Are you an alcoholic? This test will help you decide

(My latest Addiction and Recovery column in the Times-Herald Record.)


By Bob Gaydos

Nearly seven decades ago, Marty Mann, one of the earliest members of Alcoholics Anonymous (her sponsor was AA co-founder Bill Wilson), decided she wanted to spread the message of recovery and educate the public about the disease of alcoholism. That work is still going on via her creation, the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, a voluntary health organization with a nationwide network that provides information on prevention, awareness and treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction.
Every April for 26 years, NCADD has observed Alcohol Awareness Month, with the goal of removing the stigma attached to alcoholism by educating a public still too unaware of the serious costs to individuals and society of alcoholism, as well as the fact that treatment is available and recovery possible. Of course, the process has to start with acknowledgment that alcoholism may be present.
With that in mind, I occasionally offer a list of questions designed to help individuals decide if they, or someone they know, may be an alcoholic. If that is the case, recognition of the problem may well be the first flicker of hope, rather than the beacon of doom many people consider it to be. Following are questions from the NCADD Self-Test. Be honest.

What are the Signs of Alcoholism?
1.  Do you drink heavily when you are disappointed, under pressure or have had a quarrel with someone? Yes   No
2.  Can you handle more alcohol now than when you first started to drink? Yes   No
3.  Have you ever been unable to remember part of the previous evening, even though your friends say you didn’t pass out? Yes   No
4.  When drinking with other people, do you try to have a few extra drinks when others won’t know about it?  Yes   No
5.  Do you sometimes feel uncomfortable if alcohol is not available? Yes No
6.  Are you more in a hurry to get your first drink of the day than you used to be? Yes  No
7.  Do you sometimes feel a little guilty about your drinking? Yes  No
8.  Has a family member or close friend express concern or complained about your drinking? Yes   No
9.  Have you been having more memory “blackouts” recently? Yes   No
10.  Do you often want to continue drinking after your friends say they’ve had enough?  Yes   No
11.  Do you usually have a reason for the occasions when you drink heavily? Yes   No
12.  When you’re sober, do you sometimes regret things you did or said while drinking? Yes   No
13.  Have you tried switching brands or drinks, or following different plans to control your drinking?  Yes   No
14.  Have you sometimes failed to keep promises you made to yourself about controlling or cutting down on your drinking? Yes   No
15.  Have you ever had a DWI (driving while intoxicated) or DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol) violation, or any other legal problem related to your drinking?   Yes   No
16.  Do you try to avoid family or close friends while you are drinking?      Yes   No
17.  Are you having more financial, work, school, and/or family problems as a result of your drinking?   Yes   No
18.  Has your physician ever advised you to cut down on your drinking?  Yes   No
19.  Do you eat very little or irregularly during the periods when you are drinking? Yes   No
20.  Do you sometimes have the “shakes” in the morning and find that it helps to have a “little” drink, tranquilizer or medication of some kind?     Yes   No
21.  Have you recently noticed that you can’t drink as much as you used to?   Yes   No
22.  Do you sometimes stay drunk for several days at a time? Yes   No
23.  After periods of drinking do you sometimes see or hear things that aren’t there? Yes   No
24.  Have you ever gone to anyone for help about your drinking? Yes  No
25.  Do you ever feel depressed or anxious before, during or after periods of heavy drinking? Yes   No
26.  Have any of your blood relatives ever had a problem with alcohol?    Yes   No

OK, here’s how to score the test. According to the NCADD, if you answered two or more questions with a “yes,” you should consider having your drinking assessed by a professional. If you have five to eight “yes” answers, you could have a serious problem with alcohol. This test does not apply to drug use. The test and others, as well as information on substance abuse can be found on the NCADD web site: ncadd.org.

