Comments on: The Many Facets of Addiction http://brainblogger.com/2009/04/25/the-many-facets-of-addiction/ Topics from multidimensional biopsychosocial perspectives Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:44:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dirk Hansonhttp://brainblogger.com/2009/04/25/the-many-facets-of-addiction/#comment-598335 Dirk Hanson Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:03:14 +0000 http://brainblogger.com/?p=2715#comment-598335 Every ten years or so we must suffer through the publication of a book like Heyman's. Meanwhile, the medical endeavor continues, and addiction science grows ever more robust. It's easy to mislabel addiction as a lifestyle choice, because that is what so many non-addicts fervently believe it to be.By the way, smoking is intimately connected to depression, perhaps more so than alcohol. Every ten years or so we must suffer through the publication of a book like Heyman’s. Meanwhile, the medical endeavor continues, and addiction science grows ever more robust. It’s easy to mislabel addiction as a lifestyle choice, because that is what so many non-addicts fervently believe it to be.

By the way, smoking is intimately connected to depression, perhaps more so than alcohol.

]]> By: Theodore A, Hoppehttp://brainblogger.com/2009/04/25/the-many-facets-of-addiction/#comment-580782 Theodore A, Hoppe Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:53:59 +0000 http://brainblogger.com/?p=2715#comment-580782 It would seem worth while to distinguish between addiction and mental illness, and to understand which causes which. Dr. Gene M. Heyman, a research psychologist at McLean's Hospital, and lecturer at Harvard Medical School argues in his new book that addiction is a matter of choice, not a disease. Using behavioral economics he shows that those with additions fail to sacrifice short-term gains (getting high) for long-term gains (sobriety-aided productivity). This behavior is endemic to a consumer culture. He argues that the causes of addiction, its control, and its potential reduction are the same as the causes, control, and reduction of all voluntary behavior. Siting the fact that 30% of suicides ever year are from the nation's pool of alcoholics is a marginal statistic at best. How many of this 600,000 were mentally ill before they were addicted to alcohol, (nicotine, caffeine or some combination of all three)? A study on alcohol dependence, by the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, demonstrated that alcoholic with depression found it harder to give up drinking, but did not have the same problem when it came to smoking cessation. "Treating depression may help people recover from alcohol use problems, although more research is needed on this topic," Ms Kodl the study's lead author suggested. It would seem worth while to distinguish between addiction and mental illness, and to understand which causes which.
Dr. Gene M. Heyman, a research psychologist at McLean’s Hospital, and lecturer at Harvard Medical School argues in his new book that addiction is a matter of choice, not a disease. Using behavioral economics he shows that those with additions fail to sacrifice short-term gains (getting high) for long-term gains (sobriety-aided productivity). This behavior is endemic to a consumer culture. He argues that the causes of addiction, its control, and its potential reduction are the same as the causes, control, and reduction of all voluntary behavior.
Siting the fact that 30% of suicides ever year are from the nation’s pool of alcoholics is a marginal statistic at best. How many of this 600,000 were mentally ill before they were addicted to alcohol, (nicotine, caffeine or some combination of all three)? A study on alcohol dependence, by the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, demonstrated that alcoholic with depression found it harder to give up drinking, but did not have the same problem when it came to smoking cessation. “Treating depression may help people recover from alcohol use problems, although more research is needed on this topic,” Ms Kodl the study’s lead author suggested.

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