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Category: Addiction News

  • Trump Says Sobriety Is One Of His "Few Good Traits"

    Trump Says Sobriety Is One Of His "Few Good Traits"

    The president went on to say that he would “be the world’s worst” if he drank. 

    President Trump told reporters on Monday that his sobriety was one of his “few good traits.”

    “I’m not a drinker. I can honestly say I’ve not had a beer in my life. That’s one of my only good traits. I don’t drink,” Trump said, according to ABC News. “I’ve never had alcohol, you know, for whatever reason. Can you imagine if I had what a mess I’d be?”

    The president went on to say that he would “be the world’s worst” if he drank. 

    Alcohol came up during the press conference in relation to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who has been in the spotlight for an alleged sexual assault that reportedly took place when he was drunk. During a congressional hearing he was open about the fact that he enjoys alcohol. “Yes, we drank beer. My friends and I, the boys and girls. Yes, we drank beer. I liked beer. Still like beer. We drank beer,” Kavanaugh testified.

    “I was surprised at how vocal he was about the fact that he likes beer,” Trump said. “He’s had a little bit of difficulty. I mean, he talked about things that happened when he drank. This is not a man that said alcohol was absent.”

    On Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel picked up the comments on his late night talk show, saying it was alarming that anything about the potential Supreme Court Justice would surprise the president who is trying to appoint him. 

    “After the Kavanaugh hearing last week, it was really hard to enjoy a beer this weekend,” Kimmel said. “Imagine being so off the rails, you even surprised Donald Trump with something.”

    “By the way, I feel like it’s worth mentioning that this guy who has never had a drink in his life once had his own brand of vodka with his name on it,” Kimmel pointed out. “That’s kind of all you need to know about him.”

    Trump’s brother died from complications of alcoholism at the age of 42, which is part of the reason why Trump doesn’t imbibe, the president has said in the past. 

    “He was a great guy, a handsome person. He was the life of the party. He was a fantastic guy, but he got stuck on alcohol,” Trump told People in 2015. “And it had a profound impact and ultimately [he] became an alcoholic and died of alcoholism.”

    After seeing his brother’s struggle, Trump decided to stay away from booze. 

    “I’ve known so many people that were so strong and so powerful [yet] they were unable to stop drinking,” he said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Surgeon General Mentions Brother’s Opioid Addiction In New Report

    Surgeon General Mentions Brother’s Opioid Addiction In New Report

    “I tell my family’s story because far too many are facing the same worries for their loved ones,” the Surgeon General wrote in the report.

    The U.S. Surgeon General has released an updated report on the opioid crisis—to call for Americans to talk about opioid abuse, understand addiction as a disease and be prepared to use naloxone if needed. 

    Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids was released on September 20 and updates the previous Surgeon General’s report on addiction. 

    In the report, Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams opened up about his own family’s experience with opioid addiction. 

    “My family and I are among the millions of Americans affected by substance use disorder,” Adams wrote in the report. “My younger brother has struggled with this disease, which started with untreated depression leading to opioid pain reliever misuse. Like many with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder conditions, my brother has cycled in and out of incarceration. I tell my family’s story because far too many are facing the same worries for their loved ones. We all ask the same question: How can I contribute to ending the opioid crisis and helping those suffering with addiction?” 

    The updated report highlights the fact that available addiction treatment often lags behind what science says are best practices. 

    “The existing healthcare workforce is understaffed, often lacks the necessary training, and has been slow to implement Medicated-Assisted Treatment, as well as prevention, early identification, and other evidenced-based recommendations,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release. 

    Partially because of this, only 1 in 4 people with opioid use disorder receive specialized treatment. In order to help more people get sober, law enforcement, faith communities and healthcare providers need to come together to streamline access to treatment. 

    “Now is the time to work together and apply what we know to end the opioid crisis,” said Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use (under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). “Medication-assisted treatment combined with psychosocial therapies and community-based recovery supports is the gold standard for treating opioid addiction.”

    The report concludes with actionable steps that various people can take to reduce the harm from opioid addiction. Family members should be non-judgmental and trained in using naloxone, the report says.

    Healthcare providers should treat addiction with the same care that they dedicate to other chronic diseases. Communities should raise awareness by talking about substance abuse as a public health concern. 

