Answer Addiction

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  • Bam Margera Heads Back To Rehab After Drunken Arrest

    Bam Margera Heads Back To Rehab After Drunken Arrest

    Margera’s arrest comes on the heels of a Dr. Phil-led intervention where the skater agreed to enter rehab.  

    A bizarre video obtained by TMZ shows Bam Margera of MTV’s Jackass fame sitting on the floor outside of a Hollywood hotel bar and refusing to move after the police were called because he was allegedly harassing bar patrons. He can be heard arguing with a police officer off-camera.

    “This is not a f—ing reality TV show,” the officer says. “I know you’re fresh out of rehab, so let’s get your s— together.”

    This happened just days after Bam agreed to enter rehab after an intervention involving his wife and talk show host Dr. Phil. According to TMZ sources, he did check into a rehabilitation facility, but it appears that he left quite early in the program.

    After being arrested and charged with trespassing on Wednesday (Aug. 14), he was quickly released and readmitted to rehab after agreeing to commit to the program and submit to a number of conditions set by the facility.

    Where It Began

    Margera began his career as a skateboard stunt performer making videos with his friends and eventually ended up as the star of Jackass and later the MTV reality show Viva La Bam. He has reportedly struggled with alcoholism since his twenties, often appearing drunk on episodes of Viva La Bam and in behind-the-scenes footage of Jackass.

    In 2009, he was rushed to the hospital following a four-day drinking binge. Late that year, his family staged an intervention that got him into rehab for the first time, but he left before completing the program.

    His drinking reportedly became worse in 2011 after fellow Jackass star Ryan Dunn died in a car crash. A post-mortem toxicology report found that Dunn had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he drove his car off the road and struck a tree. 

    In 2012, bone spurs forced Margera to take a break from skateboarding. Three years later, he once again entered rehab and left shortly after. Not long after that, he appeared on Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn with his mother and was able to quit drinking for several months. In 2017, he opened up about his anxiety and struggles with bulimia to People.

    “We would go out to dinner and he would immediately excuse himself and go to the bathroom,” said his mother April. “I’d say, ‘Are you throwing up?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I throw up and that way I’m not gonna get fat.’ “

    Rehab Stints

    This latest incident led to family members telling TMZ that Margera is currently off his medication for bipolar disorder.

    Earlier this month, things got so bad that Margera started making Instagram posts asking Dr. Phil for help. After leaving rehab again, he posted a video to his Instagram of himself getting a tattoo that says “Dr. Phil” on his neck. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Is "Pathological Gaming" A Disease Or Symptom?

    Is "Pathological Gaming" A Disease Or Symptom?

    For a new study, researchers wanted to find out if pathological gaming was a “red flag” for deeper mental issues.

    A study recently published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence could suggest that what has come to be known as “pathological gaming” may simply be a symptom of a larger problem with social pressures and stress.

    The study, conducted in Seoul, South Korea, surveyed 477 boys and 491 girls about their gaming behaviors along with their communications with parents, social support systems, academic stress, and self control.

    Something Deeper?

    The researchers wanted to find out if gaming was really the problem, or if something deeper was to blame, according to PsyPost.

    “One of the questions we’ve been asking is whether games are really the problem, or if other factors such as family environment or social environment led to problems and overdoing games was merely a symptom of those problems,” said Stetson University professor of psychology and study author, Christopher J. Ferguson. “Should we be thinking of pathological gaming as its own diagnosis or more of a red flag that the person is experiencing other mental health issues?”

    The results showed that a lack of self control was better correlated with pathological gaming than the actual number of hours spent playing games. At the same time, academic stress was a predictor for lower levels of self-control, and overprotective parents mixed with lower levels of parental communication tended to predict academic stress.

    Getting Classified

    The World Health Organization named gaming disorder as a mental illness in its 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in mid-2018. Symptoms include “impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

    This kind of compulsive gaming is a particular problem in South Korea, which is described by Ferguson as a culture with a “particular pressure socially to succeed academically.” If this pressure results in pathological gaming, it would make sense that South Korea would therefore have a larger problem than others with gaming disorder.

    Ferguson readily admits that the results of the study are limited on a global scale by the fact that it was only conducted in Seoul. However, this is not the first bit of research that the professor has done on the subject of video games. He also co-authored a book titled Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong, released in March 2017.

