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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Am heavily addicted to tranquilizers, try stripping, fail spectacularly': Glimpse from the $550,000 book proposal of drug-addict beauty editor Cat Marnell

Excerpts from Cat Marnell's $500,000 book deal have been revealed, and the tell-all memoir, How to Murder Your Life, seems to be an in-depth confessional of her life as a drug addict.

The former xoJane.com beauty editor has been in and out of rehab for her addiction to prescription drugs, and was fired from the web site in September last year - telling the New York Post she’d rather 'smoke angel dust with her friends' than hold down a full-time job.

Now, the 29-year-old, who was also a former beauty editor at Lucky magazine, has released the no holds barred re-cap of her drug-fueled and 'glamorous' life in New York.

Tell-all: Cat Marnell, a former xoJane.com beauty editor who has been in and out of rehab for her addiction to prescription drugs, has landed a $500,000 book deal for her memoir, How to Murder Your Life

Part of her book proposal was obtained by Buzzfeed Shift, which has released some of Miss Marnell's 'craziest' revelations.

Miss Marnell, who said that she first got hooked on prescription pills aged 12 when her parents gave her sleeping aid and Addreall, a stimulant used to treat ADHD, discusses her affluent childhood in the book.

'I grew up on a five-acre compound twenty minutes from the White House, in the swag D.C. suburb Bethesda,' she writes.

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'[It was a] mansion that Frank Lloyd Wright had started out designing for some movie producer... We had a pool, tennis court, a two-bedroom guesthouse, two playgrounds, a trampoline, and lived adjacent to the Congressional Country Club golf course.

'Our neighbor on one side was... Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Jack Anderson... and on the other side, the gated estate of former boxing champ Mike Tyson. Weird, I know. That's D.C.'

The self-confessed 'spoiled rich kid' of a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst also details her 'numerous' sexual conquests throughout the book, and discusses the four abortions she has had.

Leaked: Part of her book proposal was obtained by Buzzfeed Shift, which has released some of Miss Manell's 'craziest' revelations

Leaked: Part of Miss Marnell's book proposal was obtained by Buzzfeed Shift, which has released some of Miss Manell's 'craziest' revelations

She writes: '[In prep school], I went right for the hottest, richest, most popular senior and was blowing him in his car in three weeks flat.

'Social climbing through sex has always been one of my specialties. I don't fuck for love. I fuck to put my name on any given particular New York map.'

The book also details the former beauty editor getting 'choked out by a Park Avenue millionaire kid in a pine grove by the reservoir at 4 a.m.' and 'sex in vacant lots in Bushwick with white rappers.'

She adds: 'I starting [sic] running with a crew of people who were all friends of the teenage son of one of the most famous living Democrats.

'I sat with the politician's son in a parked Oldsmobile crushing beers and taking mushrooms with him and my boyfriend on dark secluded streets with the Secret Service parked behind us, watching, watching.'

And in one chapter, titled Age 19, Miss Marnell writes: 'Became heavily addicted to tranquilizers, try stripping, fail spectacularly.'

A representative for Simon & Schuster, which is publishing the memoir, has confirmed the deal but declined to elaborate on Miss Marnell's half a million dollar deal.

Affluent childhood: The self-confessed 'spoiled rich kid' of a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst also details how she obtained the drugs in her proposal

'We don’t comment on author advances,' the rep said.

Describing how her substance abuse started Ms Marnell, who grew up in a wealthy neighborhood in Maryland, told Page Six Magazine: 'My dad prescribed me Adderall and gave me my first sleeping pill when I was 12. Adderall is the devil. It ruined my life.'

Following an abortion she received benzodiazepine and Xanax and shortly after she became a 'doctor shopper' visiting numerous pharmacies and taking up to nine pills a day.

After severing all ties with her family, Miss Marnell moved to New York, where she continues to spend most of her time high on illegal substances such as cocaine, pot and pills.

On a typical night out she relies on a dangerous cocktail of Vyvanse, Adderall, Provigil, Gatorade and vodka to keep going until the early hours, she says.

