By: Sarah Surrey, LCSW What if I told you that it was anxiety that’s kept most of the human species alive this long? You know the feeling. It keeps you up at night, and leaves you jittery in the day. You’re ultra aware of the world around you.Googling every concern and worry has become…
While the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the value of telehealth services, this technology — and its usefulness — is not new. In fact, many professional medical societies endorse telehealth and its potential to improve patient outcomes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Wondering about the role of telehealth in…
By Sarah Surrey, LCSW “Inertia: a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.” In physics, an object is known to remain in rest when at rest, or remain in motion in the exact same direction…
Just as addiction is multi-faceted, so is its treatment. Substance abuse treatments are anything but one-size-fits-all. Not only are a number of programs available, but they can and should be personalized to the patient. After all, what works for one person may not work for another. One treatment option offering promising outcomes for people struggling…
When someone you love suffers a relapse and begins abusing drugs or alcohol again after a period of sobriety, it’s natural to feel a range of emotions—from disappointment to hurt to fear to anger. Regardless of your own conflicted emotions, your support during this difficult time may be critical to surmounting this setback. Here’s a…
Approximately 128 people in the United States die every day as a result of overdosing on opioids, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Compounding the problem? That contaminated injection drug equipment remains the primary driver of the world’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. In other words, people who inject drugs and share needles are not…
By: Sarah Surrey, LCSW It was the mid-1990’s. The field of addiction studies was solidly on its feet, moving out of church basements and into the research labs of the top universities in the world. It was a growing field for researchers, with the ability to see what addiction was doing inside of the…
Opioids receive a significant amount of media attention, and rightfully so: an average of 128 people die every day in the US from opioid overdoses. However, while opioid misuse is still a significant public health crisis, the opioid overdose death data shows we’re headed in the right direction in terms of remedying it with the…
By: Sarah Surrey, LCSW Moving from active addiction to recovery isn’t like flipping a switch. It isn’t immediate or fast. It often isn’t even linear. There are endless methodologies for categorizing and organizing the process, but it will always remain a process. This article reviews four stages of addiction and recovery beginning with active use,…
Most people go out and have a drink every now and then, while others occasionally drink to excess. But how do you know when “casual drinking” has turned into something more — like a serious alcohol use disorder (AUD)? As it turns out, even mild symptoms that may seem perfectly harmless can indicate an existing…