Pornography is not always a bad thing. Many people are able to use it in a way that is normal and healthy. Some people even use it within relationships in a way that strengthens the bond and their sexual activities. For others who use porn, it can become problematic, even obsessive. While an image may…
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Adriana knew deep down she had a drinking problem but didn’t know exactly how it had gotten so bad. She had liked drinking since high school, but for a long time, she could take it or leave it. It had started out as a weekend thing, but as work life and relationships—oh, the craziness of…
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So many drug addicts end up in prison because of the desperation this disease causes in its victims. Addicts will often commit crimes to get a fix – including the relatively minor crime of buying drugs on the street. The result is that many people who need treatment for addiction end up in prison getting…
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Morphine is a powerful opioid medication commonly used to treat certain forms of moderate and severe pain. Like all other opioid medications, it creates changes in normal brain chemistry that can potentially lead to the onset of drug addiction. In a study published in September 2014 in the journal PLOS One, a team of American…
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Binge drinking, a form of alcohol consumption geared toward the rapid attainment of legal intoxication, is a relatively common and seriously harmful behavior among older teenagers and younger adults in the U.S. In a study published in September 2014 in the journal Substance Abuse, a team of Italian and British researchers investigated the potential usefulness…
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Drug cravings are the powerful urges that repeatedly reinforce a continuing pattern of substance intake in people dealing with addiction. The presence of these urges can easily derail an attempt to maintain substance abstinence during the recovery process from cocaine addiction. In a study scheduled for publication in 2014 in the journal Addiction Biology, researchers…
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All opioids carry inherent risks when abused, from illicit heroin to the OxyContin you may be prescribed by your doctor. Prescription drug abuse is at epidemic levels in the U.S., and when users can’t get high using their typical opioid of choice, previous experience shows that they’ll switch to other prescription opioids or even heroin.…
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Energy drinks are a group of heavily caffeinated beverages commonly promoted for use as energy boosters, performance enhancers or wakefulness promoters. In the U.S., significant numbers of young people combine these stimulating beverages with alcohol, a powerful central nervous system depressant. In a study published in September 2014 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol…
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Researchers and addiction specialists know that, overall, roughly half of any person’s lifelong risk for developing a physical dependence on alcohol (i.e., alcoholism) stems from the details of his or her genetic inheritance. In recent years, research teams from the U.S. and other countries have begun to identify some of the specific genes that contribute…
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Smartphones are here to stay. Most Americans have one and for good reason. With a smartphone you can connect to the Internet and social media sites, check email, text, and make a good, old-fashioned phone call. So much convenience in the palm of your hand is hard to resist. There are problems with smartphones, too.…
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