A Requiem For An Alcohol Nightmare On The Wrong Way Drug Abused Lost highway

On July 26, Diane Schuler entered a busy upstate highway going the wrong direction with her 2-year-old daughter and three young nieces, ages 8, 7 and 5, in the car with her. All were killed when she collided with a SUV, going the right way down the same highway. The crash also killed all three men in the SUV: Guy Bastardi, 49; his father, Michael Bastardi, 81; and a family friend, Daniel Longo, 74, all of Yonkers. Only Schuler’s 5-year-old son survived.

Until yesterday, why Diane Schuler was driving the wrong direction was unknown. Yesterday it became known.

She was drunk and stoned; driving and, at least at that moment, living “under the influence”.
Schuler’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of 0.19 said State Police Maj. William Carey, and she still had undigested alcohol in her stomach.

According to authorities, Schuler had more than 10 drinks of alcohol in her system and a broken 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in her wrecked minivan.

Blood tests also showed that she had smoked marijuana 15 minutes to an hour before the crash, said Betsy Spratt, chief toxicologist for the Westchester County medical examiner.

This example is extreme because it shows the final chapter of alcohol and drug abuse in it’s most horrific, high relief. Imagine the sense of helplessness and confusion of those children in their final moments of life, riding with a mother/aunt, someone they loved and trusted, drunk and out of control. (Or maybe, like so many children who ride in the back seat with a drunk parent at the wheel, myself included, they just learned to look out the window and get lost in the world passing by.) Imagine the pain of the family members of the children who were killed and that of the families of the innocent passengers of the SUV that Schuler, in her stupor, plowed into.

The truth is, it’s too horrible to imagine and it is too close to the bone, it just plain affects too many of us. That is why this issue of addiction is such a tough thing to talk about. Even as I write this I want to apologize for saying something so upsetting. But then I remember the cardinal lesson that I learned growing up with addiction. It’s that all too often it’s the person who says there is a problem who gets in trouble, not the person who is the problem. Saying that there is something that’s wrong becomes the sin, not doing it.

According to Sis Wenger, President/CEO of The National Association for Children of Alcoholics, (www.NACOA.org) addiction isn’t something people want to acknowledge or talk about. “It’s an uphill battle when it comes to raising both awareness and funds to train all those who touch the lives of children to learn that doing a little can make all the difference in ‘reaching into the darkness and helping a hurting child.’” Apparently, people will give to save one child from leukemia or poverty but will balk and become uncomfortable when it comes to helping the silent suffering of those children who are trapped in families where a parent is abusing alcohol or other drugs. They will give to museums, humane societies, even to save trees, rivers and streams, but when it comes to saving the minds, hearts, and in this case, lives of children who grow up every day with the helplessness and hopelessness of a parent who abuses drugs and alcohol, it’s a much tougher sell.

The sad truth is that children who live with addicted parents get in the car with drunk moms and dads every day. They fetch their beers for them, get sent to the store for cigarettes because their parent is too smashed to go themselves or simply sit lonely in front of TV sets, trying their best to take care of themselves because their parent wants them quiet and out of the way. Kids in these homes learn well how not to set their parents off. It is the hyper-vigilance I have been talking about for the last few weeks in my articles on co-dependency.

The word co-dependent, in point of fact, came straight out of twelve step rooms. It actually began as co-addict. Co-dependent originally referred to those people who were in “dependent” relationships with an addict like spouses and children. The roots of co-dependency encompass the kind of hopelessness and fear experienced by children and spouses when they are forced to witness someone they love and “depend” upon behaving in ways that put their minds, hearts and, in this case, their lives at risk. The only thing different here is that this mother was at the wheel of a car. But mothers and fathers are always at the wheel, steering the lives of their children. Parenthood is stressful, if you learn to cope with the added stress and anxiety of parenting with alcohol and drugs, many lives are adversely affected.

When I asked Sis Wenger what might have been done to prevent this tragedy she gave me a list of questions that we can ask ourselves:

• “Who knew – and didn’t act? She was a “good mom”, so are a lot of alcohol abusing mothers. But unfortunately, it’s their drunkenness or their disease that all too often drives their actions, not their rational thinking or their good hearts.