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How's that diet thing going? Just fine

By Bob Gaydos

Last December, in a burst of, oh I don’t know, foolhardy enthusiasm, I wrote about my decision to re-enter the world of the healthy. No more sugar, salt, butter, red meat, French fries, etc. would pass over these lips. Knock off the bread; bring on the greens and beans. And Greek yogurt. Lots of veggies and brown rice and fruit. Some chicken and fish. And exercise, too. Plenty of exercise. I promised to give updates.
So here it is: I feel great.
People I’ve known for years come up to me and ask: “Did you lose weight?” Yes, 40 pounds. “Are you sick?” No, it’s intentional, thank you. “Are you working out?” Yes.
Oh my god, yes.
The thing about losing weight is that if you don’t do something to tone up your body, you wind up being a thinner person with a bunch of loose skin. Not a good look, and what’s the sense of losing weight and looking sick? I can say in all humility that I do not look sick. Believe me, it has not been a picnic. Nor has it been torture. It has been, as I said in my first report, humbling. But also surprisingly rewarding (to me, not my coach).
I mentioned starting out with weekly walks, one to two miles. I still do that, but not as often, due to physical conditions not related to what I’m talking about here. The walks are still good for the fresh air and sunshine, so they will continue.
It’s the inside workout regimen that is paying tremendous dividends. In December, I dismissed pushups with a “forget about it” comment. Could not do one. Did 60 the other day in six, ten-rep sets. (Even picking up the lingo.)  I also talked about crunches being the only thing I had some success with early on. Turns out that’s because I wasn’t doing them correctly. Effort counts, but so does form, my coach informed me. Now that I do them the correct way, they are much tougher. But the results are also more obvious. And I have learned such things as backward crunches (woof!) and bicycle crunches (we’re going to forget about them for a while).
Throw in weight training with barbells (progressing slowly but steadily), leg-lifts, leg-lowerings, squats, 40 minutes on a stationary bike and lots of stretching and, slowly but surely, muscle has appeared where once there was flab. It feels good. I feel good. I have more energy, more endurance and, in fact, a generally healthier outlook on life.
I can’t stress enough that none of this has been a surprise to my coach, who predicted the progress and encouraged me, gently or firmly, as needed.
As for the food, I am still learning, but no longer struggling, to find healthful, tasty, filling choices. I am not a fanatic. I have a slice of pizza from time to time (no pepperoni). I never finished the “Wheat Belly” book, but I try hard to avoid bread and gluten. I have rediscovered the sweetness of fruit and, bless their hearts, Ben and Jerry have introduced a line of frozen Greek yogurt that is as rich and satisfying as any ice cream. Better yet, they have competition in the slowly emerging market for more healthful food choices.
The fast food chains lag in this development, but demand could drive competition with them. Supermarkets are adding more organic and gluten-free sections as people (especially younger people) become more conscious of wanting to eat real food, with no surprises mixed in. Of course, I still can’t figure out food establishments that offer egg white entrees or veggie entrees and pair them with French fries or hash browns. Offer alternatives, folks.
Anyway, that’s my follow up report. So far, so good. Blood pressure in check. Weight down. Muscles emerging. Clothes too big (new wardrobe coming). A deep bow of appreciation to my fantastic coach, because I knew nothing about how to do this. And a final word to anyone who may be thinking about, “some day,” doing some exercise or losing some weight. Don’t wait. Life is really too short to waste on “coulda-shouldas.” Find a source of support and motivation and go for it. Change is not easy, but healthy change can be surprisingly rewarding in many ways. (I know, coach, not to you.)

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If it's 'safe,' put it on the label

By Bob Gaydos

Is our corn genetically modified?

