Brain Research | Brain Development
Addictions Are Treatable Brain Diseases
The idea that addictions are treatable brain diseases is foreign to most people. The definition of the disease itself – addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease – is little understood, and as such, so are its treatment. The following is a guest post by Judith Ann Miller, Ph.D., and CEO of Courage to…
Read MoreRelapse Prevention – What’s Your Anti-Drug / Anti-Drink?
Relapse prevention – What’s your anti-drug | anti-drink? Once an addict/alcoholic clears their system of their substance of choice (through detox), s/he must work to re-train and repair his/her brain in order to recover from their addiction. Why? Because addiction is defined as a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. What does this have to do…
Read MoreLove Is In The Brain – Not The Heart
Love Is In The Brain – Not The Heart, which is true of all emotions, actually. But that’s good news because it means we can better understand the source of love and emotions, and from there, we can learn to healthily interpret and react to them. How? And how does this relate on a blog…
Read MoreThe Brain Can Change
The brain can change – truly! One of the most encouraging things about all of the new brain and addiction-related research is learning we can actually change and heal neural networks and thereby change and repair our brains. This can be especially helpful to addicts/alcoholics and their families and friends because addiction is a brain…
Read MoreExercise Helps With Addiction Recovery
Exercise helps with addiction recovery because it helps the brain! Thanks to new brain research, we now understand that exercise actually helps with healing the brain. Given addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease, healing the brain is critical to addiction recovery. So here’s to exercise and here’s how it works! Exercise Helps With…
Read MoreAddiction Recovery – Why All Does Not Seem Better When Your Loved One Stops Drinking
Addiction Recovery – why does it not “feel” better when a loved one finally stops drinking (or using drugs, if they’re a drug addict) and seeks help? Time and again readers and those I speak with express their concerns that “things” don’t feel better once the drinking (or drug use) stops. They worry that “this…
Read MoreDual Diagnosis – Explanation & Treatment
Dual Diagnosis – what is it and how is it treated? or can it be treated? One of the repeated concerns I hear when giving my presentations is the lack of satisfactory treatment for a dual diagnosis, which occurs when a person is diagnosed with both a mental illness (PTSD, Anxiety, Bipolar, ADHD, schizophrenia) and…
Read MoreSPECT Scans Showing the Brain Can Change When Substance Abuse is Stopped
SPECT scans are the result of new technology. In the case of understanding and treating substance abuse and/or addiction, they can be of particular help in providing the “visual” evidence (in conjunction with a complete clinical evaluation, of course) of what alcohol abuse, drug abuse and/or addiction does to the brain’s ability to function. In…
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