happy August 2025
August 2025
Welcome to the August edition of the Inspire Behavioral Health Newsletter. Please let us know if you know someone who would like to begin receiving our newsletter and will be happy to send them a copy. We offer high quality and compassionate mental health care and addiction treatment to people living in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, virtually and in-person with offices in Vienna, Fairfax, Sterling, Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, Maryland.
August is “Write a Will” Month
Did you know that August has been designated as “Write a Will” month? Have you done this or are you considering writing your will? It is never too soon to take care of this important responsibility, no matter your age or how healthy you are.
- You can always change or amend your will, but the peace of mind it brings cannot be underestimated.
- Consider your “Final Wishes” — who you want to receive your monetary possessions as well as your sentimental valuables.
- Without a will, there is no guarantee your wishes will be honored after your death.
- Sometimes, grief brings out the worst in people, not the best.
- Think about how you want to be cared for in your final months: at home, in an assisted living center, with aggressive care, or with hospice and palliative care.
- Have you composed and signed a Living Will? Have you designated someone you trust to make decisions if you cannot?
- Consulting a lawyer is helpful, but so is talking with a psychotherapist, especially one trained in death studies and counseling.
Providers at Inspire Behavioral Health are available for conversations around these existential issues and are ready when you are. We will all face death someday—some with illness, some with aging, others suddenly without warning. Maybe August 2025 is the right time to prepare, protecting your assets and supporting your loved ones’ ability to grieve without uncertainty about your wishes.
Talking about the end of life may not be as sad as we think. It can be an empowering and inspiring action, helping you live with peace of mind, intention, and purpose.
let us help
Clinicians at Inspire Behavioral Health are here to join you on your journey toward mental health and recovery from addictions.
- Many providers are trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), developed by Marsha Linehan.
- DBT, rooted in its Four Pillars—including mindfulness—helps us merge thoughts and emotions to create the “Wise Brain” for better decisions.
- Licensed professionals can help you identify and integrate the opposite sides of thinking and feeling, leading to greater wholeness and integration.
- We support you with talk therapy and medication (if clinically indicated), teaching you to thrive, “walk the Middle Path,” and build a life worth living.
- Our aim: to help you enhance communication, compassion, and empathy for yourself and others.
Call Inspire Behavioral Health for an appointment today. Nurture your own well-being and contribute to the longevity, health, and well-being of all members of our society.
how to find a counselor
Once you decide to seek professional help for a personal struggle—whether anxiety, depression, grief, mood disorder, addiction, relationship issue, sexual concern, or something else—finding the right provider can be daunting.
- Inspire Behavioral Health has many caring professionals with a variety of specialties.
- Visit our website to read providers’ biographies, areas of expertise, and perspectives.
- If you are in a rural area, remember that all clinicians are available virtually.
Medical and Mental Health News
Younger People Spot Colon Cancer Earlier
WSJ August 5, 2025, by BRIANNA ABBOTT
People under age 50 have been appearing increasingly at doctors’ offices in the past few decades, complaining of blood in their stool, abdominal trouble or unexplained weight loss. The diagnosis: colorectal cancer. And by that time, it was often too late. But that paradigm is finally starting to shift, at least for patients in their 40s. There has been a jump in people ages 45 to 49 getting screened for colorectal cancer, after recent medical guidelines lowered the screening age for those at average risk. As a result, the disease is being caught sooner, when it is more curable and the treatment is less grueling, according to new research from the American Cancer Society. The recent screening recommendations designed to catch cases sooner appear to be working. “It’s thrilling to see this,” said Rebecca Siegel, an epidemiologist at the ACS and an author of the new research. “It means fewer deaths and higher quality of life for people who are diagnosed.” The findings come in a flurry of research published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Colorectal cancer screening in the U.S. for adults age 45 to 49 increased by 62% from 2019 to 2023, according to one ACS paper. Early-stage diagnoses then surged, including a 50% relative increase from 2021 to 2022, according to another ACS report. A trial of more than 20,000 people in the same age bracket was published by a separate group of researchers, showing that testing uptake increases when people are mailed stool tests by default, versus when they are asked if they want a test or a colonoscopy. Screening rates in the trial were low, however, with 19% of people in the trial overall opting to get screened. “We probably shouldn’t be wasting time asking patients first; we should send them what they need,” said Dr. Folasade-May, the trial’s senior author and a gastroenterologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Colorectal cancer rates have been rising for people under 50 since the 1990s, and the disease is now the leading cause of cancer death among men in that group. Researchers are investigating everything from diet and lifestyle to environmental contaminants to figure out why colorectal and other cancers are rising in younger adults.
nitazenes
Nitazenes (often spelled Nitazine), is also known on the street with slang names such as ISO or Toni are a class of synthetic opioids belonging to the benzimidazole structural class, many of which are equally or even more powerful than fentanyl.
