Problematic drinking is a touchy issue. Definitions of ‘normal’ drinking patterns vary from person to person, on a scale that runs from total abstinence to daily consumption. One person’s definition of problematic drinking is another’s definition of ‘business as usual’.
When dependence sets in, alcohol takes over the central role in someone’s life and they usually end up giving up important activities and relationships. As dependence becomes established, people end up spending most of their time thinking about alcohol or engaging in activities necessary to use, or to recover, from the effects of drinking.
Understanding
ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
Alcohol is More Dangerous Than Heroin
Video
Professor David Nutt was infamously sacked from his role as Chief Drugs Advisor after publishing a report in the Lancet which challenged the government's policy on drugs, stating that alcohol is in fact more dangerous than heroin.
The pleasure derived from success is borne of the very same brain pathways that make substance use so irresistible to some. Traits that make a good CEO are exactly those that make a ‘good’ addict.
A short documentary looking at life the stories of eight alcoholics from their first drink, to their rock bottom, and then to their recovery. Director Mikey Trotter asks ‘what makes alcoholics drink’ and ‘how do you try and get sober.'
Clues from our distant ancestral past suggest that an attraction to alcohol may once have conferred an evolutionary advantage, and explain the the mystery of why we humans are often compelled to consume what is essentially a toxin.
In this piece from The Guardian one woman speaks candidly about her experiences of blacking out after too much alcohol, and too many times, waking up in a stranger’s bed.
BBC's Weird Nature series shows how Vervet Monkeys in the Caribbean have taken to stealing cocktails from people on the beach. Studies show that they have the same percentage of teetotal and alcoholic individuals as the human population.
Fry never took cocaine while he was working, on a stage or in a television studio. He would call it, rather creepily, the ‘pudding’ that would give him an extra 'reward' afterwards.
In this piece form Buzzfeed, Patrick Strudwick investigates the hidden world of "chemsex", following the conviction of Stephen Port for the rape, drugging, and murder of four young men.
In making the drug illegal, the government only succeeded in compromising its quality and hiking up its price, making it not only more unaffordable, but more dangerous.
Honey, it just doesn't work if it's not on the internet
Video
Patrick Carnes is a best-selling author and a leading proponent of the viewpoint that some sexual behaviour can be seen as an addiction. Indeed it was Carnes who popularised the term 'sex addiction'.
Stuart Adams has a long history of addictive behaviour, particularly problem gambling. Now receiving counselling through GamCare he is attempting to turn his life around.
Drugs, alcohol, exercise, sex, pornography, gambling....It seems anything pleasurable can become addictive, but how to draw the line between a harmless hobby and a problem? What elements of treatment are most important in helping tackle addictions?
How cracking down on prescription peddling pain clinics created an even more devastating epidemic that remains ongoing and growing to this day: an eruption of widespread heroin addiction
This BBC Newsnight report asks if the prescription drug addiction problem sweeping the United States could be replicated in the UK. With interviews with people who have struggled with addiction, and those offering help and support.
Did cocaine use by bankers cause the financial crisis?
Best Of The Web
Geraint Anderson, renegade stockbroker author of ‘Cityboy’, reflects on former drug tsar David Nutt’s opinion piece suggesting that coked-up bankers were responsible for the credit crunch.
What happens inside the brain of a gambling addict when they make a bet - and can the secret to their addiction be found within the brain itself? BBC Panorama filmed a unique experiment designed to find out.
Researchers in Germany dubbed a certain variant of the CAMK4 gene the ‘cocaine gene' after discovering that cocaine addicts were 25% more likely to carry this variant than non-users.
Reported cases of sex addiction in America are now in the millions. Some estimates suggest 3 to 5% of the American population, including stories of ordinary folk . . . like the Doherty’s from San Antonio
Your Brain on Porn - Scary Effects of Porn Addiction
Video
Scientists in the field of neuroscience and brain imaging are showing in study after study that high speed internet porn can change the brain just like drug addiction. This wreaks havoc on the reward/pleasure system in the brain resulting in devastating effects.
While controversy over its definition – and even its very existence – continues to foment, sex addiction, all too often steeped in shame and guilt, is a very real problem that has a spectacular ability to destroy lives and relationships.
This piece from The Independent reveals that as far back as 2000 there was significant cause for concern that alcohol and drug taking in the legal professions was undermining public faith.
The reason behind the difference in MDMA’s biological interactivity for men and women is due to women typically having lower body mass indexes, but not adjusting their dosages appropriately to account for this.
Ketamine has been on the club scene for decades, although only quite recently are its debilitating long-term side effects coming to light. But it's also a life saver in developing countries where it serves as a cheap and available anaesthetic.
The detrimental physical effects of cocaine are well documented, but lesser known is its neurological impact on brain functioning, in areas such as attention span, decision-making and memory.
Bruce Parry spends time with workers of an illegal cocaine-making factory located deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Remarkable footage from BBC documentary Amazon with Bruce Parry.
