, and less allowance for distraction and covering things up.”
While research suggests that about three-quarters of Americans drink at least occasionally, a recent international survey of 72,000 respondents found that almost 33% of people wanted to reduce their booze consumption, for reasons ranging from physical health to sexual regret to embarrassment. That mindset seems to be gaining steam, especially for younger generations: 72% of Millennials said they “disapprove” of people ages 18 and older drinking one or two drinks nearly every day, according to research from Monitoring the Future.
However, other Nielsen research shows that Millennials, who make up 25% of the legal drinking population, drink 35% of beer in the U.S., 32% of spirits and 20% of wine.
Just as the reasons for wanting to cut back on booze vary, so, too, do the methods for doing so. Mindfulness is one popular technique.
At the mindful drinking classes Lodro Rinzler runs at his New York-based meditation studio MNDFL, students take time to smell, taste and fully experience their cocktails, with the goal of staying present and analyzing the physical and psychological effects of drinking. “The goal is more that they would have a healthier relationship to [alcohol] than to drink more or less,” Rinzler says. “That said, many people do notice, ‘I will meet with that friend and instead of having one, I have four drinks.’ They end up saying, ‘I don’t need to do that.’”
Sarah Bowen, a clinical psychologist who has studied mindfulness and substance abuse at Oregon’s Pacific University, says that these mindfulness techniques—many of which are secularized interpretations of Buddhist traditions meant to boost internal awareness and clarity—can be tools for helping people avoid problem drinking. In one of Bowen’s studies, published in the journal Substance Abuse in 2009, mindful exercises helped people with alcohol dependency avoid relapse longer than standard treatment practices.
Bowen says the kind of sporadic abstinence practiced by the sober curious can foster mindfulness and intentionality, shining a valuable light on bad habits. “It’s hard in the midst of a pattern to mitigate,” she says. “See what it’s like to stop for a couple weeks, or even a month, so you can kind of have a clean slate and then reintroduce alcohol more intentionally.”
Stopping alcohol use for a month is an increasingly common choice, popularized through initiatives like Dry January and Whole30, which eliminates grains, dairy, sugar, legumes and alcohol from the diet for a month.
Miriam Dowling, 31, first tried Whole30 to cut back on processed foods. But after finishing her first round on the diet, she discovered that dairy, gluten and other common food culprits didn’t bother her; it was alcohol that she wanted to eliminate. Dowling, a nurse practitioner who lives in Maine, says she was never a heavy drinker, but she’s now almost entirely sober, save for the occasional hard cider and a glass of wine at her wedding.
“I just didn’t really want to drink alcohol anymore, so I didn’t really reintroduce a lot of alcohol [after Whole30],” she says. “For me, it just isn’t worth the calories. It doesn’t make me feel good. It makes me feel congested, which is strange, and I don’t really like the feeling of feeling dizzy or buzzed.”
Chicago-based registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner says that many of her clients have also given up alcohol for health reasons. “A lot of people will say, ‘Not only is it saving me calories, it’s saving me money from going out. It’s saving me from bad decision making, both in choice and portion of my food,’” she says. Many of Blatner’s clients also say they feel more rested and motivated to exercise.
Drinking is linked with a heightened risk of chronic conditions including liver disease, certain cardiovascular diseases and at least seven different kinds of cancer. And the more you drink, the research suggests, the higher your risk of developing these illnesses. People—who are savvier than ever to fitness, nutrition and mindfulness, thanks to a $3.7 trillion wellness industry that continues to swell—are increasingly unwilling to ignore those associations, Blatner says.
“People want to go gluten-free, people want to go sugar-free,” she says. “Alcohol is not going to be forgotten about when it comes to all these things people are trying to avoid.”
CLUB SÖDA’s Warrington says alcohol may also feel out of place in a health-obsessed culture. “People are investing a lot of time and money in their well-being—physical, emotional, mental—and then drinking a bottle of rosé on a Friday night,” she says. “For more and more people, the obvious disconnect is being revealed.”
But while it’s easy to draw a connection between sober curiosity and health consciousness, the reasons for giving up booze aren’t always physical. According to the American Psychological Association, 57% of Americans are stressed about the political climate, 66% are stressed about the future of the nation and 34%, more than ever before, are stressed about their personal safety.
Bowen, the substance abuse researcher, says people are realizing that drinking is a “false refuge,” especially in times of legitimate anxiety.
“You think it’s going to give you fun and relaxation, but it’s not really what it looks like,” Bowen says. “People are starting to wake up to that and say, ‘I want something different. I want real health, real clarity and real stress relief, and I’m not going to get that from alcohol.’”
This confluence of factors provides the push for people like Atkinson, the CLUB SÖDA devotee, to say goodbye to their glasses and tumblers—from time to time, at least.
“The conversation shouldn’t just be limited to the wellness industry, nor should it be labeled a trend. It’s deeper than that,” Atkinson says. “At a time that global, and especially American, politics are in crisis, it’s surely a time to stay woke, not wasted.”
