Brain Imaging And Genetic Studies Link Thinking Patterns To Addiction

Scientists have for the first time identified brain sites that fire up more when people make impulsive decisions. In a study comparing brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addicted people making financial decisions, the group of sober alcoholics showed significantly more "impulsive" neural activity.

The researchers also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brain regions when people made impulsive choices. The mutation was already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behavior and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction, the scientists say.

The research is reported in the Dec. 26, 2007 issue of the "Journal of Neuroscience."

Lead scientist is Charlotte Boettiger, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Boettiger led the research as a scientist at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center. Senior author is Howard Fields, MD, PhD, a UCSF professor of neurology and an investigator in the Gallo Center. He also serves as director of the UCSF Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction.

"Our data suggest there may be a cognitive difference in people with addictions," Boettiger said. "Their brains may not fully process the long-term consequences of their choices. They may compute information less efficiently."

"What's exciting about this study is that it suggests a new approach to therapy. We might prescribe medications, such as those used to treat Parkinson's or early Alzheimer's disease, or tailor cognitive therapy to improve executive function" she added.

"I am very excited about these results because of their clinical implications," Fields said. "The genetic findings raise the hopeful possibility that treatments aimed at raising dopamine levels could be effective treatments for some individuals with addictive disorders."

The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to image brain activity while subjects were faced with a hypothetical scenario: choose less money now, or more money later.

Boettiger recruited 24 subjects:19 provided fMRI data, 9 were recovering alcoholics in abstinence and 10 had no history of substance abuse. Another five were included in the genotyping analysis.

At the fMRI research facility at the University of California, Berkeley, financial decision tasks measured rational thinking and impulsivity. Sober alcoholics chose the "now" reward almost three times more often than the control group, reflecting more impulsive behavior.

While decisions were being made, the imaging detected activity in the posterior parietal cortex, the dorsal prefrontal cortex, the anterior temporal lobe and the orbital frontal cortex. People who sustain damage to the orbital frontal cortex generally suffer impaired judgment, manage money poorly and act impulsively, the scientists noted.

The study revealed reduced activity in the orbital frontal cortex in the brains of subjects who preferred "now" over "later," most of whom had a history of alcoholism.

The orbital frontal cortex activity may be a neural equivalent of long-term consequences, Fields said.

"Think of the orbital frontal cortex as the brakes," Boettiger explained. "With the brakes on, people choose for the future. Without the brakes they choose for the short-term gain."

The dorsal prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex often form cooperative circuits, and this study found that high activity in both is associated with a bias toward choosing immediate rewards.

The frontal and parietal cortexes are also involved in working memory - being able to hold data in mind over a short delay. When asked to choose between $18 now or $20 in a month, the subjects had to calculate how much that $18 (or what it could buy now) would be worth in a month and then compare it to $20 and decide whether it would be worth the wait.

The parietal cortex and the dorsal prefrontal cortex were much more active in people unwilling to wait. This could mean, Boettiger said, that the area is working less efficiently in those people.

The researchers also focused on a variant of a gene called COMT. The mutation is associated with lower dopamine levels, and the study showed that people with two copies of this allele (resulting in the lowest dopamine levels) had significantly higher frontal and parietal activity and chose "now" over "later" significantly more often.

"We have a lot to learn," Boettiger said. "But the data takes a significant step toward being able to identify subtypes of alcoholics, which could help tailor treatments, and may provide earlier intervention for people who are at risk for developing addictions."

The bigger picture, she added, is that her study provides more evidence that addiction is a disease, something even some of her peers don't yet believe.

"It's not unlike chronic diseases, such as diabetes," she said. "There are underlying genetic and other biological factors, but the disease is triggered by the choices people make."

"It wasn't that long ago that we believed schizophrenia was caused by bad mothers and depression wasn't a disease. Hopefully, in 10 years, we'll look back and it will seem silly that we didn't think addiction was a disease, too."



http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92699.php

The Food-Depression Link: What to Do When You’re Addicted to Food Due to Being Depressed

Many people have a love/hate relationship with food, reaching for it for comfort, entertainment, even companionship, then loathing it for the feelings of guilt this behavior produces.

Indeed, comfort foods (such as ice cream, potato chips, macaroni and cheese etc) are almost always high in bad fats, sugar, salt or a combination of the three. They provide instant gratification and pleasant feelings (albeit often short-lived ones) whenever you eat them.

It’s not hard to understand then why so many people suffering from depression become addicted to food; they want to feel better. And, conversely, why so many people who are addicted to food become depressed. The quick fix of eating a chocolate bar doesn’t satisfy them for long and their eating habits cause them to gain weight and put their health at risk. Both scenarios are vicious cycles.

Why We Crave Comfort Foods

Cravings for comfort foods, particularly during stressful times, are not just emotional. There are actual physical reasons why our bodies crave these high-fat, high-sugar foods, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, conducted on rats, found that 24 hours after the rats’ chronic stress systems were activated, key stress hormones in the rats (similar to the stress hormone cortisol in humans) prompted them to engage in “pleasure-seeking” behaviors, including eating high fat foods.

"Our studies suggest that comfort food applies the brakes on a key element of chronic stress," said study co-author Norman Pecoraro, PhD.

Of course, in times past, eating high density foods when your body was stressed could mean the difference between surviving a long winter or dying. But today, when most people have access to food 24/7, using food to ward off stress can lead to obesity and health problems.

When we eat, dopamine, a “feel-good chemical” in the brain, is released, increasing the pleasurable feelings gained from food. The bottom line is that, for people with depression, food cravings are a double-edged sword, being driven by both physical and emotional factors.

The Emotional Side of Eating

Eating is a very emotional process. From the moment we sniff a loaf of bread or catch a glimpse of a pie fresh from the oven, our feelings are involved. Often, we associate experiences and memories with foods, which can make us want them even more (for instance, having an ice cream sundae when you’re upset, because that’s what your mom gave you as a child).

Those who are chronically sad may reach for a comfort food much like a drug addict reaches for a drug -- to comfort them temporarily, to relieve the sadness, only to need another “fix” in a short while.

"The brain circuitry that we use to find drugs or food has the same mechanisms involved in looking for anything rewarding," says Roy Wise of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Maryland, in a Science News article.

With this in mind, it’s quite possible to be addicted to food, just as you can be addicted to drugs or alcohol.

How to Overcome a Food Addiction & Gain a Healthy Relationship with Food

To treat most addictions, people are told to completely avoid the substance, but with a food addiction, this is not possible. So how can someone with a food addiction develop a healthy relationship with the object of their addiction?

The key, according to Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training at Sedona Training Associates, is not about avoiding the substance, but rather looking into what is motivating you to want it.

“Avoiding the substance without dealing with what is motivating the addiction usually fails in the end. With any addiction the important factor is letting go of whatever feeling or belief is motivating you to do the behavior, even though you know it is not good for you,” Dwoskin says.

The Sedona Method is a tool that will help you to tap into your inherent ability to release whatever emotions, feelings and behaviors may be motivating you to reach for food in times of sadness. This is a simple, scientifically proven system that will dissolve your need to seek comfort in food, and can also help you let go of the symptoms of depression.

“Once you let go of the inner motivators,” Dwoskin says, “the actions follow with greater ease and effectiveness. Also, you can let go of the feeling that you must give your power away to the addiction.”

When you release these negative feelings and behavior patterns with The Sedona Method, you feel in control of your behavior, and you’ll easily make smart choices that will support your health and happiness now and in the years to come. Your mind will also become more open to the multitude of ways you can receive pleasure without food, such as reading a book, taking a walk in nature, or having a long conversation with a good friend.


http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=45815

Is The Government Considering Legalising Drugs? UK

When the Advisory Council on Drug Misuse (ACDM) recommended that cannabis should be downgraded, the team involved made it on the grounds that it was relatively harmless. There are two rather alarming facts which did not emerge at the time:

There was in fact ample evidence from America, predating the ACDM findings, which clearly indicated the physical, mental and social harms that cannabis caused. (1) Attempts by this writer to establish why such vital and relevant information did not appear to be included in the ACDM findings have been unsuccessful.

Not a single member of the ACDM team involved had any expertise on cannabis, psychosis or schizophrenia. (2)

Undeterred by either of the above, the ACDM, together with the Human Commission on Medicines, (HCM) indicated in the consultation document 'Independent Subscribing of Controlled Drugs', (3) that there was no evidence that licensing pharmacists and nurses to prescribe heroin, would lead to 'increased diversion or misuse'.

