Summary
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.
About the Author(s)
Vatsal G. Thakkar, M.D., is the founder, president, and chief medical officer at Reimbursify. He is also a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Health. Thakkar received his bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Tennessee in Memphis. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, ADHD, and sleep disorders.
Christine Adamec has authored and coauthored many books for Facts On File, including The Encyclopedia of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse; The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse; The Encyclopedia of Elder Care; The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties; The Encyclopedia of Child Abuse, Third Edition; and numerous other titles on pivotal medical and psychological issues. In addition, Adamec authored Pathological Gambling for Chelsea House's Psychological Disorders series.