Can I Become Addicted to My Anxiety Medication?
What is Anxiety? Having anxiety is a difficult issue suffered by millions. It is much more than just butterflies in your stomach before going on stage or before an important event – it can be crippling and can cause severe impacts on one’s life, and you may need to be on anxiety medication to help with the symptoms. According to anxiety.org, there are many anxiety-related disorders, and they are divided into three main categories: Anxiety disorders Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders Trauma and stressor-related disorders Anxiety disorders are characterized by a general feature of excessive fear (i.e. emoti...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - October 8, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Jaclyn Uloth Tags: Addiction Addiction Recovery Addiction to Pharmaceuticals Anxiety Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment PTSD anxiety medication benzodiazepines Source Type: blogs

Is Addiction Hereditary?
Looking at Your Family History It can be widely speculated that addiction can be hereditary. If there are addicts in your family, it could be possible that their behaviors can be passed on to you, as well. When considering this, it is important to look at your family history, especially your parent’s. Numerous studies show the cause of addiction can be broken down to 50 percent genetic and 50 percent issues with coping skills. Further studies have shown that children of addicts are up to 8 times more likely to also develop an addiction. One study in particular took 231 individuals who had been clinically diagnosed with a...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - September 20, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Jaclyn Uloth Tags: Addiction Addiction Recovery Alcohol Alcoholism Depression Depression Treatment Drinking Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment Dual Diagnosis and Eating Disorder Treatment Mental Health family family disease hereditary Source Type: blogs

Anxiety and Addiction
Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is a complex condition that affects millions of people all over the world. It is a broad term in itself and can look different on everybody. It is literally defined as: “a nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically with compulsive behavior or panic attacks.” Often times, anxiety and addiction can also go hand-in-hand. Much like anxiety, panic attacks can be completely different for everybody who experiences them. You may experience all symptoms, or only some. Some symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks may include: Rapid heartbeat ...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - September 11, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Jaclyn Uloth Tags: Addiction Addiction Recovery Addiction to Pharmaceuticals Addiction Treatment and Program Resources Alcohol Alcohol Rehab Information Alcoholism Anxiety Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment Dual Diagnosis and Eating Disorder Treatment Source Type: blogs

Depression: Common medication side effect?
This study is especially thought-provoking, given that more and more people are taking medications with depression or suicidal thoughts as possible side effects. The CDC just released updated data showing a troubling recent rise in suicide rates, and that 54% of those who die from suicide do not have a known mental health disorder, so this is an important public health issue. That said, it is important to note: in this study, people who used these medications were more likely to be widowed and have chronic health problems, both of which are associated with a higher risk of depression. And many (but not all) of these medica...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 16, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Anxiety and Depression Drugs and Supplements Health Source Type: blogs

A pediatrician ’s healing spirit: treating depressed, anxious, and suicidal teens
I had not one, but two suicidal teen patients today. This is only one day after I had an eight-year-old suicidal patient come to see me. Three weeks ago, a 17-year-old female walked in, she had hung herself in her closet one month earlier — saved only by the timely breaking of the crossbar of her closet — passed out on the closet floor by her mother. A 16-year-old male coming in for a routine physical examination confided that earlier in the year, he had slept for over 36 hours after ingesting a bag of his friend’s mother’s Xanax in an attempt to take his life. Ten years ago, teen depression, struck me like a bolt ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 3, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/uchenna-umeh" rel="tag" > Uchenna Umeh, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Pediatrics Psychiatry Source Type: blogs

I Guess This Means The Federal Government Is Moving Forward With RTPM.
This popped up last week:Health to build national data exchange for prescription trackingBy Justin Hendry on Jun 21, 2018 6:54AM For real-time monitoring system.The Department of Health will establish a national data exchange for transferring prescription information between states and territories in real-time.The exchange is the first piece of work for the national prescription monitoring system, which was funded with $16.4 million last year to target the misuse of certain prescription drugs.The system will be used to instantly alert pharmacists and doctors if a patient has previously been supplied with prescription-only ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - June 26, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

