How to Assess Your Teen's Risk Factors for Addiction

Dr. David Sack | June 18, 2012

Drug use is common among teenagers. By late adolescence, a recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry showed that as many as 78 percent of teens have abused alcohol and over 40 percent have used other drugs. Although these statistics are daunting, millions of teens are not using drugs. Which group does your teen belong to? How can you know?

Continue reading to learn how to assess your child's risk factors for addiction on his Huffington Post blog...

Avoiding the Weekend Relapse

Promises | July 8, 2012

As you seek to put the scourge of substance abuse behind you, you will inevitably need to go through a period of intense self-reflection. Remembering the things you did in the past while you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol will not be a pleasant experience. But it is something that you will have to do if you are to have any chance of overcoming your addiction. If you try to bury your memories instead of dealing with them they will come back to haunt you in the form of anxiety, depression, guilt, remorse, and low self-esteem, and ultimately these feelings will greatly increase your chances of relapse.

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The Dangers of Substituting One Drug for Another

The Ranch | July 8, 2012

People with substance abuse problems sometimes temporarily or permanently substitute other drugs for their primary drug of addiction. While addicts and recovering addicts typically have a number of justifications for their actions - and may even believe that switching from one drug to another is a sign of improvement - drug substitution is no less dangerous than addiction to a single main substance. In fact, it can add further danger by reinforcing the behavioral patterns that underlie drug addiction and other forms of addiction.

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Where Science Meets the Steps

Dr. David Sack will be contributing to Psychology Today in a regular blog. His goal is to "introduce a new paradigm for treating addiction - one that shows how treatment outcomes can improve when science and 12-Step recovery work as allies rather than adversaries. Together, these seemingly separate models can help heal the brain from the damage of addiction and encourage addicts to develop skills that promote lifelong recovery."

Follow Dr. Sack on Psychology Today.

Love vs. Lust: Which is It?

Sexual Recovery Institute | July 10, 2012

It's not uncommon for people to mistake lust for love. But when scientists examine what's really going on inside the brain, they can see that lust stimulates different areas than love.

A new study featured in the Journal of Sexual Medicine shows that there are principally two parts of the brain that are involved in processing passionate feelings and their eventual evolution into the experience of love. These two areas are the insular cortex, which has been linked to the processing of emotions and the striatum which is activated by reward and intense experiences.

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Fears of Addiction Treatment

The Recovery Place | July 2, 2012

Sometimes individuals trapped in an alcohol and drug addiction don't realize the damage they are causing themselves or their loved ones so they don't seek help. Other times they do, but the substance abuse has clouded their judgment enough to not try and change.

But it every now and then it happens that an individual struggling with addiction is aware of their struggle and ready to rid their lives of its damage, but the fears that accompany drug rehab treatment deter them from taking that first step into a residential treatment facility.

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