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Since the global pandemic, telehealth and telemedicine services have increased within the healthcare industry and especially when it comes to mental health services, behavioral health services and substance use disorders. Could this new approach to providing critical services become a standard when implementing options for substance addiction care?

Is there a medication shortage on Adderall? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first reported an Adderall shortage in September of 2019 where it was expected to last until May 2022. However, today, more than 60% of pharmacies nationwide are struggling to keep both generic and Adderall medications in stock, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association. Patients are coming to their local pharmacies with the intent to fulfill their prescriptions and are not able to.

What are recovery support groups? Peer based support groups known as mutual help organizations that are free, peer led and focus mainly on social support for individuals with substance use disorders within the addiction recovery community. These support groups do not provide any formal type of treatment.

In studies regarding drug abuse, an estimated 90% of individuals who are dependent on cocaine are also dependent on alcohol. In fact, this combination of drugs has become a very popular form of polysubstance use causing alarming effects leading to addiction, overdose and sometimes death.

Unfortunately, polysubstance use is quite common among individuals who suffer from a substance use disorder or alcohol use disorder. Once an individual develops an addiction to one substance, it can be easy to develop the same dependence to another substance.

One of the most frequently asked questions by clients before entering a drug and alcohol rehab program is “are Vivitrol shots available”? So what is Vivitrol? What is it used for? Who is it recommended for? Vivitrol is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication that contains the ingredient naltrexone and is used as a form of medication assisted treatment (MAT) for those with alcohol addiction or opioid addictions.

In 2019, fentanyl was found to have contributed to an estimated 51% of all drug overdose deaths in the US. In 2021, drug overdose deaths climbed to nearly 100,000 in the US. Harm reduction strategies such as easy access to naloxone and access and availability of fentanyl test strips are needed now more than ever as the opioid overdose crisis continues to grow. 

With the steady rise of substance overdose, especially opioid overdose, people are turning to more harm reduction strategies such as administering naloxone on a person that is suspected of overdosing from opioids. What is naloxone? Also known by the brand name Narcan, naloxone is an FDA approved emergency medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose

What is EMDR Therapy? Eye movement desensitization reprocessing therapy is a behavioral health therapy technique originally created to help treat those who were suffering from trauma or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Today EMDR therapy is used to help treat mental health conditions that occur due to memories of traumatic and distressing past events.

The idea of safe injection sites have been at the forefront of overhauling the behavioral health care system in the United States as the drug overdose epidemic continues to rise. Last month in August 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsome vetoed a bill allowing Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco to open up supervised injection sites until the end of 2027. Newsome seemed weary of the idea and noted that it had the potential to “induce a world of unintended consequences.”