Steve Granitz / WireImage / Getty Images
+Viewpoint | May 21, 2012

The Case of Cameron Douglas: Prison Is Not Rehab, Say Addiction Experts

By Maia Szalavitz

An unusually harsh prison sentence handed down to the drug-addicted son of actor Michael Douglas has prompted addiction experts to indict the courts for ignoring the treatment needs of inmates.

+Mental Health | May 14, 2012

DSM-5 Could Categorize 40% of College Students as Alcoholics

By Maia Szalavitz
Valentin Casarsa / Vetta / Getty Images

Most college binge drinkers and drug users don’t develop lifelong problems. But new mental-health guidelines will label too many of them addicts and alcoholics.

+Psychology | May 3, 2012

DSM-5 Debate: Committee Backs Off Some Changes, Re-Opens Comments

By Maia Szalavitz
dsm

The committee responsible for revising the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — psychiatry’s diagnostic “bible” commonly referred to as the DSM — has dropped the inclusion of two controversial new diagnoses that it had previously proposed, and re-opened its website for public comment on other potential revisions.

+Addiction | April 26, 2012

Can Addictive Behaviors Be Predicted in Preschool?

By Maia Szalavitz
Christopher Bissell / Getty Images

Children’s behavior at age 3 offers some surprising clues about their risk of developing addictive behaviors like problem gambling or drug misuse in their 30s

+Addiction | April 12, 2012

Zapping Memories of Drug Addiction Without Medication

By Maia Szalavitz
Visuals Unlimited, Inc. / Victor Habbick / Getty Images

Medications may not be needed to eliminate the drug-related memories that trigger relapse in addicts. Appropriately timed behavioral interventions may do the trick, according to new research published in Science.

+Public Health | April 11, 2012

TEDMED: How the Power of Self-Identity Affects Your Health

By Maia Szalavitz
Newton Daly / Getty Images

When is a label a badge of honor, and when is it a harmful stigma of sickness or deviance?

+Addiction | April 5, 2012

Can Food Really Be Addictive? Yes, Says National Drug Expert

By Maia Szalavitz
Jasper White / Getty Images

Compare the proportion of obese people in America to those who are addicted to drugs and then try to argue that food isn’t as addictive as crack cocaine, says Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

+Alcohol | March 22, 2012

How Getting Tipsy May Inspire Creativity

By Maia Szalavitz
Alberto Ruggieri / Getty Images

A new study finds that men who got moderately drunk on vodka cranberries did better on tests of inspired thinking.

+Addiction | March 16, 2012

Sexually Frustrated Flies Are Driven to Drink

By Maia Szalavitz
UCSF / AP

When she says no, the bottle beckons more brightly — for men and for fruit flies, according to a new study that found that male flies that had been repeatedly spurned by females were more likely to turn to alcohol to self-medicate their frustration.

+Pregnancy | March 8, 2012

Study Linking Abortion to Mental Health Problems Is Flawed

By Alexandra Sifferlin
FUSE / GETTY IMAGES

A psychiatry journal has distanced itself from a controversial and widely cited study it published in 2009 linking abortions with mental health problems in women.