Answer Addiction

Author: The Fix

  • In-School Services Offered To Students Impacted By Opioid Addiction

    In-School Services Offered To Students Impacted By Opioid Addiction

    More than 50 schools in Massachusetts offer in-school counseling services to students with parents who are battling opioid addiction. 

    Maddy Nadeau’s childhood was less than ideal. Her mother often could not care for her, leaving her older sister to do the job when she came home from elementary school. 

    Maddy is one of many children affected by a parent’s substance use disorder, according to NPR. 

    Luckily, her school is taking steps to help her overcome the trauma of such a childhood. In October, Congress allowed for $50 million annually for five years to be allotted to mental health services in schools for children affected by the opioid epidemic.

    The girls eventually entered a foster home, which led to an adoption. Sarah Nadeau, their adoptive mother, told NPR both girls struggled with depression and anxiety, as well as performance in school. Maddy had a hard time especially, as she was exposed to opioids while in utero.

    “That makes it very difficult for her brain to settle down enough to do more than one task at a time,” Nadeau told NPR.

    Counselors at schools such as Maddy’s are employed by Gosnold, which is a substance use disorder treatment provider in Massachusetts. According to NPR, more and more schools are starting to screen and treat students who are considered at risk for opioid use disorder, as well as offer mental health services for those who have been affected by it.

    “Schools have more kids who cannot access the learning environment,” Sharon Hoover, co-director of The National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told NPR.


    According to Hoover, having such services in schools is proving effective.
”This is considered a preferable model of care,” she said. “The kids show up for treatment services because they’re not relying on a family member to take them somewhere in the community.”

    Though the services are new, data demonstrates counseling for at-risk students leads to fewer absences and better academic performance. Massachusetts schools using Gosnold counselors say their students are performing better academically and emotionally. Sarah Nadeau says this is the case for her girls.

    “Their day runs smoother. They can get out their anxiety while they’re in school instead of bottling it up, and then go back to class and continue learning,” she told NPR.

    Each participating school pays Gosnold for the counselors, and students’ insurance covers the individual sessions. If a student does not have insurance or it will not cover the cost, Gosnold absorbs that cost. Currently, more than 50 schools in Massachusetts offer such services. 

    “I wish that more schools offered it because the epidemic is everywhere,” says Sarah Nadeau. “For a lot of these kids, school is the only place that is stable. They get their lunch here, they get their education here, so why not give them their support while they’re here at the school?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Fortnite" Addiction Is Becoming More Prominent For Kids, Teens

    "Fortnite" Addiction Is Becoming More Prominent For Kids, Teens

    One expert says games like Fortnite are similar to heroin “once you are hooked, it’s hard to get unhooked.” 

    Whether or not tech addiction exists is still up for debate, but parents around the country are saying that their kids and teens are no doubt addicted to the video game Fortnite, prompting some parents to seek professional help for their children. 

    “This game is like heroin,” Lorrine Marer, a British behavioral specialist who works with kids with game addiction, told Bloomberg. “Once you are hooked, it’s hard to get unhooked.” 

    One NPR listener from Florida called in saying that he understands how people get hooked on the games. The listener, who is in his 30s, is nationally-ranked in a similar video game, and said that the adrenaline hit he gets from playing could easily be addictive to kids and adults. 

    “A lot of these games — I mean, my worry is they get kids addicted through chemical reactions,” he said. “If you go through a 40-minute game with 100 people, and you’re one of the last five people, your heart is beating so fast, when you actually win, they crave that rush. And that’s what they’re going back for.

    Video games are part of life for many kids today, so having healthy boundaries is important, said Sarah Domoff, a clinical child psychologist and psychology professor at Central Michigan University who directs the Family Health Lab, a training clinic that promotes healthy media use in adolescents.

    “For a lot of these different mediums, we cannot completely avoid them,” Domoff said. “What’s really imperative is to set limits early on, help children learn how to regulate their use, but then really be involved, set guidelines around use. If problems appear to arise, prevent future issues by checking to see, is my child only playing video games to the exclusion of other activities?”

