Addiction
Millions of Americans are addicted not only to heroin, morphine, amphetamines, tranquilizers, and cocaine, but also to nicotine, caffeine, sugar, steroids, work, theft, gambling, exercise, and sex.
Treatments include psychosurgery, psychoanalysis, psychedelics and self-help, acupuncture, group confrontation, family therapy, hypnosis, meditation, education, and tough love.
All addictions display common properties, the properties of those factors vary widely. Not all addictions have the same effect on the quality of life or capacity to be dangerous.
“Everyone engages in addictive behaviors to some extent because such things as eating, drinking, and sex are essential to survival and highly reinforcing,” says G. Alan Marlatt, PhD, director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington.
“The most likely truth about addition is that it is not a single, basic, mechanism, but several problems we label as addiction,” says Michael F. Cataldo, PhD, chief of behavioral psychology at John Hopkins Medical Institute. “No one thing explains addiction. There are things about individuals, about the environment in which they live, and about the substances involved that must be factored in.”
Listed below are links to information about addiction.
This information should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment:
National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence
National Alcohol & Drug Information
Eating Disorder Recovery Center
Sexual Addiction Recovery Resources