Apart from the widespread and abundantly documented evidence of how prescribed methadone is widely diverted and misused, a further omission is the evidence of how the ongoing use of opiates create and spread severe health problems. (4)

In fact there appears to be more omissions of evidence, of why prescribing heroin, for addicts, thus increasing its availability, is not only counter productive to recovery, but actually increases the use of heroin, than there is evidence of any alleged benefits for increasing subscribing and availability. First there is the empirical evidence clearly indicating that the severity of addiction increases with continued administration of drugs. (5) Next we have compelling evidence that a reduction in heroin availability, directly and drastically, reduces the number of injecting drug users, together with a huge reduction in the number of infections that are so widespread in injecting users. (6)

In the light of the evidence cited and, as generally accepted, the object of treatment, or the management of addictions is to arrest, or alleviate the condition of the patient, or at the very least, ensure that any proposed intervention, would not have any adverse affect on patients, it is difficult to understand how such proposals can be in the long term interests of addicts or for that matter, even seriously considered. Fortunately the proposals to increase subscribing have yet to reach Parliament. It is to be hoped that if, and when they do, the evidence omitted from the Home Office proposals will be included for the consideration of the Ministers responsible.

Notwithstanding the available evidence that ongoing injecting use of heroin increases the severity of addiction, and increases the spread of infections commonly associated with injecting drug use, we have experiments going on in the UK, where heroin addicts are given a twice daily fix. A report in the Independent dated 20 November, based on information provide by Professor Strang, (7) claims that these trials 'has dramatically cut crime rates and stopped addicts buying their supplies on the street.'.

Whilst it is true that later in the article, these wild claims are modified, the only evidence we are offered in support of the claims is the anecdotal evidence of a few of the addicted 'beneficiaries' of the experiments. There is no mention in the article of how injecting drug use spreads Hepatitis C. (8)

Insofar as any claimed reduction in crime is concerned, the article also failed to point out that the majority of heroin users are poly substance users of other illicit drugs, and will continue their criminal activities in order to fund them. Nevertheless it has been suggested in some reviews of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) that those facilities can and do, reduce public drug use, encourages users to reduce 'risky drug use' and enter treatment, reduce morbidity and mortality of users, together with solving wider problems of drug markets and drug dealing. Unfortunately there is no objective evidence for such impressive claims. Nevertheless, a report from the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit (9) of the European Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, (EMCDDA) concludes that whilst what evidence there is, suggests that the benefits of DCRs can outweigh the risks, it is important to set that in the wider context of problem drug use, and to be modest in claiming what DCRs can and cannot achieve; the report continues by stressing that it is unrealistic to claim that DCRs can achieve what has been widely, (perhaps wildly would have been more accurate) claimed for them.

In view of all the evidence it is difficult to discern what benefits can be expected from the current UK experiments or for that matter any justification for their existence. However there may be undisclosed, and or politically expedient reasons why they are taking place.

It is to be hoped that pressure from pro legislation lobbies for the decriminalising of drugs and or the re-classification of some drugs, does not mean that these experiments are a pre-cursor to legalising highly addictive, psycho active drugs, the only beneficiaries of which would be the all powerful pharmaceutical industry at the expense of both the addicts and the UK taxpayer; for how else could addicts fund their supply without resorting to criminal activity, unless they were available on the National Health Service?


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/91574.php

It's a Myth: Suicides Do Not Increase During Holidays

It's a holiday myth.

No one knows how it started, but over the years it's become prevalent in American culture.

And it's not true.

Suicide rates are not higher during the holidays than at other times of the year. Experts have the numbers to prove it.

The hot line at Provident Life Crisis Services rings about 40 times on Christmas Day, said Susan M. Self, vice president of telephonic services and director of life crisis services. Nearly every other day of the year, the counselors field about 100 calls per day.

On average, about 9 percent of the 35,000 people who call the hot line each year are thinking about suicide. The percentage is the same on Christmas, New Year's and other holidays, she said.

In reality, suicide rates in the U.S. are lowest in December, peaking in spring and fall. Trends in Illinois and Missouri mirror those nationally, with December tallying some of the lowest counts of suicide deaths each year.

In Missouri, two people take their own lives each day on average.

A day-by-day analysis shows that Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and other holidays produce no more suicides than any other day of the year. But somehow a myth that suicides increase at year's end has embedded itself in the popular psyche.

"I probably believed it when I got here, that if I worked Christmas Day I'd get to do some good work," Self said.

It's unclear where the myth started, said Dan Romer, director of the Adolescent Risk Communication Institute at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The movie "It's A Wonderful Life" has a suicide attempt at Christmas at its heart. Other movies, such as "Gremlins" and "When Harry Met Sally," contain references to the myth as well.

Newspapers have been guilty of perpetuating the myth. The Annenberg Center found that in the winter of 1999 to 2000, 77 percent of newspaper articles linking suicide with the holidays supported the myth. Since then, the media have steadily caught on. In 2005-2006, just over half of newspaper stories supported the myth, while the rest debunked it. Last year, only 9 percent of stories perpetuated the myth, while 91 percent debunked it.

The myth may have taken root because people tend to remember tragedies that happen at holiday times, Self said. The contrast between the joy of the season and the pain of suicide is striking and may stick in people's memories more than at other times of year, she said.

And people have become more attuned to the stress, pain, loneliness and depression that some people feel around holiday time.

"For those of us who are feeling OK and doing well, when we look at someone who's not doing well we make certain assumptions that the holidays must be particularly hard for them," Self said. "It's a contagious kind of empathy which is nice, but not true."

The reason suicides decline in December is nearly as mysterious as where the myth began.

'Tis the season, Romer said. Suicides decline in the winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are inverted from the northern schedule, the dip in suicides comes in July.

"This seems counterintuitive because shorter, darker days would seem to be associated with thoughts of death," Romer said.

It may be that people are too lethargic in winter to take their own lives, he said.

Suicides spike in the spring.

"People have held on through the cold and the dark in the hopes that when the spring comes they'll feel better. But if the spring comes and they don't feel better, it's almost too much to bear," said Anara Guard of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

Marian McCord's son, Chad, took his life in the spring after suffering with depression.

"A person with depression doesn't necessarily want to look into the future. They are wearing dark shades, and it magnifies their hopelessness ... when others around them see the light and they can't see it," she said. McCord, of Oakville, is the executive director of CHADS coalition, an organization that raises awareness about and supports research on suicide.

The seasonal effect has become blunted in recent decades, research shows.

Some people attribute the December decline in suicides to the Christmas spirit.

"No matter how bad things are, people get hopeful around the holidays," Self said.

A study published this month in Psychiatry Research showed that suicides and suicide attempts in Switzerland plunge on Christmas Eve for women and Christmas Day for men. Men experience an upswing in suicide after the New Year.

The researchers speculated that higher levels of social support associated with the holidays could account for some of the reduction in suicide. So can having a time landmark to look forward to.

"Temporal landmarks help us to see things in focus; they promote the temporary postponement of hopelessness," the researchers said.

Even though suicides don't peak around the holidays, people are still suffering with mental illness, addictions and life crises that cause them nearly unbearable pain, Self said.

"I'm still sending the police (to intervene) twice on Christmas Day. It's not like people aren't depressed or sad or lonely," she said.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318467,00.html

Poll Results Show Marital Infidelity the Most Unforgivable Offense by a Spouse

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 -- When it comes to marriage, the most unforgivable offense that a significant other can commit is marital infidelity. According to a poll conducted by www.ShouldIDivorceHim.com, an online community offering free marriage advice and catering to the trials and tribulations of marriage, family and divorce, an estimated 59 percent of respondents said cheating is the most serious impropriety above lying, substance abuse and inattentiveness.

Following marital infidelity, 16% of respondents selected inattentiveness, 16% chose lying and the remaining 7% chose substance abuse as the most serious crimes causing anger in marriage.

"In a way it holds true to what we're seeing on our support boards," says Kim Droze, KMJ Interactive CEO the parent company of Should I Divorce Him. "While most women continue to tolerate alcohol or drug abuse in their spouse, they draw the line when it comes to adultery."

"Lying, substance abuse and cheating all involve issues of trust. It just depends on how much a woman is willing to tolerate. In many cases, women can accept addictions yet they can't accept the idea of their husbands engaging in a physical or emotional affair with another woman," she added.

www.ShouldIDivorceHim.com has become a sounding board offering free marriage advice for many unhappily married women searching for an answer to the big question: "Should I Divorce Him?" While many women rely on family and friends for support, some women are not comfortable spilling the most intimate details of their marriage to people they know. With www.shouldidivorcehim.com, women have a safe place to discuss topics such as anger in marriage and marital infidelity anonymously and receive encouragement from women who've been there and done it.

"In a perfect world, women wouldn't have to deal with any of these issues. However, that's not the case. Many women are plagued by serious issues and anger in marriage, and it helps to have some place to go and vent and get free marriage advice. In many cases, there comes a time when women will throw up their hands and say 'enough is enough.' While we don't always advocate divorce, we also don't oppose it. A woman has to make the choice that is in the best interest of herself and her children, when applicable," Droze adds.

About Should I Divorce Him?

ShouldIDivorceHim.Com is an online destination and community catering to the trials and tribulations of marriage, family and divorce. The site provides free marriage advice from peers and experts as well as articles tackling the issues of anger in marriage, marital infidelity and emotional issues. A subsidiary of KMJ Interactive, the founding group is comprised of a team of seasoned internet and media professionals from a range of world-class companies including eDiets.com, Cox Media, American Media, CNN International, USA Networks, Autoweb.com, IBM and Sensormatic.