• I wonder if her doctor ever did a brief screening and intervention — does her doctor do that routinely; if not why as the evidence is powerful that it saves lives (and families), and the tools are available and free.

• Did the children’s teachers know; is there a student assistance program in their school which could help children living with alcohol or drug abusing parents learn to cope and be safe?

• Did the family belong to a faith community; who in the congregation knew and did nothing; did the pastor know there was a drinking problem?

• She was apparently loved at work. Did the employer have an Employee Assistance Program; did the employer’s insurance program cover addiction treatment? Did her colleagues know but do nothing to intervene? Why?

• Who knew and thought she was such a nice person they didn’t want to offend her? Why do we let the nicest people we know sink into this fatal disease until a tragedy happens or they just die too young?

• When are pediatricians, family practitioners and nurses going to stop feeling too afraid to ask the simple question of children ” “anyone in your family you are worried about because of their drinking or drug use?”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans, has identified substance abuse as the nation’s number one health problem. According to a new survey conducted by Roper ASW for the Council of Public Relations Firms, one in every four Americans believes drug and alcohol addiction is the nation’s most serious health issue, placing the problem ahead of heart disease, cancer and depression.

Our prayers go out to Dianne Schuler’s son, husband and relatives who will be living with this horror for the rest of their lives and to the Bastardi and Longo families. All who have now become statistics of alcohol and drug related losses.

Our prayers also go out to all of those spouses and children who daily live with the fear, sorrow and terror of addiction, who never make the papers or show up in statistics but whose lives are forever altered by living with the legacy of addiction.

Binge Drinking, Last Two Brain Cells Sue For Damages

By RICK NAUERT PHD Senior News Editor 

Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on June 28, 2011

Once considered a rite of passage from adolescence to adult hood, experts now believe binge drinking can cause serious brain damage.

Binge drinking, or heavy episodic drinking, has typically been explained as a behavior in which adolescents act out their independence. In the new study, researcher Tim McQueeny studied high-resolution brains scans on a sample of 29 weekend binge drinkers, aged 18 to 25.

He discovered that binge drinking — consuming four or more drinks in one incident for females and five or more drinks for males — was linked to cortical thinning of the pre-frontal cortex, the section of the brain related to executive functioning such as paying attention, planning and making decisions, processing emotions and controlling impulses leading to irrational behavior.

McQueeny, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Cincinnati,  examined the brain’s gray matter, the parts of brain cells that do the thinking, receiving and transmitting of messages.

“We have seen evidence that binge drinking is associated with reduced integrity in the white matter, the brain’s highways that communicate neuron messaging, but alcohol may affect the gray matter differently than the white matter,” he said.

McQueeny wanted to discover if the drinking episodes altered the thickness of gray matter among college-age young adults. He discovered that as the number of drinks went up, cortical thinning occurred.

He is now interested in pursuing future research to examine whether binge drinking is affecting the brain’s gray matter and white matter differently, or if they’re both equally affected.

“Alcohol might be neurotoxic to the neuron cells, or, since the brain is developing in one’s 20s, it could be interacting with developmental factors and possibly altering the ways in which the brain is still growing,” he says.

Binge drinking is not an isolated phenomena, as a publication from the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that 42 percent of young American adults between 18 and 25 have engaged in binge drinking.

McQueeny said that the depressant effects of alcohol emerge later in life, so for young adults, the effect of alcohol can be very stimulating and activate tolerance over time.

“In the past, in terms of what’s known about the physical toll of alcohol, the focus on neurobiology has been in pathological populations and adult populations who were disproportionately male, so there was a significant gap in research in terms of when people started risky drinking. We’re looking at developmental aspects at an age when binge drinking rates are highest, and we’re also looking at gender effects,” said McQueeny.

“There might actually be indications of early micro-structural damage without the onset of pathological symptoms such as abuse, or dependence on alcohol.”

Senior author Krista Lisdahl Medina, Ph.D., added, “Our preliminary evidence has found a correlation between increased abstinence of binge drinking and recovery of gray matter volume in the cerebellum. Additional research examining brain recovery with abstinence is needed.”

