CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health articles from December 2008

CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health archives from December 2008

Note from the editor.(alcohol treatment and recovery)(Editorial)
December 22, 2008... Canadians love to drink. In fact, alcohol is the psychoactive substance of choice for nearly 80 per cent of Canadians over age 15, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA). But while most people tend to drink moderately,...

A view from CAMH.(longest continuing substance of addiction in Western culture)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... With this issue's focus on alcohol following the autumn 2008 issue's scrutiny of tobacco, we continue to examine aspects of the other great legal addiction in Canada--one that, like cigarettes, causes inordinate morbidity and mortality. But,...

Remedial program puts drivers back on track.(profile)(Report)
December 22, 2008... As a facilitator of Back on Track (BOT), a remedial measures program for impaired driving offenders, Michele Cloutier asks people why they got behind the wheel. "I didn't think I was that drunk" is a popular answer. As is "I wasn't that far...

Maximizing client involvement in clinical research.(issues and trends)(Report)
December 22, 2008... Getting people with mental illness to participate in research can be difficult, but the results of a recent German study, published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, suggest that does not have to be the case. ...

Distilling fact from fiction: the truth about alcohol.(myth busters)(Report)
December 22, 2008... Dr. Peter Selby, clinical director of Addiction Programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, and Wayne Skinner, deputy clinical director of the program, challenge common myths about alcohol treatment and recovery. ...

CBT effective in treating traumatized youth.(research update)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is strong evidence that individual and group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) can decrease psychological harm among children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events, according to a study from the Centers...

Substance use negatively affects low-income caregivers and their children.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... Low-income caregivers of children fare poorly on measures of well-being and work when they have high levels of substance use, according to research from Harvard Medical School in Boston. The study involved interviews with 1,623 female...

Children of older fathers at increased risk of bipolar disorder.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... Children born to older fathers are more likely to develop bipolar disorder, say Swedish researchers. A study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm used data from Sweden's national health registers to identify 13,428 individuals with...

Cannabis use may be linked to early-onset psychosis.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... Cannabis use may be associated with the early onset of psychosis, according to researchers at Santiago Apostol Hospital in Vitoria, Spain. Researchers looked at 131 individuals who required inpatient treatment for a first episode of psychosis...

Students respond to risk of prescription drug use.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... The average first year university student believes that non-medical use of prescription stimulants and painkillers is safer than cocaine use but more dangerous than smoking marijuana or binge drinking, according to research from the University...

Continuing care benefits individuals with substance use and psychiatric disorders.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... Continuing care for a substance use disorder after inpatient psychiatric treatment reduces the risk of early rehospitalization among individuals who have both psychiatric and substance use disorders, according to research from the Department of...

Adults abused as children prefer trauma-based therapy.(research update)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Adults who were abused as children show a marked preference for trauma-based approaches to therapy, according to new research from the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. Trauma-based treatment approaches the...

Bridging the great divide: the challenge to integrate drug therapy with psychosocial treatment therapy with psychosocial treatment.(focus)(Report)
December 22, 2008... THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL, JOHN * DRANK HEAVILY. IN COLLEGE, he discovered that he could avoid his "morning-after" hang-over by continuing to drink. Soon he was drinking every day, all day. "I drank a big bottle daily," he says. "I kept it in my...

It's mutual: clinicians and support groups take steps together to enhance recovery.(focus)(Report)
December 22, 2008... KEITH HUMPHREYS, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL sciences at Stanford University in California, wont win any popularity contests among colleagues for saying, "As educated professionals, we tend to look down on everybody." Yet it was one...

Beyond bad, mad behaviour: targeting the needs of people with FASD and mental health issues.(fetal alcohol spectrum disorder)(focus)(Report)
December 22, 2008... ERRIN WEIGEL THOUGHT HER 7-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER KALEN'S behaviour seemed extreme, even in the context of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As for her son, Dusty, he was often anxious, and was hospitalized for severe depression just...

From second chance to second cup: an extraordinary story of sobriety and success.(focus)
December 22, 2008... IN THE 1970S FRANK O'DEA CALLED THE DIRTY DOWNTOWN STREETS of Toronto home. That's where alcohol and abuse had led him. No one then could have imagined that this desperate man would one day co-found a multi-million dollar coffee enterprise...

Working while recovering: when the personal becomes professional.(focus)(Essay)
December 22, 2008... AS AN ADDICTION PROFESSIONAL, EARLY IN MY CAREER, I'D REGULARLY meet clients in my office. But the meetings did, n t' stop there. I'd also meet those clients at AA. You see, that s where I went to support my own recovery. I refer to the...

Confronting the negative spirit: does harm reduction have a place in Aboriginal communities?(focus)(Report)
December 22, 2008... "A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IS WHEN YOU START SEEING THE good in yourself without any mood-or mind-altering A chemicals," says Joyce Paul, an elder and executive director of the Rising Sun Rehabilitation Centre, a treatment centre serving First...

Common questions about alcohol and mental health problems.(q & a)
December 22, 2008... This Q&A draws on published research and interviews with clinicians to examine challenges for diagnosis, treatment and recovery related to co-occurring alcohol use and mental health problems. What is the prevalence of co-occurring alcohol...

Conceiving risk, bearing responsibility: FASD as social construction.(fetal alcohol spectrum disorder)(Report)
December 22, 2008... Sociologist Elizabeth Armstrong has written a provocative book. Conceiving Risk, Bearing Responsibility: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Diagnosis of Moral Disorder offers a compelling and important critique of how complex health-related...

Youth and Alcohol.(downloaded)(Report)(Brief article)
December 22, 2008... Binge drinking: Extent of the problem Binge drinking by teens and young adults is a concern. To find out the extent of the problem in your region, visit the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse web site (www.ccsa.ca), which offers various...

Message in a bottle: wet shelters embody true harm reduction approach.(the last word)(Report)
December 22, 2008... In the winter of 1996, Eugene Upper, Kompani Mirsalah-Aldin and Irwin Hardy froze to death on three separate nights in the streets of Toronto. A coalition of poverty and housing activists led by street nurse Cathy Crowe and human rights lawyer...

Conferences.(Calendar)
December 22, 2008... CANADA Western Canadian Youth and Family Addictions Conference January 28-30, Vancouver, British Columbia tel 604 968-3160 e-mail info@asap-bc.org www.asap-bc.org Alberta FASB Conference: "Promising Practices,...