    Nir Eyal, an author and tech blogger who has written about producing habit-forming tech products, said that parents need to schedule time for games and introduce healthy limits for their children. 

    “I think a big mistake that parents make is having technology in kids’ rooms. They don’t need to have the technology in the room. Keep it outside in a more family-focused place,” Eyal said. “And then prevent distraction with the technology. Your iPhone today comes with a functionality called ‘Screen Time’ where you can set limits around how long kids have access to certain apps, so then it’s not you telling them to get off the device, it’s the phone.”

    If parents suspect their child is developing an unhealthy habit around tech, Eyal said that parents need to help them figure out why that’s happening. 

    “For some folks, there are underlying issues: a lack of autonomy, confidence, connectedness, and for those type of things we need to dig deeper to figure out what we’re really trying to escape with these devices,” Eyal said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • WWE Icon Jake "The Snake" Roberts On A Sober Life Beyond The Ring

    WWE Icon Jake "The Snake" Roberts On A Sober Life Beyond The Ring

    Jake “The Snake” Roberts credits his close work with Diamond Dallas Page as a crucial factor in finally becoming sober after decades of addiction.

    The rise, fall and rise again of Jake “The Snake” Roberts has played out in live arenas and on film and television screens for the better part of the last three decades. Roberts and his trademark python were among the most popular and colorful figures in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but alcohol and drug dependency – showcased in the 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat – led to his dismissal and a lengthy descent that nearly ended Roberts’ life. 

    With the help of fellow wrestler turned fitness guru Diamond Dallas Page, Roberts returned to health and sobriety – as chronicled in the The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) – and has embarked on a variety of ventures, including acting roles and the “Dirty Details Tour,” in which he shares the wildest stories from his WWE days with a live audience. In a conversation with the Asbury Park Press, Roberts discussed his health and sobriety as well as his desire to help others struggling with dependency.

    Roberts describes his “Dirty Details” appearances as a catalog of “the crazy stuff” that he and fellow WWE wrestlers got into while touring the WWE circuit. “Whether they happened in a hotel or it happened in a strip joint, you’re going to hear it,” he said. “They’re all true stories . . . and the best thing about it is the statute of limitations has run out on all of them, so I’m good there.” Roberts added that stories of classic WWE heels and babyfaces, from André the Giant to the Undertaker and Randy “Macho Man” Savage, will also be on the bill.

    Roberts is able to talk about the “crazy stuff” in his past because it’s no longer an active and toxic part of his existence. He credits his close work with Page as a crucial factor in finally gaining sobriety after decades of dependency. “It was totally up to me to finally (get sober) – it always is,” he said. “But I’d been to rehabs and stuff and they hadn’t worked. So moving in with Dallas was a different way of attacking the same old problem, and thank God he was able to.”

    Interacting with fans is a key element of Roberts’ appearances, and he hopes that anyone who might be undergoing dependency issues will look to him as a source of support. “I encourage anybody out there that’s suffering from any type of addiction or alcoholism: come on out to the show,” he said. “Let me know that you want to talk to me after the show, we’ll get you some place, sit down and I’ll see if I can’t help you got on the narrow path. It’s a lot more fun – it really is. You can have a good time sober.”

     

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rob Tanchum's New Comedy Album Finds Humor In Mental Health

    Rob Tanchum's New Comedy Album Finds Humor In Mental Health

    Rob Tanchum drew from his own mental health issues to create his new rap/comedy album Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate.

    Finding ways to cope with mental health issues can take a myriad of forms, from traditional therapy and medication to meditation, massage and yoga. Writer and comedian Rob Tanchum has found a very unique means of contending with his depression and anxiety: He used them as the basis for his comedic hip-hop concept album, Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate.

    The New York-based Tanchum – who has written and directed work for Upright Citizens Brigade, among others – wrote and performed the album’s 11 tracks, which, according to the album’s storyline, are the inner workings of his mind after being extracted by aliens who have abducted him.

