Perception vs. Reality Generalities about people tend to be either trite or misleading.  To risk one anyway, I have acquired the impression that all the people I have worked with, in addiction treatment for severe and persistent drug use, regard the drug (or drugs) as their most dependable and effective source of soothing (calming, relaxing, good feeling...

Yes, butlet’s discuss how drugs and alcohol can actually have a beneficial effect on your social life (or at least appear to). In the second section let’s discuss why drug and alcohol use can still be a bad idea for you. How Drinking and Drugging Can Help Your Social Life One of the most frequent...

Why We Cope: No one complains about feeling happy! But we don’t want to have other, painful feelings. When these feelings arise, one way to respond to them is to drink or drug. One set of painful feelings can be broadly labeled fear or anxiety: ”Drugs and/or alcohol helped me cope with feelings like anxiety, tension, fear, stress...

Denial is one aspect of resistance to change. In regards to addiction, it involves denying or minimizing the existence or seriousness of addiction problems. Unfortunately, within the field of traditional (12-step) addiction treatment, the belief is that “addiction is a disease and denial is its symptom.” From the traditional perspective, it is also believed that...

How Does Addiction Develop? Addiction develops when desire goes unchecked. Desire is a fundamental aspect of human life, and learning to manage desire is part of normal human development. Overcoming addiction is a special case of managing desire. Overcoming addiction is managing desire ‘writ large.’ You might also be interested in: Drugs Don’t Cause Addiction Satisfying Desires I leave...

What is Addiction? Let’s define addiction as repeated involvement with anything, despite excessive costs, because of craving.  That sounds similar to habit, which is also repeated involvement with something. What are the differences and similarities between addiction and habit? Let’s start with some examples of what appears to be an addiction. A college freshman ends up in...

How society should view addiction Ending recoveryism Let’s stop insisting addiction is a disease Will insurance cover addiction treatment if addiction is not a disease? AA’s dominance in the US is harmful Court-ordered 12-step attendance is illegal CRAFT: An alternative to addiction “intervention” Substance abuse evaluations in child custody cases Addiction and youth Teach teens drinking...

Self-regulation in the alcohol advertising industry is producing ads reminiscent of “Joe Camel” which targets impressionable youth, according to Australian addiction scientists who call for stricter regulation of the ads (Fielder, Donovan, & Ouschan, 2009). In the U.S., where alcohol advertising is also subject to self-regulation by the industry, more than 4,600 young people under...