Might Depression Be Linked to One of These Popular Medications?
If you’re taking beta blockers, certain kinds of anxiety drugs, certain types of painkillers (including ibuprofen), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (used to treat acid reflux), ACE inhibitors (used to treat high blood pressure), or anti-convulsant drugs, you may be at greater risk for depression. That’s according to a new, large-scale study published earlier this week in JAMA. However, this was a correlational study, so it can’t say that these medications actually cause depression or not. It may be that people with greater health problems are more likely to take one of these medications and be depressed abo...
Source: World of Psychology - June 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. Tags: Depression General Medications Psychiatry Research Drugs cause depression popular medications Source Type: blogs

BBC - Future - Pain bias: The health inequality rarely discussed
In 2009, my doctor told me that, like"a lot of women", I was paying too much attention to my body. Saying there wasn't an issue, he suggested I just relax and try to ignore the symptoms.The decision seemed to run counter to what my records showed. A few weeks earlier, I had ended up in the emergency room with chest pains and a heart rate hitting 220 beats per minute. The ER crew told me it was a panic attack, gave me Xanax and told me to try to sleep.I'd had panic attacks before. I knew this episode was not one. So I went to my doctor.He put me on a heart monitor overnight. Bingo: I had another episode, t...
Source: Psychology of Pain - May 31, 2018 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs

Internet support forums for benzodiazepine withdrawal: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Since the advent of the internet and rise of social media, patients can connect and compare their experiences with prescribed drug withdrawal. A problem that was once considered rare is a worldwide epidemic that is finally getting noticed.  A recent New York Times article discussed the problems many have discontinuing antidepressants, and more than 8,800 readers responded about their difficulty stopping these drugs. Another recent article discussed the role of online communities in supporting patients withdrawing from prescribed drugs. This led me to reflect on my observations as both a doctor and patient navigating onlin...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 5, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/christy-huff" rel="tag" > Christy Huff, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Medications Psychiatry Source Type: blogs

Stop Stigmatizing Psychiatric Treatment!
Stigma is a sticky, two-sided issue, one that we talk about often in our field of psychiatry.  Many things are stigmatized. While mental illness is an obvious one --and I'll come back to this-- many other things are stigmatized as well.  To name just a few: drug use, smoking, being a criminal, going to jail, behaving in a disruptive way, smelling badly and being physically unkempt in certain settings, begging for money in public, being on public assistance (in certain circles), beating your children (again, in certain circles), incest (in all cultures), being morbidly obese (especially when it happens in someone ...
Source: Shrink Rap - April 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Unknown Source Type: blogs

Rappers: Stop glamorizing prescription drug use
During his 2004 stand up “Never Scared,” Chris Rock said, “I love rap music, but I am tired of defending it.” That statement, for me, holds true more today than ever before. Mumbling about nonsense is already hard to defend and only gets worse when the first line to every song these days has a reference to drugs. Drugs, sex, and money have always been an important part of music, and it never really bothered me — until I became a physician and continuously witnessed drug overdoses in teens and young adults leading to their death. Rappers have now made it “cool” to take prescription drugs and sedatives ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - February 26, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/hassan-patail" rel="tag" > Hassan Patail, MD < /a > Tags: Physician Psychiatry Public Health & Policy Source Type: blogs

Why Can ’t I Shut Off My Mind?
Beth came to therapy because she could not stop her mind from worrying. She’d think about the same things over and over, get stuck in a thought with no solutions loop. She’d wake up obsessing about her future and blaming herself for past mistakes. Intellectually she knew she just had to do her best and take everything a day at a time. But she could not quiet her mind. Ruminating, as defined by Webster’s Medical Dictionary, is “obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice especially when it interferes with normal mental functioning; specifically: a focusing of one’s attention on negative or distressi...
Source: World of Psychology - January 10, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW Tags: Anxiety and Panic Fear Obsession OCD Worry Source Type: blogs

Thync Relax Pro: A Medgadget Review
Conclusion While the Thync Relax Pro might have shown a glimmer of hope in actually calming us down, its frustrating design quirks ultimately made us feel anything but relaxed. Thync will need to go back to the drawing board and redesign the device if it hopes to make its bioelectronic therapy successful with consumers. More information and a link to purchase a Thync Relax Pro: Thync website… Flashback: Medgadget @ CES 2015: Thync Mood Stimulating Wearable… (Source: Medgadget)
Source: Medgadget - November 10, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Scott Jung Tags: Exclusive Neurology Psychiatry Source Type: blogs