The 4 Best Drug Documentaries on Netflix Right Now Culture & MediaBy Promises Behavioral HealthNovember 5, 2015In the mood for a documentary on Netflix tonight? You can’t do much better than these four examinations of our nation’s drug policy in action, in the past and today. Expect to see much that’s troubling, but expect to be enlightened as well, not just about our nation’s love/hate relationship with substance use, but also…
Just Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder? 20 Tips From Those Who’ve Been There Mood DisordersBy Promises Behavioral HealthNovember 5, 2015A bipolar disorder diagnosis can prompt a multitude of feelings — anxiety, disbelief, confusion, fear. But it can also bring hope. You at last learn the source of the dramatic shifts in mood and energy you’ve been feeling, that it can be treated and managed, and that many others who share your diagnosis are living…
When Drugs End a ‘Fairytale Life,’ Parents Find Solace in Helping Others News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 29, 2015Denise Cullen made a deal with her son, Jeff, when he was young. If he waited until he was 25 to get a tattoo, she’d pay for it, whatever he wanted. It was a way of keeping him from getting something he’d later regret.
New Research About the Teenage Brain News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 29, 2015The prevailing theory about teenagers’ brains is that the prefrontal cortex — which is thought to control complex cognitive behavior and planning — isn’t fully developed. But new research out of the University of Pittsburgh is beginning to challenge that premise. The research was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual…
Online Role-Play Tool Shows Military Families How to Help Their Heroes Mental Health, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 26, 2015The young serviceman is back from deployment, safe again in his family home but having trouble sleeping, drinking more than usual, and uninterested in old friends and activities. His parents’ concern heightens with each day, but they aren’t sure how to approach their son without making matters worse.
Retailers Asked to Pull ‘Mental’ Halloween Costumes Mental Health, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 23, 2015Go Halloween costume shopping online and you’re sure to see them: “Gone Mental” costumes for adults and children with blood-stained tunics and straitjackets, “Asylum” wall decorations, even a 6-foot “Animated Asylum Patient” complete with “crazy” facial expression and blood-stained teeth.
Runner’s High: How Evolution Explains It Behavioral Addictions, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 21, 2015The so-called runner’s high has an evolutionary explanation, according to researchers who have been exploring the phenomenon. A study by a team at the University of Arizona, led by David Raichlen, PhD, a professor in the School of Anthropology there, has found evidence to suggest that the runner’s high is an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism unique…
Is Your Addict Child Making You Crazy? 5 Ways Al-Anon Can Help Adolescent IssuesBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 14, 2015Shame and isolation are two unwelcome companions in the daily lives of parents of young addicts. There’s the shame of having a child who is heading for “jail, not Yale.” There’s the shame of having intensely negative feelings about the child you love. And there’s the shame of descending into dysfunctional parenting: enabling, screaming, lecturing,…
Drug Overdose Deaths Up 250 Percent Since Late ’90s, CDC Says Drug AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 13, 2015It is no secret that drug overdose deaths have increased substantially in the 21st century, but until now few have realized just how dramatic the rise in drug poisoning fatalities has been.
Jed Foundation Fills a Campus Mental Health Need and Honors a Loss Adolescent IssuesBy Promises Behavioral HealthOctober 10, 2015When Phil and Donna Satow lost their son, Jed, to suicide in 1998, they met with the president of the college he’d been attending to try to gain some understanding. Were there suicide prevention programs their son might have turned to, they asked. There was a counseling service, the president said, but it was shared…