Powder cocaine has a stereotyped reputation as the ‘recreational’ drug of choice for rich high-flyers in pressured jobs, but recreation can quickly become a destructive dependency. What are the reasons for this, and how can problematic use be alleviated with treatment?
Gambling is all around us, whether in casinos and betting shops, or in the growing number of online bingo and roulette websites. What determines who can keep it to the odd flutter, and for whom gambling can get out of control?
Toxicologist Richard Church has a simple warning for young party-goers who may think the club drug 'Molly', an allegedly pure form of MDMA, is safe. "Don't trust your drug dealer," says Dr Church. Molly is not the Molly they thought it was. It is not pure.
Tinder has skyrocketed in popularity since its inception in 2012. Its trajectory has proven remarkable: within two short years it was registering about one billion ‘swipes’ per day opening up a whole new world of internet assisted casual sex.
There's a tendency in economics to think that financial risk-taking is a purely cognitive activity, but as Dr John Coates explains, it's more quirky than that. Young male city traders on a winning streak shift their risk preferences and take on too much risk.
When asked which drug kills the most users per year what springs to mind? Heroin? Cocaine? Certainly not Paracetamol. But prescription drug abuse is responsible for a significant number of drug related deaths across the globe.
Alex Aldridge, a freelance journalist writing in The Guardian, reflects on the implication given by the BBC drama Silk that cocaine use is rife in the legal profession.
Nina Lakhani, reporting for The Independent, asks how an unchecked culture of legal drug addiction has been allowed to flourish, with two million addicted to tranquillisers, and many thousands abusing over-the-counter painkillers.
“The NHS is severely impaired in its ability to address new pathologies such as problem gambling, because it is having to spend all its money on drug and alcohol treatment” says psychiatrist Henrietta Bowden-Jones.
Investigating this piece for The Mail on Sunday, Laura Topham discovered how ketamine, previously the preserve of hardcore clubbers, has became hugely popular with Britain's young upper classes.
The drug ketamine is mainly used as an anaesthetic, particularly in emergency medicine. But in some countries, it's become popular as a recreational drug. China is one — the authorities there say its use is soaring among young people — while its price continues to drop.
Ferris Jabr, reporting for Scientific American, discovers that pathological gamblers and drug addicts share many of the same genetic predispositions for impulsivity and reward seeking.
Professor David Nutt was infamously sacked from his role as Chief Drugs Advisor after publishing a report in the Lancet which challenged the government's policy on drugs, stating that alcohol is in fact more dangerous than heroin.
The pleasure derived from success is borne of the very same brain pathways that make substance use so irresistible to some. Traits that make a good CEO are exactly those that make a ‘good’ addict.
A short documentary looking at life the stories of eight alcoholics from their first drink, to their rock bottom, and then to their recovery. Director Mikey Trotter asks ‘what makes alcoholics drink’ and ‘how do you try and get sober.'
Clues from our distant ancestral past suggest that an attraction to alcohol may once have conferred an evolutionary advantage, and explain the the mystery of why we humans are often compelled to consume what is essentially a toxin.
In this piece from The Guardian one woman speaks candidly about her experiences of blacking out after too much alcohol, and too many times, waking up in a stranger’s bed.
BBC's Weird Nature series shows how Vervet Monkeys in the Caribbean have taken to stealing cocktails from people on the beach. Studies show that they have the same percentage of teetotal and alcoholic individuals as the human population.
Fry never took cocaine while he was working, on a stage or in a television studio. He would call it, rather creepily, the ‘pudding’ that would give him an extra 'reward' afterwards.
In this piece form Buzzfeed, Patrick Strudwick investigates the hidden world of "chemsex", following the conviction of Stephen Port for the rape, drugging, and murder of four young men.
In making the drug illegal, the government only succeeded in compromising its quality and hiking up its price, making it not only more unaffordable, but more dangerous.
Honey, it just doesn't work if it's not on the internet
Video
Patrick Carnes is a best-selling author and a leading proponent of the viewpoint that some sexual behaviour can be seen as an addiction. Indeed it was Carnes who popularised the term 'sex addiction'.
Stuart Adams has a long history of addictive behaviour, particularly problem gambling. Now receiving counselling through GamCare he is attempting to turn his life around.
Drugs, alcohol, exercise, sex, pornography, gambling....It seems anything pleasurable can become addictive, but how to draw the line between a harmless hobby and a problem? What elements of treatment are most important in helping tackle addictions?
How cracking down on prescription peddling pain clinics created an even more devastating epidemic that remains ongoing and growing to this day: an eruption of widespread heroin addiction
This BBC Newsnight report asks if the prescription drug addiction problem sweeping the United States could be replicated in the UK. With interviews with people who have struggled with addiction, and those offering help and support.
Did cocaine use by bankers cause the financial crisis?
Best Of The Web
Geraint Anderson, renegade stockbroker author of ‘Cityboy’, reflects on former drug tsar David Nutt’s opinion piece suggesting that coked-up bankers were responsible for the credit crunch.