    “Through partnerships, we can address the overall health inequities and determinants of health that exist where we live, learn, work, and play,” Adams wrote. “Together we can reduce the risks of opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and related health consequences such as overdose and infectious disease transmission.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Alaskan Bush People" Star Matt Brown Returns To Rehab

    "Alaskan Bush People" Star Matt Brown Returns To Rehab

    “We miss him terribly, but we’d rather lose him from home for a little while than lose him forever,” says Matt’s father, Billy.

    Matt Brown, a star on the popular Discovery channel reality show, Alaskan Bush People, has entered rehab for alcoholism for the second time.

    “I struggle with substance abuse, and after a year of ups and downs, I decided to return to treatment,” Brown told People for the upcoming print issue. “I’m really grateful for everyone’s support and hope to have my life back on track soon.”

    Making a public announcement with People magazine for a second trip to rehab (his first was in 2016) is a strangely hopeful sign for America’s struggle with addiction. The social stigma of addiction is fading, as it is better and more widely understood that addiction is a disease—one that often includes “relapse as part of recovery,” as is frequently said in Alcoholics Anonymous.

    After his first experience in rehab, Juneau Empire spoke to Brown’s mother Ami about their family lineage. “I come from a family of alcoholism. My father was an alcoholic and it tore our family apart. Watching these things as a child, you learn from it. That is the reason why I don’t let them know where, physically, I am.”

    The Brown family had been hit with a serious stressor, as Matt Brown’s mother Ami was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. She has since been declared cancer-free and undergoes frequent testing to monitor her health. Struggling with multiple moves around the country can also put undo pressure on a family.

    After his first stint in rehab, Brown chose to drink in moderation but in the last year, he found that his drinking was becoming increasingly problematic so he chose to enter rehab again. While the family history of alcoholism put Brown at higher risk for addiction, his family’s support gives him a better chance at successful sobriety.

    His mother Ami supports this decision. “It’s hard not having one of my babies here with us,” she told People magazine. “He was so strong for me, and I want to be strong for him.”

    Brown’s father Billy agrees. “We miss him terribly, but we’d rather lose him from home for a little while than lose him forever. We just want him to do what he needs to do to get better.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Hit Rock Bottom

    5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Hit Rock Bottom

    When you’re at your lowest point, it’s easy to feel like there is no hope, like you are completely alone, like your life will never be full again.

    Rock bottom is such a common term in the world of recovery. And while everyone has a rock bottom, no one has the same one. When you’re at your lowest point, it’s easy to feel like there is no hope, like you are completely alone, like your life will never be full again. I certainly felt all those things and more a little over five years ago when I hit my bottom.

    But they say hindsight is 20/20, and in looking back, there are a few things I wish I had been able to reach out and grasp from my bottom. In hopes that they might help someone else, here they are:

    1. There Is Always a Light at the End of the Tunnel

    When I think back to the first few days and weeks following my rock bottom, I remember an all-encompassing feeling of utter hopelessness. I felt there was literally no way life would ever get better, that things would only get worse as time went on. I didn’t think there was any way out of the hole I had found myself in. I was really, truly incapable of envisioning a life in which I was happy without alcohol. I know I’m not alone in those feelings. Those emotions and struggles are true of many people when they hit their lowest of lows. It is called rock bottom for a reason — that reason being that you cannot go any lower. The only direction to go is up. But in the midst of it all, it’s so hard to see that. At rock bottom, I wish I had been able to reach out and grasp that little bit of hope that everything would be OK, rather than fixating on how my life was falling apart at the seams. Seeing that light at the end of the tunnel is something that would have been helpful. But what matters is that the light eventually made its way to me, and when it did, I kept walking toward it. Some days, I still am.

    2. Even in Your Loneliest Moments, You Are Not Alone

    In addition to feeling utterly hopeless early on, I also felt completely, wholly alone — more alone than I have ever felt in my life. I couldn’t imagine that anyone in the world was going through what I was going through. And maybe that’s true, to an extent. But it’s also true that there were people going through similar things; I just hadn’t crossed paths with them yet. I also felt alone in the sense that I was scared to talk to the people closest to me about what I was feeling and thinking. Instead, I kept it all bottled inside, isolating myself even more. It was only when I began to let my guard down that I realized I had had people beside me all along. I had never been alone, I had just convinced myself that was the case.

