I’m a mom of twins, a writer, a curly-head, a sports fan, a Notre Dame grad, a Leo, a procrastinator, a salt-food junkie, a crossword lover, a reader, a tremendous imaginary athlete and musician (thanks, Wii!), a deeply marginal piano player, a decent mimic, an occasional needlepointer, a maker of a mean marinara, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a nail-biter, a bra-wearer, a decent gift-wrapper, a hugger, a fugger, a TV fanatic, a reformed shopper, and a believer in all things Joan Collins.
As you make a strong and notable effort to educate, aid, and enlighten mothers and fathers on how they can tackle the most important job in the world parenting, I would like to give you another resource to give them access to. Dr. Karen Khaleghi has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and treats addiction through the dual-diagnosis process. She specializes in consulting, treating and educating families, mostly parents, that have a loved one who is suffering from addiction. She is about to release her new book that will tell parents everything they need to know about addiction. Please see the press release below.
What Every Parent Needs to Know About Addiction
Parents of high school and college age kids worry about drugs and alcohol abuse on campus. According to the LA Times, deaths from prescription drugs now outnumber deaths from traffic accidents, with the number of deaths more than tripling over the past eight years. More than ever drug and alcohol abuse are the problems of our time, killing close to 37,500 people each year.
Can we predict which kids are more likely to use drugs and alcohol and which kids have a bigger chance than average of abusing these substances and becoming addicted to them? According to Dr. Khaleghi, yes we can and parents need to be on the look out for signs of trouble by asking these questions:
How Does the Child Behave?
How Do the Parents Behave?
How Do the Parents and Child Interact?
Dr.Karen Khaleghi, co-author of The Anatomy of Addiction: Recognizing the Triggers Standing in the Way of Recovery [Palgrave Macmillan/PUB DATE: September 27th/ Trade Paperback/ 0-230-10709-5], has been speaking to parents across the country about this issue. In this new book, Dr.Khaleghi provides parents with the tools they need to understand how addictions are formed from an early age. Topics she discusses with parents include:
Societial and Parental Modeling – The use of medications to treat emotional issues sets up a paradigm that you can take a pill to make you fell better emotionally. If parents are modeling drinking or prescription drug abuse behaviors to their children, this is the behavior your children will mirror.
Attachment – Children with attachment disorders experience a great deal of anxiety. The mahority of children who experience high levels of anxiety and stress will end up self-medicating with alcohol or drugs, sex or gambling, or some other addictive behavior to deal with their emotions.
Anxiety Disorders – Children who have higher activity in certain brain regions are more likely to develop anxiety and depression as adolescents and adults and are also more likely to develop drug and alcohol problems in an attempt to treat their distress.
Dr. Karen Khaleghis has been working in the field of Recovery for over 20 years. She and her husband Dr. Morteza Khaleghi are the founders of Creative Care Malibu, a leading edge 24/7 treatment center specializing in dual diagnosis of co-occurring in the treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. First as a parent, second as a practitioner, Dr. Karen Khaleghi speaks to parents and organizations about the formation of addiction, the critical aspects, of nature and nurture and the resulting disconnection between emotions and behavior. She feels strongly that there needs to be more of a dialogue about the genesis of addiction and the path to recovery, a process they call “connecting the dots”. In addition to speaking Dr. Karen authors the Creative Care Blog.
Dr. Morteza and Karen Khaleghi- Media Reel
Creative Care Malibu
Dr. Karen’s Psychology Today Blog
*please see attached article for further information on addiction among youths.