Miss Marnell previously worked at Condé Nast as a beauty editor, first at Glamour and then at Lucky, but in the end the company was forced to send her to rehab as her drug problems surfaced.

Most recently she was employed by women's website xojane.com, where she wrote about '"Miracle" (Uh-Huh) Treatments To Help You Pass Those Follicle Drug Tests,' and 'Fantastic Hemp-Based Beauty For Vaguely Consensual + Very Stoned Hippie Sex Cult Orgies.'

Isolated: Ms Marnell's anti-social habits have destroyed personal and professional relationships

Former beauty editor: Cat Marnell was fired from xoJane.com in September last year - telling the New York Post she¿d rather 'smoke angel dust with her friends' than hold down a full-time job

But she was fired last summer because she refused to seek help.

'I don't want to die and I'm not a heroin addict... I do have a desire to change and stop; I would really love not to be on pills. I just don't know if the AA thing is what I want right now. I get very bored by it. I'm just not ready for it yet,' she added.

Ms Pratt told MediaBistro recently that she was 'definitely doing everything' she could to get Miss Marnell into rehab, 'to get better for herself.'

She added: 'But I don't think that her writing about it is what made her do it. I think it's a lot deeper than that, and writing about it was cathartic for her and helpful to other women who were going through that. Men have written about it before, their own drug abuse while they're still abusing the drug.

But for women, it was always something they could only write about only after they were no longer using. I felt like it was important to tell that story; she wanted to do that.

But there was a lot behind the scenes that people don't know about, and that's why she's not at xoJane anymore. But I hope she'll get cleaned up and be able to do stuff with us again.'

How to Murder Your Life: The 29-year-old's new book will chronicle her drug-fueled rise and fall through Condé Nast, xoJane.com and Vice magazine

Two weeks after being unemployed she was picked up by Vice Magazine, who offered her the opportunity to keep an uncensored blog of her drug-addled life called 'Amphetamine Logic'. She has also been offered a columnist position at Elle UK, according to her Facebook page.

Editor-in-chief of Vice magazine, Rocco Castoro, says that he isn't encouraging Cat to live an unhealthy lifestyle, and hopes her accounts will educate others.

He told Page Six Magazine: 'We don't glorify it; we're just honest about it. Anyone who knows someone who uses drugs knows: You can't tell them to stop. From the beginning, I told her, "I'm not going to be your parent."

As well as being open about her drug problems, Miss Marnell is also a self-confessed bulimic, an issue she blames on her mother.

According to the writer, she receives no money from her family and is not in contact with them. She also lives alone as she can't hold down a 'real' relationship and she claims that, as well as her career, 'I choose drugs over sex and always have.'

She added: 'I'm not a happy person. I'm a narcissist, but I hate myself. I have tons of friends, but the subtext of those relationships is, well, they're sort of like party people... You go where the drugs are.'

On the way, a sleeping pill that promises no side effects and targets the root cause of insomnia

DORA-22 works in a different way to existing sleeping pills

It could usher in 'new era for insomnia treatment' say experts

The NHS currently spends £50million a year on sleeping pills

A pill which promises a good night’s sleep without side-effects could be on its way.

The drug, which has already been successfully tested on animals, could allow people to sleep soundly at night and wake up without the groggy feeling that blights many other tablets.

Billed as ‘a good night’s sleep without the side-effects’, the tablet, which is known only as DORA-22, works in a different way to the existing pills taken by millions of Britons.

Soundly sleeping: Billed as ¿a good night¿s sleep without the side-effects¿, the tablet, which is known only as DORA-22, works in a different way to the existing pills taken by millions of Britons (file picture)

It and similar drugs could ‘usher in a new era for insomnia treatment’ the journal Science Translational Medicine reports.

Some 15million prescriptions for sleeping pills are written out each year and although newer drugs produce fewer side-effects patients can still experience problems with concentration and grogginess.

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Concerns that Britain has become a nation of sleeping pill addicts has led to doctors being urged to first try alternative treatments such as counselling.