A few weeks ago I wrote a column that proclaimed, “Turns out, you really are what you eat.” For me, in the midst of changing to a more healthful diet, that statement is truer than ever. The problem is, it is getting harder to know exactly what we’re eating and the mega-companies that produce the food we eat are going out of their way to keep it that way. They’re also getting a lot of help from politicians, who bemoan rising health costs and obesity on the one hand, but don’t seem eager to learn if, just maybe, the food we eat has something to do with both. Guess it depends on who’s buttering your toast.
Disclaimer: While I have significantly modified my diet to a more   healthful emphasis on non-meat foods and organic food, I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I believe all living things, including animals, are entitled to humane treatment and that animals who are pets or companions should not be used as food. Period.
I also believe that we humans are entitled to know as much as possible abut the food being offered to us, including any changes made to the original product. Then we can make whatever decision we want, informed or uninformed, as long as we have a fair chance. That’s what this is about.
This week, President Obama, following the lead of a bought-and-paid for Congress, signed into law what has come to be known as the Monsanto Protection Act. Big mistake.
Much of the president’s political support has come from voters who believed his stated commitments to openness in government and a healthier, more informed citizenry. This swoop of his pen calls much of his rhetoric into doubt. In brief, the so-called act is actually one turgid paragraph buried in the homeland security section of a huge budget bill. It allows Monsanto, which did an all-out lobbying effort to get Congress to stick the paragraph in the bill, to plant genetically modified crop seed without any court reviewing whether or not it is safe.
Genetically modified crops are hardier, more resistant to pesticides and produce more product in less space. Through review of the gene-modifying process, the government says, it decides if they are safe for human consumption.
So ask yourself: Why then is it necessary in the first place for a food giant to want protection from having to prove its “safe” food is safe?
Correct answer: Money. It costs a lot to pay lawyers to defend you  in court. Even mega-rich companies like Monsanto try to avoid court costs. Also, any doubts raised about the safety of a food product -- cereal, bread, beef -- is bound to hurt sales. More money.
This has far more to do with Monsanto’s bottom line than homeland security. And the fact that nobody can be 100 percent sure the genetically modified organisms are, in the long run, safe.
Now, a lot of apparently intelligent people say publicly that the GMOs are indeed safe for us to eat. I don’t discount this out of hand. As I said, this is about letting us, not some high-priced lobbyist, decide what food we want to eat and what food we’d just as soon avoid. (Obama has also appointed a former Monsanto executive as his food safety adviser.) If GMOs are so safe (may European nations have banned them), then label them and let the president give a personal testimonial on the label if he wants. “Mmm mmm good, says Barack.” Just let me know what I’m eating.
Or drinking.
The other current labeling issue involves milk, which we are told from birth is good, even necessary, for our good health, and aspartame, which, well, let’s say has had some issues.
The dairy industry has asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow it to remove front-of-package labeling on flavored milk products that proclaim “low calorie” or “artificially  sweetened.” These milk products, especially chocolate milk, are big with kids, but they are drinking less of it and industry executives think the front labels may scare them off.
Again, money.
Actually, it’s more likely the labels scare off parents who then look at the ingredients and see aspartame has been added for sweetness. Just to be clear -- aspartame is already in these products and listed in the ingredients. That will not change. The milk people just want it to be less obvious and to continue to label the products “milk” without any of that annoying added information.
Now, to start with, using artificial sweeteners as an argument for improving the health of children is specious. The sweeteners are so much sweeter than sugar (aspartame is 200 times sweeter) that they increase children’s appetite for other sweet foods. And school officials are not keen on kids being targeted this way and not being absolutely clear as to what they are offering in their cafeterias.
A chemical concoction, aspartame (once sold as NutraSweet) has been a controversial product from the start. Still, while being mentioned in connection with many health concerns (including brain cancer), aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption in the United States and more than 100 other countries. For proof, check your diet soda’s ingredients.
The point is, they still call it diet soda or low-cal whatever, meaning you might want to check the ingredients to see what makes it so tasty. Just like you might want to check your milk product. Or not.
We Americans like to think of ourselves as savvy and independent consumers. We also say we revere science and aspire to good health. Yet we rank near the bottom of the world rankings for science students and near the top for obese ones -- and health care costs. Maybe we should connect those dots.
Meantime, just give us all the info on the food we get and let us decide for ourselves if we want to eat it.

These pills are killing more than pain

(The full version of my latest Addiction and Recovery column in the Times Herald-Record.

By Bob Gaydos
Painkiller pills have dominated the news on addictive drugs over the past month:

• A report from the Centers for Disease Control printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that prescription drug overdose deaths had increased for the 11th straight year, with pain killers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin being the chief culprits in 75 percent of the deaths, most of which were not suicides, according to the report.
• A new law, aimed at fighting “doctor shopping” for hydrocodone, an addictive opiate that is the main ingredient in many popular pain medications, took effect in New York state. The law elevates hydrocodone from a Class III to a Class II drug and establishes an electronic database for prescription pain medications, accessible to doctors and pharmacists. It also places stricter requirements on obtaining and filling prescriptions for them, including eliminating automatic refills.
• In the Town of Woodstock, N.Y. , Wayne Longmore was stripped of his medical license after pleading guilty to writing thousands of prescriptions for non-medical use of hydrocodone.
• A Rockland County, N.Y., doctor, David Brizer -- dubbed “Dr. Feel Good” -- was indicted on 55 counts for allegedly selling thousands of prescriptions for painkillers to drug dealers in Rockland and in Manhattan.

