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Addiction (including recent related patents.)
AddictionAddiction is a non-medical term used to describe an uncontrollable compulsion to repeat a behavior, often despite its negative consequences. A person who is addicted is known as an addict. Many drugs or behaviors can precipitate a set of medical conditions that include a craving for more of the drug or behavior, increasing tolerance of higher exposures, and pain or discomfort upon terminating use (called withdrawal). Because these drugs/behaviors have the potential to provide physical or psychological pleasure, or release from pain, they are capable of causing dependency in those who participate in their use. The term "addiction" is no longer employed as a diagnostic term, and has been replaced with "dependence." Addictions include those to: There is no longer any significant debate over whether eating disorders are addictions: they are often characterised by strong elements of addictive behaviour. Many people experience withdrawal or withdrawal-like symptoms if they alter their diet suddenly, suggesting that some common food substances - eg. chocolate, artificial sweeteners, and sugar - may have the potential for addiction. The medical establishment makes a distinction between physical and psychological addictions. Physical addictions lead to physical symptoms upon withdrawal. Psychological addictions lead to psychological symptoms upon withdrawal. The distinction should not be taken to mean that psychological addictions are easier to break than physical ones. Moreover, most addictions have both physical and psychological components. Breaking any addiction is very hard, otherwise it wouldn't be an addiction. The speed with which a given individual becomes addicted to varies with the substance, the frequency and means of ingestion, and the individual. Some alcoholics say that they drank in an alcoholic way from the moment of first intoxication, while most people can drink socially without ever becoming addicted. Nicotine is considered by many to be the most addictive substance of all. Several explanations (or "models") have been presented to explain addiction:
The word addiction is also sometimes used jokingly to refer to something a person has a passion for. Such "addicts" include: Although the term is used loosely rather than seriously, there may actually be a light component of addiction involved. Pleasureable activities cause the release of endorphins, and this endorphin-rush can conceivably become 'addictive'. If such addictions do develop, then they may well be part of the brain's natural system for ensuring that humans develop abiding interests; since human societies depend on this, such addictions are not necessarily a problem. See also: This article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License My Name Is Bill : Bill Wilson--His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous by Susan Cheever Adult Children of Alcoholics : Expanded Edition by Janet Woititz YOU MEAN I'M NOT LAZY, STUPID OR CRAZY?!: A Self-help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder by Kate Kelly The No-Grain Diet: Conquer Carbohydrate Addiction and Stay Slim for Life by Joseph Mercola Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction by Patrick J. Carnes Under the Influence : A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism by James Robert Milam Addiction and Grace by Gerald G. May The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe Alcoholics Anonymous by Alcoholics Anonymous World Service The No-Grain Diet: Conquer Carbohydrate Addiction and Stay Slim for Life by Joseph Mercola Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again by Drew Pinsky Codependents' Guide to the Twelve Steps : How to Find the Right Program for You and Apply Each of the Twelve Steps to Your Own Issues by Melody Beattie Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs Motivational Interviewing, Second Edition: Preparing People for Change by William R. Miller Recent Addiction related patents From USPTO: 6717012: Antioxidant nitroxides and nitrones as therapeutic agents 6716940: Catalyst for the polymerization of olefins 6716872: Substituted pyrrolidine-2,3,4-trione 3-oxime derivatives which are active as NMDA receptor antagonists 6716868: (-)-1-(3,4-Dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane, compositions thereof, and uses as a dopamine-reuptake inhibitor 6716854: Treatments for restless legs syndrome 6716846: High affinity ligands for nociceptin receptor ORL-1 6716462: Nutritionally balanced traditional snack foods 6713499: 7-Amino-benzothiazole derivatives 6713497: Use of vitamin B6 to mitigate visual field defects associated with the use of GABAergic drugs in mammals 6713488: Neutral antagonists and use thereof in treating drug abuse 6713479: Piperidine-piperazine ligands for neurotransmitter receptors 6713468: Methods of using thiazolobenzoheterocycles 6713265: Methods of modifying feeding behavior, compounds useful in such methods, and DNA encoding a hypothalamic atypical neuropeptide Y/peptide YY receptor (Y5) 6712803: Drug dispensing system 6711430: Method and apparatus for performing neuroimaging 6710179: Compounds with analgesic effect 6710087: Methods of treating or preventing neuropathic pain using sibutramine metabolites 6710086: Protected forms of pharmacologically active agents and uses therefor 6710080: Substituted 2-dialkylaminoalkylbiphenyl derivatives 6710040: Fluorinated cyclic amides as dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors 6709838: Nucleic acid encoding patched-2 6709831: DNA encoding mammalian neuropeptide FF (NPFF) receptors and uses thereof 6709651: Treatment of substance P-related disorders 6708064: Modulation of the brain to affect psychiatric disorders 6706892: Pulmonary delivery for bioconjugation 6706880: Cocaine receptor binding ligands 6706878: Spiroazabicyclic heterocyclic compounds 6706750: Indole derivatives process for their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their medicinal application 6706736: Antidepressant azaheterocyclylmethyl derivatives of oxaheterocycle-fused-[1,4]-benzodioxans 6706707: Phenylethynyl and styryl derivatives of imidazole and fused ring heterocycles 6706704: Method of inducing opioid analgesia and anesthesia without respiratory suppression 6706702: Aryl fused azapolycyclic compounds 6706493: DNA encoding a cholecystokinin receptor 6706294: Method for producing foodstuffs, dietetic foodstuffs and food additives on the basis of grain stillage 6703508: Methods for the stereoselective synthesis of substituted piperidines 6703502: Spiroazo bicyclic heterocyclic 6703485: Brain and heart cyclic nucleotide gated ion channel compounds and uses thereof 6703406: 2,6-disubstituted piperidines as modulators of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mediated neurotransmitter release, uptake and storage 6703398: Orally administered analgesic compositions containing nalbuphine 6703393: (Oxo-pyrazolo[1,5a]pyrimidin-2-yl) alkyl-carboxamides 6703391: Quinoxalinedione derivatives, their preparation and use 6703390: Sulfur containing dihydrophthalazine antagonists of excitatory amino acid receptors 6703389: Method of treating chronic pain 6703383: Antipsychotic sulfonamide-heterocycles, and methods of use thereof 6703381: Methods for delivery therapeutic compounds across the blood-brain barrier 6703233: Plasmid maintenance system for antigen delivery 6703216: Methods, compositions and apparatuses for detection of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) 6699909: Aminoindanes 6699893: Glucocorticoid receptor modulators |