    Community creator Dan Harmon voices one of the aliens and serves as the album’s executive producer, and he is one of Tanchum’s primary inspirations in seeing the project to completion, which he describes to The Fix as “a cathartic challenge.”

    Tanchum says that he’d tried to record concept albums before Disturbed but found himself unable to see them through. “I get to a point where I’m overcome by anxiety and self-doubt,” he says. “And I want them to be perfect, and I have a pathological need for external validation.”

    As a self-described “hip-hop nerd,” he also worried about using the music form for his own project. “I don’t want to be an interloper, or defile or lessen it in any way. I constantly start and give up working on these albums because I don’t want to be that person,” notes Tanchum. 

    Disturbed got a crucial boost from Dan Harmon, whom Tanchum met after sending him an original rap song that referenced one of Harmon’s own freestyle inventions. Tanchum said that he brought pitches of song ideas as possible collaborations with Harmon but also voiced his concerns about recording a hip-hop album. “He convinced me to do it,” says Tanchum. “I wasn’t going to turn down that opportunity.”

    Once the project was set in motion, Tanchum began drawing on his own issues as the root of the material. “I’m a comedy writer, and just by virtue of who I am, my mental health always seeps in,” he says. “You write about what you know, and that’s the perspective I’m interested in. I try to uncover my neuroses and look at myself, my depression and my anxiety as character traits.”

    Despite his concerns and self-doubt, recording Disturbed proved to be a positive experience for Tanchum. “It’s been nice to hear from people who have said that it’s exactly how they feel,” he says. “And I listened to the album months after making it, and it was really helpful for me to hear it because I was at a particularly low point.”

    Tanchum also cites the NBC series Parks and Recreation as having the sort of impact he’d like to have with listeners. “There are so many characters [on the show] that are dealing with depression and feelings of failure, and getting back up after those things,” he explains. “That’s what defines you, and that’s the kind of thing I want to make – something funny but helpful.”

    Disturbed, Depressed, Inadequate is currently available via iTunes, SoundCloud, Spotify and TIDAL. It’s also available as a special edition cassette from Harmon’s SBI Press, which features 35 minutes of bonus material and a 10-minute improv scene.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Homeless in Sobriety

    Homeless in Sobriety

    One friend found my homeless sober alcoholic life fascinating. She wanted to know if I smelled, where I went to the bathroom, and what I did all day. Once she even asked if I had a Big Book.

    From approximately 1 p.m. on June 5th, 2018 until around 11 a.m. September 5th, 2018, my three pit bulls and I lived in my Ford Explorer. Not only was I homeless with three dogs, but I also had over eight years of sobriety.

    My car was packed. While most of my belongings were in a local storage unit, my dogs and I had to have the basic necessities. Inside my SUV were two doggy blankets, an ice cooler full of bottled water, ice, and hazelnut coffee creamer, along with a duffel bag crammed with clothing, doggy food and five gallons of water for my dogs.

    Being homeless is expensive. I gave up on storing perishable food in the ice cooler because not only did I have to purchase ice every day, but the food spoiled because the ice melted rapidly in the 99 degree daytime heat.  Every day, I went to a local campsite and filled up the gallons of water for the dogs at a fish cleaning station, and every evening I bought a dollar burrito from Taco Bell or a veggie burger meal from Burger King. Somehow I was able to afford cigarettes and I smoked like a fiend. I felt insane.

    For the first month, we lived under three trees by a lake; by the second month, we’d found a campsite by the Kern River owned by the Bureau of Land Management. While most people camped by the river, I discovered an isolated site that had several trees, boulders, a few makeshift fire pits, and a picnic table. The catch was that we could only stay there for two weeks, leave for ten days, and then return for a final two weeks. But naturally, I stretched our stay. The rangers liked me: I had my dogs on tie outs and kept the campsite clean because I had a lot of time on my hands.

    While there was a porta-potty close by, there was nowhere to bathe. Luckily I found a bathroom at another campsite that had a shower. For $1.00 in quarters, I could shower for two minutes. For seven quarters, I could shower for four minutes.

