Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a dynamic and multi-faceted disease process in humans, with devastating health and financial consequences for the individual and society-at-large. In humans, drug and alcohol use disorders (i.e., abuse and dependence) are defined by clusters of behavioral symptoms that can be modeled to various degrees in animals. Hallmark behavioral symptoms associated with drug and alcohol dependence are compulsive drug use, loss of control during episodes of drug use, the emergence of a negative emotional state in the absence of the drug, and chronic relapse vulnerability during drug abstinence. The transition to drug dependence is defined by neuroadaptations in brain circuits that, in the absence of drugs, mediate a variety of critical behavioral and physiological processes including natural reward, positive and negative emotional states, nociception, and feeding. Chronic drug exposure during the transition to dependence spurs (1) within-systems changes in neural circuits that contribute to the acute rewarding effects of the drug and (2) recruitment of brain stress systems (neuroendocrine and extra-hypothalamic). There are substantial genetic contributions to the propensity to use and abuse drugs, and drug abuse is highly co-morbid with various other psychiatric conditions (e.g., anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder) that may precede or follow the development of drug use problems. Across drugs of abuse, there are overlapping and dissociable aspects of the behavioral and neural changes that define the transition to dependence. Even within a single drug, people abuse drugs for a variety of reasons. The picture is further complicated by the fact that humans often abuse more than one drug concurrently. Even in the face of these challenges, pre-clinical and clinical research is making exponential gains into understanding the neurobiology of drug addiction. With the advent of new technologies and their combination with traditional approaches, the field is able to ask and answer addiction-related research questions in increasingly sophisticated ways. Here, we hope to assemble a collection of articles that provide an up-to-the-moment snapshot of the prevailing empirical, theoretical and technical directions in the addiction research field. We encourage submissions from all investigators working to understand the neurobiology of addiction, especially as it pertains to reward and stress pathways in the brain.

The food environment has changed dramatically and is now dominated by foods with unnaturally high levels of sugar, fat, and salt that are intensely rewarding. Scientific evidence has increased rapidly in the last few decades that these types of foods are capable of triggering addictive processes, which may be a key driver in the rising rates of obesity and diet-related disease around the globe. Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook, Second Edition provides a multidisciplinary review of the most cutting-edge science on the contribution of addictive processes to how we consume food. Top experts in the field of nutrition, addiction, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, epidemiology, public health, marketing, and policy come together to provide a scoping view of this rapidly evolving scientific area that has important implications for the well-being and health of adults and children around the globe.

The problem of addiction is one of the major challenges and controversies confronting medicine and society. It also poses important and complex philosophical and scientific problems. What is addiction? Why does it occur? And how should we respond to it, as individuals and as a society? The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Science of Addiction is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems and debates in this exciting subject. It spans several disciplines and is the first collection of its kind. Organised into three clear parts, forty-five chapters by a team of international contributors examine key areas, including: the meaning of addiction to individuals conceptions of addiction varieties and taxonomies of addiction methods and models of addiction evolution and addiction history, sociology and anthropology population distribution and epidemiology developmental processes vulnerabilities and resilience psychological and neural mechanisms prevention, treatment and spontaneous recovery public health and the ethics of care social justice, law and policy. Essential reading for students and researchers in addiction research and in philosophy, particularly philosophy of mind and psychology and ethics, The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Science of Addiction will also be of great interest to those in related fields, such as medicine, mental health, social work, and social policy.

“Much of our scientific effort in tackling the multifactorial nature of addiction has taken place within individual disciplines. However, it has become increasingly clear that the complexity of addiction requires an integrated approach. This Handbook is timely and exceptional, intelligently combining the latest research approaches and applying them to understanding and tackling the prodigious public health burden of addiction. An authoritative resource, it establishes a comprehensive framework that will guide the field in the next era of addiction research.” John F. Kelly, PhD, President Elect, Society of Addiction Psychology, American Psychological Association; Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Director, Addiction Recovery Management Service, Massachusetts General Hospital The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Addiction Psychopharmacology presents a comprehensive guide to contemporary research approaches to the study of drug addiction in adults. With a focus on empirically relevant research methods and nuanced methodologies, it provides practical tools to enable strong psychopharmacological practices. Contributions from experts in diverse domains offer reviews of the most current experimental methodologies, make recommendations for “best practices,” and identify future directions for the field. Topics covered include core methods for assessing drug effects, distal and proximal determinants of drug use, and insights from cognitive neuroscience. Compiled by a team of widely published researchers in substance addiction, The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Addiction Psychopharmacology is an authoritative, state-of-the-art collection of modern research approaches to the scientific study of drug addiction. Its multidisciplinary approach makes it a comprehensive and invaluable resource for all those in this field.