    3. The People Who Matter Will Remain by Your Side

    As my life was falling apart five and a half years ago, one of my main concerns was what would happen to my relationships. I was so scared of losing the people who I thought were important to me. And the truth is that not all of my relationships would survive the coming weeks and months. There were some friends who I came to find were really just drinking buddies. Those were the ones who slowly faded away. But at my lowest point, the people who really cared about me as a person came forward and made it known. So many of my relationships became stronger in the months following my rock bottom, to the point that I barely noticed the relationships that hadn’t pulled through. When everything is changing without your permission, it’s easy to feel as if it’s for the worst. But just remember that’s not always the case.

    4. People Won’t Judge You as Harshly as You Think They Will

    This was one of my biggest fears at my rock bottom and is what kept me from moving forward in my recovery for some time. I was so terrified that when people found out what had happened in my life, they would pass judgement and jump to conclusions. I was afraid that they would look at me differently or tell me I was overreacting. And sure, some people did. But the majority of people commended me for realizing that my life was spiraling out of control and for taking the steps to better it. Most people were and are beyond supportive of the decision I made five years ago, and I wish I’d known that would be the case when I made that decision. One thing I’ve learned is that people will always surprise you — you just have to give them the opportunity to do so.

    5. Rock Bottom Is an Opportunity to Recreate Your Life

    Before I hit my rock bottom, I thought the life I was living was pretty good. I didn’t realize that I was disappointed in my behavior, unhappy with my physical appearance, frustrated with the way I was becoming a person I didn’t respect. But rock bottom gave me the clarity to see all those things. And while that wasn’t fun at first, it eventually gave me the chance to start doing my life the right way. I got back on track, whether it was with my morals, my workout regimen, my diet, my relationships. Getting sober gave me the time to focus on what I really wanted my life to look like and figure out how to get to that point.

    As I said before, rock bottom is different for everyone. But the common factor is that it’s a point that is the lowest of lows and it can be difficult to image anything getting better. So if you remember one thing in the depths of your rock bottom, just hold onto the fact that it really can only get better — as long as that is what you truly want for yourself.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mike Shinoda, Chester Bennington's Widow Appear In Suicide Prevention PSA

    Mike Shinoda, Chester Bennington's Widow Appear In Suicide Prevention PSA

    The cast of ABC’s “A Million Little Things” also appear in the mental health PSA. 

    The family of Chester Bennington appear in a new suicide prevention PSA, continuing the Linkin Park vocalist’s legacy through mental health advocacy.

    Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda and Bennington’s widow, Talinda Bennington, appear alongside the cast of A Million Little Things, a new ABC drama about losing a friend to suicide. The PSA aired during the premiere of the show last Wednesday (Sept. 26).

    “We lost our fictional friend to suicide,” says actor James Roday, who plays Gary Mendez on the show. “And we lost our very real friend,” says Shinoda.

    Chester Bennington died by suicide in the summer of 2017. He was 41. Since his passing, his widow Talinda has become the face of mental health advocacy and suicide prevention.

    Through social media, Bennington has been able to open a dialogue with grieving fans and promote efforts to raise awareness of the warning signs of depression and suicidal thoughts.

    “The passing of my husband cannot be in vain,” she said this year. “His passing was a catalyst for opening up dialogue with respect to emotional and mental health. Throughout his life, he saved countless lives with his music and philanthropy. And through his death, he continues to save lives by spotlighting the urgent need for a change in our mental health culture.”

    On what would have been her husband’s 42nd birthday this past March, Bennington encouraged fans to learn the Five Signs of Emotional Suffering. She is hoping to “change the culture of mental health” so that people who are struggling, and their family members, can address it openly and feel comfortable to seek help.

    “I am now more educated about [the warning] signs, but they were definitely there: the hopelessness, the change of behavior, isolation,” she said during a CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper in June.

    A Million Little Things is a new show on ABC that confronts the reality of losing a friend to suicide. The cast of friends and family—played by Romany Malco, Grace Park, James Roday, David Giuntoli (whose character Eddie credits his late friend for his recovery) and more—are left to cope with the fact that their friend Jon (played by Ron Livingston) is gone.