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/12/emw574527.htm

From peddling meth to pedaling cross country

Within a day, Mikael Luman went from biking in the comfort of the 75-degree Phoenix sun to chilly temperatures in the 20s.

For Luman, a Beaverton resident, it was just another day, marking the home stretch of a 12,000-mile cross-country bike trek to call attention to A Generation Free, Luman’s foundation designed to teach young people positive life skills.

Since leaving from Seattle in July, he’s had to deal with a variety of weather and topographic conditions, the worst being the wind and high elevations.

“The last five days of riding in the hills, it’s been windy and it’s been hilly,” said Luman during a phone call Tuesday.

But for Luman, a 1992 graduate of Aloha High School, the longest ride hasn’t been the 10,000 miles he’s logged so far. It’s been the long road to recovery.

On Dec. 14, Luman’s book, “800 Meters: A Journey of Addiction, Recovery and Redemption,” will be released, chronicling his abuse (and dealing in) ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine and nitrous oxide.

Noting that he’s a perfectionist, Luman, 33, said the book took about a year to write.

“I wanted to make sure everything in there was truthful,” he said. “Being an addict, you tend to elaborate on stories.”

“I’d been pulled over four times on (my motorcycle). Two of those times I probably had a pound or more of meth and ten to fifteen thousand dollars in cash on me along with scales and baggies. The first time, I got towed for no insurance. The other times, all they did was give me a ticket for driving without a license and tell me to get someone else to drive it. That didn’t bother me. I just waited until they left.”

— 800 Meters


The book is an unvarnished look into how Luman went from a clean-cut star high school athlete to being sucked into a world of drugs that would keep hold of him for almost a decade. Along the way, other addictions would pop up, including an affinity for strippers and a penchant for video poker. Also, before it was all over, he would find himself in his fair share of violent situations.

Drug-free for the last six years, Luman was always good at sports, playing soccer in local leagues as a boy. At Aloha High, he excelled in soccer, basketball and track and was named all-state in the latter where he ran the 800 meters, a grueling race that takes strength, speed and endurance.

But a blown-out kneecap and subsequent basketball injury seriously affected his self-confidence. His priorities began to change, he said, and before long he was tired of turning down friends when they offered him a drink.

“After the injuries, instead of saying ‘no,’ I said ‘yes,’” he recalls.

What made his descent into the drug world even more of an anomaly was the fact he grew up in a sheltered environment, having been raised in the Mormon faith. He wasn’t even familiar with drug slang.

“A lot of my drinking and drug use had to do with sports and not being able to compete. It filled the void and became my sport. Right at the end of high school, I tried marijuana for the first time. When I was about seventeen, I was driving with friends when they decided to do some.”

‘I’d never do that marijuana stuff,’ I said.

My friends broke up laughing, and one of them said, ‘You did marijuana last weekend.’

‘I did not,’ I insisted. ‘I smoked pot.’

That’s how naïve I was. I didn’t even know the jargon.”

— 800 Meters


The sports injuries gave him an excuse to justify doing what he wanted, he said. A drunken senior trip to Seaside ended up with Luman getting beat up in a fight at the beach. Heading to college, the scholarships had dried up but he played soccer for Portland State University, caring less and less about sports and more about partying.

Then one night, he and a friend decided to break into an apartment they thought was vacant.

It wasn’t.

As soon as they kicked in the door, they discovered a pair of shoes. They fled in Luman’s car but not before someone recorded the license plate.

When police pulled him over, they discovered stolen electronics in his trunk, taken from neighbors in the same apartment complex where he lived.

“When I got arrested for the burglary, I got kicked off the soccer team,” Luman recalled.

During his years of drug use he said there were times when he wanted to leave, but couldn’t find his way out.

“Although I was starting to think about changing, I wasn’t yet able to face the issues that were caused by addiction. I thought being clean was just not using drugs that day. I didn’t have the skills to stay clean for good. As soon as life got tough, I went right back to using.”

— 800 Meters


The book includes a chapter about his kidnapping where he was forced to help an ex-biker make meth. He found the chapter especially difficult to write because he wanted to provide enough information to paint a clear picture to readers, but not reveal too much information because it could have put people in danger.

“That was a big thing,” he said of the kidnapping. “It just goes to show how reckless and out of control you can get.”

Luman said he was fortunate to have escaped the world of drugs. Some aren’t as lucky. Such was the case of one drug dealer who was interested in forming a business partnership with Luman, impressed with the former high school athlete’s proficiency in manufacturing “the clearest, chunkiest crystal (meth) imaginable.”

The meeting never occurred. A couple of days later, Luman found out why when he talked with the dealer’s tearful girlfriend who explained what happened:

“‘He put one bullet in the gun, spun the chamber, put the gun to his head and fired. It’s not like what you see on TV. It’s real blood and real brains and a real hole in someone’s head.’ She was horrified by what she’d witnessed, and I doubt that she will ever recover from it.”

— “800 Meters”


Throughout his ordeal, Luman said there was always something in the back of his mind that pushed him along. Even when he was doing and dealing drugs, he thought maybe he was here for a reason.

“I almost felt I was there for a purpose,” he said.

In addition to being kidnapped, Luman had his fair share of other close calls. The vehicle he was riding in was once riddled with bullets, and while he was manufacturing meth, a glass beer bottle exploded, sending a shard of glass into his face.

Also, a jealous stripper girlfriend had an acquaintance threaten Luman by waking him up with a gun pointed at his head.

Although his addiction lasted almost 10 years, he clearly remembers the day he was arrested. It was Nov. 2, 2000, in Scappoose. He was out of drugs, out of money and tired.

“I was sleeping when (police) arrived, vaguely aware of voices, but unable to wake up. The next thing I knew, three of them were standing around the bed and I was handcuffed.”

— “800 Meters”

Surprisingly, the arrest provided him with a peaceful feeling.

“I knew I was done with being arrested,” he said.

He was incarcerated for 24 months with much of that time spent in the Oregon Summit Program, a boot camp.

When he did get clean, he reconnected with his spiritual side as well.

“In order for me to change my life and be clean and sober, I needed to find my center. I needed to repent for passed mistakes and make an effort to be the best Mikael Luman I can be,” he said.

Although he had thought about forming the “A Generation Free” foundation while serving time in prison, it was the birth of his now-14-month-old daughter, Mikaila, who inspired him to take the bike trip. The trip would be a way to call attention to his cause and his story.

“When she was born is when I thought I really needed to do something,” said Luman. “At some point in my life, with all my experiences, I couldn’t sit around and not do anything.”

Throughout his addiction and while in prison, he discovered how many drug users didn’t have the first clue about how to manage their lives.

As a result, Luman believes that in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, some sort of life skills classes should be mandatory school curriculum, something he hopes to draw attention to through “A Generation Free.”

In addition to his parents and his wife, Amanda, Luman said a high school coach, Ken Yarnell, was extremely supportive in helping him during his recovery.

Yarnell is now an Aloha High School vice principal.

“If I had a list of Top 10, Top five people (in my life), he’s in there,” said Luman. “He’s what coaching and teaching should be about.”

Luman said Yarnell didn’t want only good athletes; he wanted students to do things the right way.

Heading to California this week, Luman hopes to talk to groups of students, ideally in the Beaverton School District, when he returns on Dec. 7 or 8. He might make a promotional tour for his book with tentative plans to ride around Hagg Lake.

For Luman, the bike trip has been an eye-opener, although he hasn’t received the interest or media attention he originally had hoped for. Scenery-wise, he hasn’t come up with a high point. He said he’s not picturing the beauty of the ride but of images of people fighting drug addiction and those in prison.

“If it was just about the ride and scenery, I probably would have stopped a long time ago because it’s pretty brutal,” he said.

He recalled one distinct image while riding under the subway in Philadelphia where he observed adverse poverty.

“When I was in prison or in jail, I had better living conditions than people living on that street,” he said.

At some point, Luman said he wants to meet more of the people he hurt during his days on drugs.

“Eventually I’d like to make contact and make amends to all the people I was a negative influence on in their lives,” he said. “Now I’d like to be a positive influence.”

To order his book, support his ride or access a link for A Generation Free, visit www.800meters.com. To find out how his ride is going, visit his blog at http://12000mileride.blogspot.com.
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http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=119629958153633000

Tireless septuagenarian must retire her nonprofit attire business, Dress for Success

A decade ago, Suzanne Lafond was chosen from more than 8,000 nominated grandmothers and crowned the Granny Smith of 1997 by the Washington Apple Commission.

The Nashville transplant from Montreal, now 76, with her stunning white hair, brilliant blue eyes and elegant voice, is a cross between Helen Mirren and Mrs. Claus so it’s easy to see how she caught the eyes of apple farmers-turned judges seeking an energetic and quintessential granny to represent their livelihood.

