Shopping Cart (0 items for $0.00)
Sign Up Now ForOvercoming Addiction: Paths toward recovery
For many years, experts believed that addiction stemmed only from using powerful drugs that co-opted the brain, the mind, and then the person. More recently, we’ve recognized that excessive behaviors such as gambling, shopping, and sex also can lead to addiction. The hallmarks of this common problem are the “3 C’s”: craving for the object of addiction, which can be mild to intense, loss of control over the use of object of addiction, and continued engagement with the object of addiction despite adverse consequences. Several scientific advances have shaped our understanding of addiction. For example, new brain imaging technologies have revealed that our brains respond similarly to different pleasurable experiences, whether derived from drugs or behaviors. Genetic research has uncovered that some people are predisposed to addiction, but not to a specific type of addiction. Finally, medications developed to treat one addiction have, in some cases, proven helpful for treating a different type of addiction.
This report describes a number of effective treatments for addiction, including self-help strategies, psychotherapy, medications, and rehabilitation programs. It also includes targeted advice on specific types of addiction, as well as information about coping with a loved one’s addiction.
Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publications in collaboration with Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S., Director, Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance and Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. 49 pages. (2008)
- The problem of addiction
- How common?
- What is addiction?
- Substance dependence
- Substance misuse and abuse
- An impulse problem?
- Understanding tolerance, physical dependence, and withdrawal
- The use continuum: From harmless to harmful
- How people develop addiction
- Risk factors for addiction
- A common brain pathway
- Dopamine differences
- Drug, set, and setting
- The shift toward addiction
- Recovering from addiction
- Natural recoverers
- Are you ready to change?
- What, why, when, and how?
- Seeking treatment
- Acknowledge your ambivalence
- Working with a therapist
- Choosing a clinician
- Types of therapy
- Types of addiction
- Nicotine
- Alcohol
- Painkillers and heroin (opioids)
- Stimulants (“uppers”)
- Depressants (“downers”)
- Behavioral addictions
- SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: Sex and age differences in addiction
- When a loved one has addiction
- Resources
- Glossary
The well-established “stages of change” model for addressing problematic health behaviors is widely applied in addiction treatment programs. According to this model, behavior change rarely occurs in a blinding flash. Instead, people are more likely to journey through several phases before attaining their goal.
Precontemplation. There is no thought of changing either now or later because the individual does not recognize a problem with addiction. The inability to recognize a problematic relationship with the object of addiction (referred to as denial) prevents the person from developing a desire to change his or her addictive behaviors. “I’m not gambling too much. I set that money aside for gambling, so it’s OK that I lost it all.”
Contemplation. A person recognizes a problem but is ambivalent about change. “I never drink and drive anymore, and the rest of it isn’t a big deal…so why give it up? Everyone parties, some people drink way more than I do, and they’re fine. Anyway, I can’t even imagine going to a game and drinking soda instead of beer. Boring!”
Preparation. The person has accepted the idea of making a behavior change and begins looking for ways to accomplish it. For people who abuse drugs, this may involve attempts to reduce the amount they use. “After I fell asleep during my granddaughter’s recital, I decided I probably should cut back when I’m out. Now I’m down to four pills a day.”
Action. This constitutes taking a definitive step. An example would be entering into a peer support group for overcoming addiction. “If I’m late to work another day I’m going to lose my job. No more smoking pot in the morning!”
Maintenance. Temptation to return to old habits is inherent in any type of behavior change. Acknowledging that lapses might occur and developing strategies ahead of time to get back on track is a key element in the behavior change cycle. “I was doing so well with not drinking—then the holidays wrecked me. The hangovers, the lost days, my partner yelling at me worse than ever. Thank God my friends in AA got me back to the meetings! I just picked up my 30-day chip.”
To facilitate the change process, clinicians often use an approach known as motivational interviewing. This approach encourages people to explore their feelings about their addiction and to take a hard look at the discrepancies between their behaviors and their goals. Although this treatment adjunct is designed to avoid shame and blame, the client is continually directed to take responsibility for his or her actions and choices.
The following reviews have been left for this report. Log in and leave a review of your own.
No matter the addiction -- drugs, gambling, shopping, smoking, alcohol or more -- people who want to kick their habit in the new year might find help in a new Harvard University publication.
"Overcoming Addiction: Paths toward recovery" offers guidance for breaking unwanted addictive habits. The advice applies universally, because what all addictions have in common, the Harvard experts say, is the way the brain responds to pleasurable experiences.
More Like This
Alcohol Use and Abuse
The past decade has seen significant advances in the detection and treatment of alcohol-related disorders, all of which are detailed in this report. They include a greater understanding of the pivotal role of genes in alcohol dependence and how these might be used to screen people at risk; new medications to treat alcohol use disorders; the first major study defining the most effective behavioral treatments for alcohol dependence; and insights into alcohol use and abuse among women, who are at greater risk than men of suffering alcohol’s harmful health effects. Learn more »