Leslie Glass's Blog, page 416

Why Is Fentanyl So Dangerous

Crime scene tape

The potent painkiller is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. Last week, a Canadian mother posted a picture of her dying son on Facebook to highlight the dangers of opioid abuse.

Sherri Kents’s 22-year-old son, Michael, had taken a fatal overdose of fentanyl, a pain medication said to be 50-100 times more powerful than morphine.

The drug has been linked to thousands of fatal overdoses in the U.S. and Canada in recent years, and burst into public awareness when it was linked to the death of pop star Prince in April, 2016.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4,200 deaths were caused by fentanyl in 2014, and overdoses from the drug drove a 73 percent increase in synthetic opioid deaths in the United States between 2014 and 2015. More recent figures for the U.S. are not yet available: A CDC spokesman told Newsweek that fentanyl does not have its own code for officials filling out death certificates, so deaths “are often recorded generically as a multi-drug toxic overdose.” He said the 2014 statistics were established by analyzing special death certificate notes recording the presence of the drug, and similar studies are in the pipeline.

In British Columbia (BC) and Alberta, the two hardest-hit Canadian provinces, fatal overdoses linked to fentanyl soared from 42 in 2012 to 418 in 2015, the Globe and Mail reported, citing government figures. In 2016, the drug caused 922 deaths in BC alone.

Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott has criticized provinces for not providing data to enable the federal government to get an overall picture of the scale of the crisis.

Its use may be spreading to the U.K., with police warning that a spate of drugs-related deaths in the north of England may be linked to fentanyl use.

What is fentanyl?

First developed the in the 1960s, fentanyl is an extremely powerful painkiller, used to treat severe chronic pain, or breakthrough pain which does not respond to ordinary painkillers.

As an opioid painkiller it works by mimicking the body’s natural endorphins, the hormones that block pain messages to the brain.

The drug is often prescribed to cancer patients in the form of ice pops or patches, but illicit use is spreading.

Where does fentanyl come from?

In recent years, the drug has been manufactured in illegal labs in China and Mexico, and is then trafficked to countries including the U.S. and Canada, where it is cut with heroin without the knowledge of buyers, who then overdose.

Fentanyl is also sold in the form of nasal sprays and pills, often masked to con those addicted to OxyContin, a pharmaceutical opioid weaker than fentanyl.

A previous spike in use in 2006 was traced back to a single lab in Mexico, and declined when the lab was closed down, according to a February U.S. government report. The number of illegal manufacturers has since increased.

Changes to prescription opioid OxyContin by its manufacturer that prevent it being crushed for snorting or smoking may have also inadvertently led to a rise on the use the fentanyl, Canada’s Maclean’s magazine reported.

The first indication of a spike in use came in 2015, when the Drugs Enforcement Agency announced an increase in seizures of the drug, and issued a nationwide alert about the threat it poses.

What measures have been taken?

The U.S. has introduced a range of legal and diplomatic measures to combat the spread of fentanyl.

In 2015, China responded to pressure from U.S. officials by banning the use of some of the components used to manufacture fentanyl. However, underground Chinese labs sidestepped this ban, altering the fentanyl molecule to produce new, unregulated variants of the drug, according to Science magazine.

Officials in Vermont on Thursday called for tougher sentences for those caught trafficking the drug after a spike in fatalities linked to its use, NBC reported, following states including New Hampshire, where fentanyl suppliers responsible for providing lethal doses to users have been charged with murder.

In Canada, the government introduced legislation in December 2016 tightening border search procedures, which enabled authorities to search through mail weighing 30 grams or less, with tiny amounts of fentanyl potent. But judges have been divided over whether to introduce tougher sentences for suppliers.

Content Originally Published By: Tom Porter @ Newsweek

The post Why Is Fentanyl So Dangerous appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

FDA approves once-monthly injectable buprenorphine product

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week announced it has approved a once-monthly injectable buprenorphine product for the treatment of opioid use disorder in patients who have started treatment with a sublingual film buprenorphine-containing product, such as Suboxone.

Sublocade, the once-monthly injectable, is designed for patients who have been on a stable dose of buprenorphine treatment for seven days.

Prior to its approval by the FDA, Sublocade was evaluated in two clinical studies of 848 adults with diagnoses of moderate-to-severe OUD who had begun treatment with a sublingual film buprenorphine product. Results showed patients treated with Sublocade had more weeks without positive urine tests or self-reports of opioid use, and a higher portion of patients exhibited no signs of illicit opioid use through the treatment period when compared with a placebo group.

Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, immediate past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) board of directors, says that while having more treatment options is always better for clinicians, he has “not seen in the past in the psychiatric field that introduction of injectable alternatives has always led to any significant change in how the drugs are utilized in the marketplace.”

Gitlow cites a reduction in potential diversion of medication as one benefit of the injectable, but cautions that there are negatives to be considered as well.

“Those negatives are going to be how is the doctor going to have the drug available on hand? How will doctor store drug? How will doctor pay for drug?” Gitlow says. “What about a patient with a monthly formulation on board who gets into a situation where they need co-agonist narcotics? A car accident injury, surgery, etc. Those issues all have to be considered.

“How many of the doctors who provide buprenorphine will be appropriately trained to give this drug and are willing to take on the added liability of side effects due to an injection that they don’t have when they provide the oral form?”

Sylvester “Skip” Sviokla, MD, ABAM, is a Rhode Island-based operator of a buprenorphine treatment practice that incorporates on-site counseling services and support. Sviokla says he likes the idea of a shorter-acting injectable product, but given the heightened state of risk patients are in during the early portion of their recovery, a month-long product could give patients the wrong impression about their recovery.

“The idea of an injection making people OK, at least in the first six or seven months, is not a good idea,” Sviokla tells Addiction Professional. “It says, ‘Hey, I got a shot. I’m OK.’ It downplays in patients’ mind the need to even go to further treatment that combines medication-assisted treatment with good counseling.”

In its release announcing its approval of Sublocade, the FDA notes that the injectable should be used as part of a complete treatment program that includes counseling and psychosocial support, not as a substitute for those treatment modalities.

The FDA also said it will require future studies to assess:

Which patients would benefit from a higher dosing regimen;
Whether use of Sublocade can be started without an initial period of sublingual buprenorphine usage;
The feasibility of administering Sublocade at intervals even longer than one month;
The potential for a process to transition patients with long-term stability on a transmucosal buprenorphine dose to a monthly injectable dose without the use of a higher dose for the first two months of treatment.

The post FDA approves once-monthly injectable buprenorphine product appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Poor Body Image Impacts Substance Use

Poor body image plagued me since childhood. I’ve always been the big girl. In pre-school, I compared the size of my thighs to the next girl next to me. In middle school I was put on a diet. Finally by my teens, I discovered the miracle cure: drugs. For the next twenty years, I used drugs control my poor body image.

Restrict, lose weight, become popular and attractive to men, binge, gain weight and become unpopular/unattractive, restrict and regain control. I repeated this cycle for my entire teens, twenties, and early thirties.

I Felt Ugly And Huge From An Early Age

As a young child, I never learned to have a healthy relationship with my body.  I was taller than most of my peers, but like most kids, I didn’t want to be different. I just wanted to fit in. My peers did what kids do best; they pointed out my differences. Hence, I was nicknamed Big Bird.

I never received affirmation that I was: worthy enough, beautiful enough, or capable enough, and I never thought to question others perception of me. Instead, I accepted it as the truth. I learned that my self-worth and social acceptability depended on the image of my body.

A Dangerous Fix For My Poor Body Image

When I discovered that cigarettes, alcohol, and amphetamines enabled me to restrict my appetite, I was hooked. Inevitably, I lost weight because I’d starve myself during the day, eating just one meal in the evening. I wouldn’t eat at all at weekends. I watched with palpable excitement as I starved, lost weight, and suddenly became attractive to boys. Of course, that made the girls hate me even more—no news there.

As I gained popularity among the boys, I started hanging around with people much older than me. These teenagers and young men took heavier drugs. Before long, I was taking amphetamines on a regular basis, and becoming involved in increasingly precarious positions—like hanging out with a 36 year old drug dealer.

The puppy fat dropped off and I transformed into a young woman. For the first time in my life I felt a level of control. While I loved the newfound attention—that was nearly as addictive as the drugs—I still had a poor body image. I’d look at myself in the mirror with disgust. All I saw were my imperfections:

Too much fat on my hips
Too tall
My hair wasn’t straight enough
My skin was spotty.

Of course, as a teenager, it didn’t help that my perception of the perfect body was communicated via glossy magazines—of women who were stick thin, with airbrushed skin that glowed, and beautifully straight hair. If I can just lose another ten, or twenty pounds, I can be as happy as them.