    “Jon was the one who made the plans, who brought everybody together. They all relied on him. Now he’s no longer there, and they’re going to have to figure out what their new role is,” said Stephanie Szostak, who plays Jon’s wife Delilah.

    In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that suicide rates in the United States “have been rising in nearly every state.”

    In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans age 10 or older died by suicide.

    As for the “why” behind Jon’s passing, actor Livingston said he’s not focusing on that. “I decided early on to resist the urge to try to find the answer to why this guy did this. Suicide takes people in different ways for myriad reasons,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mayoral Candidate Leaves Race To Deal With PTSD, Depression

    Mayoral Candidate Leaves Race To Deal With PTSD, Depression

    “I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.”

    A Kansas City mayoral candidate and veteran of the war in Afghanistan has dropped out of the race in order to address his post-traumatic stress disorder. 

    Jason Kander, a rising Democratic star, reached a campaign milestone last week, but instead of celebrating the occasion he found himself reaching out for help.

    “Last Tuesday, I found out that we were going to raise more money than any Kansas City mayoral campaign ever has in a single quarter,” Kander wrote on Medium. “But instead of celebrating that accomplishment, I found myself on the phone with the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line, tearfully conceding that, yes, I have had suicidal thoughts. And it wasn’t the first time.”

    Kander served as an Army Intelligence Officer in Afghanistan before leaving the army 11 years ago. His book about his service Outside the Wire, became a bestseller this summer. However, about four months ago Kander says he reached out for help, saying “my tour over there still impacted me every day.”

    “I can’t have PTSD, I told myself, because I didn’t earn it,” he wrote. “But, on some level, I knew something was deeply wrong, and that it hadn’t felt that way before my deployment. After 11 years of this, I finally took a step toward dealing with it, but I didn’t step far enough.”

    Kander filled out forms online to get treatment from the VA. 

    “But I left boxes unchecked — too scared to acknowledge my true symptoms,” he wrote. “I knew I needed help and yet I still stopped short. I was afraid of the stigma. I was thinking about what it could mean for my political future if someone found out. That was stupid, and things have gotten even worse since.”

    Kander served as Missouri’s secretary of state from 2012 to 2016, defeating an incumbent Republican in the conservative state. Last year he started Let America Vote, a voting rights group. He will also be stepping back from day to day operations of that organization while he gets treatment. 

    “I’m done hiding this from myself and from the world. When I wrote in my book that I was lucky to not have PTSD, I was just trying to convince myself. And I wasn’t sharing the full picture. I still have nightmares. I am depressed,” Kander wrote. “Instead of dealing with these issues, I’ve always tried to find a way around them. Most recently, I thought that if I could come home and work for the city I love so much as its mayor, I could finally solve my problems. I thought if I focused exclusively on service to my neighbors in my hometown, that I could fill the hole inside of me. But it’s just getting worse.” 

    Kander said he knew that he wanted to be upfront about why he’s leaving the race. 

    “I decided to be public for two reasons: First, I think being honest will help me through this. And second, I hope it helps veterans and everyone else across the country working through mental health issues realize that you don’t have to try to solve it on your own,” he wrote. “Most people probably didn’t see me as someone that could be depressed and have had PTSD symptoms for over decade, but I am and I have. If you’re struggling with something similar, it’s OK. That doesn’t make you less of a person.”

    Read Kander’s full announcement here. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Doctor Who Made 6K A Day For Prescribing Oxy: "I Was A Scapegoat"

    Doctor Who Made 6K A Day For Prescribing Oxy: "I Was A Scapegoat"

    “When I started treating people with chronic non-cancer pain. I felt it was unethical and discriminatory to limit the dose of medication.”

    Florida physician Barry Schultz was convicted to 157 years in prison for illegally prescribing enormous amounts of opioids to his patients.

    Now he calls himself a “scapegoat” for the pharmaceutical companies who produce, distribute and advocate for the prescription of opioids.

    Mallinckrodt pharmaceutical company was the provider of opioids in Schultz’s practice. The company eventually paid a fine for its part. Mallinckrodt provided 500 million oxycodone pills to the state of Florida, which has a population of 20 million people.

    Even after Mallinckrodt’s own internal investigation concluded that Dr. Schultz’s prescriptions had “a suspicious pattern indicating diversion” the company continued to supply him with opioids.

