The celebration of sobriety, or wellbriety, has occurred every so often amongst the local recovery community at Tulalip for years.

Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and well-being, and mental illnesses are common and treatable. So much of what we do physically impacts us mentally –it’s important to pay attention to both your physical health and your mental health, which can help you achieve overall wellness and set you on a path to recovery. This May is Mental Health Month and RecoveryTrek is raising awareness about the connection between physical health and mental health, through t

Written by AMANDA MACMILLAN Health l April 24, 2018 Some of the effects, like slurred speech and loss of balance, can be very obvious. Others, like cell death, not so much. A glass of wine with dinner, a happy-hour beer after work, a cocktail (or three) on vacation: Alcohol is deeply ingrained in American culture, and, for many of us, it’s a normal part of our daily lives. Studies suggest that alcohol, when consumed at low to moderate levels, may have some health benefits. It

By Zeke Spector, March 15, 2018 [Vice News] A year and half ago, Gabe Stewart stood in tribal court pleading guilty to felony charges because he stole money from his family to support his opioid addiction. In January, his community honored him for overcoming addiction and watched as his case was dismissed entirely. Stewart is a member of the Penobscot Nation in Maine, a state hit hard by the opioid crisis. American indigenous communities like his are also some of the hardest

Written by Victoria Kim, March 20, 2018 [The Fix] According to the CDC, Native Americans had the highest overdose death rate of any race in 2015. One U.S. senator is determined to get tribal communities in the United States their fair share of the billions of dollars in funding dedicated to fighting the national opioid crisis. Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota, spearheaded a letter sent to Senate leaders early March, urging them to allocate opioid crisis fund

March 2, 2018 [Southern Illinois University News - news.siu . edu] CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Your brain is essential to everything you do, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Cognitive Sciences Graduate Organization wants you to take better care of it. To help, the registered student organization has events lined up throughout March designed highlight the many facets of brain health. “The brain really is the powerhouse of everything you do,” said Jennica Young, a doctoral

Written by Ed Cara, February 02, 2018 [Gizmodo] As doctors and scientists struggle to turn the tide of the opioid crisis, which killed more than 63,000 Americans in 2016, there are others looking further ahead, trying to create a world where addiction can’t take hold in the first place. One such approach, created by a team of scientists in the U.K., is a nasal spray that shoots a naturally produced opioid straight to the brain—seemingly without causing the euphoric high and t

By Amy Ellis Nutt, February 8, 2018 [The Washington Post] Certain patterns of genetic activity appear to be common among five distinct psychiatric disorders — autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism — according to a new study. The paper, appearing in the journal Science, was released Thursday. Scientists analyzed data from 700 human brains, all donated either from patients who suffered one of these major psychiatric disorders or from people who had

By Tyler Jacobson, Published: February 9, 2018 [AddictionBlog .Org] How To Backpedal When Parenting An Addict Parenting is a tough job. I’s not always easy to know what’s good and beneficial for your child. However, being the parent of an addict is doubly hard! Sometimes, you’ll find yourself backpedaling on things you’ve said or changing tack to find an approach that works. There are numerous reasons which might make you change your mind if you’re parenting an addict. For in

by Glenn Minnis | February 12, 2018 l MadisonRecord . com PEORIA – The Lawyers' Assistance Program (LAP) is slated to hold its annual Joseph R. Bartylak Dinner at The Waterhouse in Peoria on Thursday, April 5, with this year’s event featuring the Honorable Judge Lisa Wilson as keynote speaker. Founded nearly four decades ago in 1980, LAP prides itself on aiding colleagues impaired or hampered by substance abuse or other mental health issues. Headquartered in downtown Chicago,

By Laurie McGinley and Katie Zezima February 10, 2018 [Washington Post ] Andrew Turner’s years in the military left him suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, back pain and the effects of an injury that mangled his hand. “I was a broken toy,” he said. Tossed aside. Barely able to get off the couch. Then he started using an herbal supplement that he says saved his life: kratom. Nancy Knoebel’s 27-year-old son, Daniel Teichman, began using kratom after he stop

By Victoria Kim, 02/02/18 TheFix .com Once a participant completes their treatment program, their case is dismissed and sealed, according to the Law Journal. A new program run by the Bronx Criminal Court in New York City is hoping to prioritize recovery for people charged with low-level, non-violent offenses. The Bronx’s Overdose Avoidance and Recovery (OAR) program is just over two months old, but has so far helped 50 defendants access treatment in lieu of jail, according to

By Amanda Macmillan, February 8, 2018 TIME Health U.S. life expectancy has decreased for the second year in a row, and an editorial in theBMJ points to three contributing factors: drugs, alcohol and suicides, particularly among middle-age white Americans and those living in rural communities. The authors of the paper paint a bleak picture of the problems facing much of the United States today, but the authors say that policies that bolster the middle-class can help reverse th