All of this adds up to the inescapable conclusion that prescription pain medications -- legal drugs -- have rapidly become a major drug addiction problem, as the CDC indicated. Hydrocodone is especially troubling since it is, in effect, legally prescribed heroin. Those who become addicted to it, whether by becoming too dependent on it while dealing with legitimate pain issues or, as with many young people, by stealing it from their parents’ medicine cabinets, sometimes turn to heroin itself, because it is cheaper than the pain medications.
Several issues arise from this conflux of stories. Among them:

• The medical community needs to do a much better job of teaching its members about the risks of prescribing addictive pain medications too readily. Individual doctors need to do a better job of monitoring their patients’ use of the medications, while also making sure not to make life even more painful for those who truly need the medications.
• Society needs to rely less on legislation to deal with drug addiction and focus more on getting better educated on the subject. For example, New York’s new law, while well-intended as a way to fight addiction to painkillers by reining in pill-liberal doctors, may also increase the cost of the drugs to consumers and will probably make life more difficult for those, such as cancer patients, needing regular pain medication prescriptions. It is also likely to send some people to the streets to buy cheaper heroin instead. Also, parent groups have complained that, while the state has focused on cutting off the easy flow of pills, it doesn’t have enough drug rehabs to treat young people addicted to prescription medications.
• Treatment specialists say parents need to pay closer attention to their prescription medications at home and not assume that their teen-aged children will not steal them. They urge parents to talk to children about the dangers of abuse and of mixing the pills with other medications, a major factor in the deadly drug overdoses.

So, more laws? More education? More treatment? As society continues to struggle with finding the best approach to reducing addiction to pain medications, perhaps the most important thing everyone can do to reduce the number of fatal medication overdoses is learn to recognize the signs of addiction to prescription painkillers:

• Continued use of the drug, even after the pain has ceased.
• Complaining about vague symptoms to get more medication.
• Lack of interest in treatment other than medications.
• Using prescription pills prescribed for others
• Physical withdrawal symptoms when doses are missed.
• Flu-like symptoms, such as joint and muscle aches and insomnia.
• Mood and behavior changes, such as becoming agitated or anxious.
• Secretive or deceitful behavior trying to obtain the drug.
• Using more than the recommended amount of medication.
• Developing a high tolerance, requiring more pills for the desired effect.
• Withdrawal from family, friends and society.
• Financial problems associated with buying ever more pills.

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3 things that are obsolete: Pennies, cursive, the GOP

By Bob Gaydos

When, in the course of human events, certain things outlive their usefulness, it is important, perhaps even necessary, that society scrap them.   Send them to the landfill or the museum. Say bon voyage, adios, good riddance. Thanks, but no thanks.
It strikes me that three things fall into that category today in America:

• The penny: A  penny for your thoughts? Really? This blog is free, but otherwise my thoughts are going to require three figures (no decimal points). It’s simple: The penny can’t buy anything today. It is a nuisance,  forming colonies on dresser tops and deli counters. Merchants routinely round their prices to avoid it. And it costs 2.41 cents to mint every penny. That’s a hefty loss for a nation struggling with a debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced last year that  the government would start using cheaper materials in pennies this year. What little copper was still there would likely disappear and there might be less zinc. He said this would save abut $75 million a year. Scrapping pennies altogether would save the government more than twice that amount and make life much more manageable for cashiers. (Nickels, by the way, are in the same category.) Rumor has it that some new pennies have arrived and they are, well, funky. Kind of light and not necessarily official looking.
I’m not sure who it is that still wants this money-losing money to be minted, There are surely plenty around to satisfy collectors. For comparison, Canada, which scrapped its penny Feb. 4, estimates there are 6 billion of them in circulation and it will take about four years for them to disappear now that minting has ceased. Merchants are rounding up or down until that time for cash customers. Sounds doable, eh?