    AA and Homelessness

    Despite the sheer lunacy that was my life, I did not drink nor did I want to drink, even though I was not attending 12-step meetings. What was my excuse? The temperature was about 82 degrees during the evenings and I could not leave my dogs in a hot car while I was inside a meeting hall. Besides that, I didn’t want to go to AA meetings; while I was homeless, I realized that AA was not my cup of tea.

    And to top it off, talking with several of my AA friends made me feel worse than I already did.

    “Life is hard. Look at me. Most of the time I struggle to pay my bills,” said Dorothy, with 25 years of sobriety. “I have to take it one day at a time or I will go crazy.”

    Before I could say a word, she said, “I could be homeless, too. We are all one step away from being homeless.”

    “Dorothy, you are not homeless,” I said.

    “I know,” she said.

    And then there was Stephanie who had almost 40 years of years of sobriety. While we used to be good friends, now I felt like I was an amoeba under a microscope, a fascinating specimen. She wanted to know if I smelled, where I went to the bathroom, and what I did all day. Once she even asked if I had a Big Book. I didn’t. Before we lost our home, one of my dogs chewed it up and I threw it in the trash. I started crying (and not because of the Big Book). She said: “I am at the 8 pm. Gotta go,” and hung up. Another time she called just as I was trying to light a citronella candle because there were bugs buzzing around the cheap lantern that I had bought from the dollar store.

    “So how was your day?” she asked brightly, as if I was on vacation.

    “I can’t remember,” I said. That was a lie. I remembered every single detail of a day that felt excruciatingly long. I remembered getting up at seven a.m. because the sun was blasting through my windshield. I remembered my dogs barking because there was some guy on a dune buggy driving in circles on the trails close by. I remembered charging up my Mac on an electric socket that was behind the post office. I remembered walking my dogs for an hour, which we did every day because it kept me sane, plus it was good exercise.

    “My house is a mess,” she said.

    “Okay,” I said, half listening. I could not light the damn candle because the wick was buried deep in the wax, and the flame from the butane lighter kept blowing out.

    “The rats chewed up the cord behind the stove,” she said.

    “I’m sorry,” I said.

    “I was so depressed today. But you know what? I have a roof over my head and you don’t. It’s all about perspective.”

    After I quickly hung up, I lit the candle.

    When I realized that my support system was a bunch of sober weirdos from AA whose noses were so buried in their Big Books that they could not see the world around them, I snapped out of my misery. One night when there was a full moon, I suddenly felt that there was a God and that He was watching over me.

    Why Do Homeless People Turn to Alcohol and Drugs?

    While I had no desire to drink, I understood why many homeless people use drugs and/or alcohol. According to my friend, Tony, who actively helps the homeless in Kern County, most of them use drugs or alcohol as coping mechanisms. Some smoke pot for anxiety. Others use meth. Homeless veterans often drink. “When you are homeless and have nothing to look forward to, you self-medicate. I would do something in a second to let the day go better,” he said.

    That’s the sad truth. And I learned firsthand how people judge you when you are homeless. When I was at the lake and wanted to believe that my dogs and I were invisible under those trees, people gaped at me. I encountered a woman on horseback who threatened to call animal control. Luckily, I also met some good people. Kathy, a woman who often walked her pit bull, talked to me on a frequent basis. Sometimes she would drive by and bring dog food, bottled water, and treats. We exchanged phone numbers.

    I instant messaged another old-timer friend, a fellow dog lover whom I had not talked to in years. Out of sheer desperation, I told him my situation. He told me that my life would get more comfortable if I went to meetings.

    One day, I got a call from Kathy. Apparently, her friend Faith wanted to meet my dogs and me. When Faith and I met, we hit it off, even though one of my pit bulls freaked her out because he would not stop barking. The homelessness had not only worn me out, but had also traumatized my dogs. After three months of living in my car, we moved into Faith’s large house. I have my own room here, along with a bathroom. My dogs are happy. While Faith takes medication for her sometimes debilitating seizure disorder, pot also helps her. Sometimes she drinks. The pot and alcohol do not bother me for a second. I am happy. I can plug my computer into an electric socket in a wall. I have a roof over my head. I pay rent. And finally, I have let go of my friends in AA. I suppose it doesn’t bother them because they are too busy going to meetings.