Most of the £50million a year spent by the NHS on sleeping pills, or hypnotics, as they are known to doctors, goes on drugs that target a calming brain chemical called GABA.

Insomnia: Some 15million prescriptions for sleeping pills are written out each year (file picture)

In contrast, DORA-22 works on orexin, a brain compound that helps keep us awake.

In tests, rats given the drug slept longer than those given a dummy pill.

And after being given the drug, the creatures remained free of the memory problems that affected rats given Valium or one of two more modern sleeping pills.

Similarly, monkeys given the other pills suffered problems with memory and alertness.

However, DORA-22 was free of those problems and did not impact on reaction times, even when given at extremely high doses.

The pharmaceutical giant, Merck, which is developing the drug, said that the tests mimicked a situation in which someone would wake up shortly after taking a sleeping pill. It added that more work is needed to check that the pill doesn’t cause grogginess the next morning.

DORA-22 is only being used in lab tests at the moment.

However, another drug in the same family has been tested on people and is very close to the market.

An accompanying article, also in the journal Science Translational Medicine, says that such tablets could usher in a new era for insomnia treatment.

However, the commentary’s author, a sleep researcher from Stanford University in the US, also urges caution, saying that the search for the perfect sleeping pill has been ‘marked by cycles of exuberance followed by disappointment, as adverse side-effects have emerged following widespread use’.

He adds that only time will tell if DORA-22, and similar drugs, are ‘the perfect hypnotics’.

Professor Colin Espie, founder of the sleep centre at Glasgow University, warned that tampering with orexin might produce other side-effects such as an increase in appetite.

He added that the real challenge will be to find a pill that gets to the root cause of insomnia, rather than merely being a quick fix.

Good morning: The drug, which has already been successfully tested on animals, could allow people to sleep soundly at night and wake up without the groggy feeling that blights many other tablets (file picture)

Britain's bedrooms are getting noisier because of WOMEN snoring - with drinking, smoking and obesity to blame

Women now account for 40 per cent of snorers, say doctors

Number of women seeking surgical treatment for snoring has risen sharply

Clinics are treating ten times as many female patients as two years ago

British women are getting noisier in the bedroom - but not for the right reasons.

New figures show that a rising number of women are seeking treatment for snoring, such is their embarrassment about the condition.

Traditionally thought of as an affliction of old, overweight men, experts say women are now as likely to snore as men - and drinking, smoking and obesity are often to blame.

Women in particular do not like to think they snore - there’s a stigma attached to it - yet they account for 40 per cent of snorers,’ says Dr Martin Allen, consultant physician at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, and spokesperson for the British Lung Foundation.

A rising number of women are seeking treatment for snoring, with drinking, smoking and obesity often to blame

‘It can affect women of any age, though it is more common after the menopause.’

Now, one London clinic has reported treating ten times as many female patients for snoring as it did two years ago.

Women now make up almost a quarter of all snoring patients at The Private Clinic, with younger women making up the highest number of clients.

Fifteen times as many appointments for women in their twenties and thirties were made in 2012, as in 2010.

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Dr Myles Black, snoring expert at The Private Clinic on Harley Street, said he was treating 'more and more' women for the condition.

'There are a number of factors that may have contributed to this increase, including weight gain or the heavy consumption of alcohol and smoking, which can all increase your chances of snoring.

'But I think there is also greater awareness now that snoring is a condition that can be treated very easily.'

He added: 'Most of the patients I see have decided to seek help because they have exhausted over the counter remedies and devices and have found that none of these have proved effective.

Exerts say many women fail to realise they have the condition - or the health implications it may have for them or their partner

'Products like nasal strips, mouth guards or pillows which claim to prevent snoring are, most of the time, just not enough to have any significant impact on the patient’s snoring habits.'

Research last year by sleep equipment manufacturer ResMed found that 378,000 women in the UK suffer from undiagnosed sleep apnoea.

WHAT CAN BANISH SNORING?

Treatment depends on what is causing the snoring.

If a blocked nasal passage is to blame, then the most suitable may be a laser treatment to unblock the nose.

