Chill out, calm down, chillax. We hear these messages frequently. The truth is, most of us don’t care to comply. In our time, we have seen the rise of the anti-relaxation movement. Given the choice between lowering tension and increasing arousal and excitation, loads of us prefer sensory overload to sensual enlargement. But it’s not […]
Replacement as Reinvention
Substitution Aids Success Aging is a script. You are its director. However, chance and fate may make the script unpalatable – or deplorable. With the appearance of chronic illness, patients frequently say “why can’t I do what I love?” The answer most often is to do something else. The body works through continuous reinvention. Bodies […]
The Pleasures of Pesticides (1/13/14)
Common Uses of Marijuana and Tobacco New years bring new adventures. Across the US, people camped out, filed into buses and trains, and drove thousands of miles to witness – Legal Pot. Marijuana cigarettes were lit celebrating the “new history” of America, where the failed Drug War would be put to rest. It just shows […]
Is ADD a Sleep Disorder? (5/6/13)
The Newest Epidemic ADD is now “epidemic” across America. With 13% of adolescents “diagnosed” in national surveys, people want to know just how big a problem ADD is. A recent article by psychiatrist by Vatsal Thakkar in the NY Times argued much of ADD may be misdiagnosed sleep disorders. Himself once diagnosed as suffering from […]
Electronic Cigarettes (4/15/13)
Electronic Cigarettes? Several countries, like Brazil and Panama, ban them. The FDA declares their use not backed by proper clinical trials. Some addictionologists hate them, thinking they can addict kids and keep others hooked on nicotine. Others, like the newspaper the Economist and many public health officials think they are a breakthrough in smoking cessation. […]