addiction & misuse
A blog about addiction and misuse, including alcohol.
7 May
Five Actions To Take If Your Friends Are Pressuring You To Try Drugs
Peer pressure can be a horrible thing, but what’s worse it can affect us at various stages of our lives. It’s something we may have thought had left us in school, but no, you’ll find it in work, in the pub and even among friends.
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30 Oct
Rethinking Therapy: The Power of Clinical Hypnosis
You"ve hit a roadblock in your journey to mental wellness, haven"t you? Traditional therapy isn"t cutting it. But don"t lose hope. There"s another route that"s often overlooked: clinical hypnosis.
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3 Apr
Four Myths Around Drug Rehab Debunked
The ongoing opioid crisis in the USA, as well as the rest of the world, is causing a huge amount of damage to society and it’s costing thousands of people their lives. Yet, still, not enough people are getting treatment …
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7 Apr
Fertility & Substance Abuse: How They Are Connected
Misusing or over-consuming drugs or alcohol can affect one’s fertility, especially for women. In fact, the aforementioned addictions are considered to be responsible for infertility in both male and female communities. But, how does substance abuse affect one’s fertility? Well, …
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7 Apr
Addiction Recovery Center: Frequently Asked Questions
It can be difficult to know where to turn for information when a person is concerned about having an addiction or knows someone who may be coping with a drug use disorder or addiction. There are numerous concerns that a …
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5 Jan
How to reach your health goals this year
Whether you’re looking to lose weight, give up smoking, or just try something new, New Year’s Resolutions are tough! According to statistics, most people who set resolutions were likely to give up by 12th January. Here are some tips to …
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15 Nov
What Happens to Your Body After Quitting Drinking
Regardless of the amount of alcohol you consume, your body will undergo many changes when you quit drinking. Alcohol plays a significant role in many cases of accidents, trauma injuries, and even deaths from homicides, drowning, and burns. Drinking is …
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12 Aug
? Anxiety ?
? As a sufferer of Anxiety my whole life, I have learned and practiced some affective strategies that have enabled me to overcome the fear-based personality that was once stopping me from living a happy and free life, and reaching …
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12 Oct
This week in health – 12 October 2018
Friday has arrived, but the end of talkhealth’s working week has not – we’ll be working at The Sleep Show in London all weekend. But Sleep Show or no Sleep Show, we bring you another brief round-up from the world …
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29 Nov
The success of the Stoptober 2017 campaign
For another year, a focus on quitting smoking swept the nation with the Stoptober campaign. This is a 28 day long event run each October during which smokers are inspired to stop smoking. There is always a considerable amount of …
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9 Oct
Letting go of that last cigarette.
It isn’t easy to stop smoking; I know because I used to smoke, I even became a secret smoker at one point. I would smoke about 5 a day and then reached 20 a day and I couldn’t even afford …
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29 Aug
3 Reasons to See a Therapist
Despite the major advances in mental health, seeing a therapist still holds a stigma in general society. We are afraid to seek out help because in some way it’s means that we are “broken”. That we aren’t as healthy as …
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24 May
Factors Determining The Costs To Preserve Health
In an ideal world, no cost is too high to preserve health, but the unfortunate reality of health care pricing is almost always a factor in deciding which treatment approaches to take. High Cost of Health Care Worldwide How expensive …
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12 Apr
Start Each Day Awake and Refreshed Naturally
For many people, as they get older getting the proper amount of sleep just doesn’t seem possible. If you have trouble falling asleep every night or a few times in a week, you’re not alone. Scientific research shows that over …
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12 Apr
Discussing Ways to Achieve a Healthy Lifestyles with Children
Children today live in a world that’s changing rapidly. Processed foods are the new norm and electronic devices are replacing activity. If you’re concerned that your children are caught up in the fast lane, it’s time to put your parenting …
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6 Mar
Quit smoking while pregnancy – No Smoking Day 8 March 2017
March 8th 2017 is national no smoking day and for the estimated 15.8 % of the UK population who regularly light up this is the day you are encouraged to kick the habit. Parents to be are one particular group who …
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14 Feb
How to Choose a 30 Day Rehabilitation Program
If you, or perhaps someone that you know, need to go to an intensive rehabilitation facility then you may be considering a 30 day program. This is exactly what it sounds like, a month on lock down without the influences …
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19 Jan
Do e-cigarettes work at helping you kick the habit?
