Could increasing Internet use help explain the recent surge in prescription drug misuse in the U.S.? That’s the hypothesis put forth by a new study published in Health Affairs.
Addiction
Perspective: The Debate Over Anonymity in Addiction Recovery
Should addicts and alcoholics remain anonymous about their recovery? Eighteen years ago this month, I wrote my first op-ed for the Washington Post‘s Sunday Outlook section, arguing against that idea. It was headlined “Addicted to …
Happy Hour? ‘Wet Houses’ Allow Alcoholics to Drink, With Surprising Results
It sounds like an alcoholic’s vision of heaven: a free place to live, paid expenses (mostly), and an ample supply of booze. But the reality of “wet houses” for homeless alcoholics looks more like hell, even as these programs — …
Defining Recovery in Anorexia — and Addiction
How do you define recovery from anorexia? Tuesday’s New York Times explores this question — and highlights striking similarities to the debate over defining recovery from alcoholism and other drug addictions.
Perspective: Why Comparing Painkiller Addiction to Crack Worsens the Problem
As the Obama administration and the media increasingly promote the idea that prescription drug misuse is this generation’s crack epidemic, I want to take a few minutes to note how irresponsible and off-base this idea is.
U.S. Aims to Reduce Overdose Deaths, But Will the New Plan Work?
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday a new initiative to reduce prescription painkiller misuse and overdose, a problem that has become the leading cause of accidental death in 17 states, surpassing car accidents — and …
Hooked on Addiction: From Food to Drugs to Internet Porn
America is having an addiction moment. Media headlines scream daily about new neuroscience findings on porn addiction, Internet addiction, food addiction and plain, old-fashioned drug addiction.
Heroin vs. Häagen-Dazs: What Food Addiction Looks Like in the Brain
Is Häagen-Dazs ice cream as addictive as heroin? Or, put another way, is heroin as addictive as Häagen-Dazs?
From Heroin to IVF: A Healthland Contributor’s ‘Needle Exchange’
“The last time I gave myself an injection, the needle held heroin,” writes Healthland’s Maia Szalavitz in an honest, insightful essay that appears on the new addiction and recovery-themed site The Fix. Twenty-two years after …
Does Narconon’s Addiction Rehab Really Work?
In a field in which the meetings and prayers of 12-step treatment are among the most accepted ways to help people with drug addiction, consumers have little way of knowing which rehabs are genuinely evidence-based and which …
Appreciation: G. Alan Marlatt Brought Compassion to Addiction Treatment
Many people claim to be pioneers in addiction treatment, but few have left a more important legacy than G. Alan Marlatt, professor of psychology at University of Washington, who died of melanoma on March 14, at age 69.
Is Dr. Drew More Like Charlie Sheen than He Thinks?
Could Dr. Drew Pinsky be following Charlie Sheen off the rails? Recently the “Celebrity Rehab” host claimed that Sheen was “in an acute manic state” — a public statement which teeters on the bounds of psychiatric ethics (more …
Addict or Bipolar? Examining the ‘Passion’ of Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen’s public meltdown–media blitz continues, with riveting interviews aired on morning shows on NBC and ABC; a volatile, rambling conversation streamed on TMZ.com; and a more restrained appearance on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight.
