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  • 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

  • Macklemore Headlines First-Ever Recovery Fest 2018

    Macklemore Headlines First-Ever Recovery Fest 2018

    The festival also featured free naloxone training, guest speakers in between sets, yoga, meditation and meetings before the event.

    Seattle rapper in recovery, Macklemore, could relate to the crowd at the first-ever Recovery Fest last Saturday (Sept. 29). The Grammy-winning artist was in the lineup at the alcohol and drug-free music festival at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

    The event was hosted by the Above The Noise Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to hosting similar events that provide a music festival experience without drugs or alcohol. Proceeds will benefit local addiction and recovery organizations.

    This year’s Recovery Fest, in addition to its artist lineup including Macklemore and Fitz & The Tantrums, featured free naloxone training, guest speakers in between sets, yoga, meditation, and meetings before the event. Even Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo made an appearance.

    As reported by the Newburyport Current, jazz musician Grace Kelly performed a rendition of “Amazing Grace” with guitarist George McCann—while a list of people lost to addiction scrolled on the screen behind them.

    When Macklemore (born Benjamin Haggerty) hit the stage, he asked the crowd how many people were in recovery, and “easily more than half the crowd raised their hands,” according to the Newburyport Current.

    “You know you’re at a recovery fest, when you look out and see hella clouds of vape smoke,” the rapper joked.

    Among Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ upbeat hit songs like “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” the rapper performed the song “Kevin,” about losing a friend to drug overdose in 2008. “He was gonna quit tomorrow, we’re all gonna quit tomorrow,” the song goes. “Just get us through the weekend, and then Monday follows…”

    The Seattle rapper himself has been in recovery from opioid use disorder for about a decade, and is vocal about his experience. In 2014, he suffered a public relapse as his fame grew.

    “I held it together for a while. But, eventually, I stopped going to my 12-step meetings,” he told Complex in 2015. “I was burnt out. I was super stressed. We weren’t sleeping—doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country.”

    His family inspired him to get it together. “Addiction—I think that’s the thing that always reminds me I could lose all of this at any minute. If I stop prioritizing the daily recovery program that I do to maintain sobriety… I will lose it all,” he said this year.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Sober October" Gains Traction As Way To Reset Mentally, Physically

    "Sober October" Gains Traction As Way To Reset Mentally, Physically

    Sober October is derived from a UK campaign aimed at raising awareness about alcohol consumption. 

    Going alcohol-free doesn’t have to be just for those in recovery. 

    According to Forbes, there are both mental and physical benefits to taking a month off from alcohol—and anyone can dial in on those benefits by taking part in Sober October. 

    The idea borrows from a popular campaign in the UK, where Go Sober for October acts as a way to raise awareness around alcohol consumption and is also part of a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. 

    Sober October is a good opportunity for individuals to reset their bodies before the holiday season, as the holiday months often involve eating and drinking more than is recommended. The month of abstinence can also reset the body as the winter months approach, which, for some, can be draining and depressing.

    For those who drink often and heavily, the idea of Sober October may sound intimidating. But, the Evening Standard notes, it’s doable if done in a safe manner.

    Dr. Fiona Sim, former general practitioner and medical adviser to the non-profit Drinkaware, tells the Evening Standard that individuals should be aware of the dangers of quitting cold turkey. 

    “Because your body has been used to having lots of alcohol, you may experience some very nasty side effects, including trembling hands, headaches and lack of appetite,” she said. “The same can apply even if you’re a moderate drinker, although the side effects tend to more psychological, such as irritability and poor concentration. So unless you need to give up drinking quickly, you would probably find it better to cut down more slowly and steadily by having some drink-free days each week.”

    Sim recommends telling those in your social circle the truth when participating in Sober October. 

    “Tell the people closest to you, because they’ll need to know why you turn down a drink of an evening, which you might not normally do,” she said. “Some people might even join you in stopping or cutting down their own drinking once they hear your story.”

    It’s also important to remember that people who pass judgment on the decision may be facing issues of their own, Sim says.

    “Like anything else in life, it’s important always to be yourself and not be swayed by other people judging you or by thinking they are judging you… So please remember that if you think people are going to judge you harshly for drinking less, it is those people who have the problem, not you.”