• Cursive writing:  Or at least teaching cursive writing in elementary school. Before you traditionalists get your drawers in a knot, think about it. When was the last time you used true cursive, not some amalgam of printing and scribbling that was barely legible -- by you? The days of “slide, slide and glide” (capital I, remember?) have been replaced by txtng. In electronic communications, neatness is automatic. It’s spelling that suffers. Kids hate learning cursive. Teachers probably would rather be teaching writing well, not neatly.

There will always be people who will be able to write cursively, just as there are talented folks who can do calligraphy. But I have gone from cursive to manual typewriter, to electric typewriter, to laptop and smart phone. Each change made writing more efficient, which is the key. And think of the poor guy leaving memos on cave walls. What he would have done for papyrus and a pen?
Cursive is no longer required as part of the Common Core State Standards, but states have been slow to drop it. Hawaii, Indiana and Kansas have. New York leaves it up to the school district to make the decision. Folks, if your district teaches it, ask them to stop. You’d be better off learning about LOL than teaching your kids to write a capital  Z.

• The Republican Party: Talk about obsolete. The 21st century version of the party of Lincoln has been hijacked by haters, nay-sayers, evangelists, wealthy bullies and Flat Earthers. Anything, anyone, any idea that does not fit their narrow view of life is automatically a threat and subject to loud assault, not debate. It has no interest in working with others to better life  for all Americans. It has no interest, in fact, in working with anyone who disagrees with its views.

In the last presidential election, women, Latinos, African Americans,  gays and young people favored the Democrat, Barack Obama.  The whiz kids of the Grand Old Party are now trying to figure out how to buy those votes or change people’s minds. Few Republicans talk abut changing the party’s stances on some issues, such as immigration, abortion or gay marriage. Those who do are subjected to attack, ridicule and phony allegations. In fact, facts have little currency in the current GOP.
The best thing would be for the Republicans with a brain, a heart and a sense of obligation to actual governing (I know they’re out there) to form a new party. Leave Karl Rove, Roger Ailes, the Koch brothers and the Tea Partyers the ruins of the day. We don’t need them anymore.

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People can get hooked on most anything

(My latest Addiction and Recovery column in the Times Herald-Record.)
By Bob Gaydos

This column has as its primary focus the problems and solutions related to alcoholism, drug abuse and other significant addictive behaviors in society, such as gambling, over-eating and smoking. To be sure, there is more than enough to discuss in these areas to keep the column going indefinitely. But addiction or “addictive behavior” can take many forms.
I was talking with a friend about tattoos the other day -- how popular they’ve become, how artistic they can be, how much they can cost -- when he pointed to people who cover their entire bodies with inky art and asked, “Isn’t that an addiction?”
“Good question,” was all I could reply. “Sure sounds like it.”
This turned into a curiosity about some other types of behavior which or may not be addictive, but sure sound like it.
It turns out we humans can become “addicted” to almost anything, including eating dirt or reading. Honest. The dirt-eating sounds potentially harmful on the face of it, but can actually be beneficial if someone lacks necessary minerals present in the dirt. Reading, which sounds beneficial, is not necessarily so when it becomes an escape from reality, a barrier to sleep, or both.
Trouble is always the thing to look for when talking about addiction.
Let’s go back to tattooing. It has become a popular form of body modification, with many players in the National Basketball Association being walking billboards for the art form. J.R. Smith of the New York Knicks has his entire body, save for his face, covered in tattoos. But he’s also having his best season ever and, so, one has to ask whether this seeming addiction to get more and more tattoos has had any negative effect on his life. Or has he merely run out of space? Is it an addiction if he starts to tattoo his face?
Of course, there are other types of body modifications -- body piercings, which have been placed virtually everywhere on some bodies, and plastic surgery, which is a way of life for some performers and a tragic search for perfection in others. Examples abound about people who can’t seem to get enough of these modifications, despite the cost and the less than optimal results or ostracism from society.
Then there are the “collectors,” people who may start as fans of a particular object -- cigar store Indians, music boxes, 19th century periodicals, old toys, cars, anything, you name it, it’s collectible -- and may wind up as hoarders, which is a serious mental disorder and a sign of a life out of control. It becomes potentially dangerous when the hoarding extends to animals or garbage. The difference between addictive behavior and a quirky hobby in this case may simply be the willingness to part with some of the collection from time to time.
Of course, most of us know someone who is, in our view, addicted to video games, shopping, Facebook or texting, all of which can be normal social behavior except when taken to extreme. When time and bank accounts are negatively impacted, not to mention relationships with friends and family, it may be time for a cooling off period. If the withdrawal turns out to be surprisingly difficult, or impossible, addiction may be involved.
The manual therapists use to diagnose and treat addictions includes seven symptoms, withdrawal being one of them. The others are tolerance, difficulty in controlling use, negative consequences, neglecting other activities, spending significant time or energy on it and the desire to cut back on it. Having three of these symptoms for a year qualifies as an addiction.
Most clinical addictions, like the ones usually discussed n this space, also include a physical or neurological change in the person. That may mean the behaviors described here, while seemingly addictive, are not technically considered addictions. It does not mean they cannot be harmful. Again, if the behavior is causing trouble, it may be wise to consult with a qualified therapist before the problem becomes more deeply ingrained.

