About Addictions
Understand what addiction is, how it develops, and why it affects people differently. These foundational articles explain the science of dependency, recognising warning signs, and understanding various types of addictive behaviours.
Addiction and the Law
When it comes to addiction, our legal system faces a quandary. Drug addiction can be characterised as a state of dependence on a substance that can result in...
Addictions Through History
The human tendency towards addiction is nothing new. Indeed, it is likely that addictions have been around for as long as we have. The first literary mention...
Addictive Personalities
Addictive Personalities We've all heard of the expression 'addictive personalities', but is this just a way of excusing ourselves of our actions, choices and...
Drug Addiction in Britain
The subject of addiction receives a great deal of attention from the British media. Stories about drug abuse and gambling addiction are the most popular them...
How Do Addictions Start and What Causes Them?
This subject has provoked many debates among experts and the general conclusion has always found a selection of possible answers. It is agreed that there is...
How Does Addiction Affect Peoples' Minds?
Addiction can affect the psychological profile of the addict in a great many ways. The severity of the effects is dependent on the addict’s general health...
How Stress Can Lead to Addiction
Many of us during the course of our lives will find that we are suffering from high levels of stress. This can be caused by a great many things; financial wo...
Involuntary Addiction to Prescribed Drugs
Involuntary addiction is the process and result of a person becoming addicted to legitimately prescribed drugs given for medical reasons. The drugs that are...
Mental Health and Addictions
Mental health disorders such as depression and addictions have an interesting relationship in that either can underpin the other. For a majority of people, t...
Overcome an Addiction to Plastic Surgery
Plastic surgery is common in Britain and elsewhere in the world. Many women and men use plastic surgery to help them feel good about themselves. For most peo...
Physical Dependence on a Drug or Substance
In general terms the expression of being physically dependent on something is highly overused in everyday conversation; in professional circles however, the...
Physical Effects of Alcohol
Alcohol affects the body in many ways and if taken in excessive or frequent quantities can be particularly harmful to our biological systems and our central...
Physical Effects of Nicotine
Nicotine is a substance found naturally in plants especially the tobacco plant, it is the part of cigarettes and other tobacco products that is responsible f...
Physical Effects of Opiates
Opiates are a group of very powerful drugs often given as legitimate prescriptions for pain relief. If opiates are prescribed and managed as directed they ar...
Physical Effects of Solvents
The effects experienced from solvent abuse vary greatly depending on the individual, the type of product used, and the amount taken. What Are Solvents? Somet...
Physical Effects of Tranquillizers
Tranquillisers are chemically manufactured drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety, sleep disorders and for epilepsy treatment. They are also often used long-t...
Physiological Effects of Addiction
Each substance that causes addiction has different ways in which it may affect the body. The physical effects and changes that take place are known as the ph...
Pseudoaddiction and Misinterpretation of Symptoms
Defined in 1989 pseudo-addiction is a worrying concept that has the potential to severely disrupt people’s lives and cause great concerns, often meaning th...
Recognising You Have an Addiction
Many addictions begin with a casual or social habit that escalates until it becomes a priority in your life, while other addictions are initiated the first t...
Risks of Injecting Substances
For some drug users, the injection of recreational drugs is one way that they introduce a drug into the body. Injections are usually performed with a needle...
Step-By-Step Brain Path to Addiction
Understanding what happens in the brain is important to learning how to prevent and treat addiction. While addiction still holds the stigma that it is fully...
The Relationship Between Addiction and Crime
The relationship between addiction and crime is a complex one, and the cause of much anxiety for the authorities, and much head-scratching for sociologists....
The Role of Genetics in Addiction
Genetics is the study of hereditary factors that are passed down from parents to their children. Genetics can be characteristics of a biological nature that...
The Social Effects of Addiction
Many professionals believe the effect on society caused by addiction (particularly substance abuse) is greater than any other factor. The incidental effects...
What are the Risk Factors of an Addiction?
A risk factor is not to be confused for being the cause of an addiction it is merely an indicator of a person likelihood of becoming addicted or if the are m...
What is an Addiction?
Addiction can be very difficult to define as the term is highly over-used in everyday conversation. It is a very complex illness and could be described as a...
What is Codependency?
Co-dependency is a difficult term to describe as there are many issues and concerns surrounding this name. Thought of as a psychological concept a co-depende...