Addiction

Individuals addicted to cocaine may have difficulty in controlling their addiction because of a previously-unknown 'back door' into the brain, circumventing their self-control, suggests a new study led by the University of Cambridge. A second study from the team suggests...

Nonmedical use of prescription opioids (a.k.a.: pain-killers, narcotics) such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycontin has become increasingly problematic in recent years with increases nation-wide in overdoses, hospital treatment admissions, and deaths. Use also appears to be contributing to heroin initiation,...

In the early years of my clinical practice as a psychologist treating heroin users, I commonly saw adolescents and young adults using heroin as their first drug. A typical client was a male in his mid-teens, perhaps a runaway or...

Public health policies targeted at smokers may actually have the opposite effect for some people trying to quit, according to new evidence released today (Nov. 2). Research indicates that stigmatizing smoking can, in some cases, make it harder for people...

A recent study in PLOS One documents differences between smokers and non-smokers on measures of mindfulness and subjective well-being. Participants in the study included 97 smokers and 84 non-smokers residing in Brazil; chi-square analysis determined no differences between the two...

Girls who suffer a concussive bump on the head in childhood could be at increased risk for abusing alcohol as adults, a new study suggests. The research in mice found that females with a mild closed-head brain injury were more...

From 2003 to 2013, the percentage of nonmedical use of prescription opioids decreased among adults in the U.S., while the prevalence of prescription opioid use disorders, frequency of use, and related deaths increased, according to a study in the October...

A malfunctioning enzyme may be a reason that binge drinking increases the odds of alcoholism, according to a study by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The scientists identified a previously unsuspected job performed by the enzyme, ALDH1a1,...

Giving up’s no longer just for Lent. Campaigns asking us to quit vices like drinking and smoking for a month, sometimes in aid of charity and sometimes for our own good, are now frequent features of our calendar. As well...

Once used in the 18th century as currency to reverse the trade imbalance between China and Britain, morphine and its pain-killing qualities have been misunderstood (and misused) almost continually ever since. The drug works its euphoric effect by acting on...

Adolescents who live in rural areas and small towns and cities are more likely to abuse prescription painkillers than adolescents who live in large urban areas, according to sociologists. Adolescents -- youths between 12 and 17 -- in rural communities...

The latest issue of Biological Psychiatry presents the results of three studies implicating metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) as a new molecular target for the treatment of addiction. Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors, which include the subtypes mGluR2 and mGluR3,...

New research published in Psychology of Music suggests there may be a link between various types of music and cravings for addictive substances. It is well known that music is strongly related to emotions, and research has also shown a...