In the UK, smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death, accounting for around 96,000 deaths a year. This figure is more than those for obesity, alcohol, road traffic accidents, illegal drugs and HIV infection combined. The …
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12 Jan
The Fight To Stay Sober: Why You May Not Want To Battle Your Addiction On Your Own
Addiction – no matter what it is that you are addicted to – can be a very hard thing to beat on your own. There are many factors that play into why it is such a tough road for people …
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5 Jan
Uncovering the Causes of Self-Medication
We live in a world with thousands of different kinds of drugs. Some of these are common in our daily lives (caffeine, nicotine) and some are more exotic (ayhuasca). It doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, …
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3 Jan
New Year Resolutions
We hope you’ve all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In the talkhealth office today, we’ve been talking about our various New Year resolutions. It’s safe to say we’ve all over-indulged this Christmas and several …
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17 Nov
How can family help substance addicts on the road to recovery?
Substance addiction can bring in a very powerful, negative impact to any individual and the people around him. In fact, substance addiction costs the US government around $200 billion per year, so the problem is indeed very demanding. But how …
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11 Nov
Alcohol awareness week
Did you know that next week (14-20 November) sees the start of alcohol awareness week? An initiative run by Alcohol Concern (you know them- the founders of Dry January!) which aims to raise awareness of the risks of alcohol to …
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24 Oct
5 Things You Should Do If You Have a Problem with Alcohol
There is no clearly defined line that separates moderate drinking from problem drinking. If you feel ashamed of your drinking, hide your habit from others, or feel that you “need” to drink in order to feel better, you may have …
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20 Sep
Dangers of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) formerly known as legal highs
This video tells the very tragic story of Laurence, the son of a lovely family I know who live on the same street as me. On the 1st anniversary of Laurence’s passing (19.09.15), please share this video with your family …
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23 Nov
What to Do if Your Young Adult Has an Addiction to Marijuana
Addiction to a substance can begin at any age, but more often than not it starts when a person is a teen or young adult. Marijuana is a common drug for teenagers to begin taking, and if you think that …
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17 Nov
Stress and Self Medicating: A Deadly Combination
There is no denying the fact that stress can be very damaging to a person’s physical and mental well-being. Stress is common and isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, when a person is unable to handle it effectively it can …
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8 Oct
Your Recovery Toolbox: How to Adopt Physical Exercise While Beating Your Addiction
Fighting an addiction of any kind may be one of the most difficult things you will ever do in your life. Relapse rates are notoriously high among recovering addicts – as many as 60% will relapse at some point, and …
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1 Oct
Can e-cigarettes and liquids help smokers quit sooner?
So you want to quit smoking. Whereas you may have tried in the past – using nicotine patches, gum, or inhalers – and view e-cigarettes as nothing more than another fad that’s going to leave you turning back to your …
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1 Sep
Were you aware ?
Yesterday was August Bank Holiday in the UK, for me it was a fairly wet dull day. It was also International Overdose Awareness Day, the aim of which is to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug …
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21 Aug
E-cigarettes. I am confused.
I admit I am a little out of touch with latest trends and e -cigarettes are no exception . I like many tried cigarettes in my teens but did not like them and never got the habit. I understand that …
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4 Jun
What exactly is in e-liquid?
Vapers will have heard the magnificent and varied lexicon of flavours, tastes, smells and fantastically elaborate names of e-liquids. They’ll know the feeling in their throat and might be able to compare with the rawness of a cigar or cigarette. …
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21 May
Should E-cigarettes Be Used Every Day?
The controversial topic of e-cigarettes has been overtaking the media ever since we were hit by the surprising popularity of vaporisers in 2013. By 2014, half of smokers had tried e-cigarettes, 2.1 million people were using them, and an estimated …
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20 May
Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?
What the UK Government defines as binge drinking might come as a shock to some. Binge drinking is defined as the intake of twice the recommended daily alcohol limit. For men that means eight units, the equivalent of four pints …
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25 Mar
Should We Fear the Recreational Use of Cough Syrup?
