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Quote of the Week
"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Come celebrate with us! As part of our regular Wilkinsburg PSST meeting on Saturday, October 4th, we will also be announcing the Parent(s)
of The Year for Allegheny County.
Each year this award usually goes to the
PSST parent(s) who have used the parenting skills of PSST and who also have
given back to the PSST group in a substantial way.
The official award will be presented on
Thursday, October 9th at the annual county awards ceremony, which
begins at 6 PM (and lasts about 2 hours).
The event is held at the Family Court House, 550 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh,
PA (the Old Allegheny County Jail) on the second floor. Please consider coming to the county awards ceremony to support our PSST
parent(s) receiving this award!
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In its 25th year, Recovery Month promotes
the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and
substance use disorders. This year’s theme, “Join the Voices for
Recovery: Speak Up, Reach Out,” encourages people to openly speak
up about mental and substance use disorders and the reality of recovery, and
promotes ways individuals can use to recognize behavioral health issues and
reach out for help. Recovery Month spreads the positive
message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention
works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.
I could not imagine a life without alcohol. It was my
everything – until it ripped me apart. ~ Ellie
I am so thankful for each day I am sober and I would never
take back anything. I am the person I am today because of my experiences. I am
not ashamed to say I am in recovery…for life. ~ Meghan
Helping people find sobriety and community has filled a
hole in me that I was trying to fill with alcohol. My life is anything but
boring and best of all, it’s fun. ~ Amanda
Today my life isn’t about hiding and getting what I want, it
is about helping people, sharing my passion for recovery and hope! ~ Elizabeth
Recovery has given me the chance to become who I was always
meant to be, and to help others do the same. ~ Beth
One Day at a Time is used in all 12-step programs and even though it may be an
old and dusty bumper sticker slogan, I noticed this really works for me
especially when I choose to stay in the moment. ~ Pilar
For more information about National Recovery Month, click here.
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On Saturday, Sept 27, 2014 from
10am-2pm, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will hold its 9th
national “Drug Take-Back Day” to enable patients, caregivers and pet owners to
properly dispose of unwanted prescription drugs and over-the-counter
medications at no cost.
Since launching the nationwide Drug
Take-Back Day effort in 2010, the DEA has collected more than 3.4 million
pounds (1,733 tons) of prescription medications.
Help to protect our young people (and
others) from overdoses and/or accidental ingestion of prescription medications. Help to keep our water supply safe – don’t flush
unwanted medications down the sink or toilet!
For a searchable list of collection sites nationwide, click here.
The following additional information
about the importance of proper disposal of unwanted prescription medications is
taken from the Pennsylvania Resources
Council website. The
mission of the PRC is to lead and
promote individual and collective actions to preserve Pennsylvania’s
environmental resources for each generation.
There are numerous reasons why
prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals become unwanted or unneeded.
Many people stop taking drugs due to side-effects, their lack of effectiveness,
or quicker recovery periods than anticipated. And medications often reach their
expiration dates before they are completely used. But people are also being
prescribed and buying more drugs, per-person, than ever before in this country.
On a national level, estimates point to upwards of 200
million pounds of pharmaceutical waste being generated each
year. Over the past few years, pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors have
been detected in growing amounts in surface and drinking water sources around
the country. This issue has been increasingly covered in scientific literature
and the mainstream media. A series of Associated Press stories brought the
issue to the national spotlight in 2008.
In addition, prescription medications
have become the drug of choice for teens and other age groups. Each year, tens
of thousands of our children and adults die or become critically ill from
overdoses and/or accidental ingestion of prescription medications. Citizens,
scientists, political leaders, law enforcement, and health care professionals
are expressing concern about the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals; the old,
widely-touted advice to flush these materials is no longer acceptable. But few
practical and readily-available solutions currently exist for the safe disposal
of unwanted pharmaceuticals. As early as 2006, however, some waste management
boards and sanitary and wastewater authorities began offering pharmaceutical
collection events in states around the country including Maine, Washington,
Minnesota, and California among others.
President Obama signed
the "Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of
2010" into law on October 12, 2010. The law removes a key barrier to
creating statewide programs that allow residents to safely return and dispose
of leftover medications. The legislation is intended to support the
creation of medication take-back options that reduce prescription
drug abuse and reduce the amount of pharmaceuticals getting into the
environment. Once the new law is implemented, providers of medication
take-back programs will have more options for where and how they set up
programs that accept controlled substances, such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and
Ritalin.
Currently, only law enforcement can
accept narcotics and other controlled substances from residents. The intent of
this federal law is to authorize other convenient community return locations –
like pharmacies – for secure disposal of controlled substances. Currently
pharmacy take-back programs (the legality of these vary from state–to-state)
around the country can only accept the return of over-the-counter medications
and prescription medications that are not controlled substances. However,
controlled substances make up about 11% of prescription drugs sold.
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Support Groups
Posted by:Jenn--Saturday, September 13, 2014
Why do I need a support group?
There is no need to stay isolated and alone with our fears. In fact, it is proven that when we reach out to others and share our experiences, we get stronger. When we are stronger, the addicts in our lives have a better chance of recovery.
When one person in the family is addicted to drugs and alcohol, we all get sick. And while we cannot control the choices our children make, we can control the choices we make. But how would we know what the choices are, what works and what doesn’t work, if we don’t participate in a forum where we can learn about what has worked for others? ~ Lauren Springer
For the rest of Lauren’s article, click here.
We are able to feel both supported and challenged in a group experience. As the group bonds and trust develops, people feel safer to speak honestly with each other. In groups we can both get and give. Both feel good. The experience of past loss, damage or trauma (whether from our family or from other relationships), may have profoundly affected our self- concept. A group can become a "family" that responds to us very differently, and can give us a corrective experience that impacts us emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. We can also learn that conflict is part of being in relationship, and can be tolerated and worked through. We can't rationalize our negative feelings away, but I believe we can slowly heal as we learn to take in the love and acceptance that emerges in a group. ~ Wendy Fennell
For the rest of Wendy’s article, click here.
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