Addiction is Addiction is Addiction
The time is definitely right for an issue of this journal devoted to multiple addictions and addiction interactions, an issue that includes not only clinical research, but also detailed neurochemical explanations of how addictions affect the brain.
Abstract
Last spring, at the annual scientific conference of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in Dallas, it seemed that nearly every talk included a mention of the neurobiological aspects of addictive disorders. Drawings of the brain were used to illustrate the reward pathways. Mention was made of the brain regions, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, locus ceruleus, and prefrontal cortex, and of the neurotransmitters GABA, glutamate, opioid peptides, dopamine, and serotonin. No matter which addiction was being described, the same brain anatomy and chemistry seemed involved. With the recent advances in the technology of imaging the brain in real time as it responds to different stimuli, it seems impossible for researchers to deny what addiction clinicians have long known: Addiction is addiction is addiction, and all addictive disorders have similar effects on the brain. The time is definitely right for an issue of our journal devoted to multiple addictions and addiction interactions, an issue that includes not only clinical research, but also detailed neurochemical explanations of how addictions affect the brain. Addiction professionals can no longer avoid developing some understanding of brain chemistry, even if the terminology is strange and the biology at first difficult to understand. Readers for whom this information is new will be relieved to know that this issue contains several articles that explain the biology of addiction. By the time you finish the entire issue, you will be more comfortable with this admittedly complex subject. We begin this issue with two articles that provide an overview of clinical issues. In 1991 Dr. Patrick Carnes presented data obtained from about 1,000 sex addicts at an inpatient treatment program. These data showed that most sex addicts also had at least one other addiction—drugs, food, gambling, work, etc. This was at a time when addiction clinicians were aware that in order to get well, substance dependent (i.e., drug addicted) patients had to stop using all their mood-altering substances, not just the one that got them into trouble. But it was unusual for clinicians to look for other mood-altering addictive behaviors in their clients in addition to those related