When you think of cough syrup, chances are you think of the over-the-counter kind, the type you take in order to soothe the symptoms of a common cough. For many other people across the U.S. however, cough syrup means “sizzurp” …
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3 Feb
Recent talkhealth Survey Results
To coincide with our Online Clinics we ran a survey in November on Erectile Dysfunction, in December on Drink Awareness and in January on Weight Management. A brief summary of the results are below with links to the full findings. …
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30 Dec
The FEELS
When I started writing about my weight loss journey I imagined myself sitting at my laptop being witty and wise and hopefully inspirational. Whats happened is Ive opened a can of worms where my feelings about my metamorphasis have bubbled …
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21 Dec
The Magic Pill
Ive traveled the country chatting to many different groups about my weight loss journey and the various issues surrounding weight. At the end there is a Q&A session and there are two questions that ALWAYS pop up. I’ve got to …
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18 Dec
Support for health & wellbeing of employees
On 1 December 2014, talkhealth were invited by Fluor, to attend their Health & Wellbeing event. The event was hosted at Fluor’s offices in Farnborough, Hampshire and the invitation to attend was extended to over 1,000 of its employees. …
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17 Dec
Alcohol and atopic eczema
Some trigger factors for acute atopic eczema flare-ups are easier to recognise than others. Those that are better known are stress, season, and allergies. Others include air-conditioning, sleep-overs, and drinking alcohol, for example. Alcoholic drinks like beer, spirits and wine …
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8 Dec
Dream a little dream.
Lets talk about inspiration. Specifically inspiration to lose weight. Why are you putting yourself through the upheaval of making all these changes? Lets face it, its a right pain in the arse so whats your motivation? Are you doing it …
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16 Oct
Alcohol Concern release an ‘Alcohol Harm Map’ as part of latest alcohol awareness campaign.
Ever wondered about the greater implications of excessive alcohol consumption? Today Alcohol Concern has released an Alcohol Harm map as part of their campaign to increase awareness of alcohol use. Interestingly this campaign allows people to look directly at their …
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19 Mar
Nutrition & Hydration Week 17-23 March
Water – did you know that it’s the best fuel for a healthy life – and in fact one of the most precious and important commodities in the world? Water makes up 2/3rds of our body and therefore it is …
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27 Jan
#talkhealth Twitter Chat – Should ecigs be banned for under 18’s?
Tonight is the first of our #talkhealth weekly Twitter Chats. Each Monday from 8-9pm we will be hosting a Twitter Chat based around a topical health news story of the week. Tonight it’s all about electronic cigarettes. “Should ecigarettes be …
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17 Jan
Sticking To New Year’s Resolutions Does Not Depend On Will Power
Those struggling to stick to their New Year’s resolution might take comfort in scientists’ assertion that will power has very little to do with a person’s character. Professor Nick Chater revealed that the environment is a far bigger factor in …
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5 Oct
Painting Over The Walls To Hide The Cracks
Shane used a brilliant phrase in his post last month entitled “What If Everything You Thought You Knew Was A Lie?” describing how Doctors tend to paint over the cracks rather than fixing the problem to get to the root of the …
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16 Jul
Improvements to drink-drive rehabilitation scheme
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has announced changes to the Drink-Drive Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS) to offer more consistent quality standards and wider availability of courses as well as transferring the full cost to the user rather than the taxpayer. DDRS …
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3 Jul
Lowering the odds.
Everyone knows how to lose weight. Its not rocket science! It may not be easy, but its not difficult. Like playing the lottery, the rules may be simple and the prize life changing but the odds are enormous. So, what …
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19 Jun
Alcohol is the anaesthesia by which we endure the operation of life – George Bernard Shaw
I have been wrestling with this post for some considerable time, I am getting fed up with it being in my drafts – hanging over me every time I look at my list. I promised Alex Gazzola that I would …
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10 Apr
Time For Tailored, Bespoke Care
Every other life threatening illness receives specialist care. As each patient will present with a unique set of diagnostic problems, the treatment will be altered for their best outcome. For the most part, there is blanket coverage with alcohol …
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27 Feb
Are we a nation of secret boozers?
