Today is the final day of Recovery Month, during which we celebrated those who are overcoming addictions. But as the month winds down, the question of how best to spur recovery remains. One New York program, Exponents, has …
Addiction
Viewpoint: Why Dr. Feelgood Isn’t Always Wrong
Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, is currently on trial in Los Angeles for involuntary manslaughter, two years after the death of the singer — of “acute propofol intoxication” — was officially ruled a …
How Understanding Drug Addiction Can Motivate You to Exercise
Much has been made of the “runner’s high,” the euphoria attributed to pleasure-inducing neurotransmitters like dopamine and endorphins (the brain’s endogenous opiates) being released in the brain during exercise. But the question …
The Hungry Brain: Why Food Looks Tastier on an Empty Stomach
It’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry, because you’re more likely to buy junky, fattening foods. Now a new brain scan study shows why: your brain craves junk food more on an empty stomach.
Fueled by Growing Painkiller Use, Overdose Deaths and Child Poisonings Are on the Rise
Drug overdose has now overtaken automobile crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., according to an analysis of government data. This is the first time that drugs have killed more people than car wrecks since …
It’s No Joke: Why Laughter Kills Pain
What do joke-lovers and junkies have in common? According to new research, they’re both responding to the same kind of “high.” The study suggests that genuine laughter releases endorphins in the brain, chemicals that activate the …
How We Cope: What Do Addiction Rates After 9/11 Tell Us?
We may never know the true death toll of 9/11, nor the full extent of the psychological trauma the terrorist attacks caused. But by looking at rates of alcohol and other drug use among those who were directly and indirectly …
Viewpoint: Why Tough-Love Rehab Won’t Die
Despite decades of research showing the harmfulness of coercive rehab for addiction, these abusive, tough-love programs refuse to go away.
On Overdose Awareness Day, a Mother’s Plea for Compassion
Marilee Murphy Odendahl wants you to know a few things about her son, Ian. “He was marvelously funny, loyal, extremely intelligent and a really good observer of human behavior, so much that you wouldn’t necessarily like to be the …
Does Drug Testing the Poor Do Anything to Reduce Addiction?
In one of the most emailed articles this week on TIME.com, legal columnist Adam Cohen questions the constitutionality and financial benefit of a new Florida law that requires welfare applicants to take a drug test for …
Q&A: How Pleasure Works
How does the brain create the experience of joy and desire? That’s the subject of David Linden’s new book, The Compass of Pleasure. A professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Linden studies …
Viewpoint: Smoke a Joint, Lose Your Child?
People caught with small amounts of marijuana in New York State are supposed to receive no more than a $100 fine, the equivalent of a traffic ticket. Instead, in New York City, many such people are being accused of child neglect, …
Why the New Definition of Addiction, as ‘Brain Disease,’ Falls Short
In 1956, the American Medical Association declared alcoholism a “disease.” More than half a century later, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has proclaimed addiction, including alcoholism and “process” addictions …