Is Alcoholism Genetic, Environmental, Cultural, or Something Else Altogether?

By Christa Banister It’s no secret that alcohol consumption — a glass of wine with dinner, beers during the big game, champagne to toast a special event — is a regular, socially acceptable part of many people’s lives. Not surprisingly, it’s become increasingly popular during the… Read More

Addiction in the Family: How Substance Abuse Affects Family Health and Dynamics

By Christa Banister There’s no way around it. Substance abuse is not only difficult for the person struggling with addiction, but it’s also rough on family members who rally around their loved one. People all respond differently in any crisis situation. Consciously or unconsciously, mom, dad, brothers, sisters,… Read More

Addiction & Suicide Rates Spike During COVID

By Wesley Gallagher As we come up on a whole year of COVID-19 drastically altering our daily lives, we’ve all probably gotten used to many of the changes. However, we can also probably all look back and say that our mental health has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Especially… Read More

The Other Epidemic: Opioid Overdose Deaths and Medication-Assisted Treatment

I go to these meetings because things could get worse. A man at my home group said these words not too long ago. He’s a person I respect: a father, husband, and veteran who still exudes such a degree of military bearing I find it hard to imagine that he… Read More

September is National Recovery Month

Every September for the past 30 years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has sponsored Recovery Month. This important national observance is aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders and celebrating the people who get up each morning and bravely continue the journey of recovery. Read More

How the New Drug Czar May Impact the Opioid Epidemic in America

The opioid crisis may have started with good intentions as doctors over the last 30 years began prescribing more medications for chronic pain. Unfortunately, many doctors and patients didn’t realize that taking opioid pain relievers will quickly lead to addiction. Today, opioid addiction has become a full-scale epidemic that affects… Read More

Growing Up in the Shadow of Addiction

Children of addicted parents who experience relational trauma can carry the imprint of that pain for the rest of their lives. As adult children of alcoholics (ACoA), we can be perplexed about what we’re healing from and how we should heal it. Many of us think that we can… Read More

Get Connected Toolkit

The Get Connected Toolkit results from a public-private partnership between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Council on Aging (NCOA). The organizations met with older adult consumers and health and aging services providers to gather information on how best to engage the aging services network in addressing older adults' alcohol and medication misuse and mental health needs. Read More

Family Advocate Jerry Law: Freedom is Recovery’s Greatest Gift

The following is a partial transcript of a conversation Dan Griffin had with Jerry Law as part of his Men in Recovery video series. Jerry is an interventionist and the Director of Family, Education, and Leadership Training at The Meadows. Through his role at The Meadows, he works with… Read More

Parental Addiction: Children are the First Responders

By Tian Dayton, Senior Fellow at The Meadows Children experience a great deal of emotional pain when they watch the parents they love, look up to, and need to feel safe and secure exhibit the kind of behavior that is part of addiction. Children experience deep anxiety. Read More