What happens inside the brain of a gambling addict when they make a bet - and can the secret to their addiction be found within the brain itself? BBC Panorama filmed a unique experiment designed to find out.
Researchers in Germany dubbed a certain variant of the CAMK4 gene the ‘cocaine gene' after discovering that cocaine addicts were 25% more likely to carry this variant than non-users.
Reported cases of sex addiction in America are now in the millions. Some estimates suggest 3 to 5% of the American population, including stories of ordinary folk . . . like the Doherty’s from San Antonio
Your Brain on Porn - Scary Effects of Porn Addiction
Video
Scientists in the field of neuroscience and brain imaging are showing in study after study that high speed internet porn can change the brain just like drug addiction. This wreaks havoc on the reward/pleasure system in the brain resulting in devastating effects.
While controversy over its definition – and even its very existence – continues to foment, sex addiction, all too often steeped in shame and guilt, is a very real problem that has a spectacular ability to destroy lives and relationships.
This piece from The Independent reveals that as far back as 2000 there was significant cause for concern that alcohol and drug taking in the legal professions was undermining public faith.
The reason behind the difference in MDMA’s biological interactivity for men and women is due to women typically having lower body mass indexes, but not adjusting their dosages appropriately to account for this.
Ketamine has been on the club scene for decades, although only quite recently are its debilitating long-term side effects coming to light. But it's also a life saver in developing countries where it serves as a cheap and available anaesthetic.
The detrimental physical effects of cocaine are well documented, but lesser known is its neurological impact on brain functioning, in areas such as attention span, decision-making and memory.
Bruce Parry spends time with workers of an illegal cocaine-making factory located deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Remarkable footage from BBC documentary Amazon with Bruce Parry.
Powder cocaine has a stereotyped reputation as the ‘recreational’ drug of choice for rich high-flyers in pressured jobs, but recreation can quickly become a destructive dependency. What are the reasons for this, and how can problematic use be alleviated with treatment?
Gambling is all around us, whether in casinos and betting shops, or in the growing number of online bingo and roulette websites. What determines who can keep it to the odd flutter, and for whom gambling can get out of control?
Toxicologist Richard Church has a simple warning for young party-goers who may think the club drug 'Molly', an allegedly pure form of MDMA, is safe. "Don't trust your drug dealer," says Dr Church. Molly is not the Molly they thought it was. It is not pure.
Tinder has skyrocketed in popularity since its inception in 2012. Its trajectory has proven remarkable: within two short years it was registering about one billion ‘swipes’ per day opening up a whole new world of internet assisted casual sex.
There's a tendency in economics to think that financial risk-taking is a purely cognitive activity, but as Dr John Coates explains, it's more quirky than that. Young male city traders on a winning streak shift their risk preferences and take on too much risk.
When asked which drug kills the most users per year what springs to mind? Heroin? Cocaine? Certainly not Paracetamol. But prescription drug abuse is responsible for a significant number of drug related deaths across the globe.
Alex Aldridge, a freelance journalist writing in The Guardian, reflects on the implication given by the BBC drama Silk that cocaine use is rife in the legal profession.
Nina Lakhani, reporting for The Independent, asks how an unchecked culture of legal drug addiction has been allowed to flourish, with two million addicted to tranquillisers, and many thousands abusing over-the-counter painkillers.
“The NHS is severely impaired in its ability to address new pathologies such as problem gambling, because it is having to spend all its money on drug and alcohol treatment” says psychiatrist Henrietta Bowden-Jones.
Investigating this piece for The Mail on Sunday, Laura Topham discovered how ketamine, previously the preserve of hardcore clubbers, has became hugely popular with Britain's young upper classes.
The drug ketamine is mainly used as an anaesthetic, particularly in emergency medicine. But in some countries, it's become popular as a recreational drug. China is one — the authorities there say its use is soaring among young people — while its price continues to drop.
Ferris Jabr, reporting for Scientific American, discovers that pathological gamblers and drug addicts share many of the same genetic predispositions for impulsivity and reward seeking.
As a high functioning addict, you may not be willing take a month out of work and life for rehab, or reveal all within a 12 step group. While rehab is entirely appropriate in some cases, we provide an alternative approach to help individuals overcome addiction within the context of their everyday lives.
We treat individuals using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is proven to work for addictions. CBT assumes that learned behaviour and habitual thinking patterns play an important role in the development and persistence of addiction, and changing these patterns can help individuals break their addiction and move forward.
Central to the way we work is the ‘psychological formulation’ – a diagnostic and analytical tool which explores in detail each individual’s situation, and what’s really going on. It reveals the triggers, drivers and contributing factors that led to and sustain the addiction, and helps us understand how to treat it most effectively.
There are two effective approaches to relapse prevention, and we employ a combination of the two. The first is a practical, CBT-based approach. The second applies the practice of mindfulness to develop a calm awareness of urges and the ability to experience discomfort without giving in to them.