    “For instance, within U.S. samples I’ve worked with, evidence suggests pathological gaming results from other mental disorders such as ADHD, but does not cause them in return,” Ferguson said. “Our data suggests we have to be cautious in blaming technology for behavior problems—often the picture is much more complicated than that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • NBA To Beef Up Mental Health Program For Players

    NBA To Beef Up Mental Health Program For Players

    Teams will be required to have licensed mental health professionals available for players.

    The NBA will be ramping up its player mental health program for the 2019-2020 season, by adding mental health professionals to every team and requiring plans be in place for mental health emergencies, according to The Athletic.

    This initiative comes after multiple players have spoken out about their mental health struggles.

    Teams this season will be required to have “one to two” licensed mental health professionals available for players, plus access to a licensed psychiatrist who would assist in “managing issues.” They will also need to have a written plan of action in place to guide responses to any player having a mental health crisis and let players know what they will do to protect their privacy around these matters.

    Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan Speak Out

    Both Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and DeMar DeRozan of the San Antonio Spurs have spoken up about their mental health issues in 2018. DeRozan was the first of the two to reveal his struggles with depression and anxiety.

    “It’s one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human at the end of the day,” he said, according to The Star. “We all got feelings… all of that. Sometimes… it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world’s on top of you.”

    This was not long after posting a cryptic tweet that caught the attention of many NBA fans: “This depression get the best of me.”

    The following month, Love opened up about his own issues, revealing that he had been seeing a therapist for months following a panic attack in November 2017. He penned an article for The Players Tribune about the incident and his decision to go to therapy titled “Everyone Is Going Through Something.”

    “In the NBA, you have trained professionals to fine-tune your life in so many areas,” he said. “Coaches, trainers and nutritionists have had a presence in my life for years. But none of those people could help me in the way I needed when I was lying on the floor struggling to breathe.”

    Social Media & Anxiety

    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver even hinted about having his own issues with anxiety at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference last March, and suggested that something should be done about what he saw as widespread unhappiness among NBA players.

    “We are living in a time of anxiety,” Silver said. “I think it’s a direct result of social media. A lot of players are unhappy.”

    Radio.com is calling this latest initiative “the most significant step the NBA has taken in recognizing the importance of mental wellbeing in its players.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can VR Mimic A Psychedelic Drug Experience?

    Can VR Mimic A Psychedelic Drug Experience?

    A new psychedelic virtual reality experience has some questioning if VR can provide the same psychedelic experience as the real thing.

    A new feature in the form of a psychedelic virtual reality experience at the Tribeca Film Festival this year has the Pacific Standard wondering if VR technology could create anything close to a replacement for drugs like LSD, psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca.

    Ayahuasca, a substance made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine found in the Amazon basin, is also the name of the 12-minute “virtual arcade” exhibit offered at the festival.

    “Participants are immersed in visions triggered by a dose of ayahuasca,” the exhibit’s description reads. “The spectator lives this through director Jan Kounen’s eyes as he travels on a spiritual voyage.”

    Perceived Reality

    In some ways, psychedelic drugs and virtual reality do produce similar experiences. Both alter one’s perceived reality, resulting in an emotional experience while the individual is aware (typically) that what they are seeing or hearing isn’t really there.

    Skip Rizzo, director for medical virtual reality at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies, says, “We can create these simulated worlds that fool some of the brain, but not the whole brain.”

    That’s because the amygdala responds to convincing virtual danger as though it’s real, producing a fear response complete with a pounding heart. However, because the frontal lobes know everything is safe, the response is diminished.

    Mental Health Treatment

    Researchers are already looking into how virtual reality could be used to treat mental illness due to the technology’s ability to reproduce this kind of emotion. University of California psychiatry researcher Michelle Craske is currently working on using VR to treat anhedonia, a particularly stubborn symptom of depression and other mental illnesses.

    There are certainly differences between how the brain reacts to a colorful virtual reality experience and how it reacts to a drug like ayahuasca. However, not much is known about how psychedelics affect the human brain due to the fact that they have only been studied since the 1990s.

    “And there hasn’t been a proper perception researcher that’s really studied these drugs. So we really don’t know the actual patterns that people are experiencing when they have these drugs,” said John Hopkins Psychedelic Research Unit neuropsychopharmacologist Manoj Doss. “Is there a predictable change there, do certain colors pop out more, or all the colors pop out more? We don’t know.”

    Once psychedelics are studied more, Doss believes that information could absolutely be used to make better, and more trippy, virtual reality experiences.

    Rizzo, however, does not think that VR could come close to giving users the same experience as an actual psychedelic drug.