In the 365-day spokesperson role, Lafond received royal treatment and handsome earnings as she toured the country storytelling the virtues of apples and a healthy lifestyle. The legacy, however, of winning the Granny Smith title would prove to be discovering the nonprofit Dress for Success during an Oprah episode Lafond was watching while waiting in her hotel room to be taken to an interview.

Dress for Success helps disadvantaged women enter the workforce by providing them with suits and dresses to wear to interviews and first days of work. But Lafond saw an opportunity to do more than fasten buttons of professional attire — she saw a chance to extend a kind hand and a confidence boost to women in need.

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh baby, Nashville needs that,’ and so when I got back to town I wrote Dress for Success headquarters asking for the start up material,” Lafond said. “I got very sold on it. I have been doing volunteer work since I was 17 in the Motorcorps. We drove big limousines with the big Canadian Red Cross on the door. I picked up blind people at their place of residence — I had about six or eight — and I would take them to a recreational center and leave them for about two or three hours and then pick them back up in the limo and take them back home.”

In 1998 at the end of her tour of duty as Granny Smith, Lafond helped spearhead Nashville’s first Dress for Success affiliate in Nashville. And, after the start up year spent in a donated classroom in Cockrill Elementary School, Lafond took over as the director of the nonprofit.

Lafond, for the past nine years, has been a one-woman show helping more than 2,500 local women in their journey from welfare to the workforce. The majority are between the ages of 20 to 55 and come referred to her by various local agencies like the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Department of Human Services, National Council on Aging, YWCA, Workforce Essentials, Hope Center or Mental Health Co-op.

When women come for their dressing appointments, Lafond greets them with her simple philosophy:

“I am very prepared to love them when they walk in the door,” Lafond said.

The women are often hardened and have endured violent domestic abuse, drug or alcohol addictions, serious illnesses, the struggles of raising children with disabilities, losing their homes and more, but Lafond has a way of disarming the women with her patient demeanor. They seem to instinctively know they can share their stories and not be judged or pitied. The stories Lafond hears often reveal ways that she is able to help them further. One woman explained that she was missing her front teeth after a blow delivered by her husband, and Lafond referred the woman to a dentist who performs charity work.

Or, if they choose, the women can silently listen to the classical music playing in the background and enjoy the attention lavishly bestowed by Lafond.

“I tell them their experience will be like the expensive boutiques in big cities where clients are brought the clothes,” Lafond said.

The garments, mostly donated articles by affluent women or local department stores, are stored in a tidy back room where Lafond hangs them neatly by size. Their tags reveal designer names such as Anne Klein, Dana Buchman, Jones of New York, Le Suit, Ellen Tracy and Talbot’s.

Part of finessing the job is Lafond’s ability to dress the women’s various body types while also encouraging the women to be proud of their curves and characteristics. Most have been too overwhelmed by the hardships of their lives to eat healthy or exercise regularly, which means many are overweight and larger sizes are the most in demand, Lafond said.

“The women will say things when I start dressing them like, ‘Oh, I am too short,’ or ‘I had a big butt,’ or ‘I am bosom-y,’ and I will say, ‘These aren’t flaws, that’s how you are. It’s there and we are working around it and we have something that skims over it. That’s what I try and teach them,” Lafond said. “A well-fitting garment, whether it’s a dress or a suit, should touch you on the shoulders, on the bosoms and on hips and just skim over the rest of your body. That is a word that I use a lot with these ladies: skimming — it should be skimming not grabbing. That’s not easy to achieve. That’s what I keep in mind. It’s what my mother taught me; she was a good teacher.”

A photograph of Lafond’s mother sits on a table inside her Dress for Success office. The woman is captured strolling the streets of downtown Montreal while on a shopping trip, clad in gloves, a hat and a fur jacket.

A bowl of ‘thank you’ letters overflows on a coffee table. The cards are handwritten messages like, “Dear. Ms. Suzanne, Many thanks for the suits last week. I was the one with the black slacks and green jacket. Thank you for everything, thank you for sharing your pictures,” “Thank you so much for the suit, shoes and undergarment. I really appreciate your help. I hope to do you proud,” and “Thank you for the attention I received and all your gifts.”

Lafond began deliberately leaving the letters out so that the women can learn from the manners of the women before them. She is also quick to politely correct fashion faux pas and incorrect grammar as well as give advice on interview skills like a firm handshake, straight posture and smart questions to ask.

At the end of the month, though, Lafond will begin dismantling Dress for Success because of lack of cash.

“Too many sleepless nights because we can’t get the funding. We are stagnating, we aren’t moving forward, we are moving backward,” Lafond said. “I had a little crying jag for a few days, but now I feel a sense of relief because it’s been very stressful, and I feel very secure in saying where one door closes, another opens.”

“The good memories in here are when the women are happy and they are sweet about it. Once several women arrived by a van all together, so I took care of all these ladies and they were very nice. There was this very, very tall woman who asked me if she could hug me and I said, ‘Of course,’ so we all hugged. Then she said, ‘Let’s all join hands and pray.’ I was so moved I was crying while she was praying. Not ugly tears just tears rolling down my cheeks. That was beautiful.”

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=58226

Drinking is not the Dene way

I am glad to see that News/North has consistently made the effort over the years to address the issues of alcoholism and homelessness in the North, two issues that do not get enough coverage from our money-making news industry these day. First of all I would again like to mention why I am doing this series of articles for my column.

We - the survivors of residential schools across Canada - are now starting to receive some monies from the Canadian Government as a monetary apology of sorts for the years of abuse and cultural genocide we were put through. Many people, coming from where they invariably do, will be bound to see this as more free money for the First Nations. Well, this money is definitely not free, not even close to being enough to adequately pay for our lost childhoods and culture.

We are continuing to pay, and so are our children and their futures, for the losses we suffered. I do know that every day of my life is marked somehow by these traumatic earlier years. One of the things I do want our other survivors to know is that spending this money on anything other than something useful is also a great waste of it.

No matter the amount or what it may or may not represent, it is a step in the right direction by our government and we need to know what the intent of this is. It also has to do with the power of alcohol. Whether we want to, can, or do face our addictions, this alcohol has a powerful spirit that it represents, which has to be respected as such and to be dealt with on a daily basis. I am also grateful for the likes of News/North reporter Christine Grimard for her good writing lately.

Stories that come to mind are a homeless Gwich'in woman forced to live out at the campground, and now for her latest, that of a recovering alcoholic, with a story much like my own. Alcohol is an escape, yes, but definitely not a solution. When you choose to take that drink no one else puts it in your hands.

The money for it has to come from somewhere, and besides, when you pay for it, the money really does not have anything to do with it. It is simply a means for you to feed your addiction. You begin to pay with the loss of your health, and then your job and finally with the loss of your family, your relations and then your culture, and too often, your life. Drinking is not Dene.

http://nnsl.com/northern-news-services/stories/papers/dec3_07mountain.html

From peddling meth to pedaling cross country

Within a day, Mikael Luman went from biking in the comfort of the 75-degree Phoenix sun to chilly temperatures in the 20s.

For Luman, a Beaverton resident, it was just another day, marking the home stretch of a 12,000-mile cross-country bike trek to call attention to A Generation Free, Luman’s foundation designed to teach young people positive life skills.

Since leaving from Seattle in July, he’s had to deal with a variety of weather and topographic conditions, the worst being the wind and high elevations.

“The last five days of riding in the hills, it’s been windy and it’s been hilly,” said Luman during a phone call Tuesday.

But for Luman, a 1992 graduate of Aloha High School, the longest ride hasn’t been the 10,000 miles he’s logged so far. It’s been the long road to recovery.

On Dec. 14, Luman’s book, “800 Meters: A Journey of Addiction, Recovery and Redemption,” will be released, chronicling his abuse (and dealing in) ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine and nitrous oxide.

Noting that he’s a perfectionist, Luman, 33, said the book took about a year to write.

“I wanted to make sure everything in there was truthful,” he said. “Being an addict, you tend to elaborate on stories.”

“I’d been pulled over four times on (my motorcycle). Two of those times I probably had a pound or more of meth and ten to fifteen thousand dollars in cash on me along with scales and baggies. The first time, I got towed for no insurance. The other times, all they did was give me a ticket for driving without a license and tell me to get someone else to drive it. That didn’t bother me. I just waited until they left.”

— 800 Meters


The book is an unvarnished look into how Luman went from a clean-cut star high school athlete to being sucked into a world of drugs that would keep hold of him for almost a decade. Along the way, other addictions would pop up, including an affinity for strippers and a penchant for video poker. Also, before it was all over, he would find himself in his fair share of violent situations.

Drug-free for the last six years, Luman was always good at sports, playing soccer in local leagues as a boy. At Aloha High, he excelled in soccer, basketball and track and was named all-state in the latter where he ran the 800 meters, a grueling race that takes strength, speed and endurance.