    Barry Schultz interviewed from prison with 60 Minutes to announce that he was a “scapegoat” for those really to blame—the opioid manufacturers.

    State Attorney Dave Aronberg’s office prosecuted Barry Schultz. Aronberg blamed Florida’s lax laws at the time for fueling the opioid overdose crisis. Pain clinics in Florida allowed patients to visit, pick up pills, and pay in cash. As a result, people from other states began coming to Florida to obtain opioids, creating a frenzy where waiting rooms would be overflowing.

    This was the kind of pain clinic that Schultz operated in Delray Beach, Florida. DEA records show in 2010 that Dr. Schultz was prescribing some patients as many as 100 pills a day, and making more than $6,000 a day from prescribing opioids.

    Despite this, Dr. Schultz refuses to take responsibility for his actions. “When I started treating people with chronic non-cancer pain,” he told 60 Minutes, “I felt it was unethical and discriminatory to limit the dose of medication. And if I had known that the overdose incidents had increased dramatically the way it had, I would have moderated my approach.”

    Carol Tain’s son David died in 2010 of an opioid overdose from pills prescribed by Dr. Schultz for pain management after a car accident. Tain’s mother considers Dr. Schultz responsible for her son’s death.

    “He didn’t even examine him. He hadn’t seen him in four-and-a-half years,” Tain said to 60 Minutes of the doctor’s prescriptions for her son. “He just—just wrote—wrote out these scripts… As far as I’m concerned, he’s a murderer and—and not a doctor. He murdered my son. He – he didn’t need a gun. He used his pen to murder my son.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Temporary Overdose Prevention Site Gets Extension

    Temporary Overdose Prevention Site Gets Extension

    The site was expected to close by September’s end, but the government made a last-minute decision to extend it for another month.

    At the end of September, the government of Ontario province in Canada decided to extend operations of its Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS) through October—but with no current plans for a permanent site, the community says it will be ready to pick up where TOPS left off.

    “If the government was going to let these people down then our community needed to step up,” said community organizer Blair Henry.

    TOPS, located in the city of London, was expected to close at the end of September, but the government made a last-minute decision to extend the site for at least one more month.

    TOPS is the first sanctioned supervised consumption facility (i.e. supervised injection facility or SIF) in Ontario. The first SIF in North America, Insite, resides in British Columbia province in Vancouver. A handful of American cities are planning to establish SIFs as well, despite opposition by the U.S. government.

    According to Canada’s Global News, about 2,000 people have visited TOPS 8,000 times since it opened in February. The non-profit that runs TOPS—Regional HIV/AIDS Connection—estimates that there have been about 400 drug-related deaths in London and greater Middlesex County in the last decade.

    Currently TOPS remains a temporary program while the Ontario government considers a permanent site. While there is no guarantee of a permanent program, volunteers are prepared to serve the community if TOPS should close for good.

    Last month Blair Henry organized about 200 volunteers to help operate a “pop-up tent” in the heart of London—equipped with medical supplies and treatment services—in case TOPS did close at the end of September.

    But even though the government extended the program for one more month, Henry’s group, This Tent Saves Lives, still has work to do. “We have to help use this public momentum to inform Doug Ford (premier of Ontario) that there is support for this project,” said Henry.

    “There will be an overdose prevention site of some sort that will be erected should that funding (for TOPS) go, but we are going to make sure that that messaging gets out so we can avoid that,” said Henry.

    Another potential safety net for drug users—should TOPS close down in the near future—is to dispatch public health workers on bicycles throughout London.

    According to the London Free Press, city health officials is considering a plan to reach drug users on the street with naloxone, medical supplies, and other harm-reduction supplies. A similar program exists in Vancouver.

    “In urban cores, cycling tends to be the most efficient way of getting around,” said Chris Mackie, medical officer of health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit. “One thing we would do, that we’ve worked on with the London Bicycle Cafe, is we would put our staff on the street on bicycles, with naloxone, so that they’re traveling around.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kevin Hart Details Forgiving His Father For Being Absent Due To Addiction

    Kevin Hart Details Forgiving His Father For Being Absent Due To Addiction

    With the help of his older brother, Hart eventually put aside his feelings and helped his father find help in rehabilitation.

    Comic actor Kevin Hart spoke at length about the process of forgiving his father, Henry Witherspoon, for being absent during his childhood due to drug and alcohol dependency.