According to the news today the UK is a nation of secret boozers. New figures show that around half of us lie about how much we drink. A team at the University College London ran a study into our drinking …
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5 Feb
Gazza admitted to US addiction centre
It’s no secret that former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur player, Paul Gascoigne has battled with alcoholism since giving up football. His Management Company today confirmed that he has willingly gone to the US and admitted himself into a specilist …
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3 Feb
New Puritan or New Goddess?
I have been hearing across the social media networks, that we non drinkers are somehow the New Puritans. That title suggests to me that we have a rather holier than thou attitude. As if we are in some way superior …
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2 Jan
How will you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions? Read some top tips to beat the odds
Almost 1 in 10 (9%) New Year’s resolutions last at least 6 months but almost 4 in 10 (39%) will be over in 2 weeks. More than 4 in 10 (45%) say lack of willpower is to blame for why …
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27 Dec
The Aftermath of Christmas
How was your Christmas? Jolly, Happy, Joyous and Fun? Perhaps Peaceful and Relaxing? On Christmas Night, I am always grateful these days, that it was scattered with the above, tired but still with a clear head, of not having to …
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14 Dec
Chronic diseases now the biggest healthcare burden
An interesting article has appeared in PM Live, based on several articles recently published in The Lancet. These articles reveal that advancements in treating infections and tackling malnutrition have seen chronic diseases and disability become the biggest global healthcare burdens. …
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7 Dec
The Festive Season
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you say the word Festive? It might not be just booze, but it will feature in the mind’s eye somewhere. The old values of peace and good will seems to …
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26 Nov
Minimum Pricing
How will this affect the way we would drink? I can only speak from my own area of expertise, that is women and mothers of the Middle Class persuasion with a dependence. The answer for them, is not in the …
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20 Nov
Festive season triggers concerns about Alcohol misuse
There’s no more fitting a time than the weeks running up to Christmas, to highlight the concerns about alcohol misuse, particularly in the workplace, warns workplace health and wellbeing organisation, Health@Work. Health@Work regularly works with organisations to get their workforce …
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7 Nov
Stigma, I am Sick of It
The word Alcoholic conjures up almost without fail, an image of a totally disadvantaged and desolate person, either living rough or in dire circumstances. Weak and worthless individuals who have brought the whole mess on themselves. I am truly sick …
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1 Nov
Alcoholism Shortens Life More Than Smoking: Study
Women have the highest risk of dying prematurely, researchers report I had to share this on my blog, and this is no small, throw away statistic. It was carried out over 14 years and included 4000 people. Those that know …
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16 Oct
Far From Sublime
As over eight million TV’s beam into our sitting rooms most evenings, I am constantly amazed at the amount of both subliminal advertising and situations that make you NEED a drink. Buying a sofa? You better have a bottle ready! …
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9 Oct
Side Effects and Health Warnings
This is an ageless, classless illness, and one that is so very difficult to come to terms with. We all regret that we cannot be ‘normal’ drinkers, whatever they are, in the early days, but I often wonder if someone …
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25 Sep
Means the world to me
Over the years I have been humbled by the goodness shown to me from many clients. Their gratitude always makes me feel a little shy though, and only a conduit to their inner strength to overcome one of the most …
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22 Sep
Cancer Warning for Women who like a Glass of Wine or Three
They are the problem drinkers missed by government efforts to curb alcohol misuse – women, often middle-class and professional, who share a bottle of wine with a partner over dinner each night, putting their health at risk. Unnoticed because they …
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22 Sep
INSOMNIA…NOOOOOOO – SLEEP-YEEESSSSSSS
How much sleep do you get? Not getting enough sleep isn’t good.Requiring too much sleep can be just as bad…either way something could be wrong with your health. Sleep has ALWAYS been one of my favorite pastimes,as a teen, I …
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17 Sep
Acknowledgement For Harrogate Sanctuary
I received this encouraging email from Baroness Newlove today, and with support like this, we will fight on with our aims to liberate women from the strangle hold of alcohol addiction. Dear Sarah, I am very grateful to you for …
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10 Sep
Alcohol Is Never Top of the Government Agenda
Now smokers are going to be encouraged in October, to give up en mass. According to some Government Tsar, we are all herd/pack animals so will find it much easier to be texted by some smoking cessation team to egg …
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25 Aug
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times.