Fentanyl fueled the worst drug crisis the West has ever seen. Now, an even more dangerous drug is wreaking havoc faster than authorities can keep up. The looming danger is an emerging wave of highly potent synthetic opioids called nitazenes, which often pack a far stronger punch than fentanyl. Nitazenes have killed hundreds of people in Europe and left law enforcement and scientists scrambling to curb their spread. The opioids, most of which originate in China, are so strong that even trace amounts can trigger a fatal overdose. They have been found mixed into heroin and recreational drugs, counterfeit painkillers and anti-anxiety medication. Their enormous risk is only dawning on authorities. Europe, which has skirted the kind of opioid pandemic plaguing the U.S., is now on the front line as nitazenes push into big heroin and opioid markets such as Britain and the Baltic states. At least 400 people died in the U.K. from overdoses involving nitazenes over 18 months until January of this year, the government said. “This is probably the biggest public health crisis for people who use drugs since the AIDS crisis in the 1980s,” said Vicki Markiewicz, executive director for Change Grow Live, a leading treatment provider for drugs and alcohol. Particularly worrying, she said, is that most people take nitazenes unwittingly, as contaminants in other drugs.
Cannabis Update
This article is part of The New Cannabis, a National Geographic exploration into the most critical questions raised by today’s stronger, stranger, ever more accessible weed.
Once upon a time, getting high from marijuana entailed smoking a joint, a pipe, or a bong. Those days are gone. Now there are numerous routes of consumption, some of which deliver a more potent buzz—but carry a risk of more serious side effects. In the latter category are dabbing and vaping, which are most prevalent among adults ages 18 to 24, according to a 2025 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With vaping, cannabis oil or flower is heated to a temperature that releases cannabinoids as vapor to inhale. Some vaping devices can be loaded with dry herb or cannabis flower, while others are intended to be used with high potency concentrates like oil or resin. One reason it appeals to teens and young adults: “Vaping is a discreet way to use cannabis in a public space—there’s a convenience factor,” says Deepak Cyril D’Souza, professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale Center for the Science of Cannabis and Cannabinoids. “One hit can deliver a lot and get you high very quickly.” With dabbing, by contrast, people inhale vapors from highly concentrated THC-based oils—such as wax (a gooey form of hash oil) or shatter (a solid, glasslike version)—that have been heated, often using a blowtorch and a modified bong or a water pipe called a dab rig. Dabbing isn’t as discreet as vaping because “with dabbing, you need paraphernalia,” D’Souza says. Handheld dab pens are simpler alternatives—but some dab fans suggest dab pens can sacrifice flavor. Making such devices smaller, simpler, and cheaper is a major focus of the increasingly innovation-driven cannabis industry.
Substance Use and Addiction
Do you wonder whether your use of alcohol is excessive? Do you worry that you may be heading toward problematic drinking, or has your drinking begun to cause you embarrassment, guilt, remorse, or concerns about your health, or in your relationships at home or work. Has your drinking come to involve you with the law? If this sounds like you, then take the CAGE, which is free on-line, and below, to help determine some talking points you can have with a professional.
The CAGE Assessment is a personal assessment for substance abuse. It will not give you a formal diagnosis. It is simply a preliminary instrument used for assessment. A formal diagnosis requires a thorough evaluation by a trained, experienced and certified professional. The CAGE can be adopted for other out-of-control behaviors.
COMING THIS FALL
- Men’s Education and Therapy Group
- Basic Steps to
- Men’s Mental & Physical Health
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a compassionate type of behavioral therapy that is intended to help people move toward a more mindful, aware and purposeful life. Come learn the four pillars of DBT which are Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotional Regulation and Distress Tolerance. When you learn these four pillars and their accompanying skills, you will have the tools you need to build a “life worth living.” Men in this group offered at Inspire Behavioral Health and led by Psychotherapist, Ed Andrews, are taught the basic skills necessary to help manage life’s stressors and manage your physical health. This is done in a framework that helps people understand that we are doing the best we can while recognizing that there are new strategies you can learn that will be more effective than what you are doing now. This group is a safe, confidential place for men who are sustaining their recovery from chemical or process addictions, or coping with chronic illness such as Prostate Cancer, aging, managing stress, anxiety and/or depression, accommodating change in their lives, coping with loss and transition, dealing with sexual issues including ED, and seeking support and growth. Please call us for more information about this important group. Call Ed Andrews for more information about this group.
Thank you for being part of Inspire Behavioral Health, we appreciate you and wish you a happy August!
Office Location:
Vienna: 2110 Gallows Road Suite D, Vienna, VA 22182
Fairfax: 11211 Waples Mill Road Suite 150, Fairfax, VA 22030
Sterling: 46090 Lake Center Plaza, Suite 103-104, Sterling, VA 20165
Bethesda: 6203 Executive Boulevard, North Bethesda, MD 20852
Ed Andrews, LPC, LMFT, Newsletter Editor
703-592-4600
info@inspirebehavioralhealth.com