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Morningside Recovery starts highly unique program for video and online gamers

Morningside Recovery, a leading substance abuse and mental health recovery center in Southern California, has founded a highly unique, all-inclusive recovery program focusing on compulsive video and online gaming—a growing issue among teen and young adult males.

16 Nov 2013

Studies prove that students use prescription drugs to enhance cognitive performance

American and European studies prove that students use prescription medication or drugs to enhance their cognitive performance. Researchers from the universities of Zurich and Basel examined whether Swiss students have also experimented with neuroenhancement and which substances they take by conducting a survey of 6,725 students with an average age of 23 at the two universities and ETH Zurich.

16 Nov 2013

Spirituality in teens linked with increased positive social behaviors, reduced narcissism

If the spirit is truly willing, perhaps the flesh is not so weak, after all. Increased spirituality in teens undergoing substance abuse treatment is associated with greater likelihood of abstinence (as measured by toxicology screens), increased positive social behaviors, and reduced narcissism, according to a study by researchers from The University of Akron, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and Baylor University.

15 Nov 2013

Over 50% of nonsurgical patients prescribed opioids during hospitalizations, analysis finds

Amid a growing climate of concern regarding the overuse of opioid pain medications, a comprehensive analysis of more than 1 million hospital admissions has found that over 50 percent of all nonsurgical patients were prescribed opioids during their hospitalizations -- often at very high doses -- and that more than half of those exposed were still receiving these medications on the day they were discharged from the hospital.

14 Nov 2013

'Quitting cold turkey' can lead to mental decline, shows study

Can quitting drugs without treatment trigger a decline in mental health? That appears to be the case in an animal model of morphine addiction. Georgetown University Medical Center researchers say their observations suggest that managing morphine withdrawal could promote a healthier mental state in people.

13 Nov 2013

Researchers recommend strategies to improve overall wellbeing of adults with developmental disabilities

Adults with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome are having a harder time accessing health care even though they have more health issues than people without developmental disabilities, according to research done at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

13 Nov 2013

New view can give scientists better understanding of how antidepressants work in human brain

Research from Oregon Health & Science University's Vollum Institute, published in the current issue of Nature, is giving scientists a never-before-seen view of how nerve cells communicate with each other.

13 Nov 2013

Life events influence genes important for memory and drug use

New human and animal research released today demonstrates how experiences impact genes that influence behavior and health. Today's studies, presented at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, provide new insights into how experience might produce long-term brain changes in behaviors like drug addiction and memory formation.

13 Nov 2013

Parental supervision at ages 11-14 lowers risk for problem gambling by age 22

Keeping an eye on your child can lower their odds for gambling by young adulthood, according to research conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Adolescents who had poor parental supervision at age 11, and which continued to decline through age 14, were significantly more likely than their peers to be problem gamblers between ages 16-22.

12 Nov 2013

Studies suggest novel therapies for nicotine, heroin and gambling addiction

Studies released today suggest promising new treatments for nicotine and heroin addiction, and further our understanding of pathological gambling and heroin abuse in those suffering chronic pain.

12 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Shinseki's efforts haven't yet solved VA's problems; treating children with mental illness is complicated; abuse of painkillers

Just in time for Veterans Day, the embattled secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric K. Shinseki, announced last week that his department had reduced its backlog of overdue disability claims from more than 600,000 in March to about 400,000. "The trend line is in the right direction," Shinseki told reporters, noting that the VA had cut the number of claims older than a year by 93%. With hundreds of thousands of cases still unresolved, Shinseki hasn't gotten much credit so far -; but to the surprise of his critics, he's on track to achieve his goal of eliminating the backlog by 2015. Still, that won't solve all the VA's problems; far from it (Doyle McManus, 11/10).

12 Nov 2013

Father's cocaine use may make sons less sensitive to drug and more likely to resist addictive behaviors

A father's cocaine use may make his sons less sensitive to the drug and thereby more likely to resist addictive behaviors, suggests new findings from an animal study presented by Penn Medicine researchers at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

12 Nov 2013

Administration's mental health parity rule is part of effort to curb gun violence

The long-awaited final regulation will guarantee most insurance coverage offers access to mental health services on par with physical health coverage.

12 Nov 2013

Long-awaited rules requiring parity in mental health coverage to be unveiled today

The Obama administration on Friday will complete a generation-long effort to require insurers to cover care for mental health and addiction just like physical illnesses when it issues long-awaited regulations defining parity in benefits and treatment (Calmes and Pear, 11/8).

11 Nov 2013

Parity rule affirms equal insurance coverage for mental health care

The regulation, five years in the making, means insurers won't be able to charge higher co-payments or deductibles for mental health services than they charge for treating physical ailments. Here's a sampling of this afternoon's news coverage of the final rule.

11 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 8, 2013

Today's headlines include coverage of President Barack Obama's apology to people who lost their individual market health coverage because of requirements of the health law.

8 Nov 2013

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation announces recipients of NARSAD Investigator Grants

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (formerly known as NARSAD, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression), under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, President & CEO, has announced the latest recipients of its NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants.

8 Nov 2013

Cocaine addicts may become trapped in drug binges due to emotional lows, says study

Cocaine addicts may become trapped in drug binges - not because of the euphoric highs they are chasing but rather the unbearable emotional lows they desperately want to avoid.

7 Nov 2013

SRI International awarded NIDA contract to study new treatment therapies for substance abuse

SRI International has been awarded a five-year contract valued up to $9.75 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct preclinical safety studies of potential new medications to treat substance abuse. SRI researchers will study potential drug-drug interactions between new treatment therapies and common drugs of abuse to assess potential adverse reactions.

6 Nov 2013

Gambling addiction leads to brain function abnormalities that affect decision-making capacity

University of Granada researchers have analysed similarities and differences in psychological profile and brain function when comparing cocaine addicts and gambling addicts. The study reveals that gambling addicts present brain function abnormalities affecting their decision-making capacity.

6 Nov 2013

Addiction News and Research

Morningside Recovery starts highly unique program for video and online gamers

Studies prove that students use prescription drugs to enhance cognitive performance

Spirituality in teens linked with increased positive social behaviors, reduced narcissism

Over 50% of nonsurgical patients prescribed opioids during hospitalizations, analysis finds

'Quitting cold turkey' can lead to mental decline, shows study

Researchers recommend strategies to improve overall wellbeing of adults with developmental disabilities

New view can give scientists better understanding of how antidepressants work in human brain

Life events influence genes important for memory and drug use

Parental supervision at ages 11-14 lowers risk for problem gambling by age 22

Studies suggest novel therapies for nicotine, heroin and gambling addiction

Viewpoints: Shinseki's efforts haven't yet solved VA's problems; treating children with mental illness is complicated; abuse of painkillers

Father's cocaine use may make sons less sensitive to drug and more likely to resist addictive behaviors

Administration's mental health parity rule is part of effort to curb gun violence

Long-awaited rules requiring parity in mental health coverage to be unveiled today

Parity rule affirms equal insurance coverage for mental health care

First Edition: November 8, 2013

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation announces recipients of NARSAD Investigator Grants

Cocaine addicts may become trapped in drug binges due to emotional lows, says study

SRI International awarded NIDA contract to study new treatment therapies for substance abuse

Gambling addiction leads to brain function abnormalities that affect decision-making capacity

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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