The worst thing about chronic pain is that it’s private. Outwardly, a person looks fine: There’s no blood, no exposed bones, so what are they complaining about? Pain associated with injury or painful conditions like toothaches is acute pain. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), acute pain acts as a […]

Smartphones have become an indispensible part of our lives. We use them for just about anything and in just about every setting imaginable — classrooms, cars, gyms and workplaces. For the amount of time we spend on our phones each day, researchers have started to recognize the potential usefulness of mobile technology in delivering treatment […]

Almost all parents have to deal with their children who don’t want to eat dinner because they don’t like the broccoli, or the peas or the flavor of the sauce. It is not uncommon for children to cross their arms, curl their lower lip and say, “no,” to foods that they don’t find appetizing. Parents […]

Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported over 47,000 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. during 2014, an all-time high. Over 14,000 were due to prescription opioids. So it’s not surprising much of the focus on prescription overdoses has been on opioid painkillers like oxycodone. Certainly, opiate […]

The term “codependency” is frequently used in the substance abuse literature as a way to describe the enabling behaviors exhibited by the spouses and children of alcoholics (COAs). In 1986, Timmen Cermak, M.D., president of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA) and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San […]

Musical activities (e.g., listening, singing, dancing, playing an instrument) are often central to early childhood learning experiences. Young children who engage in music and other types of musical activities during play can promote growth and the development of important cognitive, social, emotional and behavioral skills, which can be beneficial throughout their lives. For example, mothers […]

Alcohol and drug use has a large genetic component and, therefore, substance use and alcohol use disorders are often passed down among generations. Research has stated that 50 to 60 percent of alcoholism risk is genetically determined. Environmental factors and personality traits also contribute to the risk of developing alcohol use disorder. A recent study […]

According to a study published this February in the Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, researchers have found that survivors of sexual abuse may be able to benefit from the anonymity of online forums. The study The study was led by Nazanin Andalibi, a doctoral […]

Growing up with a parent who abuses alcohol can be a frightening experience for a young child. Parents who have alcohol abuse or dependence are more likely to be physically, emotionally and psychologically abusive or neglectful toward their children, or they may fail to return home at night or get arrested because they are too […]

Rats! These small, quick, beady-eyed creatures can easily elevate your heartbeat, give you goosebumps and maybe even make you jump and scream for your life. However, if you regularly see rats in your neighborhood or even your house, then chances are stronger that you are dealing with another silent yet dangerous problem: depression. Baltimore’s low-income […]