Parents have a powerful influence on their children’s choices, setting the tone for values and behavior. How can a concerned parent help prevent substance abuse and/or help kids in addiction recovery? The National Institutes of Health offers suggestions including early awareness and intervention, family bonding, and supervision of children’s activities.
Charlotte Kasl, psychologist and author of Women, Sex and Addiction: A Search for Love and Power, has been interested throughout her career in issues such as sexism, classism, racism and homophobia and has written of the connection between sexual assault and addiction, particularly in the lives of women. She has consulted on and contributed as…
The amount of money spent while gambling helps predict the appearance of problematic gambling behaviors, researchers from The Australian National University and Southern Cross University have found.
Exposure to various forms of adversity, including conflict between parents, can make it more difficult for young children to recognize and control emotions, according to new research from the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.
Can you imagine yourself getting plastic surgery? If you’re young, you might say no. As you get older, though, you start to think that a little nip, a little liposuction, a little Botox can’t hurt and isn’t going too far. Plastic surgery is more popular than ever. Blame it on our materialistic culture, our youth…
Substance addiction is a well-established concept long recognized by mental health professionals, researchers and the general public. Behavioral addiction is a form of recently acknowledged, non-substance-based addiction that has a strong scientific foundation but relatively little recognition in society as a whole. In a study published in November 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, a…
The second in a two-part series. Among the more than 6 million American children estimated to suffer from a serious mental disorder are the cases that elude clear-and-quick diagnosis. These elusive diagnoses can happen when multiple conditions camouflage or overlap the traits of one another. And the parents of those youths can face years of…
A mother struggles a decade before her son’s severe mental illness is treated right, and covered right, by insurance. First in a two-part series.
For a recovering alcoholic or addict, learning to find balance can be particularly challenging. Leading a balanced life means avoiding extreme highs or lows. It also means paying attention to tendencies that many addicts have to focus or obsess too much on one activity, such as exercise or work. When the scales are tipped too…
Humans are complicated beings whose attitudes and behaviors are shaped by numerous factors. These factors might be biological, psychological, social, or spiritual. Some are primarily neurobiological, others environmental. Sometimes these components combine to form one or more of the personality disorders in a trifecta of sociopathy, narcissism and borderline personality disorder.