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Malala was the clear person of the year

By Bob Gaydos
I finally got around to checking to see who Time magazine selected as the person of the year for 2012. Turns out the editors, who have been known to like surprise choices, went with the safe, conventional wisdom choice -- the leader of the free world, Barack Obama.
To which I say, in all humility, they got it wrong. Yes, Obama had a good year, but he was already president and he beat a chameleon to get re-elected. The clear person of the year, the person who made a profound impact on the world without being the leader of the most powerful nation ever to exist, was Time’s Number 2 choice  -- Malala Yousafzi. The 15-year-old Pakistani girl became an instant symbol of courage and hope and, I believe, a spokesperson for women’s rights worldwide, simply by refusing to bow to threats from Taliban terrorists and taking a bullet in the head as a result.
Malala, who survived an assassination attempt on a bus in her hometown and has been recovering in a London hospital, had already been an outspoken advocate for access to education for Pakistani girls for several years as a blogger before the Taliban decided that killing her was the only way to stop her, even though they expected public outrage. Instead, their botched attempt made Malala a worldwide heroine and sparked public protests in Pakistan for the very thing the Taliban fear most  -- educated women.
But something else has also happened, I believe. In neighboring India, traditional enemy of Pakistan, there were also demonstrations to support Malala‘s cause. And most recently, India’s culture of acceptable rape by gangs of men against women has given rise to large protests throughout that country as well as in Pakistan, where violence against women also has not been a major issue. Until now.
There is, I sense, a worldwide stirring for women‘s rights, most notably in countries where they have traditionally been ignored. These range from the widespread outrage in India over the death of a 23-year-old rape victim to the mostly symbolic, yet significant, appointment of 30 women to the previously all-male Shura Council in Saudi Arabia. The council is only advisory to King Abdullah, who made the appointments, but the move stirred protests by some Saudi clerics anyway. Saudi women have male guardians who guide their “decisions,” are not allowed to drive and will vote for the first time next year. Expect more pressure to speed the process of equality.
Back to India, where male children are much favored and abortion of female fetuses is still common, even though against the law. The public outcry over the gang rape forced authorities to reverse initial efforts to let the rapists go and punish the protestors. This is not India’s usual way of dealing with women. I think Malala has had a lot to do with that and with social media efforts to point out similar outrages by men in positions of power.
Even in the “enlightened” United States, political candidates, elected officials and judges have been publicly exposed for views on rape that can only be described as criminally ignorant.
Malala’s unique weapon is apparently an unwavering belief that what she wants -- access to education for all girls in Pakistan -- is unassailably right and, so, undeniable. She can see no other way. And her age provides certainty to her and, I suspect, a degree of shame to adults who agree with her but did not dare to say so publicly at the risk of their lives. She has no armies, navies, air forces or weapons of mass destruction at her call. She has no great wealth at her disposal. World leaders do not seek her out for favors. She is a teenaged girl with an innate sense of what is right and just, for women and men, and the courage to say so out loud.
As such, she has become the voice of millions of women, and men, around the globe. The person of the year beyond doubt.