Alcoholism was declared a disease by the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association in 1955. But awareness of that concept grew slowly. People didn’t stop laughing at drunk acts like Dean Martin and Foster Brooks until after Betty Ford opened her chemical dependency treatment center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982. Ford, who died Friday at age [...]

Frustrated by the high relapse rate of traditional addiction treatments, scientists are working on a strategy that recruits the body’s own defenses to help addicts kick drug habits.

Not all addictions develop out of the need to participate in pleasure-seeking behaviors. An addiction can be a person’s way of suppressing or forgetting an emotionally traumatic event or pain. The “hidden illness” of compulsive gambling is classified by the American Psychological Association as a mental health disorder of impulse control. It is called a [...]

Americans spend more than $66 billion on carbonated drinks, such as soda, every year! Many have no idea what bad effects their addiction to these drinks can cause. Drinking one 20 ounce soda is similar to eating 17 teaspoons of pure sugar. Below are some of the negative effects that soda can have on your [...]

The existence of internet addiction Internet addiction disorder (IAD) became an official theorized disorder in 1995, (comparable to pathological gambling) by Ivan Goldberg, M.D. There is a lot of debate as to it’s legitimacy as a mental disorder because of the ambiguity surrounding its definition. Many feel that it is not a real disorder and [...]

The Definition Gateway Drugs – a term used to identify lighter drugs (marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco) that lead to a higher likelihood of hard drug use (heroin, cocaine, and club drugs) The Theory The idea behind the gateway drugs is that young drug users doing light drugs will be much more likely to be doing [...]

The resistance MySpace has had a growing impact on people of all ages. How do people get sucked in? Many refuse to give in for weeks, and then months, but eventually they break down by the pressure of their friends- it’s harmless, right? It’s just a simple web page for social networking. All you have [...]