Addiction Related Content

In Memoriam: David Yue-Wei Lee, PhD

David Yue-Wei Lee, PhD, director of McLean Hospital’s Bio-Organic and Natural Products Research Laboratory, and an associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, died peacefully last weekend. He was 78 years old. “I want to offer my deepest condolences to David’s family and all those...

Comedian, Actor, and Writer John Mulaney Accepts McLean Award

On Friday, November 3, more than 350 supporters and staff of McLean Hospital gathered at Boston’s Intercontinental Hotel for the 2023 Annual Dinner. After a three-year pause on the annual gathering, attendees delighted in the opportunity to reconnect with friends, both old and new, and to celebrate...

Understanding Gender Differences in Mental Illness

Late in her medical residency, Amanda Sedgewick, DO , was running treatment groups for women with substance use disorders. Patients would disappear from treatment for weeks at a time and Sedgewick realized they were in abusive relationships—which was keeping them away from the clinic. So, she began...

Opioid Overdose Survivors Report Having Had Suicidal Motivations

Past studies found that motivation for suicide may contribute to opioid overdose deaths in people with opioid use disorder (OUD). In 2019, a research team at McLean Hospital found suicidal motivations are common just prior to nonfatal opioid overdose and occur along a continuum of severity. Hilary S...

In Memoriam: Frederick Goggans, MD

It is with deep sadness that we announce the unexpected death of Frederick “Rick” Goggans, MD. Goggans served as the medical director for Borden Cottage in Camden, Maine since its opening in 2015. He was well known for his deep commitment to patient care, mental health advocacy, and through his...

Amy Janes Elected President of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence

Amy C. Janes, PhD, director of the Functional Integration of Addiction Research Laboratory at the McLean Imaging Center, was elected president of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD). An independent organization of more than 1,000 members, the CPDD works to advance scientific approaches...

Helping Patients and Families Navigate Addiction Treatment Services

When she is not working as the admissions coordinator at Fernside , Quinn Tremblay stays very busy. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, attending country concerts and sports events, and “making folks laugh.” She said that her Catahoula leopard dog Annie “always puts a smile on my face...

Excessive Alcohol Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Alcohol consumption is a common coping response to stress, and historically, it has increased in the United States following catastrophic events, such as terrorist attacks and large-scale natural disasters. Considering COVID-19, experts at McLean Hospital have published a viewpoint article in the...

Improving Our Treatment Approach for Opioid Use Disorder

A new national study, directed in part by Roger D. Weiss, MD , chief of McLean Hospital’s Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction , aims to create a model to predict who can successfully wean off their medication for opioid use disorder while also exploring how to help patients to continue some...

Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction: New Names Reflect Progress

We are pleased to announce important name changes for McLean’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and its associated treatment program. As of Monday, March 2, 2020, the division will officially be known as the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction and the umbrella treatment program will be known...

Investigating the Full Spectrum of Suicide

A recent study published in Injury Prevention describes a method for categorizing self-injury mortality (SIM) to help us better examine national trends for today’s epidemics of suicide and drug-related deaths. This SIM study compared trends among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics with those of...

Changing the Way We Talk About Substance Use

Jessica Lareau, a graduate social work intern in the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction , is working to change the language used to discuss substance use at McLean Hospital. Lareau is building on studies that show the negative impact of stigmatizing language. She seeks to replace stigmatizing...