Addiction
- Addiction Has Both Medical and Psychological Basis
An addictive behavior can emerge toward any activity that gives a person good feelings. Over time, the person becomes dependent or obsessed with the behavior – such as addictive gambling, drinking, eating, sex or exercise. Not only can the addictive behavior provide pleasure, it can also reduce or block undesirable feelings or emotions and become a coping mechanism.
- Opium Addiction in Afghanistan
The following article was published on BBC News:
- More Students Addicted to Marijuana, Prescription Drugs at Chico State
In recent years, Chico State’s Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center has seen an increase in the number of students coming in to quit using marijuana. Program director Shauna Quinn said that more students are battling an addiction to prescription drugs like OxyContin.
- Dr. Drew Pinsky on Addiction
Dr. Drew Pinsky, addiction specialist and host of “Celebrity Rehab” and “Sex Rehab,” says you might be addicted to something if you have a family history of addiction or if you’re changing your life to fulfill the needs of whatever you’re hooked on.
- Author to Speak about Her Son’s Addiction, Recovery at University of Pittsburgh
Libby Cataldi, author of “Stay Close: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction,” will speak tomorrow at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. For years, her son, Jeffery Bratton, was plagued by an addiction to drugs that ravaged his life and that of his family’s. After years of struggling with Jeff’s disease, she finally found solace in the words of the patriarch of an Italian treatment facility: “stagli vicino,” which translates in English to “stay close.”
- Setting Boundaries with Addicted Loved Ones during the Holidays
For some people, the holiday season is filled with tension, financial stress, obligatory family visits, and dreaded office parties, while others bask in the holiday spirit, relishing every moment. No matter how you feel about the holidays, though, there is added pressure and anxiety when a loved one is struggling with a substance abuse issue.
- 130,000 People Become Addicted to Drugs Annually in Iran
The Iranian police chief announced that about 130,000 people become addicted to drugs each year in Iran. Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, who is also head of Iran’s anti-narcotics agency, also acknowledged the scale of the problem for a country on a key heroin trafficking route.
- Substance Abuse Increases Risk for Suicide
When a friend or family member is addicted to drugs or alcohol, our greatest fear is that he or she will die of an overdose. Most overdoses are considered accidental, but some are actually pre-planned as suicide. A study by SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) in 2008 showed that 8.3 million adults in the U.S. had serious thoughts of committing suicide in the last year, and substance abuse increases the risk of seriously considering, planning, or attempting suicide.
- How to Deal with Despair Due to Addiction
One of the most powerful and debilitating psychological aspects of alcoholism or drug addiction is despair. Add to this the fact that many alcoholics and drug addicts have reached such a point that they may have developed severe psychological problems – psychosis, impaired reality, paranoia – and despair becomes a recipe for disaster. In the most extreme cases, untreated, despair can lead to suicide.
- Science Shows that Addiction is a Disease, Not a Choice
For many decades, addiction was viewed as a moral flaw affecting people with little will-power, but science has proven that view wrong. Today we understand that addiction is a disease like any other, and should be treated as such. “Addiction requires treatment like any other disease,” says Pat Nichols, founder of the Edmond, Oklahoma chapter of Parents Helping Parents, a nonprofit organization that helps children with special needs and their families. “Individuals can’t stop on their own.”