Body Image Doesn’t Equate Happiness

Their image was no more a reflection of their happiness than mine.

An image tells you nothing of someone’s state of mind. I might have been thinner, with a modicum of perceived self-control over my weight, but I was always looking for more faults—and I always found them.

When I was two years sober, I woke up. I realized my self-esteem had nothing to do with how I looked. And how I looked had nothing to do with my self-worth. Recovery enabled me to see myself, and not the outer shell: the inner me. I finally saw:

The beauty in my talents
That I was smart
I had a dry wit that people adored
My warmth made people feel accepted and loved
My crazy talent for communicating my feelings on screen
An ability to connect to others innermost self
People told me that I disarmed their barriers.

Now that is true beauty.

The Root Cause Of My Addiction

The longer I’ve been in recovery, the more I’ve lessened my grip on controlling my appearance. As I worked on my desire to escape myself with substance, I realized food is but a facet of addiction. Food was another vehicle for my escapism.

By becoming present, and eating nutritious foods, I’ve stopped unhealthy and restrictive behaviors. I’ve finally fallen in love with myself. My life has shown me I had it the wrong way around: I had to start loving my insides first. After I learned to love my inner beauty, I was able to see my external beauty:

My height
The sparkle in my crystal blue eyes
The depth in my wavy brunette hair
The womanly curves that carry this beauty around all day

Today, I’m absolutely enough.

The post Poor Body Image Impacts Substance Use appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

9 Tips For Family Addiction

 

Family addiction is not isolated to one person who may be using. Addiction is passed on through generations and everybody is affected. 

Family addiction is complicated. Intergenerational addiction studies examine how addictions are passed on through the generations – great grandparents/grandparents/parents/children.

Numerous ongoing studies continue to show the propensity of substance use disorders (SUD) being a family disease, not only regarding how the illness affects all members of a family, but how each generation may have an impact of the course of the disease.

How Does One Become An Alcoholic/Addict?

Genetics/biological impact (most significant cause)
Environmental factors (such as living in high risk communities and/or home, poverty, poor health care)
Peer Pressure and/or being in a relationship with someone who uses (friends, older siblings, college parties, etc.)
Historical trauma (such as the Native American population)
Co‐occurring disorders (such as mental illness or history of personal trauma)
Modeling the behavior of parents, other adults, or friends (they use drugs/alcohol so it’s normal for you to use)
Early use of alcohol or drugs (childhood and teen use make one more susceptible to addiction)
Addictive potential of the chemical itself (for example, cocaine is a highly addictive substance)

Children and Teenagers: Does a family history of SUDs affect you? YES. It can affect you in many ways including:

Family members who are addicts may affect the family dynamic in unhealthy ways (poor boundaries such a child parenting the adult, abuse, neglect, poor living situations or poverty, etc.)

The genetic history is a strong predictor of addictions in each subsequent generation.

But My Parents Don’t Use So I Shouldn’t Have a Problem:

Yes and No. If there is a history of addictions with your biological family, you are still at risk. Genetics account for about 50‐60% for you having a higher risk of being addicted ‐ even if your parents aren’t addicted. So it is very possible if you use substances, you will have a problem. Likewise, a percentage of children won’t have an addiction and can be social users of various substances (social users do not have consequences related to their use such as drunk driving,

increased tolerance, losing a job, etc.) However, as noted above, you are also at risk due to other factors such as peer pressure, the addictiveness of the chemical, etc.)

But it Skipped a Generation:

Genetics continue to influence you, even if your parents aren’t addicted. So it doesn’t really skip a generation although it may appear that way. Also, you may have other relatives such as aunts or uncles who are addicted.

Your parents may not use because they grew up in an addictive family and don’t use because they don’t want to create the same unhealthy family dynamics with you as they had growing up. In actuality, they may be prone to being addicted, but will never know because they don’t use. This is why it appears to skip a generation.

So What Should I Do?

