Recovery Month: A Time for Celebration and Hope
It’s easy to feel hopeless and defeated when you’ve struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years. The addiction cycle keeps many people trapped for months, years, and even decades. One [...]
COVID-19 Sends Drug Overdose Deaths Skyrocketing
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an incredible number of unpredictable circumstances and situations. From increased time spent at home as a result of such factors including job loss, children and [...]
Understanding Alcoholism During Alcohol Awareness Month
Each April marks Alcohol Awareness Month, a campaign to spread the truth about those trapped in the grips of alcohol abuse. Alcohol Awareness Month is sponsored by the National Council on [...]
Alcohol Use on the Rise During COVID-19: What Are the Consequences?
As the United States settled into their residences amidst statewide stay-at-home orders, media outlets reported skyrocketing alcohol use during COVID-19. Headlines in major news publishers pointed to rising percentages of alcohol [...]
Is Internet and Video Gaming Addiction real?
What does the word addiction mean? According to Merriam-Webster, it is the “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and [...]
Suicide is on the rise. Is mental illness to blame?
Although global suicide rates have declined nearly a third since 1990, they are on the rise in the United States. According to data released in June 2019 from the Centers for [...]
The Most Common Myths about Addiction
By: Michelle Quilter, PsyD, CASAC Frequently, individuals that struggle with substance use disorders battle societal stigma and array of misconceptions about addiction in general, often causing a barrier for seeking treatment. [...]
What should you know about Opioids?
We are recognizing National Prevention Week, an annual health observance dedicated to increasing the awareness of. and action around, mental health and substance use disorders. Each year different themes are included [...]
How can alcohol make anxiety worse?
Anxiety is a relatively common symptom of increased alcohol use, and for people who are prone to bouts of anxiety, it can exacerbate symptoms and impair functioning. Everyday anxiety over stressful [...]
Fentanyl: Everyday Life in America
Apache, China Girl, China Town, Jackpot, Murder 8 – these are just some of the many street names for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times stronger than morphine. It [...]
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, April 28, 2018, a day that addresses public safety and public health issue. Unused or expired prescriptions drugs can be safely, and responsibly [...]
How do we recognize the issue and treat alcohol abuse?
Sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD), April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a time set aside to increase awareness, understanding, reduce stigma, and encourage a focus [...]
Resisting the Stigma and Raising Awareness of Addiction: A Discussion with Heather Hayes
As Heather Hayes was gathering information for her speech, A Nation Held Hostage, she created an acronym for a call-to-action in helping fight the mental illness of addiction. RESIST is built [...]
Intervention and the Trauma of Addiction: A Discussion with Heather Hayes
Lifeskills South Florida continues our discussion with Heather Hayes as she talks about intervention and trauma and the role they play in addiction. Heather discusses the complexity of interventions as they [...]
Stigma Surrounding Addiction: A discussion with Heather Hayes
Lifeskills South Florida has worked with Heather Hayes of Heather R. Hayes & Associates on numerous cases involving complex mental health issues and the role they play in addiction. Heather sat [...]
Erasing the Mental Illness and Addiction Stigma
Mental illness and substance use disorders often have a social stigma attached which sparks a lack of compassion from others. The stigma surrounding these illnesses can hinder people from seeking treatment. [...]
Opioid Addiction Crisis continues to strike Florida
As part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) did their part to help reduce the opioid crisis. The DEA joined with more than 4,200 [...]
A Nation Held Hostage – An Interview with Interventionist Heather Hayes
Lifeskills South Florida has been fortunate to work with Heather Hayes on numerous cases involving mental health and trauma and the role they play in addiction. Heather is an International Certified [...]
Treating Chronic Pain after Battling an Opioid Addiction
Chronic pain affects a significant portion of the United States, with over 100 million Americans suffering, outpacing diabetes and heart disease, according to the American Academy [...]
Dual Diagnosis: Treating Depression and Opioid Addiction
Dual diagnosis, also commonly known as co-occurring disorders, is used when individuals experience a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder simultaneously. The Key Substance Use [...]