About Addictions

Articles explaining how addictions develop and their impact on physical and mental health. Topics include genetic factors, dependency patterns, and recognising addiction symptoms in yourself or others.

Addiction and the Law

How should courts handle crimes committed by people with addiction when they may not be fully in control of their actions.

Addictions Through History

Humans have struggled with addiction for thousands of years, from alcohol in ancient times to opium and coca leaves across different civilisations.

Addictive Personalities

Some personality types and life circumstances make addiction more likely, though science hasn't proven a simple cause-and-effect relationship.

Drug Addiction in Britain

Drug addiction in Britain is more nuanced than media coverage suggests, with smoking, drinking and gambling rates actually declining in recent years.

How Do Addictions Start and What Causes Them?

Addiction usually starts with simple triggers like social situations or prescribed drugs, then develops through psychological cravings and dependence.

How Does Addiction Affect Peoples' Minds?

Addiction changes how the brain works, affecting behaviour, emotions and personality in ways that depend on the substance and individual circumstances.

How Stress Can Lead to Addiction

Stress can push people toward addiction, especially with alcohol and cigarettes, as a way to cope with emotional strain.

Involuntary Addiction to Prescribed Drugs

How prescribed medications for pain, anxiety and depression can lead to unexpected addiction and withdrawal symptoms.

Mental Health and Addictions

Depression and addiction often feed off each other, making treatment more complex when someone struggles with both at the same time.

Overcome an Addiction to Plastic Surgery

When plastic surgery becomes an obsession, it can damage self-esteem and mental health, here's how to recognise and break the cycle.

Physical Dependence on a Drug or Substance

Physical dependence happens when your body needs a substance to function normally and develops withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it.

Physical Effects of Alcohol

How alcohol damages your stomach, liver, and nervous system when consumed in excess.

Physical Effects of Nicotine

Nicotine raises your heart rate and blood pressure, triggers dopamine release in the brain, and creates the physical sensations that make smoking addictive.

Physical Effects of Opiates

Opiates block pain signals in the brain and body, but misuse can lead to addiction with serious physical side effects.

Physical Effects of Solvents

Solvent abuse can cause intoxication, accidents, and sudden death even from a single use, with effects varying by person and product type.

Physical Effects of Tranquillizers

Tranquilizers slow your nervous system and can cause drowsiness, memory problems, and dangerous reactions when mixed with other drugs.

Physiological Effects of Addiction

How different addictive substances change your body and brain, from caffeine jitters to alcohol's damage to your organs.

Pseudoaddiction and Misinterpretation of Symptoms

Pseudo-addiction happens when healthcare providers mistake pain patients' requests for relief as drug-seeking behaviour, leaving them undertreated.

Recognising You Have an Addiction

Signs of addiction include physical symptoms like weight loss and nausea, plus warning signals in relationships, work, and daily life.

Risks of Injecting Substances

Injecting drugs carries serious health risks including rapid addiction, disease transmission through shared needles, and severe withdrawal symptoms.

Step-By-Step Brain Path to Addiction

How addiction rewires your brain's reward system and why it's a medical condition, not a personal failure.

The Relationship Between Addiction and Crime

How addiction and crime intersect, from funding habits to legal punishment versus treatment options.

The Role of Genetics in Addiction

Your genes can make you more susceptible to addiction through inherited brain chemistry and receptor differences.

The Social Effects of Addiction

Addiction breaks down families, fuels domestic violence, and damages education by creating financial strain, relationship breakdown, and absenteeism.

What Are the Risk Factors of an Addiction?

Understanding what makes someone more likely to develop an addiction, from peer pressure to family environment and genetics.

What Is an Addiction?

Addiction is a complex condition involving dependence on substances or behaviours that disrupts your life and causes withdrawal symptoms when stopped.

What Is Codependency?

Codependency is excessive caretaking rooted in childhood trauma or strict family environments that affects how you relate to others as an adult.