    And I am sober.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Psychiatric Directives May Be A Game Changer For Mental Health Patients

    Psychiatric Directives May Be A Game Changer For Mental Health Patients

    Psychiatric advance directives give mental health patients a way to express ahead of time, when they are in a sound state of mind, how they would like to be treated during hospitalization or treatment.

    Steve Singer, who has bipolar and borderline personality disorders, knows that he sometimes needs to go to the hospital. However, he also knows that certain treatments from staff — like getting the police involved or keeping Singer in a locked room — can make his condition much worse, not better. 

    Because of this, Singer drafted a psychiatric advance directive, a document that is entered in his medical chart and dictates his wishes, even when he is unable to express them. 

    “That psychiatric advance directive, I think is so important,” he told The New York Times. “It allows me to turn things around.”

    For mentally ill patients and their families, hospitalization and treatment can be terrifying. While people are experiencing psychosis or other symptoms of mental illness they are often desperate for support, but certain treatments or medications can exacerbate the situation rather than calm it. 

    Psychiatric advance directives allow people with mental illness agency over how they are treated by giving them a means to express ahead of time, when they are in a sound state of mind, how they would like to be treated. The documents can cover issues such as which medications should be avoided, what words can help cut through psychosis or which family member can make decisions during crisis. The directives are added to a patient’s chart and should be followed as long as the conditions within meet the patient’s best interests. 

    This type of advance directive is authorized in 27 states and can be incorporated into different types of medical directives in other states. Now, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is considering ways to encourage directives, and Medicare and Medicaid are requiring hospitals to ask if patients have a directive. As awareness grows, clinics are being held around the country to help patients draft psychiatric advance directives.

    Effective directives “would enhance people receiving appropriate treatment,” said Dr. Mark Rapaport, chairman of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. “But this is going to be really hard to do.”

    The directives need to be notarized and given to medical professionals or be logged in the state’s system. They also need to be realistic, requesting treatment that medical professionals can provide in a crisis. 

    Dr. Marvin Swartz, a Duke psychiatry professor, said that just the act of drafting a directive can be empowering for patients and improve their interactions with their health care team. He offered 239 patients the opportunity to write a directive and found that those who did had fewer crises and involuntary hospitalizations. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Meth, Opioid Use Rises Among Pregnant Women

    Meth, Opioid Use Rises Among Pregnant Women

    Researchers report that geography and finances played a role in the rate of amphetamine, opioid use among pregnant women.

    New research points to the troubling rise of amphetamine and opioid use among pregnant mothers is on the rise, particularly in rural areas.

    The research, according to Forbes, was conducted by examining 47 million US deliveries over 12 years. The results state that from 2008 to 2015, US births associated with amphetamine use doubled from 1.2 per 1,000 to 2.4 per 1,000. Of those, the majority were from methamphetamine use. Likewise, the rate of opioid use among expectant mothers also grew rapidly in a similar timeframe, quadrupling from 1.5 per 1,000 births to 6.5 per 1,000 births.

    According to researchers, geography played a role. By 2014-2015, amphetamine use during pregnancy resulted in “adverse outcomes” in about 1% of deliveries (11.2 per 1,000) in the rural West. Additionally, research shed light on the fact that the greatest amount of opioid misuse during pregnancy was concentrated in the rural Northeast and led to delivery complications in 3% of women (28.7 per 1,000 deliveries).

    Research also indicated that higher numbers of expectant mothers using amphetamines and opioids were from poor areas, had public insurance and were non-Hispanic white.

    Lead study author Lindsay Admon of the University of Michigan’s Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital stated that in such cases, there are often barriers to the right type of care. 

    “Early and adequate access to prenatal care for women with substance use has been shown to improve birth outcomes,” Admon said, according to Forbes. “However, geographic disparities have a major impact on the health and well-being of pregnant women and infants. There are significant barriers to obstetric care access in many rural communities, particularly for women with substance use.”