    Sober October isn’t the only month designated for going alcohol-free. Also popular is Dry January, during which individuals abstain from drinking for the first month of the new year, as a way to reset and start off the year on a healthy foot.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Eating Less Junk Food Cause Withdrawal Symptoms?

    Can Eating Less Junk Food Cause Withdrawal Symptoms?

    A new study examined whether cutting back on junk food could produce symptoms similar to those experienced when quitting tobacco or pot.

    A body of research on the effects of highly processed foods has suggested that cutting down on regular consumption of such items have resulted in physical and psychological symptoms.

    The latest research to support this theory comes from the University of Michigan, where a study has suggested that reducing the amount of highly processed foods in one’s diet may produce symptoms similar to those experienced when quitting tobacco or marijuana.

    The study, which utilized a modified questionnaire used to assess symptoms for other dependency-forming substances, may offer a new means of measuring and understanding the impact of processed foods on individuals.

    In the study—published in the September 2018 edition of the online journal Appetite—a group of 200 adults aged 19 to 68 who’d been on diets that involved cutting down on junk food in the past year were given a questionnaire, called the Highly Processed Food Withdrawal Scale which is modeled after a similar tool used to measure symptoms that occurred after individuals quit smoking or using marijuana.

    Based on the study group’s self-reported information, withdrawal symptoms, including mood swings, cravings, anxiety and headaches, were determined to be most intense between the second and fifth days after making an attempt to reduce junk food intake—which according to study lead author Erica Schulte, echoes a timeframe similar to one experienced by people who undergo drug withdrawal.

    Researchers noted that the study did have several limitations, most notably a lack of information on the intensity of withdrawal symptoms or which methods participants used to change their intake, whether through gradual reduction or complete elimination from their diets.

    The study also did not ask participants to record their withdrawal symptoms in real time, but instead asked them to only recall the scope of the symptoms as a whole. 

    Still, the study did contribute to growing awareness of the possible dependency-forming aspect of highly processed foods, and the results may help individuals who consider reducing such items from their diets to prepare for the possibility of side effects.

    According to Schulte, it may also provide some insight into the barriers that may cause people to stop making such changes, or even leave treatment to address dependency issues altogether.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Seattle Not Intimidated By Threats Against Supervised Injection Facilities

    Seattle Not Intimidated By Threats Against Supervised Injection Facilities

    “We took note of what the DOJ wrote about this, but we believe strongly in a public health approach to substance abuse disorder,” Mayor Durkan said. 

    The city of Seattle will move forward with plans to open a supervised injection facility (SIF), despite the possibility that the federal government will intervene, KUOW reports.

    Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan affirmed on Sept. 20 that the city will proceed despite the Department of Justice’s promise to respond with “swift and aggressive action.”

    In a New York Times op-ed published in August, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made clear the federal government’s opposition to SIFs, declaring that they will “only make the opioid crisis worse.”

    “Because federal law clearly prohibits injection sites, cities and counties should expect the Department of Justice to meet the opening of any injection site with swift and aggressive action,” wrote Rosenstein.

    But city officials and proponents say Seattle and greater King County need “an aggressive, comprehensive approach” to the drug crisis as drug-related deaths rise. According to a recent report by Seattle & King County Public Health, drug and alcohol-related deaths have increased for six consecutive years in King County.

    “We took note of what the Department of Justice wrote about this, we’re cognizant of it, but we believe strongly in a public health approach to substance abuse disorder,” said Mayor Durkan.

    Last Monday, Durkan released a proposed budget that would set aside $1.3 million to fund the SIF pilot program. “You’ll see in the budget that we will continue to work for safe injection sites,” said the mayor. “We want this to be part of a holistic system of treatment.” The final vote on whether to adopt the budget is set for mid-November, following budget proposal hearings in October.

    Last we heard, the plan was to establish two supervised injection facilities—one in Seattle and one elsewhere in King County. The idea came from a list of recommendations on how to best address the region’s drug problem presented by the county’s Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force in 2016.

    KUOW reports that Seattle officials are seeking a location “likely downtown or in Belltown” for the SIF, in addition to a mobile unit that will serve the same purpose. However, Durkan said they are still working on the “framework” with the county before they can set a location. 

    While opponents say the sites will do more harm than good, proponents say that they save lives and increase the probability of connecting people with treatment.