    “I hate to say it, and I might sound like an old fart here. But I just don’t see it being capable of inducing that [emotional] state to that level that you can get with a big time acid trip,” he says.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mental Illness And Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings

    Mental Illness And Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings

    While politicians suggest videogames and mental illness are responsible for these tragic events, research presents no direct links. 

    Some individuals are once again looking to mental illness and violent video games as possible causes of gun violence in the U.S. in the wake of a weekend of severe mass shootings that left at least 31 dead.

    However, according to multiple studies on both topics, there is little, if any, connection between mental illness or video games and mass gun violence.

    In terms of mental illness, surveys of past incidents in the country have found that only a fraction of the shooters had been diagnosed with any kind of mental illness.

    According to The Washington Post, a 2018 report looking at 63 active shooter assailants found that one in four had any mental illness, and only three total had a psychotic disorder. An early study that took data from 235 shooters found that 22 percent were mentally ill.

    According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 20% of the general US population has a mental illness in any given year. 

    “It’s tempting to try to find one simple solution and point the finger at that,” said Duke University School of Medicine Professor Jeffrey Swanson. “The fact that somebody would go out and massacre a bunch of strangers, that’s not the act of a healthy mind, but that doesn’t mean they have a mental illness.”

    At the same time, politicians have pointed to video games as a cause of violence for decades. President Trump himself has attacked video games multiple times, including in a speech Monday about the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio.

    “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” he said. “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

    No Direct Links

    But again, the research does not back up their claims. Studies done on the link between violent video games and violent behavior after playing them consistently find no direct link or find that any effects are temporary.

    Western Michigan University Professor of Sociology Whitney DeCamp looked at data from a 2008 study that surveyed 6,567 eighth-graders about their taste in violent video games and found that “playing video games, no matter how bloody, did not predict violent behavior.”

    “I found that just by themselves, even without any controls, violent video games were a poor predictor of violent behavior,” DeCamp said. “Even in the best model, it only explained about 3% of the variation in violent behavior.”

    Better predictors for violence included parental involvement in activities and whether the kids grew up in violent neighborhoods.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ryan Lochte Opens Up About Alcohol Rehab, Returning To Competition

    Ryan Lochte Opens Up About Alcohol Rehab, Returning To Competition

    The Olympic swimmer discussed his rehab stint, sobriety and his return to competitive swimming in a new interview. 

    Ryan Lochte spoke about spending six weeks in rehab for what he felt was problem drinking during a 14-month competitive swimming ban for an IV infusion of Vitamin B12 that exceeded the allowable amount. He claims he took the infusion prior to a meet in order to avoid an illness that had already sent his wife and young son to the hospital. 

    This followed a 10-month ban served for the incident at the 2016 Rio Olympics in which he and three other swimmers claimed to be robbed by armed men with police badges. This turned out to be a cover story for an alcohol-fueled night ending in property damage, which prompted a security guard to pull a gun on the athletes.

    Although neither of the suspensions were directly due to his alcohol use, Lochte made the decision to enter rehab after recognizing that something needed to change.

    “I think it was getting to a point in my life where I needed a change,’’ he told USA Today. “So, yes, I checked myself into rehab. I did the classes; I did everything.”

    After Rehab

    After finishing the program last year, Lochte has remained sober aside from having a single glass of wine to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Liv Rae. However, he says he no longer cares for alcohol.

    “I have bigger and better things going on. And I’m glad that I went to rehab and got checked out just because it helped me out.”

    Lochte was able to return to competitive swimming on Wednesday at the Phillips 66 National Championships. During his time trial, he swam the 200 IM in 1:57.88, just 3.88 seconds slower than his world record time. This qualified him for the U.S. trials to make the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

    The world-renowned swimmer has already been to the Olympics four times and won 12 medals, making him the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history behind Michael Phelps. He holds multiple world records at age 34.

    Lochte credits his wife and kids for bringing joy back into his career.

    “I’m having fun swimming again,’’ he said. “And I haven’t had fun since the 2012 Olympics. So it’s been a long time where I can honestly say I’m stepping out on that pool deck with a big smile on my face, and I owe it all to my kids and my wife. They’ve been my backbone throughout this whole journey these past three years ago.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Goodbye Autoplay: New Bill Aims To Curb Social Media Addiction

    Goodbye Autoplay: New Bill Aims To Curb Social Media Addiction

    The bill aims to ban potentially addictive features such as the “infinite scroll” and “autoplay.”

    Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri recently introduced a bill that’s meant to address social media features that he believes are designed to make the platforms addictive.

    The bill, named the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology (SMART) Act, would ban established features of the most popular social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat, claiming that these features “exploit human psychology or brain physiology to substantially impede freedom of choice.”

    Infinite Scoll & Autoplay

    Features targeted in this bill include the “infinite scroll” that has been part of Facebook and Twitter for years and which continuously loads new content as the user scrolls down, as well as YouTube’s “autoplay” that loads a new video as soon as one has finished. Additionally, it addresses Snapchat’s “streaks” that rewards users for sending more and more photos to their friends in a row.

    Hawley argues that these features are designed to be addictive, keeping users glued to their screens for as long as possible. 

    “Big tech has embraced a business model of addiction,” he said in a statement. “Too much of the ‘innovation’ in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks that make it difficult to look away. This legislation will put an end to that and encourage true innovation by tech companies.”

    Critics Speak Out

    The freshman senator has made a name for himself as a leading critic of major technology companies, and this bill has some major opposition from organizations like the trade group known as the Internet Association (IA) and others from Silicon Valley as well as free market conservatives, according to The Hill.

    “There are a wealth of existing tools that allow users to make choices about how they engage online,” IA President and CEO Michael Beckerman said in a statement opposing the SMART Act.

    However, Hawley argues that the options to turn off potentially addictive social media features are often difficult to locate. His bill would change that by requiring it to be easy to opt out of features like autoplay as well as forcing social media platforms to offer tools that help users limit their time on their sites and apps.

    If passed, companies would have a few months to make these changes before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys could take action against them.

    Hawley’s SMART Act has not yet gained and co-sponsors, but his past bills addressing consumer data protection and what some believe is “political censorship” have drawn some bipartisan interest.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Below Deck" Star's Son Dies Of Overdose After 20-Year Addiction Battle

    "Below Deck" Star's Son Dies Of Overdose After 20-Year Addiction Battle

    “We loved Josh unconditionally and were proud of the man he had become in spite of his problems,” the Below Deck star wrote about his son.

    Tragedy struck the family of one of the recurring stars of Bravo’s nautical reality series Below Deck when a family member died of a drug overdose. Captain Lee Rosbach posted a tribute to his youngest son, Joshua, on his Instagram page, saying that he “finally succumbed to the demons he fought so long and so hard” for 20 years at the age of 42.

    According to People, the overdose was accidental.

    “We loved Josh unconditionally and were proud of the man he had become in spite of his problems,” Rosbach wrote. “There was no one I ever knew who gave more of himself to those in his life. He loved with all his being without expecting anything in return. We both feel a hole in our souls that will never be filled.”

    An obituary for Joshua was posted on the Dignity Memorial website, which confirms that he died on July 22. The text says that he passed in his own home and, like his father, enjoyed sailing and spending time with his family and his dog Champ.

    The memorial service was held on July 27th, and his family has asked for donations to the Humane Society of Broward County in place of flowers.

    The Captain Talks Addiction

    In addition to celebrating his son’s life, Captain Lee Rosbach spoke on the devastating effects of addiction and how it can impact anyone, regardless of wealth or lifestyle.

    “Addiction is an insidious disease that knows no social status or geographic boundaries,” he said. “Whether you live in a 10,000 sq. ft. mansion or a double wide trailer, the path of death, destruction and devastation it leaves remains the same.”

    According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), overdose death rates have been steadily rising since 1999. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 70,237 people died of an overdose involving any drug in 2017.

    More than half of these deaths involved opioids as the opioid crisis has worsened year after year, though deaths from overdose involving methamphetamine and cocaine have also increased, with significant jumps in 2016 and 2017. 

    “So my message to those of you who are fighting this disease, find a way to get help no matter what,” Rosbach concluded in his Instagram post. “For those of you who have a friend, family member, son, or daughter who’s struggling, do what ever it takes to get them the help they need. Be kind and loving, and try to enjoy every second you have with them.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Device To Automatically Stop Opioid Overdoses In Development

    Device To Automatically Stop Opioid Overdoses In Development

    The groundbreaking device would deliver naloxone throughout the body in the event of an overdose.

    Researchers at Purdue University are working on developing a device that can be injected under a person’s skin that will automatically deploy in the event of an overdose, delivering the opioid-blocking drug, naloxone, into their system.

    With this in place, a person’s life could be saved even if they overdose while alone, without anyone to call 911 or administer Narcan—the common naloxone-based nasal spray.