Content originally published in Time
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New Year’s Resolution
The temperature is -12 outside and my normally can’t-wait-to-go-outside dogs are just plain uninterested in going out; they are content to stay all snuggled and warm inside. The birds, however, are alive with chatter and activity this morning… especially at the big evergreen, where yesterday I hung a dozen peanut butter rolls. The feeder, too, is full and there are friends who partake in a different kind of treat there …. black oil sunflower seeds are abundant as well as suet … which, now, has the attention of a red-headed woodpecker. The brightness of the plumage that gave him his name plays against the snowy backdrop and the deep green of the fir tree. He hangs motionless in the frigid temps, as if surveying the cake and deciding where he should direct his efforts next. Then, he cocks his head to one side and then the other, positioning his feet on the lower edge of the cage that holds the treat. Once balanced, he raises and lowers his beak in true woodpecker fashion as he dives into it… all while remaining precariously hung on the side of a feeder a good 10 feet above the frozen ground.
Although the woodpecker is joined by several doves, that curiously peer around the corner at the suet cage and his peculiar presence on it … his gaze remains riveted on his target.
A puff of snow from a nearby branch where a blue jay has taken flight moves the eye to the peak of the feeder and its gentle landing place. The woodpecker doesn’t seem to notice as it remains still and focused on the cake. A squawk from the jay brings a flurry of seven other jays to the feeder, the ‘all clear’ signal being well received. Still, the woodpecker remains unperturbed by the new guests. Even with all the movement and chaos around him, the woodpecker’s focus never wavers from the cake. He is singularly focused … this is what mindfulness looks like.
As New Year’s resolutions and promises are made, we can all learn from the resolve of the woodpecker. Amid commotion and bursts of activity around us, when deluged with crowds who invade our space and even in extreme weather conditions … we, too can be mindful. We can resolve to concentrate on a singular activity, to hone in on a sole task, to be present in the moment we’re in without being distracted by the busy-ness of others. We can immerse ourselves in what is going on right in front of us with a little practice and attention.
We can resolve to limit our habit of getting swamped by multitasking and having time slip away unseen, while we stay in our heads reviewing ideas, sorting schemes or endlessly going over our thoughts. 2018 can be the year that we change our mindset from out-molded habits and replace it with stillness that keeps us in the now. We can resolve to stop wasting a good part of our lives dwelling on past regrets and fantasizing future disasters, and instead take on being here now… where everything really happens.
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How does alcohol cause cancer?
From The American Cancer Society Most people know that heavy drinking can cause health problems. But many people might not know that drinking alcohol also can raise their risk of getting cancer.
Cancers linked to alcohol use
Alcohol use has been linked with cancers of the:
Mouth
Throat (pharynx)
Voice box (larynx)
Esophagus
Liver
Colon and rectum
Breast
Alcohol may also increase the risk of cancers of the pancreas and stomach.
For each of these cancers, the more alcohol you drink, the higher your cancer risk.
Cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, and esophagus: Alcohol use clearly raises the risk of these cancers. Drinking and smoking together raises the risk of these cancers even more than drinking or smoking alone. This might be because alcohol can help harmful chemicals in tobacco get inside the cells that line the mouth, throat and esophagus. Alcohol may also limit how these cells can repair damage to their DNA caused by the chemicals in tobacco.
Liver cancer: Long-term alcohol use has been linked to an increased risk of liver cancer. Regular, heavy alcohol use can damage the liver, leading to inflammation and scarring. This might raise the risk of liver cancer.
Colon and rectal cancer: Alcohol use has been linked with a higher risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. The evidence for this is generally stronger in men than in women, but studies have found the link in both sexes.
Breast cancer: Even a few drinks a week is linked with an increased risk of breast cancer in women. This risk may be especially high in women who do not get enough folate (a B vitamin) in their diet or through supplements. Alcohol can also raise estrogen levels in the body, which may explain some of the increased risk. Cutting back on alcohol may be an important way for many women to lower their risk of breast cancer.
Does the type of alcohol matter?
Ethanol is the type of alcohol found in alcoholic drinks, whether they are beers, wines, liquors (distilled spirits), or other drinks. Alcoholic drinks contain different percentages of ethanol, but in general, a standard size drink of any type — 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor — contains about the same amount of ethanol (about half an ounce). Of course, larger or ‘stronger’ drinks can contain more ethanol than this.
Overall, the amount of alcohol someone drinks over time, not the type of alcoholic beverage, seems to be the most important factor in raising cancer risk. Most evidence suggests that it is the ethanol that increases the risk, not other things in the drink.
How does alcohol raise cancer risk?
Exactly how alcohol affects cancer risk isn’t completely understood. In fact, there might be several different ways it can raise risk, and this might depend on the type of cancer.
Damage to body tissues
Alcohol can act as an irritant, especially in the mouth and throat. Cells that are damaged by the alcohol may try to repair themselves, which could lead to DNA changes that can be a step toward cancer.