In terms of educating young adults about responsible drinking, Medina said there appear to be better efforts about communicating the dangers of drinking and driving.

“However, people can still be doing damage to their brain as a result of the prevalence and acceptance of binge drinking. There is also evidence that drinking below the binge level may be less harmful,” she said.

The Daily Double, The Pill Pusher And John Barley Corn The Overdose Duo OfAddiction

The mystery of Whitney Houston’s death will not be solved for several weeks, as the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office awaits a full toxicology report. But many experts speculate that the singer’s tragic demise involved a deadly cocktail of alcohol and prescription drugs, including Xanax.

Houston wouldn’t be the first star to suffer such a fate: Heath Ledger, Michael Jacksonand Anna Nicole Smith are all thought to have died in part from prescription drug overdoses, which can involve painkillers, sedatives and stimulants, often in combination with alcohol. But the problem extends far beyond Hollywood. In 2007 some 27,000 Americans died from unintentional prescription drug overdoses—making prescription drugs a more common cause of accidental death in many states than car crashes are.

A slippery slope
Although sedatives are thought to have played a role in Houston’s death, most prescription drug overuse involves opioid painkillers. Approximately 3 to 5 percent of people who take pain medication eventually end up addicted, according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an arm of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. And “individuals who have a past history of a substance-use disorder—from smoking, drinking or other drugs—are at greater risk,” she says. Addiction to other classes of prescription drugs such as sedatives, stimulants and sleepmedications is thought to be less common—but it occurs, and even users who do not become compulsively addicted can, over time, become physically dependent and experience intense withdrawal symptoms when their prescriptions run out. They might also develop drug tolerance, the need to take higher doses over time to feel the same effects.

Other people start taking prescription drugs just to get high, perhaps in part because they have the (false) notion that prescription drugs are safer to experiment with than are illicit drugs. “They take them for recreational purposes, and then a portion of them find ‘Wow, I can’t stop using this,’” says Jon Morgenstern, director of addiction treatment at the Columbia University Medical Center.

It is unclear how Houston developed her substance problems, but like many other addicts, she eventually began mixing drugs along with alcohol. Many prescription drug users who are not addicted or dependent consume alcohol concurrently as well, despite medical advice against it. According to a 2008 study published by researchers at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, 60 percent of people who regularly take prescription drugs known to interact with alcohol also drink, and 5 percent have at least three drinks in a row when they do.

Prescription drugs and alcohol can be a dangerous combination, Volkow says. Painkillers and booze are perhaps the worst to mix, because both slow breathing by different mechanisms and inhibit the coughing reflex, creating “a double-whammy effect,” she says, that can stop breathing altogether. Alcohol also interacts with anti-anxiety drugs (including Xanax), antipsychotics, antidepressants, sleep medications and muscle relaxants—intensifying the drugs’ sedative effects, causing drowsiness and dizziness, and making falls and accidents more likely. A 2010 study published in theCanadian Journal of Public Health reported that automobile drivers were much more likely to weave and speed if they were under the influence of drugs like Xanax in addition to alcohol than if they had consumed alcohol alone. And according to a 2011 study published in the AmericanJournal of Therapeutics, people who visited an emergency room after taking too much of the sleeping drug Ambien were more than twice as likely to end up in an intensive care unit if they had also consumed alcohol, compared with Ambien-takers who had not had anything to drink.

The Alcoholic Roller Coaster Hooks Up With The Merry Go Round Addict:  The Brass Ring Or Die On The Ride?

Not soon enough and never! Relationships are difficult; whether it is the ongoing give and take of two people sharing their lives, understanding and communicating with our children or just getting along with co-workers and friends. Add to the mix a silent partner like drugs or alcohol, and the difficulty factor increases substantially.

So what or where or when is our breaking point? For everyone it’s different.
Often guilt, shame, pity, fears of being alone or just plain laziness keeps us in relationships that we know are toxic; whether it is with an alcoholic/addict or not. We find ourselves exhausted at the end of the day from just doing our jobs, getting the kids to school or whatever life is throwing at us. Often, we just don’t have the strength or energy to confront our partner or make waves if we witness their unstable or irresponsible behavior due to substance abuse. We have become numb to this kind of relationship and therefore have settled by bumping along the bottom holding on to an eyelash width of hope that maybe tomorrow will be different; either they will change or we might find the strength to change these circumstances ourselves.