But a blown-out kneecap and subsequent basketball injury seriously affected his self-confidence. His priorities began to change, he said, and before long he was tired of turning down friends when they offered him a drink.

“After the injuries, instead of saying ‘no,’ I said ‘yes,’” he recalls.

What made his descent into the drug world even more of an anomaly was the fact he grew up in a sheltered environment, having been raised in the Mormon faith. He wasn’t even familiar with drug slang.

“A lot of my drinking and drug use had to do with sports and not being able to compete. It filled the void and became my sport. Right at the end of high school, I tried marijuana for the first time. When I was about seventeen, I was driving with friends when they decided to do some.”

‘I’d never do that marijuana stuff,’ I said.

My friends broke up laughing, and one of them said, ‘You did marijuana last weekend.’

‘I did not,’ I insisted. ‘I smoked pot.’

That’s how naïve I was. I didn’t even know the jargon.”

— 800 Meters


The sports injuries gave him an excuse to justify doing what he wanted, he said. A drunken senior trip to Seaside ended up with Luman getting beat up in a fight at the beach. Heading to college, the scholarships had dried up but he played soccer for Portland State University, caring less and less about sports and more about partying.

Then one night, he and a friend decided to break into an apartment they thought was vacant.

It wasn’t.

As soon as they kicked in the door, they discovered a pair of shoes. They fled in Luman’s car but not before someone recorded the license plate.

When police pulled him over, they discovered stolen electronics in his trunk, taken from neighbors in the same apartment complex where he lived.

“When I got arrested for the burglary, I got kicked off the soccer team,” Luman recalled.

During his years of drug use he said there were times when he wanted to leave, but couldn’t find his way out.

“Although I was starting to think about changing, I wasn’t yet able to face the issues that were caused by addiction. I thought being clean was just not using drugs that day. I didn’t have the skills to stay clean for good. As soon as life got tough, I went right back to using.”

— 800 Meters


The book includes a chapter about his kidnapping where he was forced to help an ex-biker make meth. He found the chapter especially difficult to write because he wanted to provide enough information to paint a clear picture to readers, but not reveal too much information because it could have put people in danger.

“That was a big thing,” he said of the kidnapping. “It just goes to show how reckless and out of control you can get.”

Luman said he was fortunate to have escaped the world of drugs. Some aren’t as lucky. Such was the case of one drug dealer who was interested in forming a business partnership with Luman, impressed with the former high school athlete’s proficiency in manufacturing “the clearest, chunkiest crystal (meth) imaginable.”

The meeting never occurred. A couple of days later, Luman found out why when he talked with the dealer’s tearful girlfriend who explained what happened:

“‘He put one bullet in the gun, spun the chamber, put the gun to his head and fired. It’s not like what you see on TV. It’s real blood and real brains and a real hole in someone’s head.’ She was horrified by what she’d witnessed, and I doubt that she will ever recover from it.”

— “800 Meters”


Throughout his ordeal, Luman said there was always something in the back of his mind that pushed him along. Even when he was doing and dealing drugs, he thought maybe he was here for a reason.

“I almost felt I was there for a purpose,” he said.

In addition to being kidnapped, Luman had his fair share of other close calls. The vehicle he was riding in was once riddled with bullets, and while he was manufacturing meth, a glass beer bottle exploded, sending a shard of glass into his face.

Also, a jealous stripper girlfriend had an acquaintance threaten Luman by waking him up with a gun pointed at his head.

Although his addiction lasted almost 10 years, he clearly remembers the day he was arrested. It was Nov. 2, 2000, in Scappoose. He was out of drugs, out of money and tired.

“I was sleeping when (police) arrived, vaguely aware of voices, but unable to wake up. The next thing I knew, three of them were standing around the bed and I was handcuffed.”

— “800 Meters”

Surprisingly, the arrest provided him with a peaceful feeling.

“I knew I was done with being arrested,” he said.

He was incarcerated for 24 months with much of that time spent in the Oregon Summit Program, a boot camp.

When he did get clean, he reconnected with his spiritual side as well.

“In order for me to change my life and be clean and sober, I needed to find my center. I needed to repent for passed mistakes and make an effort to be the best Mikael Luman I can be,” he said.

Although he had thought about forming the “A Generation Free” foundation while serving time in prison, it was the birth of his now-14-month-old daughter, Mikaila, who inspired him to take the bike trip. The trip would be a way to call attention to his cause and his story.

“When she was born is when I thought I really needed to do something,” said Luman. “At some point in my life, with all my experiences, I couldn’t sit around and not do anything.”

Throughout his addiction and while in prison, he discovered how many drug users didn’t have the first clue about how to manage their lives.

As a result, Luman believes that in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, some sort of life skills classes should be mandatory school curriculum, something he hopes to draw attention to through “A Generation Free.”

In addition to his parents and his wife, Amanda, Luman said a high school coach, Ken Yarnell, was extremely supportive in helping him during his recovery.

Yarnell is now an Aloha High School vice principal.

“If I had a list of Top 10, Top five people (in my life), he’s in there,” said Luman. “He’s what coaching and teaching should be about.”

Luman said Yarnell didn’t want only good athletes; he wanted students to do things the right way.

Heading to California this week, Luman hopes to talk to groups of students, ideally in the Beaverton School District, when he returns on Dec. 7 or 8. He might make a promotional tour for his book with tentative plans to ride around Hagg Lake.

For Luman, the bike trip has been an eye-opener, although he hasn’t received the interest or media attention he originally had hoped for. Scenery-wise, he hasn’t come up with a high point. He said he’s not picturing the beauty of the ride but of images of people fighting drug addiction and those in prison.

“If it was just about the ride and scenery, I probably would have stopped a long time ago because it’s pretty brutal,” he said.

He recalled one distinct image while riding under the subway in Philadelphia where he observed adverse poverty.

“When I was in prison or in jail, I had better living conditions than people living on that street,” he said.

At some point, Luman said he wants to meet more of the people he hurt during his days on drugs.

“Eventually I’d like to make contact and make amends to all the people I was a negative influence on in their lives,” he said. “Now I’d like to be a positive influence.”

http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=119629958153633000

It seems that men just want to read all about it

"I SLEPT with my best friend’s son,” announced my boyfriend casually, as if commenting on a slight dip in temperature since that morning or the increasing price of Edam.

“What?” I asked in horror, nearly dropping my laptop on the floor, forgetting for a moment my mild relief that I had taken 100 holiday snaps on a recent weekend in Stockholm and had only appeared on one of them.

“I slept with my best friend’s son,” Paul repeated calmly, though this time also jabbing a thumb in the direction of the magazine on his knee.

“What are you reading?” I demanded.

Surely not Private Eye – one of his few addictions along with salmon paste, generous tots of port and King of Shaves face lotion.

I’ve seen him dancing to Dolly Parton and caught him cleaning the oven in a pair of pink rubber gloves, yet I was still surprised to see him engrossed in a gossip mag of the sort that regularly splashes shock headlines like “My mum ran off with my pet rabbit” or “I fell in love with my tax inspector” across its front cover.

Although these periodicals are clearly aimed at women – the incessant turnip and Spam drop a dress size diets testify to that – I am convinced they are more often coveted by men.

Evidence to support this hypothesis is currently stacking up.

EXHIBIT A: Copies of the last three editions of Grazia, belonging to the Daily Post features editor (a woman), that have been read cover-to-cover by a male page-designer colleague.

EXHIBIT B: A transcript of a conversion between said male colleague and another designer (a woman). It goes like this . . .

Male page-designer (looking up from a celebrity magazine): “Have you seen what this Olsen twin is wearing?”

Female designer: “Youch!”

Male designer: “It’s a vile puffball skirt that even a fairy godmother wouldn’t be seen dead in during a pantomime.

“By the way, any idea if Billie Piper is going to be rejoining Doctor Who?”

EXHIBIT C: An excerpt from The Loquitur, the official newspaper of Cabrini College, in Philadelphia, which contains the following quotes from students:

“Women's magazines are funny to me, but also knowledgeable. I never knew women think and worry about dates, guys, style and make-up. I see how my girlfriend does her lip gloss now. ”

“By reading women's magazines, I can learn a little more about women.

“I like men’s magazines because they cover the topics I am interested in. Women's magazines do the same, but you can learn from mixing the two.”

“Girls’ magazines don't use as many jokes as guys’ magazines. I have read articles in girls’ magazines and I still don't understand women.”

Case closed.

Mind you, this doesn’t explain why the naturally more hirsute sex is tempted to flick through the nearest copy of Heat whenever their wife/girlfriend/great-auntie has her back turned.

Surely it can’t be because there is nearly as much female nudity in women’s magazines as there are in men’s?

Maybe it is simply that they can’t resist the infinite cycle of “Brad and Angelina completely in love”, “Brad and Angelina: pistols at dawn”, “Brad and Angelina more in love than ever” stories.

