Addiction is a condition that has long baffled physicians and philosophers, to say nothing of those struggling with it and those around them. People have long debated whether addiction is a habit or a ...

For years, addiction was seen as a matter of personal failure—a bad habit or a lack of discipline. People believed those who struggled with substance abuse could stop if they simply wanted to. But ...

Mental health experts are nearly unanimous in endorsing the disease model of addiction. Alcoholism (now alcohol use disorder) was declared a disease in 1956 by the American Medical Association, and ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Over the past year and a half, Scientific ...

How political red tape and a drug company’s thirst for profits limited the reach of a drug that experts believe could have reduced the opioid epidemic’s toll. Credit...Photo illustration by Ben Denzer ...

Forgive the violent imagery, but we long to box the ears of every California lawmaker with “Rehab: An American Scandal” by Shoshana Walter in one hand, and “Fighting the Florida Shuffle,” by former ...

Despite fewer new addiction cases worldwide, a sweeping analysis finds drug-related deaths surging, exposing critical failures in global harm-reduction and recovery systems. Study: The evolving burden ...