Examining the Economic Disparity in Mental Health Treatment Accessibility Last week CNN ran a piece that effectively encapsulated the glaring difference in access to behavioral health services among the haves and have-nots. Framed around pop singer Brittany Spears’ very public  mental breakdown and subsequent journey to treatment, the piece [...]

CARMAhealth Observes Alcohol Awareness Month April 1st marked the beginning of this year’s Alcohol Awareness Month, a 30-day effort founded and sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) to raise awareness toward alcoholism in the United States and reduce the stigma that prevents so many [...]

CARMAhealth Doctors Powell and Tirado Discuss the Importance of Medical Care in Addiction Recovery with Texas Medicine Magazine In a piece published in this month’s Texas Medicine Magazine, CARMAhealth’s Medical Director Dr. Steven Powell and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carlos Tirado discuss the importance of seamless and expedited medical [...]

2019: The Year of Self-Care It's the new year, and for many, a time to revisit goals and start new resolutions. Some resolutions are lofty, others are vague, but not all are easy to build into a habit. How many of your resolutions include incorporating more self-care in the upcoming year? [...]

For Some Opioid Users, Opioid Substitution is Not An Act of Faith, It’s An Act of Courage In our practice, we always try to meet the patient where they’re at: this is not a tired cliché for us…we really do. We have the challenge of dealing with young people [...]

CARMAHealth Connects with Drug Czar Jim Carroll at National Conference Representatives from CARMAHealth and our partner organization Recovery Unplugged had the honor of attending this year’s National Cocaine, Meth and Stimulant Conference. The conference was a three-day event that took place from November 12-14 and was organized by the Institute for [...]

Doc… I’m Way Smarter Than You I want to share an encounter I recently had with a patient, a guy who has been struggling with heroin addiction for well over 20 years. He’s had years of success with abstinence, buprenorphine and methadone. Each approach had its place and relevance to the [...]

Tennessee Blue Cross Blue Shield to Stop Covering OxyContin Tennessee’s largest health insurance provider has just announced that it will no longer pay for OxyContin. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee is the latest health insurance company to drop the drug, following a similar move from Cigna and Blue Cross Blue [...]

Lifesaving Measure For Opioid Overdose Available To The Public Without Prescription When the U.S. Surgeon General published a recent health advisory – the first such alert in the last decade – asking for the public’s assistance in tackling the nation’s growing opioid epidemic, Dr. Scott Walters from the UNTHSC School of [...]

Can Texting Help Increase Compliance and Attendance at Treatment Programs? Texting has become a preferred means of communication for people all over the world. A text can help quickly and concisely convey important information, keep personal conversations private and remind us about the important things in our lives that we have [...]