Author Archives: rccjaved

How Do You Know You Have an Addiction? Drawing from research on addiction in neuroscience, psychology, and clinical practice, the following list identifies several key behavioral patterns associated with addiction: Shahram Heshmat, Ph.D., is an associate professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield with a Ph.D. in Managerial Economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He specializes in the Health Economics[…]

Research Reveals The Brain Chemistry Behind The Struggle With Overeating Food Addiction Is Not About Willpower: Have you ever heard a friend exclaim that a certain dessert – flourless chocolate cake, say – is “totally addictive”? For some people, this is just a breezy exaggeration. They mean that they liked the cake very much and[…]

Understanding The Motive Behind Teen Drug Use There comes a time in a teen’s life when he or she is faced with the single decision to take a drug. The power of that one decision is oftentimes underestimated. Some teens are able to say no and others can’t resist the urge and give in to[…]

Research Probes The Effects of Alcohol & Stress on The Brain Here’s something to keep in mind as the holidays unfold: if you drink alcohol when you’re stressed, you may be flipping a brain switch that makes heavier drinking all the more likely. That’s the finding of a new animal study on the neural effects of drinking, and stressed humans[…]

Summer Means Plenty of Free Time Summer is here and that means college students are back home and teenagers are out of school. I often find the free time and lack of adult supervision can lead to increased exposure to alcohol and drugs. The exposure to substances of abuse at this time of year makes it important for parents to be vigilant about warning[…]

The Food-Mood-addiction Connection Between What You Eat & What Eats at You You may already know that your brain and body partner up when it comes to deciding what and how you eat. One is constantly signaling the other to communicate information about how hungry or full you are, how much you’re eating, and whether you feel like[…]

How Facing Our Emotions Helps Us Fight Addiction As human beings, the deepest, most core conflict we face is whether or not to feel. Do we seek vitality, love, passion, compassion, and the unpredictable roller coaster that comes with being engaged in life and emotion? Or do we engage in behavior that detaches us from the[…]

Powerful Pluses & Minuses, & Ways to Control it When we hear the word “addiction,” we normally think about drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes. Less discussed but also common is adrenaline addiction: creating stress to get an adrenaline rush. Marty Nemko has been a career and personal coach to 4,500 clients and enjoys a 96% client satisfaction rate. The author[…]

Getting High, Avoiding The Low, & Craving Tobacco, alcohol, stimulants, opiates, and marijuana are all capable of leading to addiction. Some of these drugs are more addictive than others. Some people are more prone to becoming addicted than others. Authors of a recent review article in the New England Journal of Medicine define addiction as “the most severe, chronic stage[…]

Alcohol May Be One of The Most Commonly Abused Drugs in The World Alcohol may be one of the most commonly abused drugs in the world, and Alcohol Awareness Month is the perfect time to delve into the nitty-gritty of alcohol abuse and the way it impacts our communities. Here are four reasons you should pay more attention to[…]