If snoring is caused by the throat then lasering the excess soft tissue which vibrates at the back of the throat may help. This frees the airways and increases oxygen supply.

If the soft palate in the mouth is to blame, then using radiofrequency to tighten it and stop it vibrating may help.

Despite all the women in the survey declaring their everyday lives to be affected by their snoring, none said they would visit their GP to discuss the problem or saw it as a health problem.

But experts say many women fail to realise they have the condition — or the health implications it may have.

Snoring has been linked with a slightly increased risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and stroke.

Snoring is also often a symptom of a serious sleep disorder called sleep apnoea, which can have devastating health implications if left untreated.

And as many a couple will testify, it is also a major source of arguments.

A recent survey from hotel chain Travelodge found that UK couples lose more than 90 minutes sleep a week, just through arguing between the sheets, and snoring was the second most commonly cited reason for arguing in the bed after fidgeting.

Research last year from the Snoring Center of Chicago found that 30 per cent of couples said snoring caused problems in their relationships, while 46 per cent of those questioned would consider dumping someone they were dating if their snoring kept them from getting a good night’s sleep.

Indian engineers invent 'anti-rape' underwear which gives attackers electric shocks and automatically texts police for help

The clothing sends a text message to police with GPS location

Pressure sensors sewn into bust area designed to detect unwanted force

The garment is capable of delivering up to 82 electric shocks

Anti-rape underwear which delivers a 3,800 kilovolt shock to any would-be attacker has been created by a team of Indian engineering students.

After disabling the assailant, the undergarment has been designed to automatically send a text message to police or family members containing the GPS location of the attempted crime.

Pressure sensors on the garment, sewn in around the bust area, detect unwanted force and trigger the powerful shock. It can deliver up to 82 electric shocks, more than enough to disable any attacker.

Rape-proof: Three Indian engineering students have created underwear which gives any would-be attacker a 3,800 kilovolt shock

Manisha Mohan, who helped develop the product, told The Times of India: 'The lingerie with global positioning system, global system for mobile communications and also pressure sensors is capable of sending shock waves of 3,800 kV as well as alerts to parents and police.

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American student was gang-raped for SIX HOURS by attackers in Rio as helpless boyfriend looked on

'A person trying to molest a girl will get the shock of his life the moment pressure sensors get activated, and the GPS and GSM modules would send an SMS (to the Indian emergency number) as well as to parents of the girl'.

The clothing is fitted with an electronic sensor around the bra area which delivers the powerful shock when activated

Details of the device, which were published on the Indian technology website Techpedia, show how the electric shock circuit board, is 'placed near the bosom' after a survey found that attackers usually grab a woman in that area as they initiate a rape attack.

Ms Mohan added: 'Studying in a convent girls school, we were always taught to be good to everyone around and bear a cheerful smile.

'After stepping into the real, cruel world we realized that our smile could not last for long as the threat to our purity and integrity always lingered on.

'Since the law makers take ages to come up with just laws and even after that, women are unsafe. Hence, we have initiated the idea of self‐defense which protects the women from domestic, social and workplace harassment.'

India has seen a spate of rapes in recent months including the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student who later died.

That case sparked huge protests and widespread condemnation of the government and judiciary for their failure to protect women.

Creators: Indian engineering student Rimpi Tripathy (left) and Manisha Mohan (right) were part of the design team that created the unusual clothing

Last month a Swiss Woman was attacked and a British tourist told how she was forced to jump out of her hotel window when a man attempted to attack her.

The surge in violence against women is believed to be having a serious effect on the country's tourism industry.

A recent study found that that in the last three months, the number of foreigners travelling to India has fallen by 25 per cent with the number of female tourists down by 35 per cent.

One in FIVE teen births are to mothers who already have children and didn't use effective birth control, CDC study shows

Of the 365,000 teenagers who gave birth in U.S. during 2010, 67,000 of those were repeat births

CDC study further shows that only 22% of new mothers used effective birth control in postpartum period

Black and Hispanic teens twice as likely to be repeat mothers than white teens

A full one in five teen births is to an adolescent mother who already has one or more children, an alarming new report reveals.

