Tips for Preventing the Holiday Blues, Staying Sober (Hazelden)

"Most people know the holidays can be a period of emotional highs and lows. Loneliness, anxiety, happiness and sadness are common feelings, sometimes experienced in startling succession. The bad news is the holiday blues can trigger relapse for people recovering from alcoholism and other drug addiction. The good news is the blues can be remedied by planning ahead.

"Why do the blues hit during this otherwise festive season? Doing too much or too little and being separated from loved ones at this special time can lead to sadness during the holiday season. Many recovering people associate the holidays with memories of overindulgence, perhaps of big benders that resulted in relationship problems or great personal losses.

"Whether you're in recovery or not, developing a holiday plan to help prevent the blues, one that will confront unpleasant memories before they threaten your holiday experience. Your plan should include improved self-care, enhanced support from others, and healthy ways to celebrate. Here are a few suggestions to achieve a happy, sober holiday season..."  

CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST

Here are some additional links to learn more about living in recovery during the Holidays:

"Enjoying Holidays in Sobriety" (A Personal Recovery Story)

"Holiday Tips: Avoid Uncomfortable Places"

More Safe Holiday Tips...

Area resources for addiction treatment & recovery support:

Maine Alliance for Addiction Recovery

SAMHSA's Treatment Locator

The Straight Dope: Studies link parental monitoring w/decreased marijuana usage (ScienceDaily)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2009) — "Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug by adolescents, with almost 42% of high school seniors admitting to having experimented with it. Continued marijuana use may result in a number of serious consequences including depression, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer. As such, it is critical to prevent marijuana use by adolescents and numerous behavioral and medical scientists have been trying to establish the best means of prevention."

To find out more about prevention tips for parents, visit http://www.maineparents.net!

Texts 2 U?

The Portland Public Health Division's (HHSD) Substance Abuse Prevention Program is trying to gather information from parents/parenting adults to see if they'd like to receive a substance abuse prevention-focused message sent to their phone via text on a monthly basis. (Messages would be conversation starters, tips for getting involved, informational statistics about teen substance use, and more.)

We appreciate your feedback as it will guide us in our decision-making process about whether or not this would be a valuable tool to parents working to address teen substance use.

Click Here for the Anonymous 3-Question Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=G6nz3pD0Z_2b2ECri_2bOUxDiA_3d_3d

The messages just keep coming...

The more and more we search the 'net and blogs, we keep coming across a very universal message when it comes to teens: parental involvement matters.  Whether it's about teen pregnancy prevention, substance abuse prevention or a variety of other topics, parents - your voice matters!  Below are links to a few articles about the influence parents have.  Want to know more about what you can do as a Maine parent or caregiver?  Find Out More, Do More at MaineParents.net

 

From Child Trends
Parents Matter: The Role of Parents in Teens' Decisions about Sex
"Positive parent-teen relationships, high parental awareness and monitoring of whom their children are with, and family dinner routines are all linked to delayed sex among teens, according to a new Child Trends research brief.  The brief, Parents Matter: The Role of Parents in Teens' Decisions about Sex, explores how parenting practices that occur before adolescents have had sexual intercourse are associated with the probability of first sex by age 16."

From CESAR FAX
Students With Parents Who Set and Enforce Clear Rules

Less Likely to Report Illicit Drug Use
"Youths whose parents set clear rules for them are less likely to report using illicit drugs, according to data from the 2008-09 PRIDE Survey. Middle and high school students* whose parents set clear rules for them “a lot” or “often” were less likely to report using illicit drugs in the past year (12% and 21%, respectively) than students whose parents never set clear rules (49%)."

From CASA's Family Day
The Power of Parenting
"Whether you’re cooking a gourmet meal, ordering food from your favorite take-out place or eating on the go, rest assured that what your kids really want during dinnertime is YOU! Family meals are the perfect time to talk to your kids and to listen to what’s on their mind.  The more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs."

From The Int'l Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity
Parental influences on adolescent physical activity: a longitudinal study
"Strategies to promote physical activity among adolescents should focus on increasing levels of family cohesion, parental engagement, parent-child communication and adolescent self-esteem."

Live from the 2009 MAPSA Convention!

The Maine Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (MAPSA) is holding its annual prevention convention in Bangor, Maine and Portland Prevention was there! This year's convention is entitled "Powerful Prevention For ME" and is the state’s premier convention focused on issues that address substance abuse prevention in our communities.

The morning's keynote speaker, Kim Laraby from ETHOS Marketing, was fantastic and talked a lot about the how and the why of coalition "storytelling."

Frank Lyons of BC Consulting updated the audience on upcoming changes to Maine's Liquor Law & Enforcement and how coalitions can continue to support the efforts of law enforcement officials in their efforts to prevent underage drinking.

Workshop & breakout sessions topics:
*Using Program Evaluation to Improve and Help Sustain Prevention Programs (Day One)
*Mixing Substances and Inhalant Abuse (NNE Poison Control)
*Prescription Monitoring Program and One County’s Success (PMP/ MaineGeneral)
*Drug Endangered Children: Critical Collaborations (DHHS / MDEA)
*and MORE!

Download any of the presentations or learn more about the sessions here: http://www.masap.org/site/prevention.asp

Here is our Slideshare.net link to our presentation and our supplemental resource list for social media marketing for coalitions.