Recovery News | Mental Health & Addiction Recovery

The Weight-Loss Shot That Cut Heavy Drinking: Inside the Lancet Trial

Weekly semaglutide cut heavy drinking days by forty-one percent in a Lancet randomized trial of adults with alcohol use disorder and obesity.

Source

Weight-loss drug reduces alcohol consumption, study finds — The Pharmacist, reporting Klausen et al., The Lancet, 2026

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Protecting Kidneys in Bipolar Disorder: The Unexpected GLP-1 Finding

New Mayo Clinic research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, finds that people with bipolar disorder and early-stage kidney disease who used GLP-1 drugs had a lower risk of progressing to dialysis or needing a kidney transplant — an especially promising signal given that lithium, a mainstay bipolar treatment, can strain the kidneys over time.

Source

GLP-1 drugs may protect kidney health in people with bipolar disorder — News-Medical, Oct 20, 2026

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The Warning Sign Before the Drink: Risk-Taking Rises Before Drinking Does

In a year-long smartphone study of people with alcohol use disorder, increases in risk-taking behavior predicted increases in drinking the following month — and the reverse was not true — suggesting relapse has a detectable runway that could one day trigger just-in-time support.

Source

Increased risk-taking behavior precedes higher alcohol consumption, study finds — News-Medical (Oct 19, 2026), on Zech, H., et al. (2026), "Fluctuations in Real-Life Drinking in Alcohol Use Disorder: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study Using Gamified Tasks of Decision Making and Cognitive Control," Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, DOI 10.1016/j.bpsc.2026.07.019. Study teams: University Hospital Würzburg and Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.

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The Helpline Director Who Stole $1.4 Million: A Cautionary Recovery Story

Florida gambling helpline director Philip Lee Sullivan was sentenced to nearly ten years in prison for stealing $1.4 million — a cautionary tale about addiction hiding behind a mask of service.

Source

Florida Gambling Helpline Boss Jailed for $1.4M Theft, Blames ADHD Meds — Casino.org, updated October 19, 2026.

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Written in Saliva: DNA Marks That May Predict Who OCD Therapy Will Help

Epigenetic markers — DNA methylation patterns measured in saliva from roughly 900 people with OCD — were linked to how well patients responded to intensive exposure therapy, a step toward matching OCD treatment to the individual from day one.

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Epigenetic markers linked to psychotherapy response in OCD — Phys.org (Oct 19, 2026), on Höffler, K. D., et al., "Epigenetic markers of response to psychotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder," Neuropsychopharmacology (2026), DOI 10.1038/s41386-026-02546-4. Study team: University of Bergen, Norway.

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Grief Care Is Failing Communities of Color

A major Bristol-led study finds bereavement support services built around "white-centred" models of grief are failing ethnically diverse communities, and calls for services to partner with the grassroots organisations people already trust.

Source

Bereaved people from ethnically diverse communities — University of Bristol, Oct 21, 2026

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Pennsylvania's Gambling Wake-Up Call: 6.4 Percent in Trouble

Pennsylvania lawmakers launched a Problem Gambling Caucus to fight the state's gambling addiction crisis, where 6.4 percent of residents struggle with problem gambling — more than double the national average.

Source

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Launch New Caucus to Combat Gambling Addiction — NewsBetting, Oct 22, 2026

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In Teen Anorexia, the Brain's Food Focus Shifts Moment to Moment

A brain-wave study finds teen anorexia's attention to food shifts moment to moment — reduced early brain response to high-calorie foods, then enhanced later processing.

Source

Food Attention in Adolescent Anorexia Shifts Over Time in ERP Study — ScienMag, Oct 22, 2026

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Twelve Hundred Patients, One Weekly Shot: The Mega-Trial Testing Semaglutide for Addiction

Funded by a $13.3 million Arnold Ventures grant, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will test once-weekly semaglutide, added to standard care for 52 weeks, in up to 1,200 adults with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, or both — tracking employment, housing and criminal-justice outcomes alongside substance use.

Source

Major trial seeks to test semaglutide on adults with alcohol and opioid use disorder — News-Medical (Oct 13, 2026), reporting on the trial led by the Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research (CASPR), University of Pittsburgh, with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services.

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Living Behind Walls: What Avoidant Personality Disorder Really Feels Like

A Norwegian study of 56 adults reveals how avoidant personality difficulties shape agency — and how relational safety restores it.

Source

Living Behind Walls: What 56 Adults Reveal About Agency and Avoidant Personality Difficulties — ScienMag, Oct 18, 2026

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