    According to Fast Company, the device holding the drug is being designed to be as simple as possible. The tiny capsule is plugged at one end with material that will melt when the metal touching it becomes hot, releasing the drug. This will require an additional device, about the size of a golf ball, that is worn on the arm just outside of the capsule and monitors the wearer’s vitals. 

    How It Will Work

    During an opioid overdose, the victim’s heart rate and breathing slow to dangerous levels. If this happens, the device would activate a strong magnetic field, heating up the metal touching the plug. The naloxone released into the body will block the opioid receptors in the brain, stopping the drug’s ability to affect the body, and saving the victim’s life.

    “The antidote is always going to be with you,” said Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue, Hyowon “Hugh” Lee.

    This device is still in the development stage, and it will be at least a few years before it is made available to the public. It needs to be thoroughly tested and gain FDA approval. “If you assume the device is working and it doesn’t, it would be truly problematic,” Lee pointed out.

    However, Lee also believes that the device could be further improved and developed into something like a smartwatch, with the capsule injected in the wrist. It could also be used to administer other medications to people with life-threatening conditions such as severe allergies. Someone suffering a dangerous allergic reaction could have the device automatically administer a dose of epinephrine, eliminating the need for these individuals to carry EpiPens or rely on others to inject them.

    “People with allergies need epinephrine right away. This setup might remove the need for an epi pen,” Lee said.

    More High-Tech Solutions

    Purdue isn’t the only institution responding to the opioid crisis with high-tech solutions. A contractor from Boston recently began deploying a system he developed to create overdose-resistant bathrooms. John King’s invention can alert employees of convenience stores, coffee shops, and other establishments with single-use bathrooms if a person has fallen to the floor and hasn’t stood up for several seconds.

    This system has already allowed employees to respond quickly to overdose cases, ensuring that naloxone can be administered soon enough to save lives.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Lovato Dealt With Mental Health, Body Shaming After Overdose

    Demi Lovato Dealt With Mental Health, Body Shaming After Overdose

    It’s been one year since Lovato’s near-fatal overdose that made headlines. 

    One year after the overdose that sent singer Demi Lovato to the hospital, USA Today laid out her milestones over the past 12 months as she’s gotten her life back on track. After a stay in rehab, Lovato has been focusing on her mental health, signed with pop star agent Scooter Braun, took on body-shaming trolls, and worked on her upcoming album.

    On July 24, 2018, Lovato was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance after overdosing on oxycodone laced with fentanyl. That was just over a month after releasing the single “Sober,” which revealed that she had recently relapsed after remaining sober for six years. She stayed in the hospital for two weeks before being transferred to in-patient rehab.

    Getting Help In 2012

    Lovato initially entered addiction treatment in 2012 after her substance use problems began to impact her career to the point that her management team threatened to quit. She had previously been in treatment programs for mental health issues including bulimia, depression, and self-harm, and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

    Though Lovato has been fairly open about her mental health and addiction issues, she asked people not to pry and speculate about her issues in a Twitter post following her overdose.

    “If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF,” she wrote on December 22, 2018. “All my fans need to know is I’m working hard on myself, I’m happy and clean and I’m SO grateful for their support.”

    Lovato signed with Scooter Braun, a music manager known for getting musicians through difficult periods of their lives, in May. He will likely have a more behind-the-scenes role than a direct influence, according to USA Today and senior director of music for Billboard Magazine Jason Lipshutz.

    “Obviously Scooter has demonstrated an ability to manage difficult situations when it comes to pop artists, from Justin Bieber overcoming his controversy to Ariana Grande dealing with tragedy following Manchester (bombing) in 2017,” said Lipshutz.

    In March, Lovato came down on Inquisitr for an article focusing on her weight despite the fact that her struggles with an eating disorder have been public knowledge for some time. The singer posted a screenshot of the article headline about her “fuller figure” with the message “I AM MORE THAN MY WEIGHT.”

    According to an anonymous source who spoke to People, Lovato is now “very focused on staying healthy,” taking boxing classes and going on hikes with friends in her spare time. She was also reportedly looking happy and healthy at a birthday dinner for her friend and fellow singer Chloe Star Nakhjavanpour.

    New Music

    She also recently posted on Instagram about her excitement around her upcoming album and a chance to tell her own story honestly.

    “You know what’s great about making an album?” she wrote. “You get to say anything you want, be as open and honest as possible and finally tell your side of the story regardless of who might not like it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com