 Since addictions thrive in secrecy, you need to talk, talk, and talk some more to trusted family members or other adults such as family friends, a teacher, counselor, or spiritual mentor. Do not allow the “elephant in the living room” syndrome to take over and pretend that nothing is wrong. Communication is a must. You need to understand your family history and how it may impact you.
 Secondly, become knowledgeable through your own learning. Read and educate yourself. This helps you to be in charge of your life. Do not allow an addiction to rule you; your life is yours to live and hopefully, to live in a healthy manner.
Set boundaries with others. Do not let peer pressure force you to use to be “popular.” Let others know that you’re at risk for addictions and that you choose not to use because of this.
Model your behavior on those who you admire, trust, and respect.
Socialize with others who want to live free of addiction; they really do exist.
 Attend 12‐step meetings such as Ala‐Teen or Al‐Anon and Nara‐Teen or Nar‐Anon which focus on issues that children/teens or adults of addicted parents/other family members may have, or ACA Teen or ACA (adult children of alcoholics – also called ACOA)  that explore the special issues and concerns about growing up in an addicted family system.
Be involved in healthy activities such as school groups, the arts, sports, clubs, hobbies, and school‐led support groups for children and teens of addicted families.
See a counselor who can help you deal with family issues, grieve, and learn healthy coping skills.
 And finally, know that you are not alone. There is a lot of help out there. Seek it out.

Carol Anderson, D.Min., ACSW, LMSW

For more about Carol Anderson

The post 9 Tips For Family Addiction appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

5 ways to cope with holiday cravings

 

What emotional triggers challenge your food or substance recovery during the holidays? You may need all 5 emotional coping skills to help your beat your holiday cravings.As a person who struggles to deal with challenging emotions—fear, loneliness, shame, guilt, worry, joy, excitement, sadness, despair—I often resorted to food, drugs, and alcohol to avoid them. Without drugs and alcohol, emotions can feel intense, overwhelming, and threatening.

Emotional Coping For Holiday Cravings

Now, feeling emotions is a normal part of life—it is part of being human. Recovery isn’t the absence of emotion, rather learning to cope with those emotions, as difficult as they are, while letting go of ineffective patterns of thought and behavior. It isn’t easy on a good day; it takes time and practice. So at times of stress—like the holidays—this can turn into a pressure cooker of emotions, ready to burst. We may feel that our emotions are so strong that they are taking control of our thoughts and we may resort to old behavior to cope. This is why the holidays, or any other stressful scenario, pose a risk of relapse or engaging in unhelpful and ineffective behaviors—such as emotional overeating.

Holiday Emotion Triggers

I often feel triggered in the home environment. I’m the only female among many brothers, the only one who isn’t married and with children, the one without a corporate or medical career. And I’m in recovery. I feel different to my siblings and my self-esteem and sense of worth is deeply compromised—not by how I’m treated necessarily, but more how I compare myself—so I can feel very strong emotions in that environment. And feeling overwhelmed by those negative emotions makes me want to do one thing: escape. The very first substance I used for this was food. Eating my feelings has been a well ingrained behavior and coping strategy of mine since I was six years old.

Know Your Pattern Of Emotions

Knowing this pattern of emotions, thoughts and behavior has helped me make great strides in my emotional recovery—and I don’t emotionally eat like I used to. However, at times of emotional stress, I can still revert back to it. Which is why it is really important that I have a coping strategy for my emotions at stressful times. These are my trusted tools:

Mindfulness Meditation.

I spend time checking in with my body, how I feel, and noting any difficult emotions I’m feeling. That way I can witness those feelings and emotions without letting them take over. How am I feeling, why am I feeling that way? It is just a habit to let negative feelings take over, or is there really something wrong today? These are some of the questions I may ask myself. I don’t let default bad feelings take over. That’s what mindfulness can do. If you’re not a meditator. Just breathing also helps to calm down.

Journaling

A lot of people in recovery use the tool of writing to identify feelings and then process them. When you say Writing about my emotions are a great way to process them and take the power out of them. I also make it a practice to look at what I have done right that day—such as journaling, and meditating—and what I am grateful for to change my mindset to a positive outlook.

Exercising

It’s a fact that exercise lifts your mood. Many people in long term and successful recovery use exercise as a primary tool to feel good. During the holidays when food calls from every direction, the feel good spike that exercise brings is even more important. I exercise every day during the holidays—even if it is a walk around the block. Getting out of the environment helps me regain perspective.  The endorphins from exercise improve my mood and lessen the power of the emotions I feel.

Talking Therapy

Talking helps and should be a part of all recovery programs. During the holidays when reunions may get you down, talking it over with a trusted friend or mentor can made the difference between a good day and a bad one. Whether it is a friend in recovery, or a therapist, I make a point of checking in with someone every day who knows that I am at home, and that I can feel triggered. In the same way as journaling, it takes the power and intensity out of my feelings.