According to a Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 365,000 U.S. teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth in 2010, and of those young women, 67,000 were repeat births.

The study further states that while most new teenage mothers used contraception in the postpartum period, only 22 percent of them used a method of birth control considered to be highly effective at preventing another pregnancy.

Baby maybe: A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 18 percent of babies born to teen mothers in 2010 were their second or third child

The CDC states that the explanation for these statistics is complex, saying that the numbers vary based on socioeconomic status, geographical location, ethnicity, and education levels.

For instance, Hispanics, American Indians, and blacks are all more likely to have a repeat birth than white teens.

Those in states with the lowest health insurance coverage – Mississippi and Texas – were also highest for most teen birth rates.

Having multiple children at a very young age can be harmful for both mother and baby, experts said.

‘Repeat births can negatively impact the mother’s education and job opportunities as well as the health of the next generation,’ CDC director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., said in a release.

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‘Teens, parents, health care providers, and others need to do much more to reduce unintended pregnancies.’

Young women who have children in their teens are less likely to finish high school, go to college, or get a job, the CDC said, adding that children born to teenagers also are at a greater risk for health problems.

Every additional child born to a teenage mother further limits her chances to succeed, the report says.

Of the 365,000 teenagers who gave birth in 2010, 8,400 of them were third births, and 1,200 were fourth or higher.

Factors: The study showed that education, ethnicity, and geography all played a role - Hispanic and black teens were nearly twice as likely to have more than one child in their teenage years

However, the report also notes that teen births, on the whole, are down to 31.3 live births per 1,000 women in the same age range – a record low.

Leslie Kantor, the vice president of education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement: ‘When young mothers postpone a second birth, they have greater educational and job opportunities.’

BY THE NUMBERS: TEENAGE BIRTHS IN 2010

More than 365,000 teenagers ages 15-19 gave birth in the U.S. in 2010.

Of those, 57,200 were second births
8,400 were third births
1,200 were fourth or higher births
Minorities such as Hispanics, blacks, and American Indians were nearly one and a half times as likely to have a repeat birth than white teens
Only around 22 percent of new mothers used highly effective forms of birth control in postpartum period
CDC recommends more effective birth control such as implant or IUD to sexually active teenagers
Source: CDC

She continued: ‘The best way to prevent teen pregnancy is by investing in effective sex education, encouraging teens to talk to their parents, and ensuring access to birth control.’

According to Bedsider.org, many young people have misconceptions over how pregnancy happens, with a full one in six surveyed thinking that they cannot get pregnant simply because they have not yet conceived after having sex.

The organization encourages parents of teenagers to talk to their children about practicing safe sex and the most highly-effective forms of birth control.

Birth control implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are considered the most effective long-term birth control methods, as they are more than 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy.

The pill, condoms, patches, injection rings, and diaphragms are all less effective, and are more likely to be used improperly by teenagers.

Most states in New England, including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, have some of the lowest teen birth rates in the country.

Conversely, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas have some of the highest – greater than 20 percent in those states.

A study appearing in last month’s issue of ‘Contraception’ journal reported that most women have inaccurate perceptions about the safety and effectiveness of IUDs.

The study, which was led by clinical assistant professor Lisa Callegari of the University of Washington, show that both ParaGuard and Mirena are more than 99 percent effective for up to seven years.

Both are more cost effective than the pill after three years' use.

Pages

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Am heavily addicted to tranquilizers, try stripping, fail spectacularly': Glimpse from the $550,000 book proposal of drug-addict beauty editor Cat Marnell

More...

On the way, a sleeping pill that promises no side effects and targets the root cause of insomnia

More...

Britain's bedrooms are getting noisier because of WOMEN snoring - with drinking, smoking and obesity to blame

More...

WHAT CAN BANISH SNORING?

Indian engineers invent 'anti-rape' underwear which gives attackers electric shocks and automatically texts police for help

More...

One in FIVE teen births are to mothers who already have children and didn't use effective birth control, CDC study shows

More...

BY THE NUMBERS: TEENAGE BIRTHS IN 2010