Ironically, these magazines are based on the concept that there is a gap the size of Nigella Lawson’s fridge spanning the two genders, otherwise where would all the articles on “how to catch and keep a sensitive hunk”, “21 things you never knew about blokes” and “why your ‘boyf’ hasn’t noticed you’ve had your hair done” go?

Yet the one thing they do achieve, aside from a run on turnips and potted meat in the supermarket, is to show how much we have in common.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/laura-davis/2007/12/05/it-seems-that-men-just-want-to-read-all-about-it-64375-20204316/

Poll Results Show Marital Infidelity the Most Unforgivable Offense by a Spouse

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 -- When it comes to marriage, the most unforgivable offense that a significant other can commit is marital infidelity. According to a poll conducted by www.ShouldIDivorceHim.com, an online community offering free marriage advice and catering to the trials and tribulations of marriage, family and divorce, an estimated 59 percent of respondents said cheating is the most serious impropriety above lying, substance abuse and inattentiveness.

Following marital infidelity, 16% of respondents selected inattentiveness, 16% chose lying and the remaining 7% chose substance abuse as the most serious crimes causing anger in marriage.

"In a way it holds true to what we're seeing on our support boards," says Kim Droze, KMJ Interactive CEO the parent company of Should I Divorce Him. "While most women continue to tolerate alcohol or drug abuse in their spouse, they draw the line when it comes to adultery."

"Lying, substance abuse and cheating all involve issues of trust. It just depends on how much a woman is willing to tolerate. In many cases, women can accept addictions yet they can't accept the idea of their husbands engaging in a physical or emotional affair with another woman," she added.

www.ShouldIDivorceHim.com has become a sounding board offering free marriage advice for many unhappily married women searching for an answer to the big question: "Should I Divorce Him?" While many women rely on family and friends for support, some women are not comfortable spilling the most intimate details of their marriage to people they know. With www.shouldidivorcehim.com, women have a safe place to discuss topics such as anger in marriage and marital infidelity anonymously and receive encouragement from women who've been there and done it.

"In a perfect world, women wouldn't have to deal with any of these issues. However, that's not the case. Many women are plagued by serious issues and anger in marriage, and it helps to have some place to go and vent and get free marriage advice. In many cases, there comes a time when women will throw up their hands and say 'enough is enough.' While we don't always advocate divorce, we also don't oppose it. A woman has to make the choice that is in the best interest of herself and her children, when applicable," Droze adds.

About Should I Divorce Him?

ShouldIDivorceHim.Com is an online destination and community catering to the trials and tribulations of marriage, family and divorce. The site provides free marriage advice from peers and experts as well as articles tackling the issues of anger in marriage, marital infidelity and emotional issues. A subsidiary of KMJ Interactive, the founding group is comprised of a team of seasoned internet and media professionals from a range of world-class companies including eDiets.com, Cox Media, American Media, CNN International, USA Networks, Autoweb.com, IBM and Sensormatic.

The site features daily commentary from a host of seasoned writers, message boards, expert articles, relationship resources and more.

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/12/emw574527.htm

It seems that men just want to read all about it

"I SLEPT with my best friend’s son,” announced my boyfriend casually, as if commenting on a slight dip in temperature since that morning or the increasing price of Edam.

“What?” I asked in horror, nearly dropping my laptop on the floor, forgetting for a moment my mild relief that I had taken 100 holiday snaps on a recent weekend in Stockholm and had only appeared on one of them.

“I slept with my best friend’s son,” Paul repeated calmly, though this time also jabbing a thumb in the direction of the magazine on his knee.

“What are you reading?” I demanded.

Surely not Private Eye – one of his few addictions along with salmon paste, generous tots of port and King of Shaves face lotion.

I’ve seen him dancing to Dolly Parton and caught him cleaning the oven in a pair of pink rubber gloves, yet I was still surprised to see him engrossed in a gossip mag of the sort that regularly splashes shock headlines like “My mum ran off with my pet rabbit” or “I fell in love with my tax inspector” across its front cover.

Although these periodicals are clearly aimed at women – the incessant turnip and Spam drop a dress size diets testify to that – I am convinced they are more often coveted by men.

Evidence to support this hypothesis is currently stacking up.

EXHIBIT A: Copies of the last three editions of Grazia, belonging to the Daily Post features editor (a woman), that have been read cover-to-cover by a male page-designer colleague.

EXHIBIT B: A transcript of a conversion between said male colleague and another designer (a woman). It goes like this . . .

Male page-designer (looking up from a celebrity magazine): “Have you seen what this Olsen twin is wearing?”

Female designer: “Youch!”

Male designer: “It’s a vile puffball skirt that even a fairy godmother wouldn’t be seen dead in during a pantomime.

“By the way, any idea if Billie Piper is going to be rejoining Doctor Who?”

EXHIBIT C: An excerpt from The Loquitur, the official newspaper of Cabrini College, in Philadelphia, which contains the following quotes from students:

“Women's magazines are funny to me, but also knowledgeable. I never knew women think and worry about dates, guys, style and make-up. I see how my girlfriend does her lip gloss now. ”

“By reading women's magazines, I can learn a little more about women.

“I like men’s magazines because they cover the topics I am interested in. Women's magazines do the same, but you can learn from mixing the two.”

“Girls’ magazines don't use as many jokes as guys’ magazines. I have read articles in girls’ magazines and I still don't understand women.”

Case closed.

Mind you, this doesn’t explain why the naturally more hirsute sex is tempted to flick through the nearest copy of Heat whenever their wife/girlfriend/great-auntie has her back turned.

Surely it can’t be because there is nearly as much female nudity in women’s magazines as there are in men’s?

Maybe it is simply that they can’t resist the infinite cycle of “Brad and Angelina completely in love”, “Brad and Angelina: pistols at dawn”, “Brad and Angelina more in love than ever” stories.

Ironically, these magazines are based on the concept that there is a gap the size of Nigella Lawson’s fridge spanning the two genders, otherwise where would all the articles on “how to catch and keep a sensitive hunk”, “21 things you never knew about blokes” and “why your ‘boyf’ hasn’t noticed you’ve had your hair done” go?

Yet the one thing they do achieve, aside from a run on turnips and potted meat in the supermarket, is to show how much we have in common.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/laura-davis/2007/12/05/it-seems-that-men-just-want-to-read-all-about-it-64375-20204316/

Children on Methylphenidate Less Likely to Abuse Drugs

Pre-teens who have been treated with methylphenidate may develop an aversion to abusable drugs, according to a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School. The Harvard study also rebuts arguments that treating children with stimulants such as Ritalin, Concerta or other medications containing methylphenidate may lead to later substance abuse. The results of the research were released in a special advance online publication of the Journal of Nature Neuroscience.

Susan Anderson, Ph.D., lead author of the Harvard study, notes that the relationship between ADHD medications and substance abuse has been the subject of apparently contradictory studies. "Evidence in laboratory animals indicates that exposure to stimulants produces sensitization to their rewarding effects, a process that in humans would be expected to increase the risk of substance abuse" she writes. Anderson also notes that studies by Biederman and others have shown that the proper use of stimulants in children with ADHD actually reduces their risk of substance abuse.

The Harvard study indicates that such differing conclusions may be the result in differences that occur in the brain during development, particularly during the pre-adolescent period. According to Anderson, early exposure to methylphenidate may cause lasting changes in the way the brain uses dopamine, changes that could create an aversion to the effects of cocaine. These changes only occur while the brain developing during childhood.

Rats who were initially exposed to methylphenidate as adults showed no similar changes. "These findings suggest that the neurobiological effects of MPH depend critically upon the developmental stage within which treatment first occurs," writes Anderson.

Changing the brain changes patterns of addiction

Unlike humans, rats don't have any societal pressures to use or not use drugs. Rats work for rewards. If there is no reward for a behavior, then they don't continue to exhibit the behavior.

In the Harvard study, methylphenidate appeared to decrease the rewarding effects of cocaine, thus reducing the potential for use or abuse. Medicated rats observed by Anderson also displayed less tolerance for the aversive effects of cocaine. This decreased reward combined with greater adverse reactions caused the rats to develop an aversion to cocaine.

How strong was their dislike of cocaine? These rats not only did not develop an addiction to the drug - they didn't even want to be in areas that they associated with cocaine use.

However, unmedicated rats developed the same type of addictive behaviors that one would expect when they were exposed to cocaine. The reward they received from the drug was sufficient for them to continue using cocaine. In fact, these rats liked cocaine and were willing to tolerate any adverse effects brought on by the drug. The cocaine-using rats showed a preference for areas that they associated with cocaine use.

In other words, junkie rats enjoy hanging out where drugs are used. Rats that don't use drugs don't want to hang around places where drugs are used, a sentiment any non-drugging human can certainly appreciate. Rats are actually very intelligent animals.

Differences were also evident in unmedicated rats that received cocaine as adults. While these rats did not show a preference to places associated with increased doses of cocaine, they did show an otherwise typical response to the drug. These rats did not show aversive responses to cocaine.

