Topic: signs and symptoms

The addicted brain is unable to accurately evaluate the situation.

This isn’t a problem a physician can deal with comfortably in the context of a 12-15 minute office visit.

Perhaps 20% of users will experience withdrawal– evidence of their dependence on the drug– regardless of whether they have other symptoms.

He perceives it as gradual when in reality it’s progressing rather quickly.

The behaviors of alcoholics and addicts are so predictable because the disease follows a certain progression.

The experience of addiction routinely includes periods of reduced substance use, or abstinence.

For many, only age and health issues, or an unanticipated dip in that protective tolerance, were enough to finally motivate them to seek help.

It is vital that your teen feels able to talk to you about drugs; if they are using but are afraid of the consequences of telling you it will only lead to more deception.

Craving has finally been added to the symptom list. I was never entirely clear on why it wasn’t included in DSM-IV, since there’s an impressive body of research on craving measurement.

It was never really about the job, or an article in Time, or anything except his own fervent desire to keep drinking and prove everyone else wrong.