Behavioral addictions, also called process addictions, are often no taken seriously. Many professionals in the addiction community do not consider them to be proper addictions. These are things like compulsive eating, gambling addiction, Internet addiction and compulsive shopping. In other words, a behavioral addiction is anything that is not a chemical dependency—an addiction to drugs […]
Behavioral Addictions Can Ruin Lives, Too Read More »
Southern California’s first electronic cigarette expo promised to be “epic.” And like any good party, it briefly got shut down by authorities. How epic was it? So many thousands puffed away — or “vaped” — that the steamy haze set off fire alarms and forced the evacuation of the Anaheim Convention Center. Throngs of sellers
In a major policy shift, the federal Food and Drug Administration seeks to place stronger restrictions on a class of prescription painkillers that contain hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S. The changes are expected to take place as early as next year. The FDA
FDA Wants Tighter Restrictions on Hydrocodone Painkillers Read More »
Video game addiction is an unofficial term used to describe unhealthy, compulsive participation in various forms of video games. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is considering making this condition a diagnosable mental disorder called Internet gaming disorder. In a study published in September 2013 in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers from the University of
Risk Factors for Video Game Addiction Revealed Read More »
Medical marijuana isn’t going away any time soon. Twenty U.S. states have medical marijuana programs (and two of those have also legalized the drug for recreational use) and the system in Canada is about to be ramped up in terms of production and hopefully, quality. The Canadian government legalized medical use of the drug in
Canada Launches Free Market for Marijuana Read More »
Anorexia nervosa is the classic eating disorder associated with a distorted sense of one’s own body weight and body shape, as well as a dangerous associated drop in weight levels. Doctors have known for some time that people affected by anorexia often have unusually high levels of cholesterol in their bloodstreams, even though they heavily
High Cholesterol in Anorexics Read More »
A new study from Denmark shows that people who suffer from cancer when they are children are more likely to develop mental health problems when they are adults. The study also found that the young siblings of children with cancer are at greater risk for mental health problems than the general population. The study was
Childhood Cancer Survivors More Likely To Develop Mental Health Disorders Later in Life Read More »
Emotional intelligence, also sometimes referred to as EQ, is a concept that is often compared to IQ, intelligence quotient. IQ is a measure of a person’s intelligence, and has long been considered a measure of potential success. In recent decades, however, experts have begun to evolve the idea of an EQ. Many even agree that
Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned? Read More »
Researchers who study anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders commonly focus their attention on psychological aspects of these illnesses, including one’s thought processes, belief structures and emotional changes. This focus makes sense, since these factors heavily determine the development of disordered eating behaviors. However, according to the results of a study published in August 2013
Past Weight Loss an Overlooked Factor in Disordered Eating Read More »
While other forms of bullying are commonly taken seriously and relatively well-researched, bullying between siblings often gets ignored or minimized. However, two recent studies call attention to the potential pitfalls of discounting the effects of sibling bullying. One of these studies indicates that children who bully their brothers or sisters take this activity less seriously
Bullying by Siblings Anything But Harmless Read More »