Conclusions

Anderson's research indicates that children who are given methylphenidate are less likely to develop substance abuse disorders as adults. According to this study, Ritalin and other stimulant medications, when used as prescribed in children, are not "gateway" drugs that lead to the use of cocaine of other drugs. On the contrary, giving children these medications appears to decrease their desire to use cocaine and other illicit drugs.

by Bob Seay

ADHD, Alcoholism and Other Addictions

It is common for people with ADHD to turn to addictive substances such as alcohol, marijuana, heroin, prescription tranquilizers, pain medication, nicotine, caffeine, sugar, cocaine and street amphetamines in attempts to soothe their restless brains and bodies. Using substances to improve our abilities, help us feel better, or decrease and numb our feelings is called self-medicating.

Putting Out Fires With Gasoline

The problem is that self-medicating works at first. It provides the person with ADHD relief from their restless bodies and brains. For some, drugs such as nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, diet pills and "speed" enable them to focus, think clearly and follow through with ideas and tasks. Others chose to soothe their ADHD symptoms with alcohol and marijuana.

People who abuse substances, or have a history of substance abuse are not "bad" people. They are people who desperately attempt to self-medicate their failings, and ADHD symptoms. Self-medicating can feel comforting. The problem is that self-medicating brings on a host of addiction-related problems that over time make our lives much more difficult. What starts out as a "solution" can cause problems in-cluding impulsive crimes, domestic violence, addictions, increased high risk behaviors, lost jobs, relation-ships, families, and death. Too many people with untreated ADHD, learning and perceptual disabilities are incarcerated, or dying from co-related addiction.

Self-medicating ADHD with alcohol and other drugs is like putting out fires with gasoline. You have pain and problems that are burning out of control, and what you use to put out the fire is gasoline. Your life may explode as you attempt to douse the flames of ADHD.

An article in American Scientists tells us that, "In the United States alone there are 18 million alcoholics, 28 million children of alcoholics, 6 million cocaine addicts, 14.9 million who abuse other substances, 25 million addicted to nicotine."(1) That adds up to at least 63.5 million Americans addicted to substances.

Who Will Become Addicted?

Everyone is vulnerable to abusing any mind-altering substance to diminish the gut wrenching feelings that accompany ADHD. There are a variety of reasons why one person becomes addicted and another does not. No single cause for addictions exists; rather, a combination of factors is usually involved. Genetic predisposition, neuro-chemistry, family history, trauma, life stress, and other physical and emotional problems contribute. Part of what determines who becomes addicted and who does not is the combination and timing of these factors. You may have a genetic predisposition for alcohol, but if you choose not to drink you will not become an alcoholic. The same is true for drug addictions. If you never smoke pot, snort cocaine, shoot or smoke heroin, you will never become a pot, coke or heroin addict.

The bottom line is that people with ADHD as a whole are more likely to medicate themselves with substances than those who do not have ADHD. Drs. Hallowell and Ratey estimate that 8 to 15 million Americans suffer from ADHD; other researchers estimate that as many as 30-50% of them use drugs and alcohol to self-medicate their ADHD symptoms.(2)

This does not include those who use food and compulsive behaviors to self-medicate their ADHD brains and the many painful feelings associated with ADHD. When we see ADHD, it is import to lookfor substance abuse and addictions. And when we see substance abuse and addictions, it is equally important to look for ADHD.

Prevention and Early Intervention

"Just Say No!" may sound simple, but if it was simple, we would not have millions of children, adoles-cents and adults using drugs every day. For some, their biological and emotional attraction to drugs is so powerful that they cannot conceptualize the risks of self-medication. This is especially true for the person with ADHD who may have an affinity for risky, stimulating experiences. (3)

This also applies to the person with ADHD who is physically and emotionally suffering from un-treated ADHD restlessness, impulsiveness, low energy, shame, attention and organization problems, and a wide range of social pain." It is very difficult to say no to drugs when you have difficulties controlling your impulses and concentrating and are tormented by a restless brain or body. The sooner we treat children, adolescents and adults with ADHD, the more likely we are to help them to minimize or eliminate self-medicating.

Many well-meaning parents, therapists and medical doctors are fearful that treating ADHD with medication will lead to addiction. Not all people with ADHD need to take medication. For those who do, however, prescribed medication that is closely monitored can actually prevent and minimize the need to self-medicate. When medication helps people to concen-trate, control their impulses, and regulate their energy level, they are less like to self-medicate.

Untreated ADHD and Addiction Relapse

Untreated ADHD contributes to addictive relapse, and, at best, can be a huge factor in recovering people feeling miserable, depressed, unfulfilled, and suicidal. Many individuals in recovery have spent countless hours in therapy, working through childhood issues, getting to know their inner child, and analy-zing their behaviors and why they abuse substances.

Much of this soul searching, insight and release of feelings is absolutely necessary to maintain recovery. But what if after years of group and individual therapy, and contin-ued involvement in addiction programs, you still impulsively quit jobs and relationships, cannot follow through with your goals and dreams, and have a fast, chaotic or slow energy level? What if, along with you addictions, you also have ADHD?

Treating Both ADHD and Addictions

It is not enough to treat addictions and not treat ADHD, nor is it enough to treat ADHD and not treat co-related addictions. Both need to be diagnosed and treated for the individual to have a chance at ongoing recovery. Now is the time to share information so that addiction specialists and those treating ADHD can work together. It is critical that chemical dependency practitioners understand that ADHD is based in one's biology and responds well to a comprehensive treatment program that sometimes includes medications. It is also important for practitioners to support the recovering person's involvement in Twelve-Step programs and help them to work with their fear about taking medication.

A Comprehensive Treatment Program includes:

• A professional evaluation for ADHD and co-related addictions.
• Continued involvement in addiction recovery groups or Twelve Step programs.
• Education on how ADHD impacts each individual's life and the people who love them.
• Building social, organizational, communication, and work or school skills.
• ADHD coaching and support groups
• Closely monitored medication when medication is indicated.
• Supporting a personas decision to take medication or not. (In time they may realize that medication is an essential part of their recovery.)

Stages of Recovery

It is important to treat people with ADHD and addictions according to their stage of recovery.

Recovery is a process that can be divided into four stages:

• pre-recovery,
• early recovery,
• middle recovery and
• long-term recovery.

Pre-recovery:

This is the period before a person enters treatment for their addictions. It can be difficult to sort out ADHD symptoms from addictive behavior and intoxication. The focus at this point is to get the person into treatment for their addictions or eating disorders. This is not the time to treat ADD with psycho-stimulant medication.

Early Recovery:

During this period it is also difficult, but not impossible, to sort out ADHD from the symptoms of abstinence which include, distractibility, restlessness, mood swings, confusions, and impulsivity. Much of what looks like ADHD can disappear with time in recovery. The key is having a life long history of ADHD symptoms dating back to childhood. In most cases early recovery is not the time to use psycho-stimulant medication, unless the individual's ADHD is hindering their ability to attain sobriety.

Middle Recovery:

By now addicts, alcoholics, and people with eating disorders are settling into recovery. This is usually the time when they seek therapy for problems that did not disappear with recovery. It is much easier to diagnose ADHD, and medication can be very effective.

Long Term Recovery:

This is an excellent time to treat ADHD with medications when warranted. By now most people in recovery have a life that has expanded beyond trying to stay clean and sober. Their recovery is an important part of their life, and they now have the flexibility to deal with other problems, such as ADHD.

Medication and Addiction

Psychostimulant medication, when properly prescribed and monitored, is effective for approximately 75-80% of people with ADHD. These medications include Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Desoxyn.

It is important to note that, when these medications are used to treat ADHD, the dosage is much less than what addicts use to get high. When people are properly medication, they will not feel high or "speedy," instead they will report an increase in their abilities to concentrate, and control their impulses and activity level. The route of delivery is also quite different. Medication to treat ADHD is taken orally, while street amphetamines are frequently injected or smoked.

Non-stimulant medications, such as Cylert, Effexor, Nortriptyline, Prozac, Wellbutin, and Zoloft,can also be effective in relieving ADHD symptoms for some people. These medications are frequently usedin combination with a small dose of a psychostimulant.

Recovering alcoholics and addicts are not flocking to doctors to get stimulant medication to treattheir ADHD. The problem is that many are hesitant, for good reasons, to use medication, especially psycho–stimulants. It has been my experience that once a recovering person becomes willing to try medication, the chance of abuse is very rare. Again, the key is a comprehensive treatment program that involves close monitoring of medication, behavioral interventions, ADHD coaching and support groups, and continued participation in addiction recovery programs.

There is Hope

In the last few years I have witnessed the transformation of lives that were once ravaged by untreated ADD and addictions. I have worked with people who had relapsed in and out of treatment programs for ten to twenty years attain ongoing and fulfilling sobriety once their ADHD was treated. I have seen people with ADHD achieve recovery once their addictions were treated.