    Researchers also discovered that in mothers using amphetamines, the risk of death and birth complications was 1.6 times that of mothers using opioids. 

    Admon noted in a press release that these results were surprising.

    “We know from our previous research on maternal health disparities that there are disproportionately higher rates of substance affected births in rural communities. . . . When we looked at the specific types of substances driving this disparity, we were surprised to find that amphetamine use accounted for such a significant portion,” she added. “Our findings suggest both amphetamine and opioid use are growing public health crises that affect delivery and birth outcomes.”

    Admon added that it is vital that medical professionals evaluate pregnant women for substance use disorder. 

    “It is critical that health providers employ universal screening for substance use early in pregnancy,” Admon stated. “Optimizing access to prenatal care is a crucial mechanism to connect women with the services they need for their health and their baby’s health.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How To Eat To Support Your Recovery

    How To Eat To Support Your Recovery

    A breakdown of healthy foods to eat that will help rebuild the health of those in recovery.

    Getting clean and sober is a huge accomplishment, one that needs all the support it can get. The foods you eat can dramatically impact the quality of your sobriety, so choosing to eat for the health of your brain is hugely supportive to long-term recovery.

    After initially getting clean, many people struggling to stay that way find themselves understandably binging on sugar, caffeine and white bread products to calm the storm within. Unfortunately, the immediate satiation leads over time to worsening coping mechanisms – the opposite of what is needed in early sobriety.

    Whole foods (simply meaning foods that have been minimally processed and are free from additives such as preservatives, added sugars, etc.) are the best choice, as nutrients in those foods can increase brain health (which assists in elevating and steadying mood), alleviate some of the symptoms of withdrawal, and speed the body and brain healing process. Organic, whole foods have the benefit of being without pesticide sprays which may put a further burden on an already stressed brain.

    US News reports that many rehab clinics serve foods geared toward rebuilding the health of the client. There are specific nutritional elements particularly helpful in this goal. Tyrosine is an amino acid that converts dopamine during the digestion process.

    Dopamine is a “feel good” neurotransmitter which is often at abnormally low levels in early recovery. This lack of dopamine is concurrent with low energy and motivation, apathy, a depressed mood and intense substance cravings. Eating tyrosine-rich foods will increase dopamine levels. High-tyrosine foods include bananas, sunflower seeds, soybeans, lean beef, lamb, pork, whole grains and cheese.

    L-glutamine is an amino acid that offers immune and antioxidant benefits and can help reduce sugar cravings. L-glutamine heavy foods include dark, leafy greens like kale, spinach and parsley, and beets, carrots, beans, Brussels sprouts, celery, papaya and protein-rich foods like beef, chicken, fish, dairy products and eggs.

    Antioxidants in general help to rebuild your immune system and speed the body’s detoxing process during withdrawal. Antioxidant-rich foods include berries like blueberries and strawberries as well as leeks, onions, artichokes and pecans.

    GABA is good for lessening early recovery struggles with anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. Kefir (a fermented yogurt-like drink), shrimp and cherry tomatoes are some GABA-rich foods.

    Tryptophan is another essential amino acid in the body that helps create serotonin, the famous neurotransmitter that brings an uplifted mood. It is found in a number of foods, including cheese, turkey, lamb, pork, tuna fish, oat bran, and beans and lentils.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Pete Davidson Gets Candid About Cyberbullying, Mental Health

    Pete Davidson Gets Candid About Cyberbullying, Mental Health

    Pete Davidson, who has been vocal about his mental health issues, penned a post on Instagram about the cyberbullying he has received due to his former relationship with Ariana Grande.

    Comedian and Saturday Night Live writer Pete Davidson is opening up about the online attacks he has fielded since his breakup with Ariana Grande, and while he was dating the singer. 

    Davidson said that people have bullied him online and in public, bringing up his mental illness and suicidal ideation, during and after his relationship with Grande. The pair started dating in May and quickly got engaged, before splitting up in October. 