Taking A Pause Break

They say a craving passes in fifteen minutes. Is it a trick that works for you? When I feel like overeating, I try to pause and check in with my body and mind. Sometimes waiting ten minutes, doing a short meditation, or having a glass of water helps pass the craving to revert to overeating.

 

 

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The post 5 ways to cope with holiday cravings appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

5 ways to cope emotionally with holiday cravings

 

What emotional triggers challenge your food or substance recovery during the holidays? You may need all 5 emotional coping skills to help your beat your holiday cravings.As a person who struggles to deal with challenging emotions—fear, loneliness, shame, guilt, worry, joy, excitement, sadness, despair—I often resorted to food, drugs, and alcohol to avoid them. Without drugs and alcohol, emotions can feel intense, overwhelming, and threatening.

Holiday Emotional Coping

Now, feeling emotions is a normal part of life—it is part of being human. Recovery isn’t the absence of emotion, rather learning to cope with those emotions, as difficult as they are, while letting go of ineffective patterns of thought and behavior. It isn’t easy on a good day; it takes time and practice. So at times of stress—like the holidays—this can turn into a pressure cooker of emotions, ready to burst. We may feel that our emotions are so strong that they are taking control of our thoughts and we may resort to old behavior to cope. This is why the holidays, or any other stressful scenario, pose a risk of relapse or engaging in unhelpful and ineffective behaviors—such as emotional overeating.

Holiday Emotion Triggers

I often feel triggered in the home environment. I’m the only female among many brothers, the only one who isn’t married and with children, the one without a corporate or medical career. And I’m in recovery. I feel different to my siblings and my self-esteem and sense of worth is deeply compromised—not by how I’m treated necessarily, but more how I compare myself—so I can feel very strong emotions in that environment. And feeling overwhelmed by those negative emotions makes me want to do one thing: escape. The very first substance I used for this was food. Eating my feelings has been a well ingrained behavior and coping strategy of mine since I was six years old.

Know Your Pattern Of Emotions

Knowing this pattern of emotions, thoughts and behavior has helped me make great strides in my emotional recovery—and I don’t emotionally eat like I used to. However, at times of emotional stress, I can still revert back to it. Which is why it is really important that I have a coping strategy for my emotions at stressful times. These are my trusted tools:

Mindfulness Meditation.

I spend time checking in with my body, how I feel, and noting any difficult emotions I’m feeling. That way I can witness those feelings and emotions without letting them take over. How am I feeling, why am I feeling that way? It is just a habit to let negative feelings take over, or is there really something wrong today? These are some of the questions I may ask myself. I don’t let default bad feelings take over. That’s what mindfulness can do. If you’re not a meditator. Just breathing also helps to calm down.

Journaling

A lot of people in recovery use the tool of writing to identify feelings and then process them. When you say Writing about my emotions are a great way to process them and take the power out of them. I also make it a practice to look at what I have done right that day—such as journaling, and meditating—and what I am grateful for to change my mindset to a positive outlook.

Exercising

It’s a fact that exercise lifts your mood. Many people in long term and successful recovery use exercise as a primary tool to feel good. During the holidays when food calls from every direction, the feel good spike that exercise brings is even more important. I exercise every day during the holidays—even if it is a walk around the block. Getting out of the environment helps me regain perspective.  The endorphins from exercise improve my mood and lessen the power of the emotions I feel.

Talking Therapy

Talking helps and should be a part of all recovery programs. During the holidays when reunions may get you down, talking it over with a trusted friend or mentor can made the difference between a good day and a bad one. Whether it is a friend in recovery, or a therapist, I make a point of checking in with someone every day who knows that I am at home, and that I can feel triggered. In the same way as journaling, it takes the power and intensity out of my feelings.

Taking A Pause Break

They say a craving passes in fifteen minutes. Is it a trick that works for you? When I feel like overeating, I try to pause and check in with my body and mind. Sometimes waiting ten minutes, doing a short meditation, or having a glass of water helps pass the craving to revert to overeating.

 

 

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The post 5 ways to cope emotionally with holiday cravings appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Is It Adolescence Or Addiction

In August, my tweenage son, Keith, found the seedy underbelly of the internet. At 40, I’m still too young to see the graphic images he saw. Here’s why I’m treating his obsession like an addiction.