"Each day I understand more about how pervasive ADHD is in my life. My clients, friends, family and colleagues are my teachers. I wouldn't wish ADHD and addictions on anyone, but if these are the genetic cards that you have been dealt, your life can still be fascinating and fulfilling." (3)

http://www.addresources.org/article_adhd_addictions_richardson.php

Overcoming Work Addiction

Why are you so busy? Do you really have too much work? Is work so important to you that you'll sacrifice just about anything in your life to get the job done? Even if it's at the expense of your health and your relationships?

If you find these questions disturbing then see how you rate with these ones:

Do you work more than 50 hours a week?

Do you dream about work?

Do you feel that in order to succeed you must work late most of the time?

Are you a stranger in your own home?

Do you constantly miss family and social events because you're always working?

Do you schedule and undertake more than you can get done in a 40-hour work week?

Do you get bored when you're not working?

Is missing family and social events because of work unavoidable?

When on holiday do you constantly check your phone messages and email?

Your Score

The greater the number of yes answers, the closer you are to fitting the profile of a workaholic. If you've answered yes to more than half of the questions, it's time to take stock before you lose your health, family and everything you hold near and dear to your heart.

Do a Stocktake

First, of all take a really good look at your job, what you do and the importance of your accomplishments. Are you appreciated for all those long hours you've put in? Does it really - I mean really - make a difference to your income? Let's face it. In today's economic environment, employees are often nothing more than expendable pawns. No amount of overtime and sacrifice will make a difference when a company has to make cutbacks.

Are You Having Fun?

Secondly, determine if you're having fun at your job, long hours notwithstanding. If you're not having fun and are popping antacids to avoid a stress-related ulcer, then you need to rethink all that hard work you're putting in. Fun must be a high priority in your life and your job should be no exception.

Gary's Story

In one of our coaching sessions, Gary told me he wanted to expand his social circle yet didn't have time because he worked from 7.30 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. most days. He said he'd been doing this for years and that it was 'the norm' in his profession.

As I continued to question him about why it was standard procedure to work these ridiculous hours, he realised that those colleagues who succumbed to this belief were all very unhappy individuals. Most of them were divorced just like he was and had no-one to go home to. They used work as a way to avoid the loneliness.

Gary was divorced because he didn't pay attention to his relationships. He would arrive home at 7.30 p.m. most nights and his wife wouldn't bother communicating with him. She was busy looking after their two young boys and meeting their needs. At that time of night his wife was putting the kids to bed.

Gary would read them a story if they hadn't already fallen asleep.

He was missing out on everything that was important to him.

Unfortunately Gary didn't wake up to himself in time and got caught up with being 'Mr. Important' at work. He paid a heavy price with the divorce which followed.

Bringing Up Kids

In his book "Raising Boys", Stephen Biddulph categorically states: If you routinely work a fifty five or sixty hour week, including travel times, you just won't cut it as a dad.

He says: Your sons will have problems in life and it will be down to you.

The Final Word

If you seriously want to make changes to your life, then take action now. If it's too hard to do by yourself, get a coach. If you've been a workaholic it can take awhile to break your old habits and to instill new behaviours. After all you've got everything to gain by working less and everything to lose by continuing the way you are.

About The Author

Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser (http://www.office-organiser.com.au) is Australia's Personal Productivity Coach.

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life.

We Offer a Broad Range of Services and Products including: Coaching for small business owners and professionals, keynote presentations and workshops, books, CD's, DVD's and on-line learning programs.

Take action today! Contact Lorraine to discuss your specific needs at lorraine@office-organiser.com.au

Identify and Remedy Work Addiction

Work addiction is an unrestrained, unfulfillable internal demand for constant engagement in work and a corresponding inability to relax. A person with work addiction, a “workaholic,” is incessantly driven, relentlessly active. Work is the one organizing and effective activity. For some work addicts, inactivity or activity other than work gives rise to guilt, anxiety, or emptiness. Some individuals view work as the only area in which they can establish and maintain their identities, feel effective, and enjoy feelings of importance, validation, and affirmation. Others may use work to counteract underlying feelings of inadequacy and ineffectiveness. In either case, the workaholic cannot rest.

Working passionately, long and hard, and deriving satisfaction, does not make someone a work addict. An addiction is something you can’t do without. These addicted to alcohol or drugs feel as if they cannot do without them. The person who cannot maintain comfort or a sense of worth without working is similarly addicted. People with work addiction have to work constantly, even on weekends, and during whatever vacations they permit themselves. For these individuals, however, the relentless pursuit of work and the attainment of material gain do not result in pleasure.

Like other addictions, work addiction affects the workaholic’s social life and restricts his or her personal freedom and happiness. In fact, excessive work can be a means to withdraw from relationships, to manipulate relationships by limiting one’s availability, or to regulate relationships so that not too much is expected.

Individuals who are truly addicted to work do not find great pleasure in the work itself. Work, motivated by a desire to be effective, to experience mastery, and also avoids feeling bad. Like other compulsions work addiction is an attempt to regulate one’s feelings and self-esteem.

WORK ADDICTION: SELF-EVALUATION QUESTIONS

Change begins by looking at things in a different way. Consider the following questions in relation to your work and your feelings about your work identity.

• Do you have a specific time when your work life stops and your private life begins each day? Each weekend? For vacations?

• When you leave work, do problems, projects, calls, appointments, and meetings follow you home and erode your private time?

• Do you have withdrawal symptoms when not working, such as restlessness, anxiety, depression, or psychosomatic symptoms?

• Has anyone close to you ever accused you of being a workaholic?

• Have you become creative in rationalizing your excesses, perhaps by convincing yourself that success demands a dedication bordering on obsession? Do you fear failure if you do anything less?

• Can you not seem to stop replaying conversations at work, reassessing decisions, and reexamining work details?

• Is what you do who you are? Is your identity as a person so closely linked to your work identity that it is difficult to enjoy an activity not connected with work?

• Do you take setbacks, feedback, or criticism of work projects personally?

• Are you still trying to prove your worth to yourself, or someone else, by what you do? Do you believe that only unending effort will demonstrate your true value?

• Are you doing what you do for someone else’s response, or for your own benefit and satisfaction of your own ideals?

• Is work an escape? Does it allow you to fill a void or get out of doing something you regard as unpleasant, such as meeting family obligations or facing family conflicts?

• Do you have medical problems as a result of overwork, or a physical deterioration from alcohol, cigarettes, skimping on sleep, or overeating?

• Has your social or family function deteriorated as a result of excessive work, including neglect of children or spouse?

SOME REMEDIES FOR WORK ADDICTION

• Establish a clear boundary between your work life and your private life: each day, each weekend, and for designated vacation periods. If you feel guilty or vaguely uncomfortable with taking time off or relaxing, consider reframing the time, even the play, as a necessary component of your work. In order to be maximally effective when you are at work, making time for a private life and for play is crucial.

• Even though you may enjoy and feel rewarded by your work, play is equally important. Creativity, nurturing in itself, needs time to ferment, develop, and expand. You may even find it useful to set aside a brief time at the end of each day to allow closure of work activity, to have an official transition time that puts a period at the end of the sentence of each day so that time off is really time off.

• Establish your own life plan on a daily basis, as well as the big picture on a yearly and career-long basis. Keeping a journal may be useful. Writing down your thoughts, feelings, plans, and timetables regarding work can clarify things and may provide a basis for reflection and comparison from year to year. Know what "good enough" is, so when you reach a goal, you recognize it.

• Distinguish the feedback, criticism, and setbacks on work projects, as relating to the work itself, the task you’ve performed. Try not to hear them as a personal affront or invalidation.

• Develop your emotional, interpersonal expertise as well as your technical expertise. Both can be finely tuned. Consider, for example, when different listening positions may be most effective. At times a colleague or employer may need your empathic ear; at other times an objective, even confrontational position may be needed.

• Know the difference between thinking, feeling, and imagining, as opposed to acting. Physical action is not the only form of doing something; thinking and contemplating are active forms of doing something. This distinction may seem obvious, but it is not clear in the minds of many people. For example, a patient may come in and want to know what to “do” about her depression. There is no immediate thing to do; we must begin by understanding and resolving the emotional issues that underlie the symptom. The patient’s own failed attempts to approach the problem actively, to apply willpower and distracting activity, provide ample evidence that another approach is required.

• Reassess the amount of time you spend talking about your work with family and friends, and the amount of time you spend associating only with friends from work or people in the same line of work. Obviously people who care about each other are interested in all the things that are important to the other, including work. But, being caught up in war stories may represent an inability to establish boundaries for work or an overinclusive identity with one’s work.

David Krueger, M.D. is an Executive Strategist/ Professional Coach who mentors executives, entrepreneurs, and authors
dkrueger@mentorpath.com
http://www.MentorPath.com

He is author of 11 books on success, money, work, and self-development. This article is excerpted from Dr. Krueger’s 12th book, soon to be published, LIVE A NEW LIFE STORY: The Essentials of Change, Reinvention, and Personal Success.