January 2019
Addiction, Second Edition
by Vatsal G. Thakkar, M.D. and Christine Adamec; Foreword by Pat Levitt, Ph.D., Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and Director, The Saban Research Institute; Director, USC Neuroscience Graduate Program
Addiction affects millions of people throughout the United States, and the numbers are growing. But what exactly is this phenomenon? Is it a physical or psychological illness? A poor choice? Or a medical disease? The United States' two biggest addictions, cigarettes and alcohol, cost our health care system more than $100 billion every year, and in recent years opioid addiction has spread and claimed thousands of lives. Addiction, Second Edition explores the mechanics of addiction, its root causes, and how it touches the lives of every member of society, including users, nonusers, and friends and relatives of users. This eBook also explains addiction as a medical and behavioral phenomenon, defines drug use and behaviors that can reach compulsive levels, and illustrates various ways to treat addictions.
