Addiction
Addiction is a mental health condition that refers to a strong desire for a stimulus, and in extreme cases, a pathological need for it. Most people immediately think of drugs like tobacco and alcohol, but even experiences can be addictive like video games and television. They are often those that activate the pleasure centres of the brain, making us feel really good, so we seek them out again and again. If deprived of the stimuli we are addicted to, the body and brain react, making us crave it intensely.
Here's what 'porn addiction' actually is (and how to manage it)
While a source of shame for some, there’s little hard evidence that X-rated sites are harmful or even addictive to regular users.
Why we need to stop loot boxes from becoming another moral panic
At face value, loot boxes look like a digital form of gambling. But what are loot boxes? What effect do they have on us? And should we panic over them?
Smokers are more likely to quit if they live near green spaces
Scientists have also found that those residing in leafy neighbourhoods are less likely to smoke.
Ban virtual loot boxes from video games to protect children, NHS mental health director says
Video games are ‘setting kids up for addiction’ with loot boxes, says Claire Murdoch, director of mental health for the NHS.
E-cigarettes could be as addictive as smoking
US researchers found that one brand of e-cigarette delivered roughly the same amount of nicotine as a traditional cigarette.
The truth about e-cigarettes
Vaping is still very new, compared to tobacco, so should we be wary about encouraging smokers to switch?
Alcarelle | Everything you need to know about synthetic alcohol
Could Alcarelle, a synthetic alcohol substitute being developed in UK labs, spell the end of binge drinking, hangovers, and alcohol-related diseases?
Mental health | Is addiction on the rise?
Video games, TV series and social media - it seems that many of us are hooked on something, but are things as bad as they appear?
Pete Etchells | Are video games good for us?
Psychologist Pete Etchells explores the benefits and dangers of playing computer games.
Read the powerful first chapter of Mayhem, a memoir
Sigrid Rausing’s book is on the shortlist for the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize – read an excerpt from this moving account of drug addiction and its effects on the lives of those addicted and their families.
Is it time for a tech detox?
Many individuals are hooked on their smartphones, and a growing number of people are entering rehab for technology addiction. So what could these extreme cases tell us about our relationships with gadgets?
How to break your mobile phone addiction
Five tips from Prof Mark Griffiths, psychologist and behavioural addiction expert at Nottingham Trent University on how to live well without your phone.
How VR could break America's opioid addiction
Can virtual reality really soothe pain? Jo Marchant meets the doctors who say yes, and who hope this is a solution to the country consuming 80 per cent of the world’s opioid supply: the United States of America.