Baystate Recovery Blog Posts
This Blog is written by The Author of Loving Lions and Director of Family Services for BRS, Michael J Wilson. He shares his personal and professional experience through his various short stories and insightful articles.
Please feel free to join in the discussion by leaving a comment or sharing this page.
How to Plan for a Drug Intervention
Watching a loved one suffer from addiction can be difficult, heartbreaking, and painful. Many who suffer from addiction refuse to get help, which not only hurts themselves but also the people in their lives who want them to become healthier, turn their lives around,...
5 Reasons Why You Should Organize a Professional Intervention For Your Friend or Loved One
An intervention can benefit your entire family- not just the person you’re trying to with the addiction that may need professional help. Let our professional interventionist Michael Wilson from Baystate Recovery Services help you plan an effective intervention in...
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services in Massachusetts
At Baystate Recovery Services, we empower families who have loved ones needing drug and alcohol treatment in Massachusetts. If you've had the 'talk' with your loved one but nothing has changed, we can offer intervention services to clear the air and make it easier for...
Top 7 Signs of a Heroin User
In 2016, an estimated 170,000 people tried heroin for the first time, which is nearly double the number of first-time heroin users in 2006. Heroin is a dangerous illicit substance that carries a high risk of dependence and addiction. Knowing common signs of heroin use...
How Do Professional Interventions Work?
Professional interventions often increase the chances of your loved one agreeing to receive treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab center. SAMHSA reports that in the United States, only one in 10 people who need addiction treatment receive it at a facility that...
Top 7 Signs of Drug Addiction
Drug addiction is highly prevalent in the United States, where nearly 4% of Americans have had a drug use disorder during the last 12 months, reports JAMA Psychiatry. Prescription drugs including opioids and benzodiazepines are abused just as much as illicit drugs...
Recent Drug Addiction Statistics for Boston and Massachusetts
Massachusetts is ranked #8 in the rate of drug-related deaths that occurred in 2019, reports the CDC. That year, the state had 32.1 drug-related deaths for every 100,000 residents. Heroin is the top illicit drug of use in Boston and the entire state. Plus, it has...
Why Are Opioids More Addictive Than Many Other Drugs?
Opioids are involved in more overdose deaths than any other type of drug, and carry an extremely high risk of abuse and dependence. Of the 70,630 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2019, an estimated 70% involved opioids, reports the National Institute on Drug...
6 Common Addiction Relapse Triggers and How to Manage Them
Addiction recovery is a lifelong journey, and for some, a journey filled with temptation or peer pressure that can cause a relapse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that relapse rates for substance use disorders average between 40% and 60%. Returning...
Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal – Signs and Symptoms
Drug withdrawal is a term that describes the set of symptoms your body will experience after you suddenly stop or reduce chronic use of drugs and alcohol. The symptoms you experience will vary in type and severity level based on the substances you were using and on...
- TO TALK – OR NOT TO TALK
Parenting in the age of Marijuana legalization We can no longer deny that Marijuana is readily available to our youth, and that its use has been recreationally “normalized” over the past decade. There was a time, not too long ago, where the argument about how, “it is illegal, and that… Read more » - The pursuit of reliefThis is not our first public health crisis related to substance abuse in the United States. It is also not our first attempt to fight it through politics and public policy change. Decades of misplaced efforts, and poorly allocated funds, have left our country and its citizens worse off than… Read more »
- Unite for them!**Abstinence-based treatment ** 12-steps ** Evidence-based treatment ** Modern medicine ** Medication Assisted Treatment MAT ** Holistic medicine ** Spiritual healing ** Therapy ** The new “war on drugs” is being fought and lost by us, partly because we can’t collectively find common ground. The divide that exists, or is… Read more »
- Another “war” on “drugs”?I have been working in the family service area of the substance abuse field since January 1, 2009. However, my sobriety date is February 23, 2010. How is this possible? Through the use of MAT, or Medication Assisted Treatment, I was able to stabilize and manage my life long enough… Read more »
