Ask someone why they can’t put their phone down and they’ll probably laugh it off. Ask them why they can’t cut back on drinking, and the conversation gets heavier fast. Both answers start in the same place: a reward circuit in the brain that doesn’t much care whether the trigger is a text message or […]
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National Tragedy Triggers Immediate Tobacco and Cannabis Cravings, New Research Finds Collective Trauma and Substance Cravings: The Reflexive Response Nobody Talks About When a national tragedy unfolds, the psychological fallout runs far deeper than grief or anxiety. New research in the Journal of Health Psychology shows that collective trauma and substance cravings are directly linked. Regular tobacco
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Research consistently shows that at least two thirds of people with substance use disorders carry a history of childhood trauma or abuse at some level, and if we take the opening scenario, trauma can appear quite benign, even though it is not. Read More Â
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Addiction has long been treated as a matter of willpower, a personal failing, or a moral weakness. But a growing body of neuroscience tells a very different story. A landmark study published in Translational Psychiatry in 2025 found that people dependent on wildly different substances share a remarkably consistent set of addiction brain patterns. This applies
Peer-led recovery communities are changing how England responds to drug and alcohol addiction. These groups, known as Lived Experience Recovery Organisations or LEROs, are run by people who have personally walked through addiction and chosen recovery. They are not clinical services. They are real people, from real communities, helping others find a way out. For
A New Lens: Research Domain Criteria Researchers from UCLA took a different approach. Rather than relying solely on clinical diagnoses in the NVDRS, they used the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Developed by the National Institute of Mental Health, RDoC looks at psychological functioning across six broad domains: Negative valence (distress, hopelessness, anxiety) Positive valence
Millions of people working towards long-term sobriety hold a dangerous assumption: more time sober means less risk. New research from Harvard Medical School challenges that directly. Alcohol use disorder relapse does not simply fade as a threat over the years. Certain warning signs are going largely unnoticed by both patients and clinicians. Professor John Kelly,
Young people struggling with youth drug treatment needs have long been underserved by a system built around adults. That is now changing. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has published a landmark framework dedicated entirely to substance use disorder care for adolescents and young adults under 25, separating their standards from adult guidance for
There is a well-established and often underestimated connection between trauma and substance use disorders. For many individuals struggling with addiction, the roots of their substance use trace back not to a simple choice, but to a nervous system shaped by painful, unresolved experiences. Understanding this connection is no longer optional for those working in behavioural
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Research shows that spirituality and drug use prevention are closely linked. Millions of people struggle with alcohol and drug use, yet spiritual engagement remains one of the least discussed protective factors in mainstream health. A landmark meta-analysis in JAMA Psychiatry (February 2026) pooled data from 55 longitudinal studies and over 540,000 participants. The results were clear: spiritual
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