• Questions
  About Addiction
  • What Makes Addiction A Disease?
    • What Part of the Brain is Altered By Addiction?
    • Drugs, Dopamine, and the Reward System
    • Tolerance Can Be Inherited
  • What’s the Definition of Addiction?
    • How the Definition of Addiction Has Changed
  • Why Do Some Get Addicted While Others Don’t?
    • Identical Drugs Work Differently Depending on Genetic Makeup
    • Dopamine Genes and Addiction Predisposition
  • How Can You Tell When Use Becomes Addictive?
    • Clues For When Drug Use Turns To Abuse
    • 20-Question Addiction Questionnaire
  • Are Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Different?
    • Why All Drug Highs Are Essentially The Same
    • Differences In Addictions
  • Are Some People “Born Addicts?”
    • “Born Addicts?” What Sober Addicts Say
    • What Neuroscientists Say About “Born Addicts”
    • Are “Born Addicts” Doomed?
  • Why Is Addiction Permanent?
    • Dopamine and Reward
    • How Drug Tolerance Changes the Brain
    • Tolerance Can Be Inherited
  • Why Do Addicts Act Irrationally?
    • Addiction and Motivation
  • Questions About Treatment?
    • What’s the Rehab Treatment Model?
    • Addiction Treatment Goals
    • What Happens In Treatment?
    • How Well Does Treatment Work?
    • What is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)?
    • How Long It Takes to Achieve Stable Sobriety
  • Questions About 12-Step Programs?
    • What’s the 12-Step Model for Recovery?
    • What Are the 12 Steps and What’s Their Purpose?
    • What About “the God Thing?”
    • What Happens at 12-Step Meetings?
    • What’s Sponsorship All About?
    • What If I Don’t Like Parts of the Program or Some of the People There?
  • Are There Non-12 Step Programs?
  • Why Is Relapse Common?
    • Relapse Triggers
  • What Can Families of Addicts Do?
    • Understanding the Irrationality of Addiction
    • Understanding Addict Behavior
    • Enabling, Detaching & Letting Go
    • Al-Anon and Other 12-Step Programs
    • But I Don’t Want to Go to Al-Anon!
  • Are There Non-Drug Addictions?
• Addict
  Experience
  • “Normies” vs. Addicts
  • The Addict’s Experience While Using
    • Fear
    • Stigma
    • Active-Addict Cravings
    • The Fear of Detox
    • Giving Up One Day At A Time
    • Unlovable and Unworthy of It
    • Lying and Paranoia
    • Regret Over Wasted Time and Lost Opportunities
    • Denial: A Sincere Delusion
    • Delay: Denial’s Fall-Back Position
    • Making Deals With Yourself/Relying on Willpower
    • Bottoms
  • The Addict Experience In and After Treatment
    • When Your Brain Betrays You
    • Becoming Willing
    • Learning to be Honest
    • Post-Withdrawal Cravings
    • Amnesia and Relapse
    • Relapse
    • Can Relapse Be A Good Thing?
    • Coming Back From Relapse
    • Intellectual Acceptance of Addiction
    • Emotional Acceptance
• Addiction
  Science
  • Brain Overview
    • Harmony or “Homeostasis”
    • Neurons and Neurotransmitters
    • The Limbic System
    • Learned Memories and Emotional Memories
    • The Brain’s Inherent Susceptibility To Addiction
  • Definition of Addiction
    • Sub-Types of Addiction
  • Dopamine-Introduction
    • Dopamine Basics
    • Dopamine: Learning, Memory and Motivation
    • Dopamine Is Multi-functional
    • Dopamine and Other Neurotransmitters
    • Non-dopamine Neurotransmitters
  • Why Drugs Can Be Addicting
    • How Drugs Get You High
    • How Drug Tolerance Develops
    • Differences in Addictions: Acute vs. Non-Acute Toxicity
    • Why Relapse Is Common: “Triggers”
  • Genetic and Environmental Components of Addiction
    • Genetic Makeup Affects Reaction to Drugs
    • Dopamine D2DR Gene
    • Dopamine D1 and D3 Genes
    • Non-Dopamine Genes
    • Environmental Factors in Addiction
  • Non-Drug Addictions
    • Gambling
    • Overeating
    • Sex
    • Shopping Addiction
    • Tanning
    • Technology
    • Thrill Seeking
  • Addiction Treatment Science
    • The Disease of Addiction
    • Why Drugs Get You High
    • Why Drugs Are Addictive
    • Hangover Versus Withdrawal
    • The Science of Denial
    • Drug Craving Explained
    • Amnesia Explained
    • Why Relapse Is Common
    • Why Love Is Therapeutic
    • The Benefits of Social Support
    • Mind Training
    • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
      • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Alcoholism
      • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opiate Addiction
    • Treatment Drugs
      • Antabuse
      • The Challenges of Taking Antabuse
• Addiction
  Treatment
  • Detox
    • Detox: Physical
    • Hangover Contrasted With Withdrawal
    • Detox: Emotional
  • Addiction-Treatment Model
    • In-Patient vs. Out-Patient Treatment
  • Addiction-Treatment Goals
    • Realistic Expectations about Relapse
    • How Long It Takes to Achieve Stable Sobriety
    • How Well Addiction Treatment Works
  • The 12 Steps
    • Rehab’s Use of The 12 Step Program
    • Step 1: Powerlessness and Unmanageability
    • Step 2: Sanity Restored
    • Step 3: Making A Decision
    • Steps 4 and 5: A Fearless Moral Inventory Shared With God and Another Human Being
    • Steps 6 and 7: Asking To Have Defects of Character Removed
    • Steps 8 and 9: Making Amends
    • Steps 10 and 11: Continuing Action
    • Step 12: Carrying the Message
  • Have Objections to the 12 Steps? I Did.
    • Contempt Prior to Investigation
    • Step 1 Doesn’t Apply to Me
    • Step 2 – Who Says I’m Crazy?
    • I Don’t Want to Join A New Religion
  • Tools of Sobriety
    • First Step Stories
    • The First Drink or Drug
    • One Day At A Time
    • A Spiritual Program
    • 12-Step Meetings
    • Sponsors
    • Gratitude
    • Working With AA Newcomers
    • Anonymity and 12-Step Programs
  • Treatment Therapy
    • The Disease of Addiction
    • Love and Care
    • Dealing With Cravings
    • Group Therapy
    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
    • Family Counseling
    • Relapse Prevention
    • Rehab Aftercare and Alumni Meetings
    • Post-Relapse Treatment
  • Addiction Treatment Science
    • The Disease of Addiction
    • Why Drugs Get You High
    • Why Drugs Are Addictive
    • Hangover Versus Withdrawal
    • The Science of Denial
    • Drug Craving Explained
    • Amnesia Explained
    • Why Relapse Is Common
    • Why Love Is Therapeutic
    • Mind Training
    • The Benefits of Social Support
  • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
    • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Alcoholism
    • Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opiate Addiction
  • Treatment Drugs
    • Antabuse
    • The Challenges of Taking Antabuse
  • Non-12-Step Programs
• For Loved
  Ones
  • Understanding the Irrationality of Addiction
  • Understanding Addict Behavior
  • Enabling, Detaching & Letting Go
  • Al-Anon and Other 12-Step Programs
  • But I Don’t Want to Go to Al-Anon!

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