I have compiled what I call The Pyramid of Change; 6 phases of the alcoholic/addict from the beginnings of irresponsible behavior to full blown wreckage. I will discuss 2 this week and 4 on my next blog.

Do you find yourself in phase 1 or 2…or way beyond?

Phase 1 - Regardless of what stage you are in a relationship, or whether you’ve started to become aware of your child’s unfamiliar behavioral patterns, something tells you that things are just not right. You are beginning to witness little, almost insignificant spikes of illogical behavior that you accept as mood swings, simple frustrations regarding work, school or just daily occurrences. It’s no big deal, a passing interruption in what you are used to as a normal, stable life. You might mention something now and then about their behavior being a bit odd, but are easily appeased with their answer and things usually get back to normal…for a time.
Phase 2 - You are aware that what felt unsettling in Phase 1 is becoming more consistent and hard to just slough off as a bad day at the office or losing a football game. Broken promises, questionable and irresponsible behavior start creeping up more and more. You are scared to probe too deeply as it might incite anger, and chances are you’re not ready to face the reality that there may be a problem; because if there is one, what then?
Though you are uneasy about the excuses, you accept them and they convince you once again that as soon as “A, B or C” is taken care of in their life, then this rocky ship will stabilize. Nonetheless, the alcoholic/addict admits that he/she might be ready to “get a handle on things”. You are buoyed and hopeful that your loved one has come to this conclusion, and you breathe a sigh of relief.
I want to flag a scenario. If the alcoholic/addict continues to struggle in “getting a handle on things”, you may become an easy target to blame for their problems and lack of commitment. How convenient to lay at your feet that your attitude, physical appearance or anything you do or say is the reason they are not behaving as they once did or how you would like them to.
I had a client that was in a relationship with a man that she suspected might have a substance abuse issue. Every time she would bring up these concerns he would turn the tables and blame her for the instability in his life. He would accuse her of spending too much money, and when she cut down on the expenses, he switched gears to her appearance. Once again, in the hopes of him aborting this road toward substance abuse, she would lose the weight or cut her hair; but she finally realized it was all an exercise in futility for no matter what she did or did not do, he continued to indulge his addiction.
Though it’s easier said than done, don’t buy into this. This is a complete cop-out on their part and a very useful and protective way for them to deflect their problem or issues back on to you.

If a loved one is in their addiction dealing with a substance abuse issue, it will always be difficult to roll up your sleeves and have an honest, thoughtful conversation with them. You never know if you are talking to them alone or their silent partner is speaking for them.

Next week I will discuss phases 3 – 6.

On another note: a very big and grateful thank you for all the comments on my last blog regarding Al-anon. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your view points and they have given me much food for thought. Please keep your comments coming; I grow and learn from you as you hopefully do from me.

If I can be of service to you or your family, please e-mail me at Carole@familyrecoverysolution.com or go to http://familyrecoverysolutions.com/free_one_hour_session.htm

Exercise Is A Treat When Addiction Pedals A Fast Retreat

By Kristine Lockwood

Addiction can come in any shape and form, from shopping and sex to alcohol and nicotine. And while most people won’t make the cut for “My Strange Addiction,” treating addictions of any kind can be incredibly complex. But adding exercise into the mix might be one way to strengthen the effects of treatment, research suggests.

Endorphin Distortion — Why It Matters
When an individual is trying to recover from addiction, the body and mind miss whatever was producingendorphins in the brain, responsible for that “high” feeling. Add in everyday stress, which can heighten cravings, and the recovery process can be a knockdown, drag-out fight.

More from Greatist:
How Much Water Should I Drink?
What Is a Brain Freeze?
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But where do the push-ups, sprints and squats come in? It can be common for an individual to become depressed during withdrawal, so behavioral treatments can help an addict foster healthy, drug-free living, both physically and emotionally. And since exercise also causes the release of endorphins (which can act as that natural high after an especially good sweat session) along withendocannabinoids (a marijuana-like substance which can enhance the natural high), it’s possible working out can help an individual cope with the recovery process.

