The NYT looks at doctors who are duped into prescribing painkillers or certain meds by patients Occupational Hazard: Playing the Fool
I suggest that we apply a similar principle to the prescribing of narcotic painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. Let’s assume that it’s impossible not to be fooled at least some of the time — that when assessing patients’ sincerity, we should expect a certain rate of false positives.
Thus, when confronting patients who demand Xanax or morphine, doctors should worry less about defending their self-esteem and their lie-detection skills (after all, the most talented sociopaths are the ones most skilled at convincing others of their honesty) and more about what treatment is best for the patient.
Source: The New York Times
Today the Guardian features an excerpt from Bill Clegg‘s Portrait Of An Addict As A Young Man. The story of one of the most gifted, charismatic and successful young literary agents in New York and his catastrophic fall into full-blown crack addiction: a collapse that would cost him his business, his home, many of his friends and – very nearly – his life. Brilliantly written and strikingly honest it packs a powerful punch.
It doesn’t feel the least bit wrong in those first seconds after exhaling the familiar smoke, no more than a reunion with an old friend, a returning to the most incredible conversation I’ve ever had, one that got interrupted seven months ago and, now that it’s started up again, hasn’t skipped a beat. But it’s more than just a conversation, it’s the best sex, the most delicious meal, the most engrossing book – it’s like returning to all of these at once, coming home.……….. link to read My Life on Crack
Source: The Guardian
Swimsuit season is almost upon us. For most of us, the countdown has begun to lazy days lounging by the pool and relaxing on the beach. However, for some of us, the focus is not so much on sunglasses and beach balls, but how to quickly shed those final five or ten pounds in order to look good poolside. It is no secret that dieting can be challenging and food cravings can make it even more difficult. Why do we get intense desires to eat certain foods? Although food cravings are a common experience, researchers have only recently begun studying how food cravings emerge. Psychological scientists Eva Kemps and Marika Tiggemann of Flinders University, Australia, review the latest research on food cravings and how they may be controlled in the current issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. [continue reading…]
Published: February 22, 2010
* Warning this video includes profanities, and graphic content
I was so saddened to watch this series of videos. I grew up in the small mining village of Cwmgors, and Swansea was the city we gravitated to for fun and entertainment.
In this documentary VBS befriends a gang of young addicts caught up in South Wales largely ignored heroin epidemic. The intimate look into their lives shows how economic depression, family breakdown, and addiction create unbreakable cycles for the people in their grip. Link to documentary on archive.org (via Addiction Inbox).
Source: VBS, With a hat tip to Vaughan 😀 Mind Hacks