My first line of defense was an awkward conversation about what sex is and is not. He promised to never look at those videos again. I believed him. After all, some curiosity is normal, right?

In September, I again found trashy images in his browser history. I lectured. He promised. This pattern repeated more times than it should have. I changed passwords. We then developed a written contract.

When he violated our written contract, I took his device away and hid it in my bedroom. Later that night, when Keith thought I was asleep, I heard bare feet running through the house. Keith was in the office digging through my desk drawers. He padded back through the house and stood over my bed. I pretended to be asleep. He opened my nightstand drawer, but didn’t find his device. Next, he went through my purse. From there, he went to the garage to search my car.

I crept down the dark hall. In silence, I locked the garage door, trapping my son inside. Then I waited for him to realize he was caught. He screamed and yelled at being found out. He didn’t show any remorse at being caught.

My Son’s Drive Deepens

For the month of October, Keith had no technology. Over Thanksgiving break, I let Keith try to re-establish trust with me by giving him limited use of his device without any wifi privileges. I was still hoping this was a passing phase.

This week, Keith tried to take his phone into the youth service. When I noticed this breach, I told him to put his phone in my purse. He did and we both went on to our separate services. Later during the service, I noticed his phone was not in my purse. My stomach was sick, and I was overcome with dread. I walked down to the youth auditorium. Keith was using the internet on his phone. I was devastated. I returned to my service, too heartbroken to listen.

Keith’s drive for this device reaches beyond natural curiosity. I know addiction. I’ve lived with addiction. Keith’s lying is all too familiar. So is the sadness of being less important than the drug of choice. I don’t want this for me or my kid. Worse than that, he is so driven to get what he wants. I am afraid that this is only his drug of the day. What will happen when he tries his first beer or joint?

How Keith’s Addiction Harms Me

Addiction steals peace and harmony. Addiction pulls me to live in the future. My mind races with thoughts, “What if he is arrested?” Addiction lies to me and says “You’re only O.K. if Keith is O.K.” Keith’s illness shines a light on my own illness.

I love Step 12. It says, “Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.” I practice my recovery in all of my affairs because my illness has affected ALL of my affairs.

My Go To Recovery Tools

Keith’s dishonesty sent me back to the basics:

Live one day at a time. I had plans to do some grocery shopping after church, so I refused to let my mood change my plans.
Keep my mouth shut. I didn’t say anything when I took the phone, and I didn’t say anything in the car after the church. Before I even made a decision, I talked it over with my sponsor and my therapist. Keith is old enough to understand a delayed consequence.
Finally, I put the focus back on me. To recover from the set back, I cleaned my bedroom and gave it a mini-spa makeover. I also gave myself a pedicure and watched a movie. I took the time to eat healthy, protein rich meals, and I did yoga. I’m determined to enjoy my life whether Keith ends up in prison or not. The disease may end up taking my son, but it will not have two victims.

I decided the best way to handle Keith’s complete lack of respect was to take away every single belonging in his bedroom. He can earn them back, but for now they are all in the storage unit and he is sleeping in a room with nothing, but his bed.

Even though I am his parent, I can’t make Keith obey my commands. The only person I can change is me.

The post Is It Adolescence Or Addiction appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Brace Yourself for a Miserable Flu Season: This Year’s Vaccine Has Been Failing in Australia

If you haven’t received a flu vaccine yet, no worries—but you should get one soon. There may be a severe influenza season ahead of us in the United States, public health experts warned this week.

The warning comes after a severe flu season that wrapped up in the Southern Hemisphere.

“Reports from Australia have caused mounting concern, with record-high numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza notifications and outbreaks and higher-than-average numbers of hospitalizations and deaths,”  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious, and his colleagues wrote in a commentary published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the report, the authors also note that vaccines may fail to protect against a certain strain of the virus called influenza A or H3N2.

“Given that most of the U.S. influenza-vaccine supply is currently produced in eggs and the composition of the 2017-2018 Northern Hemisphere vaccine is identical to that used in Australia, it is possible that we will experience low vaccine effectiveness against influenza A viruses,” Fauci, his Australian counterpart, and two World Health Organization officials wrote.