    “Treatment is really the main bottom line that we’re trying to promote as the most effective, you know, population-wide intervention,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for King County. “We want people getting in long-term treatment. And this is just one doorway that we can use to get people into treatment.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Steve-O Celebrates A Decade Of Sobriety In A Unique Way

    Steve-O Celebrates A Decade Of Sobriety In A Unique Way

    “I really can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey of life,” the reality star tweeted.

    Steve-O celebrated his 10-year sober milestone by competing in his first triathlon.

    As Runner’s World reports, the Jackass alum participated in the 32nd annual Nautica Malibu Triathlon, which raises money for children’s cancer research. Alongside other stars like Joel McHale, Steve Howe and Jon Cryer, Steve-O (born Stephen Glover) did a half-mile swim, a four-mile beach run, and a 17-mile bike ride.

    Steve-O’s enthusiasm for the event was off the charts. “I really can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey of life… I just got tenth place in my division at my first ever triathlon! Woohoo!!! (Full disclosure – my division was ‘men’s celebrity,’ but there were tons of celebrities, so I’m stoked!)” he tweeted after the race.

    Before getting sober years ago, Steve-O’s drugs of choice included cocaine, alcohol, ketamine, PCP and nitrous oxide.

    Earlier this year, Steve-O tweeted about his sobriety on the date his friends had him committed:

    “Hard to believe it’s been an entire decade since I’ve had a drink or a drug. I just can’t put into words how grateful I am for [Jackass star Johnny Knoxville] and the rest of the guys who locked me up in a psychiatric ward on March 9, 2008, where this journey began. Thank you, dudes, I love you.”

    Before he was committed, Steve-O sent out an alarming e-mail saying, “I’m ready to f—ing die.” He was then put on a 5150 hold on March 9, and later transferred to rehab. He vowed, “You can count on my staying nuts; it’s just the alcohol and drugs I’m trying to leave behind.”

    In his goodbye letter to drugs, he confessed, “It became frighteningly clear to me how lucky I am to still have any chance whatsoever at leading a happy, fulfilling and meaningful life. My luck will not last with continued use of alcohol and drugs that are not prescribed to me by doctors that are aware of my addictions.”

    In getting sober, Steve-O has embraced a much healthier lifestyle. He’s now a vegan, and on a mission to have his healthiest year in 2018.

    In a recent Instagram post, he wrote, “For my birthday this year, I decided to get in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I may be old, but I’m healthy as fuck!” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Claire Foy On Anxiety: It's My Mind Working A Thousand Beats A Second

    Claire Foy On Anxiety: It's My Mind Working A Thousand Beats A Second

    “I used to think that this was my lot in life, to be anxious… but now I’m able to disassociate myself from it more.”

    Claire Foy, who is best known for playing Queen Elizabeth on the Netflix series The Crown, is having a banner year. Foy recently won an Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama, and she’s also getting strong reviews for her performance in First Man, where she stars alongside Ryan Gosling.

    Despite Foy’s success, she’s had to cope with more than her share of anxiety—in fact, she recently confessed that her anxiety “exploded” as her career took off. 

    “When you have anxiety, you have anxiety about—I don’t know—crossing the road,” she told The Guardian. “The thing is, it’s not related to anything that would seem logical. It’s purely about that feeling in the pit of your stomach, and the feeling that you can’t, because you’re ‘this’ or you’re ‘that.’ It’s my mind working at a thousand beats a second, and running away with a thought.”

    Like many performers who struggle with self-doubt, Foy has had to fight off “lots of thoughts about how shit I am.”

    She recalled her parents separating when she was eight years old, and wanting to “make everyone happy. Never be angry. Be really sweet and well-behaved. I didn’t want to upset people.”

    Like many who suffer from anxiety, she began over-thinking everything and second-guessing herself. 

    Her self-doubt did not go away when she landed her role on The Crown, or when she played Anne Boleyn in the BBC Two series Wolf Hall (2015). “I just thought: ‘I’m not her. Not in any way, shape or form.’ Anne was so intelligent, so alluring, so able to be mysterious and have people be fascinated with her. Anne knew she was special… I just didn’t see it.”

    When Foy found out she was pregnant, it “upped things. I feel like the game was on in life. I had to get my shit together.”

