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Addiction neurobiology research has demonstrated that there are 3 fundamental pathways in the brain that moderate the risk for relapse with any behaviour whether involving substance use or not. These pathways will be explored in more detail in this post. Keep reading below if you would like to improve your awareness around relapse triggers. The …
This is a continuation from Part 3. Click here to view Part 1 and Part 2. In this post, we will explore the ABCDE characteristics of addiction from the 2011 ASAM definition in more depth with real world examples to bring the concepts to life. Below is a brief recap of the 2011 ASAM definition. …
This is part 3 in the What is addiction series: Part 1 can be viewed here and Part 2 here Now that you have a shared understanding of the general approach to mental health diagnosis and its limitations, below you will learn more about the only scientific definition of addiction that we have, informed by …
This post is a continuation of Part 1 in this series defining addiction. You can revisit Part 1 here. Part 2 is more oriented toward professionals working in the field. Part 3 and Part 4 are written with a broader audience in mind. Contradictions in the DSM With a critical read of the “Substance-Related and …
Mental health diagnosis requires a top-down approach: Diagnoses at higher levels in the pyramid need to be ruled out prior to considering diagnoses lower down The Diagnostic Hierarchy of Psychiatry In the featured image of this article, you will see a pyramid with 5 levels to it. From top to bottom there are the following …
Stress is an ongoing reality of life. With prolonged exposure to high stress states however, we can become progressively less aware of the true extent to which stress is affecting our health; whether mentally, physically, emotionally, or otherwise. A Simple Analogy for Stress and Impaired Awareness One way I often illustrate the subtle way in …
If you’ve ever wondered how doctors are trained to diagnose and treat patients presenting with mental health concerns, keep reading below. I’ll start by introducing the general framework for how doctors are trained to talk with patients and then include more specific examples relating to mental health assessment. How doctors are trained to talk to …
Among the general public, patients, families, and even healthcare providers, a significant amount of confusion and misunderstanding continues to exist regarding addiction. This is further worsened by misinformation that is spread when people in healthcare professions are unaware of their own limitations of their knowledge and training, which can unfortunately have detrimental consequences. A review …