Can certain foods hijack the brain in ways similar to drugs and alcohol, and is this effect sufficiently strong to contribute to major diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, and hence constitute a public health menace? Terms like "chocoholic" and "food addict" are part of popular lore, some popular diet books discuss the concept of addiction, and there are food addiction programs with names like Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous. Clinicians who work with patients often hear the language of addiction when individuals speak of irresistible cravings, withdrawal symptoms when starting a diet, and increasing intake of palatable foods over time. But what does science show, and how strong is the evidence that food and addiction is a real and important phenomenon? Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook brings scientific order to the issue of food and addiction, spanning multiple disciplines to create the foundation for what is a rapidly advancing field and to highlight needed advances in science and public policy. The book assembles leading scientists and policy makers from fields such as nutrition, addiction, psychology, epidemiology, and public health to explore and analyze the scientific evidence for the addictive properties of food. It provides complete and comprehensive coverage of all subjects pertinent to food and addiction, from basic background information on topics such as food intake, metabolism, and environmental risk factors for obesity, to diagnostic criteria for food addiction, the evolutionary and developmental bases of eating addictions, and behavioral and pharmacologic interventions, to the clinical, public health, and legal and policy implications of recognizing the validity of food addiction. Each chapter reviews the available science and notes needed scientific advances in the field.

Neuroscience for Addiction Medicine: From Prevention to Rehabilitation: Constructs and Drugs is the latest volume from Progress in Brain Research focusing on new trends and developments in addiction research. This established international series examines major areas of basic and clinical research within neuroscience, as well as popular emerging subfields such as addiction. This volume takes an integrated approach to review and summarize some of the most recent progress from the subfield of addiction research, with particular emphasis on potential applications in a clinical setting. - Explores new trends and developments in basic and clinical research in the addiction subfield of neuroscience - Uses an integrated approach to review and summarize recent progress - Emphasizes potential applications in a clinical setting - Enhances the literature of neuroscience by further expanding the established international series Progress in Brain Research

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Despite its lifesaving role, addiction treatment and care are often among the first domains to lose resources when a crisis strikes. Across the world disruptions in addiction-related care during the Covid-19 pandemic, armed conflict, or radical political change have been documented. But what happens after the crisis is typically unknown. How do addiction-related problems change during a crisis, and what are the responses at individual and societal level? How do crises affect causes, prevalence, incidence, or severity of addiction in different regions and populations? Does the addiction care system permanently collapse or is the breakdown temporary and reversible? How does a crisis evolve and what happens to addiction care services and their beneficiaries over time? Is residual damage to addiction care services inevitable or can a crisis create opportunities for positive change at individual, organizational, and/or system level? Are harms and benefits (un)equally distributed among different addiction stakeholder groups? And finally, what does a ‘new normal’ look like in addiction and addiction care, and what (new) norms underpin it? These questions not only encompass the importance of such a topic, but also the implications on public health that are applicable worldwide that need to be addressed.

A guidebook for the journey from exhaustion to enlightenment Chronic multitasking and ever-increasing demands on our time and energy have caused a neurochemically-based dependence on sources of stress and stimulation to provide fuel for our chaotic lifestyles. While this may boost performance in the short-term, studies have consistently shown that when stress hormones are elevated over time they create the worst form of internal wear and tear; decreasing productivity, wasting time, and even killing brain cells. As a result, modern society is tired and wired, suffering from physical exhaustion while mentally amped up, and unable to get adequate rest. Stress in and of itself is not bad, and is actually utilized for growth when balanced with adequate recovery. The solution to stress addiction is to build in and prioritize optimal rest and relaxation on a holistic level—body, mind, and spirit—in order to consistently recharge and create a more resilient operating system. Stressaholic shows you how to win the war on stress without limiting progress by creating an optimal performance pulse of stress and recovery for life. Explains the impact of chronic stress on the human operating system; body, mind, and spirit Shows how a simple shift in mindset can dramatically alter physiological responses to stress Reveals simple techniques for altering daily stress patterns to improve natural rhythms, creating a personalized performance pulse With easy to implement tips and real-world examples of people and organizations that have turned stress into sustainable drive, Stressaholic will guide you on your journey from exhaustion to enlightenment!

The question how alcohol alters mood states and why this may end up becoming an addiction is puzzling alcohol researchers since decades. In this volume, an assembly of highly distinguished experts and leaders in alcohol addiction research provides lucid presentations of the current knowledge and research challenges as well as interesting viewpoints on future research directions aimed to stimulate communication and convergence between clinical and preclinical researchers, and to renew interest in the vibrant field of alcohol addiction research among a wide scientifically minded audience. Five Current Topics are discussed in this volume: Neurobiological mechanisms of alcoholism, Genetics, Clinical phenotypes and their preclinical models, Brain imaging, and Translational approaches for treatment development, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. These areas have in our opinion brought alcohol research substantially forward and influenced our thinking about how to reach our common paramount goal, namely to offer effective treatment solutions for an extensive group of patients with largely unmet medical needs.