Studies also show exercise can reduce stress, because galanin (a chemical found in the brain during exercise) seems to diminish certain stress-related cravings. Other research has found that smokers report fewer withdrawal symptoms and less intense cravings after a trip to the gym. Stick with exercise long-term, and it might even diminish drug-seeking behaviors (along with that midsection).

Flying High — The Answer/Debate
To take a closer look at the effects of exercise on drug addiction, scientists turned their usual furry subjects into real-life gym rats. Injected with drugs like nicotine, morphine, alcohol and amphetamines (don’t worry, not all at the same time), the group of rats put in a cage with an exercise wheel tapped the drug dispensing lever far less often than their non-exercising counterparts.

One possible conclusion: The rat race became an alternative to the drugs, perhaps making them slightly less susceptible to becoming addicted. Another possibility: When exercise endorphins start to kick in, working out may help with treatment by replacing one feel-good activity with another.

Still, it may just be that exercise serves only as a distraction: When focusing on the next set, it’s possible an addict has no time to think about the next fix. And while exercise alleviates some of the symptoms of withdrawal, it may not improve long-term abstinence. Keep in mind, too, that for some, exercise can become an addiction all its own(although the chances of this becoming a problem are pretty slim).

While exercise by itself is no cure for addiction, it can be an additional tool to help build (or rebuild) a healthy life.

For more on addiction and recovery, click here.

Pills And Booze, A Choice To Lose   Or A Sick Brain Inflamed, Broken And Maimed

I like to think that we are making great progress in the fight against the stigma of mental illness — a fight that is necessary to ensure that people of any age with psychiatric or learning disorders feel comfortable getting the care they need. Once-taboo issues like depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD and dyslexia are now out in the open, and everyone from pop stars and movie stars, to soldiers and professional athletes, are comfortable admitting their problems and seeking help, we’ve come a long way.

But we still have a long way to go. Even those who are kind, caring and non-judgmental when it comes to most psychiatric disorders, from selective mutism to schizophrenia, may change their tune when talk turns to drug abuse and addiction. “Drunks,” “junkies,” “stoners” — we look down on them because they “chose” to become addicted to drugs. They “chose” to ruin families and relationships. They made a “choice” that cost them their lives in an overdose.

This “choice” is a false one. Drug abuse and addiction are tragic things, but they are not character traits. Just as depression is a no-fault mental illness, so is addiction. And just as depression can tragically lead to suicide, so addiction can lead to self-inflicted death by overdose. They are both mistakes — profound mistakes — that the illness makes people more likely to make. But we can, should and must help suffering young people avoid them. This means tackling addiction, which takes the lives of people every year. But how?

A recent New York Times article tells the sobering story of an Ohio county in the grip of a prescription drug abuse epidemic that has taken the lives of many young people. In the article, Sabrina Tavernise lays out some devastating statistics: In Scioto County, almost 1 in 10 babies test positive for drugs at birth. In Ohio as a whole, overdoses have long since outpaced car accidents as a cause of death. Prescription drug addiction across the nation is “now killing more people than crack cocaine in the 1980s and heroin in the 1970s combined.”

I don’t have to say that the drugs abused tend not to be medications for diabetes or high blood pressure, depression or schizophrenia. They tend to be habit-forming pain medications, like the OxyContin that has claimed dozens of lives in the town of Portsmouth, Ohio.

The suggestion is that the declining economy — locally and nationally — has brought on this tragedy, and urban decay and loss of industry are certainly at play. But the article fails to recognize that the root of much prescription drug misuse is untreated mental illness, which not only can lead to drug abuse but can also be exacerbated by environmental factors, like poverty. Anxiety and depression can come unbidden, but can also be triggered by adverse experiences.

It’s the same way with addiction, which is just as much a problem of the mind. Self-medicating with prescription painkillers in stressful situations — what we call a maladaptive coping mechanism — starts many drug abusers on the road to serious problems. In the community Sabrina Tavernise writes about, the abuse is so ubiquitous it is surely a law enforcement issue. But behind the law enforcement issue and tangled with the economic issue is a mental health issue. Tavernise notes that Ohio’s governor has pledged $36 million to address the drug problem through prevention and rehabilitation, which I applaud, but what constitutes prevention? Locals want more direct police intervention, shutting down clinics that (perhaps unlawfully) dispense pain medication and the like. But the problem is more deeply ingrained in the people, nuanced and immune to the number of cops on the street.

