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A Harm Reduction Program For Alcohol Addiction

7/12/2016

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While most suggest abstinence as the form of treatment for ‪alcoholism‬, in Ottawa, Ontario at the Managed Alcohol Program they focus more on a harm reduction approach that aims to change individuals' drinking behaviours and foster better physical and mental health.

MAP first began in 2001, and is a partnership program between Shepherds of Good Hope and Ottawa Inner City Health. Originally the program consisted of a 12-bed homeless hostel downtown Ottawa, but in 2010 they also opened a larger facility called the Oaks. At these residences residents receive a glass of wine every hour from 7:30am to 9:30pm.

Most of the residents who are engaged in the MAP program have resorted to drinking hand sanitizer, mouth wash, and even hairspray in the past, often putting themselves at great risk. Many more used to be frequent visitors of the local emergency rooms, and others struggled in the cold during harsh winters simply to feed their addiction. The MAP program however, has helped to reduce 911 calls and hospital emergency visits, as well as help stabilize the residents and turn their lives around.

""The thought was that if we could stabilise the craziness of their lives, the day that begins with the search for alcohol and all the complications that occur with that, then maybe we could make inroads with their mental health, addiction to alcohol and their physical illnesses," says Dr Jeff Turnbull, one of those early innovators, and the chief of staff at Ottawa Hospital."

For the full story, click here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36717557


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Psych In The News - Week 89

1/17/2016

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Catch up on all the news related to mental health and psychiatry from last week!


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Psych In The News - Week 29

9/14/2014

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PictureGlobal Suicides by Age and Income in 2012 (WHO)
Catch up on all the news related to psychiatry and mental health from last week!


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International Overdose Awareness Day - Part 2

8/31/2014

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Over 200,000 preventable deaths by overdose occur each year worldwide. The goals then of International Overdose Awareness Day are to honour those lost, educate to prevent further death & injury, and take action for change.

In Ottawa, Ontario earlier this week, a rally was held to help reduce the stigma surrounding drug overdose and push for a better and more readily available overdose prevention and reversing strategy. "Attendees said more of these deaths can be avoided by being more compassionate to people addicted to drugs" in addition to making the drug naloxone more widely available.

Find out more by checking out the article, "Drug overdose deaths can be curbed by compassion, ralliers say" by CBC News.

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International Overdose Awareness Day

8/31/2014

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Did you know that today, August 31, is International Overdose Awareness Day?

Take some time today to learn more about drug overdose including the signs and symptoms to watch out for. More information and a variety of resources can be found at http://www.overdoseday.com/. You can also follow all the conversations on Twitter by checking out @overdoseday or #OD14! Don't forget to show your support by wearing a silver ribbon or sharing the poster below!
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The Golden Gate Bridge

7/4/2014

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You may or may not be aware that the Golden Gate Bridge is not only an attraction sought after by tourists, but also by those seeking relief from mental health struggles or crises.  The Golden Gate Bridge is actually one of the most popular suicide spots in the world, second only to Aokigahara, or the Sea of Trees, found at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. 

Due to the ever increasing number of deaths at the Golden Gate Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors finally approved plans and funding for a steel net in June
in the hopes that it will deter jumpers and prevent further suicides.  To find out more about the proposed suicide barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge, check out the articles "Funding for Golden Gate Bridge suicide barrier approved" by Stephanie Smith (CNN) or "Suicides Mounting, Golden Gate Looks to Add a Safety Net" by Carol Pogash (New York Times).

For those who wish to gain further insight into the history of the bridge and its connection to suicide, take some time to watch the eerie and emotional, but powerful documentary The Bridge, filmed in 2004 by director Eric Steele, or check out "Jumpers", a 2003 New Yorker article by Tad Friend that inspired the documentary...

"People suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business. This is a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and those drawn by its call. Steel and his crew filmed the bridge during daylight hours from two separate locations for all of 2004, recording most of the two dozen deaths in that year (and preventing several others). They also taped interviews with friends, families and witnesses, who recount in sorrowful detail stories of struggles with depression, substance abuse and mental illness. Raises questions about suicide, mental illness and civic responsibility as well as the filmmaker's relationship to his fraught and complicated material" (imdb.com).
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Psych In The News - Week 25

6/28/2014

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Catch up on all the news related to psychiatry and mental health from this week!


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Psych In The News - Week 15

4/19/2014

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Catch up on all the news related to psychiatry and mental health from this week!


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Heroin-Assisted Therapy as a Form of Harm Reduction

3/26/2014

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Vancouver, British Columbia is well-known for their pioneering of harm reduction strategies. Not only do they have Insite (North America's only legal supervised injection site), mobile vans distributing clean needles, and new crack pipe vending machines, but they also have a clinic that through two studies (NAOMI and SALOME) was able to provider users with pharmaceutical heroin.  The basis providing this prescription heroin, is similar to that for methadone, in that it helps to reduce illicit drug use, reduce the harms associated with addiction, and helps these individuals have a chance at recovery.

You can find out more about the two studies mentioned above and the efficacy and impact of heroin-assisted therapy by checking out this fantastic article: "Vancouver - Giving Junkies A Fix To Keep Them Off The Streets" by Travis Lupick.

For more information on Vancouver's harm reduction tactics and news on how Providence Health Care and participants in this program have gone to the Supreme Court to fight for the right to continuing prescribing heroin, see some of the articles below:
  • "There's A Crack Pipe Vending Machine In Vancouver" by Garth Mullins (VICE)
  • "Prescription Heroin Case Going to Supreme Court" by Andrea Woo (Globe and Mail)
  • "Federal Heroin Prohibitions Violate BC Patients' Charter Rights, Lawyer Argues" by Andrea Woo (Globe and Mail)
  • "Canada's Health Minister Fails to Explain Ottawa's Policies on Harm Reduction" by Travis Lupick (Straight.com)
  • "Photos: Portland Hotel Society's Mobile Needle Exchange" (Globe and Mail)

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