Is addiction a disease? From a medical perspective, are substance use disorders (SUDs) on par with, say, heart disease—if not, how do they differ? Source: Jesse Orrico/Unsplash These questions are ...

The conversation around addiction has evolved dramatically over recent decades, with medical and scientific communities now firmly classifying it as a chronic brain disorder rather than a moral ...

For many decades, it's been widely accepted that alcoholism (or addiction) is a disease. The "disease concept" is taught in addiction training programs and to patients in treatment programs. It is ...

For many addicts, guilt and shame are two emotions that keep them from seeking help. Their problem, they mistakenly believe, is a moral failing, a result of a lack of willpower that they don’t see ...

For years, addiction was seen as a matter of personal failure—a bad habit or a lack of discipline. People believed those who struggled with substance abuse could stop if they simply wanted to. But ...

A widely accepted assumption in the addiction field is that neuroanatomical changes observed in young people who use alcohol or other substances are largely the consequence of exposure to these ...

I have an advantage, or maybe a disadvantage, compared with some scientists and psychologists who work on addiction. I was addicted to booze and benzos for 20 years on and off, from the late 1970s ...

Treatment also is useless unless it’s accompanied by life change, Walter said. People need “recovery capital” to succeed — ...