Mental Illness
Mental Health Awareness Month: B4Stage4
Brad Lamm, CIP Statistics show that many of us start down the road of addiction when we begin to self-medicate undiagnosed anxiety or mental health disorders with drugs, alcohol or food. This May, Mental Health America (MHA) is sponsoring Mental Health Awareness Month, with the goal of bringing awareness to mental illness before the most…
Read MoreSafe from Self-Harm
Brad Lamm, CIP Cutting. WebMD calls it a practice that is foreign and frightening to parents and loved ones of those who partake. Although it may seem like it, it is not a suicide attempt. Cutting is a form of self-injury — where a person is literally making small cuts on his or her body,…
Read MoreDual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
Brad Lamm, CIP According to the National Alliance of Mental Health, dual diagnosis is a term used to describe people with a mental health disorder who have coexisting problems with drugs and/or alcohol. Recent studies suggest that nearly one-third of people with all mental illnesses and approximately one-half of people with severe mental illness, such…
Read MoreEarly Childhood Trauma and the Disease of Addiction
Brad Lamm, CIP We know that addiction is a disease and can be treated as such. But recently, science has begun to make the association between early childhood trauma and the susceptibility to substance abuse later in life. Although I can easily make the connection between the traumatic experiences in my childhood and my substance abuse…
Read MoreRobin Williams: Fame + Self Shame
by Brad Lamm, CIP | The world has lost one of the great comedian and actors of our lifetime: Robin Williams. He made the world sing and laugh in delight, and will forever remain in our hearts. He suffered from addiction and struggled with depression. While death from this disease is more common than we’d…
Read MoreSmoking and Suicide
Brad Lamm, CIP | Smoking cigarettes is often referred to as slow suicide. With the damage and health detriments that come with inhaling repeatedly, it can take years off a life. A new study shows that there is a correlation between smoking and suicide. Smoking cigarettes isn’t just a form of suicide, it can…
Read MoreGuns and Mental Illness: A Deadly Combination
by Brad Lamm, CIP While the debate on gun control is a slippery slope, a major component in many recent shootings is the effect of mental illness when untreated or undiagnosed. Leaving out the issue of who should have access to guns, mental illness is a glaring issue in today’s society, and is not something…
Read MorePrescribing Addiction to Cure Anxiety
by Brad Lamm, CIP The use and abuse of prescription drugs is an ongoing issue in today’s society that continues to get worse. According to CNN, Xanax was the most commonly prescribed drug in 2011, and that same year Xanax related ER trips more than doubled to 123,744 from 57,419 6 years earlier. With such…
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