They call it "the hidden addiction." There's no physical sign of it. Nothing is ingested. You can't overdose on it. People with the problem can
Understanding the root causes of addiction can help us to better treat it.
Like asthma or diabetes, opioid addiction is a chronic condition. Could treatment that begins when people show up in the ER get them on the right road faster?
The pain intensity scale is often used to monitor a person's pain. But focusing too much on pain intensity could be contributing to the opioid epidemic.
The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the "aging out" experience of the majority is ignored by treatment providers and journalists.
Studies show adolescent smokers, people with alcohol dependence and gamblers have lower activation in reward pathways in the brain.
“When you have this kind of addiction . . . people will do just about anything to obtain these drugs, and they usually do,” a DEA official said.
Rates of alcoholism and painkiller addiction are growing among older adults, and the negative effects can be worse in later life. Are you at risk?
A young man’s suicide highlights issues in the treatment of A.D.H.D., as youths fake symptoms to feed their addictions to potentially dangerous stimulants.
In a nation where one American dies every 19 minutes from opioid or heroin overdose, addiction doctors are incensed that insurance companies are making patients wait for medication that can save them.
Roughly 2.5 million Americans are addicted to heroin and opioids like Oxycontin. Researchers say addiction takes over the brain's limbic reward system, impairing decision making, judgment and memory.
The word addiction suggests gambling, drinking, and drugs. But there are other habits, behaviors, and even beauty products that are surprisingly addictive.
Teenage brains are more susceptible to drug abuse, but it's often hard to find treatment. It's even harder to find evidence-based treatment designed for youth. But that's starting to change.
Most inmates lose access to medication-assisted treatment for addiction once they're incarcerated. Among prisons and jails that do offer such treatment, it's often restricted to pregnant women.
What really causes addiction -- to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do -- and if there might be a better way. As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about…
For some young sports stars, a pain-pill prescription can be the worst medicine.
Many people who become addicted to drugs, tobacco or alcohol start using as teenagers. So more effort is being put into helping teenagers stop before they get in too deep.