    Davidson has been open about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in the past and took this opportunity to talk frankly about cyberbullying. 

    “I’m trying to understand how when something happens to a guy the whole entire world just trashes him without any facts or frame of reference,” Davidson wrote on Instagram on Monday. ”I’ve been getting online bullied and in public by people for 9 months. I’ve spoken about BPD and being suicidal publicly only in the hopes that it will help bring awareness and help kids like myself who don’t want to be on this earth. I just want you guys to know. No matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me kill myself. I won’t. I’m upset I even have to say this.”

    Davidson was diagnosed in 2017 and has been open about how his mental illness affects him. 

    “I’ve been having a lot of problems,” he told Marc Maron on the WTF podcast in September 2017, according to Time. “This whole year has been a f—ing nightmare. This has been the worst year of my life, getting diagnosed with this and trying to figure out how to learn with this and live with this.”

    However, Davidson told Variety that he has been educating himself in order to learn how to live with his illness. 

    “The last few years have been real rough with me,” he said. “I took all these mental health classes and really spent a lot of time getting me good.”

    In May, he talked about the misconception that people with BPD can’t have healthy relationships. 

    “Normally I wouldn’t comment on something like this cause fuck you,” he wrote, according to The Cut. “But I been hearing a lot of ‘people with bpd can’t be in relationships’ talk. I just wanna let you know that’s not true. Just because someone has a mental illness does not mean they can’t be happy and in a relationship. It also doesn’t mean that person makes the relationship toxic. Everybody is different and there are a lot of treatments for mental illnesses and I have done/am doing all of them … I just think it’s fucked up to stigmatize people as crazy and say that they are unable to do stuff that anyone can do.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Rapper Lil Xan Checks into Rehab

    Rapper Lil Xan Checks into Rehab

    Lil Xan had announced in November that he intended to enter rehab but he had issues finding a bed in a treatment facility.

    Lil Xan has gone to rehab for the first time, according to an Instagram post penned by his girlfriend. Lil Xan, or Diego Leanos, is a 22-year-old rapper from the west coast with a big following. Since the recent overdose deaths of Mac Miller and Lil Peep – both idols of Lil Xan – those around Xan had heightened concerns about his safety.

    Lil Xan recently got tattoos memorializing Mac Miller, and CNN reported that Xan said in an interview that Miller’s death made him want to quit music.

    Lil Xan entered rehab hoping this would be a new start to his life; he declared his rap moniker would be changed from Xan, which is short for Xanax, to his actual name, Diego.

    Diego had announced in November that he intended to enter rehab, but had issues finding a bed in a treatment facility. On December 2, Diego’s girlfriend Annie wrote on his Instagram:

    “This sweet angel of mine officially entered rehab this morning. I’m sorry for all the confusion circulating about Diego leaving for rehab,” Smith wrote alongside a photo of Diego. “It’s a tricky thing since people are coming in and out of the facility so often that rooms end up getting switched around and dates can be pushed back. I’m so beyond proud of this precious boy for being the strongest person I know and for wanting to live a better life. Please keep him in your prayers, he is doing his best right now to find peace with himself. We love you all so much, and we appreciate all of the support. I love him beyond words and cannot wait to see what the future holds for our family. xanarchy family – love, Annie”

    A later Instagram post, also by Annie, read, “Diego was just admitted into his first treatment. He loves each and every one of you sending good wishes and prayers to him,” she captioned a selfie of the musician. “We thank you all so very much for all of the love and support you are sending his way. He will be back soon, with another top 10 album we love you all xanarchy family ! – love, Annie”

    Diego has been public about his ongoing struggle with opioid addiction. In November he told TMZ, “As far as my sobriety goes right now, there was a long period of time where I was clean. But I relapsed. . . . Any other addict would understand that that s—t just happens. You just relapse — you don’t want to — and then you get clean again. It’s like a process. You need treatment and help and sometimes that doesn’t even help. It has to come from within. That’s what I’ve learned.”

    View the original article at thefix.com