Bacteria that normally live in the colon and rectum can convert alcohol into large amounts of acetaldehyde, a chemical that has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals.
Alcohol and its byproducts can also damage the liver, leading to inflammation and scarring. As liver cells try to repair the damage, they can end up with mistakes in their DNA, which could lead to cancer.
Effects on other harmful chemicals
Alcohol may help other harmful chemicals, such as those in tobacco smoke, enter the cells lining the upper digestive tract more easily. This might explain why the combination of smoking and drinking is much more likely to cause cancers in the mouth or throat than smoking or drinking alone.
In other cases, alcohol may slow the body’s ability to break down and get rid of some harmful chemicals.
Effect on absorption of folate or other nutrients
Alcohol might affect the body’s ability to absorb some nutrients, such as folate. Folate is a vitamin that cells in the body need to stay healthy. Absorption of nutrients can be even worse in heavy drinkers, who often have low levels of folate. These low levels may play a role in the risk of some cancers, such as breast and colorectal cancer.
Effects on estrogen or other hormones
Alcohol can raise the levels of estrogen, a hormone important in the growth and development of breast tissue. This could affect a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
Effects on body weight
Too much alcohol can add extra calories to the diet, which can contribute to weight gain in some people. Being overweight or obese is known to increase the risks of many types of cancer.
Along with these effects, alcohol may contribute to cancer growth in other, unknown ways.
Other long-term health effects from drinking alcohol
Most people know about the short-term effects of drinking alcohol, such as its effects on mood, concentration, judgment, and coordination. But alcohol can also have longer-term health effects. These can vary from person to person.
For some people, alcohol is addictive. Drinking can become heavier over time, leading to serious health and social problems. Heavy drinkers who suddenly stop drinking can have physical withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, confusion, hallucinations, seizures, and other serious problems over the next few days. In some people these can be life-threatening. This doesn’t mean that heavy drinkers should not stop drinking. It does mean that heavy drinkers should talk with their health care team about the safest way to stop drinking.
Over time, heavy drinking can cause inflammation (hepatitis) and heavy scarring (cirrhosis) in the liver. This can lead to liver failure. Heavy drinking can also damage other organs, such as the pancreas and the brain, and can raise blood pressure. It also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
In pregnant women, alcohol use, especially heavy drinking, may lead to birth defects or other problems with the fetus.
On the other hand, low to moderate alcohol use has been linked with a lower risk of heart disease in some people. Low to moderate use is usually defined as 1 or 2 drinks a day for a man or 1 drink a day for a woman. The potential benefit of lowering heart disease risk has to be weighed against the possible health risks for each person.
What does the American Cancer Society recommend?
As part of its guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention, the American Cancer Society recommends that people who drink alcohol limit their intake to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink a day for women.
The recommended limit is lower for women because of their smaller body size and because their bodies tend to break down alcohol more slowly. These daily limits do not mean it’s safe to drink larger amounts on fewer days of the week, which can still lead to health, social, and other problems.
Alcohol use has been linked to several types of cancer and other health risks, but this is complicated by the fact that low-to-moderate alcohol intake has been linked with a lower risk of heart disease. Still, lowering the risk of heart disease is not a compelling reason for adults who don’t drink alcohol to start.
There are many ways to reduce heart disease risk, including avoiding smoking, eating a diet low in saturated and trans fats, staying at a healthy weight, staying physically active, and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.
According to the 2010 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, some groups of people should not drink alcoholic beverages at all. These include:
Children and teens
People who cannot limit their drinking or who are recovering from alcoholism
Women who are or may become pregnant
People who plan to drive or operate machinery
People who take part in other activities that require attention, skill, or coordination or in situations where impaired judgment could cause injury or death
People taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines that interact with alcohol
People with certain medical conditions (such as liver disease or pancreatitis)
Alcohol use during and after cancer treatment
Many studies have found a link between alcohol intake and the risk of developing certain cancers. But it is not clear whether alcohol use after treatment might increase the risk of these cancers coming back (recurring). In theory, it’s possible that alcohol use might raise the risk of recurrence. For example, alcohol can increase the levels of estrogens in the body, which might increase the risk for breast cancer recurrence. But there is no strong evidence from studies to support this.
In people who have already been diagnosed with cancer, alcohol intake could also affect the risk of developing a new cancer.
There are some cases during cancer treatment in which alcohol clearly should be avoided. For example, alcohol – even in very small amounts – can irritate mouth sores caused by some cancer treatments, and can even make them worse. Alcohol can also interact with some drugs used during cancer treatment, which might increase the risk of harmful side effects. It’s important to talk with your doctor about this if you are being treated for cancer.
But for people who have completed cancer treatment, the effects of alcohol on cancer recurrence risk are largely unknown. It’s important to discuss this with your doctor. Factors that can be important include:
The type of cancer
Your risk of recurrence
Your treatment(s)
Your overall health
Other possible risks and benefits of drinking
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