“We’re raising third and fourth generations of prescription drug abusers now,” the Portsmouth police chief tells Tavernise. These problems are deeply rooted in families — just as some other psychiatric disorders can be — and the only way to reliably prevent them is to both intervene early with kids and treat the whole family in order to mitigate the influence of a potentially corrupting disease. The goal is to make the family what it should be — a nurturing, positive force.

Not everyone who commits suicide is mentally ill, but mental illnesses, like depression and bipolar disorder, make people feel hopeless and therefore much more likely to commit suicide. Likewise, not everyone who overdoses is addicted, but addiction greatly increases the likelihood of overdose. The bottom line is that addiction is an illness that we are able to treat and manage, if not cure, provided that we focus on the person with the addiction, the family and the community — a holistic approach to a sprawling problem.

“I miss her so much,” says the mother of an addict who was murdered by a home invader looking for pills. “If you had 100 kids, you’ll never replace the one you’ve lost.”

For this mother, I think the crime might as well have been an overdose or suicide. Her child is gone because of addiction. Let’s help make sure no more children are lost to this disease.

Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D. 

Drunk Mothers Against Mad Drivers (DMAND)

(DDAMM)

Once upon a midnight dreary a teenage named little Bill a fledgling Romeo was drunk behind the wheel of dad’s  brand new automobile with eyes so bleary he blew past the stop light in a  blackout and slaughtered Mary  the home coming Queen, the enchanted frog mascot was Fred and a fairy named Larry. Now past due Bill was indicted and then convicted of having a view to a kill and would not graduate until he paid his debt in Juliet.   The End

April Is Alcohol Awareness Month and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is taking on the issue of underage drinking. This week, MADD released a survey showing that 85 percent of Texas parents assume their children aren’t interested in drinking, yet according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in the past 30 days:

One-third of eighth graders admit to drinking

One in seven sophomores says they have been drunk

One in four seniors were drunk

Kids who start drinking in adolescence are more likely to struggle with addiction and other issues later in life. When parents minimize the dangers, they are less likely to send a clear message that drinking will not be tolerated. For some, the tragic result is drunken driving accidents, assault, accidental injuries such as drowning or falls, health problems, addiction, academic underachievement, and other problems.

Talk Without Enabling

Because of these risks, MADD is encouraging parents to talk to their kids about the serious dangers of alcohol on April 21st, a day the organization has dubbed PowerTalk 21 day. In honor of this second annual PowerTalk 21 Day, MADD’s Texas office offered informational materials, free parenting workshops and other resources to help parents start what it hopes will be a frequent and ongoing conversation.

Research by SAMHSA shows that more than half of high school students get their alcohol from adults. Many parents are under the mistaken assumption that if their kids are drinking in their home or under their supervision, they’ll be safe. In reality, the message they receive is that drinking is acceptable and certain laws can be ignored, which increases the likelihood that they will drink in other (potentially high-risk) settings. By contrast, studies show that parents who set clear rules about alcohol are 30 percent less likely to have teens that have a problem with alcohol.

 The Power of an Involved Parent

“Teen alcohol use kills 6,000 people each year, and one of the most important things a parent can do to keep their kids safe is to start an open dialogue about the dangers of underage drinking,” said MADD National President Jan Withers, who lost her 15-year-old daughter to an underage drunk driver 20 years ago. “PowerTalk 21 is the day to start this conversation, but it’s also a day for parents and other adult role models to realize the power they have in preventing youth from drinking alcohol before age 21.”

Even in adolescence, parents still have a great deal of influence. In fact, three out of four teens say their parents are the primary influence on their decisions about drinking. Talking about alcohol could save your child’s life. In spring, there are countless opportunities to start a conversation about alcohol. Whether it’s spring break, prom, a graduation party or some other event where alcohol is commonly consumed, don’t assume your child knows better. Smart kids make bad decisions, and anyone can be lured by alcohol and other drugs.