Understanding Addiction

Hi people. I’m sorry I’ve been so out of touch. There isn’t one particular reason, but several things have conspired to keep me busy. The last actual post was a cut-and-paste from Arne, a reader, on August 25th, and the last one I wrote myself was on August 17th. Both posts got a LOT of […] (Read the rest.)

I recently got the following comment from a reader, Arne. I think it opens up a fascinating and important discussion. And a challenge to think beyond the usual pros and cons. Here it is, lightly edited, with Arne’s permission: ………………………….. Submitted on 2012/08/22 at 2:56 pm Marc, I’ve been working on a drug education video series […] (Read the rest.)

I am finally caught up! My inbox is clear for the first time since October. I have no classes to teach until after January. I just completed a draft outline for my next book (at 4:30 AM, somewhat hungover). And I’m now starting to communicate with the many people who sent me amazing stories. There […] (Read the rest.)

Last post I reviewed a study showing powerful correlations between traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence and addictive behaviours in adulthood. Although several readers found significant holes in the research, the study maintains a fair bit of respectability, and besides, if we look at our own lives, I think we often see clear connections between […] (Read the rest.)

A while back I promised to survey the three most common models of addiction – disease, choice, and self-medication – and say something about the advantages and weaknesses of each. I got hung up on the choice model for a few posts: there’s so much there to think about. But now let’s look at self-medication […] (Read the rest.)