Opioid painkillers are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. After losing his older brother to prescription pills, filmmaker Chris Bell (PRESCRIPTION THUGS) - himself a 6-year opiate addict - wanted to find solutions. His research led him to Kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia that when consumed kills pain like opioids, but it doesn't carry with it many of the deadly side effects, withdrawal symptoms, or addiction problems that...

"A candid memoir by folk legend Judy Collins of her lifelong struggle with compulsive overeating and the spiritual solution that saved her. Since childhood, Judy Collins has been preoccupied, haunted, seduced, and taunted by food, a problem that nearly cost her her career and her life. For decades she thought her food issues were moral issues--lack of self-will, lack of discipline--and she worked hard at controlling what she thought of as her shameful...

Why are we obsessed with the things we want and bored when we get them? Why is addiction "perfectly logical" to an addict? Why does love change so quickly from passion to indifference? Why are some people diehard liberals and others hardcore conservatives? Why are we always hopeful for solutions even in the darkest times--and so good at figuring them out? The answer is found in a single chemical in your brain: dopamine. Dopamine ensured the survival...

Argues that today's digital culture is undermining relationships, creativity, and productivity, and pushes for the return of face-to-face interaction among people. "Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence: at work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the...

If you are arrested in New York City and can't make bail, Rikers Island will be your new home. Most young men in New York City have a better chance of going to Rikers Island than they do of going to college. Lock-Up: The Prisoners of Rikers Island profiles the world's largest jail, with 20,000 inmates it is a city within a city. But in this city 90% of the inhabitants are black or hispanic, only 10% have graduated from high school, 20% are HIV positive,...

Documentary film about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. Against a background of social stigma, addiction recovery advocates are organizing to end discrimination and move toward recovery-based solutions.

"We have all had that experience with the friend who has a new diet, one that he's following enthusiastically. Or maybe we've been that friend, adopting a new diet because we learned about it from another friend, or read about it online, in a magazine, or heard a compelling celebrity endorsement. Most such diets promise the same things: weight loss, better health, better sleep, mental functioning and a general improvement in mood and affect - in other...

"Highly addictive, sugar consumption can lead to diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay. Sugar is also the main fuel for candida -- the freeloading fungus that invades the body and causes a multitude of health issues from joint pain and brain fog to infertility and ADHD. Often people are unaware that candida is the source of their probelms, as was author and holistic nutritionist Sondi Bruner for many years. Bruner discovered that there is a solution...

"Think about the last time that you saw or interacted with an unhoused person. What did you do? What did you say? Did you offer money or a smile, or did you avert your gaze? When We Walk By takes an urgent look at homelessness in America, showing us what we lose--in ourselves and as a society--when we choose to walk past and ignore our neighbors in shelters, insecure housing, or on the streets. And it brilliantly shows what we stand to gain when we...

"Now fully-revised and updated, this second edition of ACT Made Simple includes new information and chapters on self-compassion, flexible perspective taking, working with trauma, and more. Why is it so hard to be happy? Why is life so difficult? Why do humans suffer so much? And what can we realistically do about it? No matter how rewarding your job, as a mental health professional, you may sometimes feel helpless in the face of these questions. You...