Tom Frieden (R), Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) receives a flu vaccine during the Influenza Outlook 2015-2016: Preparing for the Upcoming Season press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2015. Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

H3N2 was the most predominant flu strain among Australians and unfortunately, the vaccine did little to protect them. According to preliminary estimates, the vaccine was only 10 percent effective.

“As we prepare for a potentially severe influenza season, we must consider whether our current vaccines can be improved and whether longer-term, transformative vaccine approaches are needed to minimize influenza-related morbidity and mortality,” the authors wrote.

Therefore, the team urges striving towards creating a universal vaccine that would protect against all strains of the flu virus.

Older adults may be especially be at risk this flu season, Danuta Skowronski, an influenza epidemiologist at the British Columbia Center for Disease Control, told STAT. She’s worried that not only the H3N2 strain will impact them, but also another strain that’s circulating, called B Yamagata, has a history of taking a toll on older people.

The Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon (C) looks on as a nurse administers the H1N1 vaccine to an elderly lady during the launch of the National pandemic (swine flu) influenza vaccination campaign at Swan Park Leisure Centre on September 30, 2009 in Perth, Australia. Four centres have been established by the WA Health Department to administer the new vaccine, which will be offered also in all States and Territories to anyone over the age of 10 free of charge from today. Paul Kane/Getty Images

Despite this year’s vaccine being less effective than usual, health officials still advise getting vaccinated to protect against other strains of the virus. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended getting vaccinated by October, it’s not too late.

If you choose to get vaccinated now it, “can still be beneficial and vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even into January or later,” the CDC advises.

The post Brace Yourself for a Miserable Flu Season: This Year’s Vaccine Has Been Failing in Australia appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

10 Ways To Know If You Are An Adult

As my children grew from toddlers, to teens, to towering over me, I often find myself looking for signs that they are full fledged adults or as they say, “adulting.” I see people who think of themselves as adults everyday, but sometimes they are only emotional toddlers stomping around demanding others make their life easier.

The 10 signs I look for are small and often overlooked, but as far as I am concerned they tell me a great deal about an individual’s maturity level. Here are my top ten signs someone is an adult:

1. An Adult Make Their Bed Every Day

I know this sounds silly, but it starts the day off with an accomplishment and as an added bonus it rewards us at the end of our day with a made up bed. Our Intern wrote a article about the importance of making your bed. Making your bed everyday may not be easy, but nothing adults do is easy.

2. Adults Finish What They Start

From putting the clean clothes away to painting the baseboard. “Children start projects, but adults finish them.” I have heard it said, “When you are stuck for an answer find the nearest finish line and cross it.” It can be anything from wiping the fingerprints off the front door to returning a DVD to the RedBox to  putting your grocery cart back. Once some of my grown-up kids discovered the good feeling of crossing finish lines they started looking for them everywhere. They stopped starting a new project every weekend and started looking instead for projects to complete.

3. Adults Are On Time

Ask any boss what is important to them. Simple stuff, like being on time every day. Yes, life is busy and we can all over schedule ourselves. That is one reason I love the slogan, “Keep It Simple.” If I can’t make it to places on time it is often a sign for me to stop trying to please too many people. Being on time, every time, to everything, will put someone miles ahead of someone who is constantly “running late.”

4. Adults Don’t Come Empty Handed

Even if they have little to offer,  adults will find a  way to share something. I often look to see if my children remember to bring something when they are invited to a celebration. For Thanksgiving one year my daughter was flat broke, but she stopped and bought an off-brand of soda to share. It costs her $.50, but showed that she was thinking of others even during her own hard times. She was only 19 years old, and her siblings were impressed that she contributed what she could. I have seen adults stop and pick flowers if they had nothing else to bring. Adults think of others and reflect that with their actions.

5. Adults Pick Up After Themselves And Others

My kids were like so many others when they were teens, just close the door and hope for better days. Well, they aren’t kids anymore and how they keep their places tells a lot about their ability to manage their life. While cleaning up after ourselves makes sense to most people, even harder is the idea of picking up after someone else. Walking down a beach and finding litter left by a total stranger is fairly common. My friend is great about picking up litter others have thrown down. I try hard to adopt his attitude of remembering the higher good is to have a cleaner environment. Messes are a part of life. Cleaning up after ourselves and others is a big part of being an adult. Our town has a clean up day every year. It was where I first learned the importance of cleaning up after others.

