Short Definition: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in […]
Understanding Addiction
Understanding Addiction Addictions come in all shapes and forms. Difficult to define exactly, it has become popular to think of almost any behavior that has a compulsive quality as an “addiction.” But for those who have an addiction, or for those affected by the addiction of a loved one or close friend, it’s clear what […]
Relapse Prevention
Becoming aware of addictive behaviors, thoughts, and emotional build-up. Recovery is more than just abstinence; however, abstinence is the first step in recovery. It is stopping drug and alcohol use. The next step is “staying stopped”, a process called: ‘relapse prevention”. But many people struggle to prevent relapse and fall back into substance use and […]