Saturday, December 26th, 2009
I keep referring to the fact that I don't believe in quick fixes for addiction.
My crystal meth addiction
Partially, this is due to research I've been exposed to that shows changes in the brain that are very long lasting. As I'd mentioned in an earlier post about crystal meth use, it can ...
Posted in Drugs, Opinions, Stories, Treatment | 3 Comments »
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
We've known for a while that genes play a role in addiction in general and that nicotine is addictive at least in part because it activates receptors for a chemical called Acetylcholine (ACh) that are found all over the brain and body. Nevertheless, finding the specific mechanism for the genetic ...
Posted in Education | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
In my studies of addiction, the concept of cravings comes up often. Researchers talk of "wanting" versus "liking" of drugs and of the idea that cravings are a programmed response to environmental signals that have been connected to drug use through experience.
What are cravings?
I agree with these descriptions and the ...
Posted in Education, For addicts, Tips | No Comments »
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
I was working on the first chapter of my book today and the issue of choice plays a prominent part in it. I'm a little pissed at Dr. Heyman, whose name sounds like something a stoner might say, about his book, "Addiction - A disorder of choice".
The thing is that ...
Posted in Drugs, Education, Opinions | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
I just read a comment on another blogger's post about the neuroscience of sex addiction. The commenter just couldn't understand why an addict's behavior could be rationalized by neuroscience when so many other people have little problem, even when exposed to sex, drugs, or whatnot.
It seems simple to me, but ...
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
So,
We've talked about the general way in which neurons in the brain communicate with one another and then reviewed the ways in which cocaine messes some of the basic processes that the brain depends on.
It's time to move on to another drug, and since the brain-addiction connection is similar for ...
Posted in Drugs, Drugs, Education, Meth | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Okay, so we've covered how the brain's neurons communicate with one another normally; now let's learn about how drugs mess things up to produce their specific effects. Since the brain-addiction relationship is different for different drugs, we'll do this one by one, starting with cocaine:
Cocaine
One of the most commonly abused ...
Posted in Cocaine, Drugs, Education | No Comments »
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