6. Adults Know How To Manage Money

Adults understand the concept of delayed gratification. I like to think  my children are in control of their money and not panicked because they forgot to look before buying an item they felt they “had to have.” Adults keep track of where the money goes and more than that they tell their money where to go. I am still trying to be better with my money, but I know starting with a goal of knowing where it is keeps me in touch with my limitations and helps me avoid financial drama.

7. An Adult Know How To Argue

Grown Ups find ways to compromise with each other. Adults allow others to finish what they are saying. Adults don’t always agree, but they know it is important that everyone feels heard. To avoid a heated argument they can say, “You may be right.” With this attitude, adults look for common ground and focus on finding solutions. Being level headed, tolerant,  and calm is a welcome characteristic in today’s world.

8. Adults Know How To Entertain Themselves

Children fuss when life is boring. Adults enjoy the opportunity to let their brain decompress. Adults don’t need constant stimulation and understand that quiet is a rare gift in our often over-stimulated culture. They embrace the quiet and are simply patient or find something to occupy themselves with until the situation changes.

9. Adults Return The Things They Borrow

Adults return things they borrowed in better condition than when they received them. How many times in my youth did I return something I had accidentally broken while using and thought an apology was sufficient. Eventually I learned if I broke it I would need to buy a replacement. Adults take borrowed clothes to the dry cleaners before returning them. They wash the car and fill it with gasoline before returning it. They know the owner risked trusting them and want to show appreciation for that trust. This also helps get a yes the next time you need to borrow something from a friend.

10. Finally, Adults Don’t Constantly Complain

They accept life on life’s terms. Adults have survived bad teachers, bad bosses, and bad days. They have learned words of gratitude can pause their desire to bitch and moan about everything that doesn’t go their way. I pay close attention to what my children do when they have a job or college class they don’t like. It can be a real marker of where they are on the road to maturity.

I would like to thing my adult children are making progress toward becoming fully developed adults, but only time will tell. Too many times in our culture today there seems to be a  disconnect between being of service to our fellow man and being served. The good news is it is never too late to grow up.

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The post 10 Ways To Know If You Are An Adult appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Why I Quit Alcohol

I haven’t had a drink with alcohol in nine years. The first thing I would have told you back then was that I am not an alcoholic. I have always had a stop button. Alcohol was not my problem. I stopped at one-and-a-half martinis. (Actually, that’s quite a lot.) I never fell down, got arrested, cracked up the car, lost my job, or made a spectacle of myself. Well, I did make a spectacle of myself once or twice in heated political discussions. But that may not have been just the alcohol.

Anyone who likes vodka more than food is going to get loud. I admit that once, after my kid was newly sober, I preferred to stay home and have a martini to taking the sober kid to dinner. After all, the sober kid had stood me up so many times and done so many bad things I couldn’t even begin to count.

Drinkers Do Know They Are Dependent On Alcohol

I knew the day of standing up the sober kid, that alcohol actually mattered to me. Surprise. The fact that the sober kid was still a whiner at the time, wasn’t loving life yet, and didn’t seem to care much for me, was not the point. See, if you’re a drinker you think about it all the time, even if you only drink in moderation. Alcohol and substances are powerful tools to alter your moods. Sugar and caffeine are intoxicants, too. Hundreds of millions of people are dependent on alcohol and other substances. No judgment. It’s just the truth. I’m having a coffee right now.

Quitting Alcohol Is Weird And Changes Your Life

I quit alcohol and substances (except for aspirin) because I wanted to honor my sober kid by not having a valium when I was terrified on a plane, and not having that one martini every day at 5PM. I wanted to know what being sober in a drinking world felt like. I did it for solidarity with “the sober community.” I found out that not drinking in a drinking world is weird. But wonderful and much less expensive. My sober kid actually cared. But the major benefits of sobriety were to me and only me.

Nine Years After Quitting Alcohol My Life is Really Different

I like not thinking about alcohol.
Life is fun and funny all the time. I crack myself up.
There is a lot less turbulence and drama.
I don’t have to worry about driving home impaired.
I don’t need Xanax or Valium either to sleep or to fly.
I have grandchildren. And much Gratitude.
I am more tuned in to nature.
They say I’m nicer.
Relationships are awesome.
Whatever happens, I am not afraid.

Now my favorite drink is Lemonade. I have one and a half lemonades every single day.

If you need help with addiction or mental health, check out Recovery Guidance the free and safe resource to find professionals in your area.

The post Why I Quit Alcohol appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.