    Foy went to therapy. “I’m glad I did,” she says. “All your shit—and everybody has shit—it doesn’t go away. It’s still there, but I guess I don’t believe it so much any more. I used to think that this was my lot in life, to be anxious. And that I would struggle and struggle and struggle with it… But now I’m able to disassociate myself from it more. I know that it’s just something I have—and that I can take care of myself.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Lovato’s Sister Says She’s Working Hard At Sobriety

    Demi Lovato’s Sister Says She’s Working Hard At Sobriety

    “We’ve been through a lot together and every single time…we always come out on the other side a 100 times stronger than before.”

    Demi Lovato’s 16-year-old sister said that the star is working hard at her sobriety, 60 days after the singer reportedly started treatment. 

    “She’s working really hard on her sobriety and we’re all so incredibly proud of her,” Madison De La Garza said, according to E! News. De La Garza was being interviewed as part of the promotions for her new movie, Subject 16. During the conversation, she talked about how difficult Lovato’s July overdose was for her family. 

    “It’s been crazy for our family,” she said. “It’s been a lot.”

    De La Garza said that the family is focusing on the positive. 

    “We’ve been through a lot together, and every single time—I mean if you read my mom’s book, you would know—every time we go through something, we always come out on the other side a hundred times stronger than before,” De La Garza said. “So, we’ve just been so thankful for everything—for the little things.”

    De La Garza said that she wants to do “so many little things” with her sister once Lovato leave treatment — including getting frozen yogurt. 

    “It sounds so small, but [I want to] go to Menchie’s,” she said. “Honestly, I’m more of a Pinkberry person, but she likes Menchie’s, and so we usually go there.”

    Lovato is at an undisclosed facility. In early August she released a statement on Instagram, saying, “What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.”

    She told fans that she would be off the radar while she focuses on recovery. 

    “I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery,” she wrote. “The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting.”

    Although Lovato has not made any public statements since then, her family members say that she is doing the necessary work to live sober. 

    “I can honestly say today that she is doing really well,” Lovato’s mother, Dianna De La Garza, said in September. “She’s happy, she’s healthy, she’s working on her sobriety, and she’s getting the help she needs.”

    De La Garza added that Lovato’s overdose came as a shock, but that the family’s faith helped them cope. 

    “We just didn’t know for two days if she was going to make it or not,” she said. “I just feel like the reason she is alive today is because of the millions and millions of prayers that went up every day.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Algorithm Can Identify Depression In Speech, Text

    Algorithm Can Identify Depression In Speech, Text

    The technology could potentially be used to help more people get treatment for depression.

    Researchers at MIT have developed an artificial intelligence system that can identify depression simply from listening to people talk or by monitoring their texts. 

    The technology, which uses a neural-network model, can listen or read natural conversations in order to identify speech and communication patterns that indicate depression. 

    “The first hints we have that a person is happy, excited, sad, or has some serious cognitive condition, such as depression, is through their speech,” Tuka Alhanai, first author of the paper outlining the technology, told MIT News. 

    Doctors diagnose depression by asking their patients questions and listening to their responses. Machines have been hailed as a way to improve diagnostics in recent years.

    However, many of the existing systems require a person to answer specific questions and then make a diagnosis based on the answers that a person provides. “But that’s not how natural conversations work,” said Alhanai, a researcher at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).  

    The new system can be used in more situations because it monitors natural conversations. 

    “We call it ‘context-free’ because you’re not putting any constraints into the types of questions you’re looking for and the type of responses to those questions,” Alhanai says. “If you want to deploy [depression-detection] models in a scalable way… you want to minimize the amount of constraints you have on the data you’re using. You want to deploy it in any regular conversation and have the model pick up, from the natural interaction, the state of the individual.”

    The new model works by analyzing speech and text from people who were depressed and those who were not. It then identified patterns in each group. For example, people with depression might speak more slowly or take longer pauses between words. In text messages they might use words like “low,” “sad” or “down” more commonly. 

    “The model sees sequences of words or speaking style, and determines that these patterns are more likely to be seen in people who are depressed or not depressed,” Alhanai said. “Then, if it sees the same sequences in new subjects, it can predict if they’re depressed too.”

    The technology could potentially be used to help more people get treatment for depression. Although the condition is very common, 37% of people with depression do not receive any treatment.

    Alhanai’s team said their technology could be used to develop apps that monitor a person’s conversations and send alerts when their mental health might be deteriorating. It could also be used in a traditional counseling or medical setting to assist medical professionals. 

    View the original article at thefix.com