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season …
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12 Aug
Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner
Gandhi always knew how to nail a subject, and never better with this quote when referring to alcohol addiction. Even the sinner using alcohol hates the sin that they are embroiled in. Without becoming narcissistic, to recover you really have …
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1 Aug
The Bravery of Surrender
It becomes more apparent to me each day of how courageous the step to surrender, honestly and openly is. Those who have never been addicted are often not only totally perplexed, but also appalled at the behaviour of a drunk. …
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30 Jul
The Sanctuary goes Global!
Slight exaggeration, but since my work was featured in the Yorkshire local press, I have been overwhelmed with enquiries. To this end, I have decided to offer telephone counselling to those outside of my catchment area. We are also working …
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26 Jul
Proportion of school children taking drugs fell over the past decade, says new report
11 to 15-year-old pupils are also smoking and drinking less than ten years ago Drug-taking among secondary school children fell by 12 percentage points in the past ten years, according to new figures out today from the Health and Social …
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24 Jul
The Inner Child
Even after all these years of being sober, using common sense and logic, facing the world without the aid of any enhancing drugs or medicines that take away the rough edges, I still have yet to come to terms with …
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18 Jul
Risks and Reward
I have always been fascinated by risk takers, and when I was at the height of my drinking career, I took many risks. Not only with my health, and my relationships, but sometimes I am quite sure I got a …
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30 Jun
So Much to Do, So Little Time..
First of all apologises for my absence for the last few weeks. Life has been full of customers who have battled long and hard with the demon drink. Time is such a fundemental thing that we all take for granted. …
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6 Jun
Alcohol and Depression
It has been an incredibly busy couple weeks at the Sanctuary, clients presenting with trepidation as the Jubilee celebrations approached, and looking for avoidance tactics or more upsetting, ways of completely missing out on what should be a happy event …
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16 May
The Re-Birth
At first I was on the pink cloud of Euphoria with my sobriety. Everything in those initial weeks was clean and fresh. There was so much I wanted to prove, and so much I wanted to do. All the hiding …
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10 May
The Simple Truth
Many women tell me almost jokingly, that they now only have time to binge. The truth is, as shown by a recent study, women from managerial or professional backgrounds are 19 per cent more likely to drink heavily at home, …
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8 May
The Final Performance
Life had now really begun to freefall. On top of my vast alcohol addiction, trying to fend off debt collectors, and keeping some kind of structure to my son’s daily routine, the stress became too much for my husband and …
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3 May
I’m Not Alone
This article sums up so much of the consequences that I see on a daily basis, and well worth a read. Think I will stick to my Pomegranate Juice!! Dr Smith-Laing, liver specialist, pulls no punches. ‘Until about 10 years ago, …
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1 May
The Days of Wine and Roses
After my booze fuelled twenties, partying, being involved in the most precarious situations, along with one or two brushes with death due to car accidents, invincible, devil may care me, hit 30. My life had really spiralled out of control …
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26 Apr
The Roaring Twenties!
My tolerance in my late teens and twenties was amazing. Whether it is genetics or not, I obviously had inherited hollow legs, and throughout my twenties could drink a country dry with little side effect. It also gave me confidence …
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23 Apr
Truth and Honesty
This is an off piste post, but I just had to share from reading another blog, the contents of which touched me enormously along with my take on the acceptance of drinking to excess. I am never surprised at the …
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18 Apr
THE INSTANT ALCOHOLIC.
After the death of my Father, aged 13, the isolation became immense. My elder Brother was away at school, and my Mother was in the grip of both alcohol misuse and grief. I had friends at school and played a …
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13 Apr
Tragic Beginnings
I am not sure whether or not I was born to be alcoholic, the jury is still out from my point of view on the genetic connection. There is very strong arguments for this to be the case and indeed …
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9 Apr
WHY MIDDLE CLASS WOMEN ARE DYING FOR A DRINK
There is no doubt that more Middle Class, Middle Aged professional working Mothers are drinking too much, along with stay at home Mums. Wine seems to be the drug of choice. Over the last 20 years or so it has …
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5 Apr
I am Sarah and I am an alcoholic…
I am Sarah and I am an alcoholic. Not active, an ex alcoholic. The first statement is one that many are familiar with, quoted millions of times at the famous AA meetings. Prior to my sobriety, those words always conjured …
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