Edinburgh is famous for its iconic skyline, the festival and its important place in Scottish history. However, in the city also famous for Trainspotting, you don't have to journey far to come face-to-face with the harsh reality that faces many of its residents. A 25 minute bus journey from where...
what is addiction? 'Can you control your drinking?' a colleague innocently asked a circle of doctors, at the bar at 5pm, followed by: 'and why do you think you need to control it?' The issue of control is at the heart of addiction. I will look at psychoactive substances...
Addiction, whether to psychoactive substances such as drugs or alcohol, or to behaviours such as gambling, sex, or pornography, is growing in our society. As healthcare professionals, we need to recognise the relevance of addiction to our practice. As Christians seeking to reach a lost and broken world, an awareness...
Liz Croton looks at the dangers of addition for doctors. In 1998, a BMA Working Group report estimated that as many as 'one doctor in fifteen may be affected by drug or alcohol problems at some point in their career' (1). The Practitioner Health Programme (PHP) was established in 2008...
Beyond the models of disease and choice Kent Dunnington Intervarsity Press USA, 2011 £19.99 Pb 199pp, ISBN 978 1 84619 186 2 This book explores varying ideas people have about addiction, seeking to advance from the false dichotomy of viewing it as either a disease or a matter of choice,...
1. Why as doctors we should care about substance misuse It is common At medical school it perhaps seemed that esoteric syndromes were the key areas to study (linked to their significance in examinations). Substance misuse was barely mentioned yet in the working lives of many doctors across a wide range of...
Doctors in the UK have called for a comprehensive ban on all forms of alcohol advertising to curb rising alcohol consumption. The call was made in a report published by the British Medical Association (BMA) in addition to other proposals, including a rise in the minimum price of alcohol, an...
The UK Gambling Act, introduced in 2005, anticipated the development of many new casinos across the country, including several 'megacasinos', which would have over a thousand slot machines capable of delivering jackpots of up to £1,000,000. [1] Advocates claimed megacasinos would create thousands of jobs and regenerate poverty stricken areas....