I spent an entire year working on this manuscript! It was quite an undertaking because employing an “overview perspective” of something as vast as the opioid crisis requires expertise in several different domains. Specifically, this paper covers environmental factors (i.e. exposure to pharmaceutical pain killers) as well as psychosocial factors (e.g. stress, trauma, childhood adversity) in conceptualizing susceptibility to opioid addiction. The most novel contribution relates to the role of nutrition in recovery from opioid use disorders. The model created can be used to conceptualize substances other than opioids, including food.
The article is OPEN ACCESS and can be read and downloaded HERE
David Wiss
David became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2013 and founded Nutrition in Recovery, a group practice of RDNs specializing in treating eating and substance use disorders. In 2017, David received the “Excellence in Practice” award at the National Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. The California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics awarded him the “Emerging Dietetic Leader Award” in 2020. He earned his Ph.D. from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health in the Community Health Sciences department (with a minor in Health Psychology) by investigating the links between adverse childhood experiences and various mental health outcomes among socially disadvantaged men. His treatment philosophy is based on a biopsychosocial model which incorporates an understanding of biological mechanisms, psychological underpinnings, and contextual factors that integrate the social determinants of health. Wise Mind Nutrition's website offers a fully online interactive treatment program in Spring 2023.