    The Night School star wrote about his father, Henry Witherspoon, in his 2017 memoir I Can’t Make This Up, and said that while his father’s presence while he was growing up was both sporadic and prone to tumult, he has learned to look beyond those memories and focus on their relationship today.

    “Regardless of my upbringing and the way I was raised and how often he was in my life, he’s my dad,” said Hart. “I have a positive outlook on life regardless, and I’m going to love [him] because [he’s] my father.”

    Hart also detailed the difficulties in his relationship with his father in a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, where he explained that while he was growing up in Philadelphia, Witherspoon was dependent on “heroin, coke, crack, you name it, he did it.”

    According to Hart, Witherspoon even stole $20 that his son had received as a gift.

    Thankfully, Hart had a grounding force in his mother, who worked as a computer analyst at the University of Pennsylvania while raising him and his brother.

    “The reason I am the way I am is because my mom was so strong,” he said. “[She] was such a strong woman, she said, ‘Look, regardless of whatever your father’s doing and where he is, I have a job to do raising you. You’re going to do what you’re supposed to do and you’re going to grow up to be two intelligent men, me and my brother.”

    With the help of his older brother, Hart eventually put aside his feelings about his father’s absence and helped him find help in rehabilitation.

    There, according to Hart, “he met an amazing woman who turned his life around and helped him stay clean, and right now, he’s all about clean living.”

    Hart added that he saw no value in holding on to the pain of the past. “I don’t understand people who hold grudges,” he said. “Do you know how much time and energy it takes to hold a grudge?”

    Today, Witherspoon has a presence in his sons’ lives, for which Hart is grateful.

    “I’m in a position where I’m blessed and I can provide,” he explained. “I can say, ‘Here, dad, here’s a home, here’s a car, here’s some money. Go spend time with your grandkids. Be the best grandpop. The days you missed with me are the days we missed. It’s fine. I’m okay with that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Emma Stone Talks Anxiety, Panic Attacks

    Emma Stone Talks Anxiety, Panic Attacks

    “You don’t have to be actor to overcome anxiety. You just have to find that thing within you that you are drawn to.”

    Emma Stone can vividly remember her first panic attack at age seven. 

    “I was sitting at a friend’s house and all of a sudden I was absolutely convinced that the house was on fire,” Stone recalled. “I was just sitting in her bedroom and obviously the house wasn’t on fire but there was nothing in me that didn’t think I was going to die.”

    On Monday, October 1, the actress sat down with Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz for a 30-minute conversation at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. She discussed her history of anxiety, beginning with the panic attack. Stone went on to describe how she would visit the nurse daily during second grade, where she would then call her mom. 

    “I had deep separation anxiety,” she told Koplewicz.

    Stone’s mother decided to take her to therapy and was informed her daughter had generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder, ABC News reports. However, she chose not to tell her daughter, which is something Stone says she has appreciated. 

    “I am very grateful I didn’t know that I had a disorder,” Stone said. “I wanted to be an actor and there weren’t a lot of actors who spoke about having panic attacks.”

    Stone described how in therapy, she came up with a book called, I Am Bigger Than My Anxiety. She says she drew photos inside of “a little green monster that sits on my shoulder.” In the book, the monster — her anxiety — would increase in size if she listened and decrease if she didn’t.

    A few years after her first panic attack, at age 11, Stone says she began acting in improv and realized “my feelings could be productive.”

    She says she also kept involved in the local children’s theater which was helpful in managing anxiety.

    “I believe the people who have anxiety and depression are very, very sensitive and very, very smart,” she said. “Because the world is hard and scary and there’s a lot that goes on and if you’re very attuned to it, it can be crippling. But if you don’t let it cripple you and use it for something productive, it’s like a superpower.”

    Today, Stone says, she manages her anxiety disorder through therapy, medication, the company of others and staying busy. She also avoids social media. 

    “That would send me into a spin,” she said. “I don’t need to be getting constant feedback on who I am.”

    For anyone battling anxiety, Stone says the key is finding somewhere else to shift your focus. 

    “You don’t have to be actor to overcome anxiety, you don’t have to be a writer to overcome it,” she told Koplewicz. “You just have to find that thing within you that you are drawn to.”

    View the original article at thefix.com