Reading the news can be stress-inducing at the best of times. When the news is particularly worrying, many of us experience levels of anxiety so high that we can have difficulty coping. So how can we stay (reasonably) anxiety-free when the media bombards us with headlines that spook us? It…
Chemicals between us: Surprising effects of oxytocin on cocaine addiction
A team of addiction researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) report in Psychopharmacology that oxytocin, a hormone produced naturally in the hypothalamus, has significant gender differences when used as a treatment for cocaine-addicted individuals with a history of childhood trauma. The MUSC team was led by Jane E. Joseph,…
Thousands of LA jail inmates should receive community mental health support
A new report has found that more than half of the people with mental health conditions currently confined in Los Angeles county jails would benefit from mental health treatment in specialized community centers instead of incarceration. he Los Angeles (LA) county jail system holds thousands of inmates at any one…
A tiny wage increase could have prevented 13,800 deaths in 6 years
U.S. saw big rise in meth, fentanyl use in 2019
A study of over 1 million urine drug tests from across the United States shows soaring rates of use of methamphetamines and fentanyl, often used together in potentially lethal ways. The drug test results came primarily from clinics dealing with primary care, pain management or substance abuse disorders. The results showed that between 2013…