NEWS CATEGORIES:



NEWS ARCHIVE >>
SOFTPEDIA REVIEWS >>
MEET THE EDITORS >>
Home / News / Tags / addiction

Stories about: addiction


More: next 50 >>

Using Virtual Reality to Quit Smoking

After a lifetime of smoking, or even after a few years, kicking the habit is not an easy task. Temptations to light a cigarette “one last time” arise every day, and those who are trying to quit go through a very tough time until they break loose from the influence. In order to encourage more people to tak...

30 October 2009
11:03 GMT

Internet Addiction Preceded by Psychiatric Symptoms

Internet addiction is a condition that, when first announced, raised a few eyebrows at best. Over the years, as more and more children and teens became glued to their computer monitors, it became painfully clear that this wasn't something that healthcare experts made up in their own spare time. In a paper presen...

6 October 2009
16:51 GMT

Amy Winehouse Flies Healer to UK to Stay Clean

While in St Lucia, Amy Winehouse seemed to have managed to overcome her addiction to drugs and even alcohol. The singer returned home in the UK after several months in isolation there, but reports claim bad habits really do die hard, for which reason she’s flying faith healer Peter Cletus Hippolyte to London to...

29 September 2009
05:26 GMT

Robbie Williams Says 3-Year Drug Addiction Almost Killed Him

As one of the guys in Take That, Robbie Williams was always the “fat kid,” he once said in an interview. Later on, after the split that broke the hearts of millions of female fans around the world, Williams openly struggled with his weight, alcohol addiction and, after that, a dependency to painkillers. I...

26 September 2009
02:46 GMT

Pete Doherty Considers Suicide at 30

The Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty is no stranger to controversy, and certainly not to risky adventures that endanger his life, having been arrested at least a couple of times driving while under the influence, not to mention his many attempts at kicking his severe drug habit. However, the rocker even contemplate...

9 September 2009
09:04 GMT

Lady Gaga Opens Up About Cocaine Addiction

In the past, Lady Gaga credited her drug use with the inspiration for her off-the-wall fashion sense and wacky hairstyles, but she never actually hinted at how serious said habit was or, for that matter, what determined her to kick it. In a recent interview, the controversial singer admits to doing bags and bags of c...

9 September 2009
04:38 GMT

reSTART Center Offers 14,000-Dollar MMO Addiction Treatment

After China, which at one point used military driven programs, South Korea and Taiwan, the United States seem to have gotten the first clinic wholly dedicated to treating Internet addiction in mostly young patients. The center is called reSTART and is situated in a suburb of Seattle.The main program it offers runs up...

9 September 2009
02:56 GMT

Certain Personality Traits Linked to Higher Mortality

Previous research shows that certain personality traits lead to higher mortality rates, but does not explain the exact connection between one and the other. This is what Professor Daniel K. Mroczek tried to determine with his most recent study, and the conclusion he came to was that higher levels of neuroticism led t...

19 August 2009
16:11 GMT

Higher Confidence Levels Lead to More Temptations

A group of researchers at the Northwestern University, in Illinois, has determined in a recent study that people are less able to resist temptations than they themselves think. They argue that this behavior is very dangerous, because the very individuals who are most proud of their ability to restrain themselves are ...

4 August 2009
02:31 GMT

In-Game Therapy Coming to World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is the biggest subscription-based MMO in the world of videogaming and, as such, it is often used as an example of the best and the worst of the genre.There has been a lot of talk recently about addiction, with one study saying that nine out of ten players of the MMO are basically addicted, so a grou...

29 July 2009
18:11 GMT

Evidence of Michael Jackson’s Drug Addiction Emerges

Until toxicology reports come in, there is no known cause of death for Michael Jackson, in the sense that no one can say what it was that made his heart stop. However, as fans must already be aware, speculation is running rampant that the singer OD’ed on painkillers, since police found an impressive stack of pr...

11 July 2009
06:26 GMT

Study: Nicotine Addiction Still Prevalent

According to a new scientific research, published by experts at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, despite recent progress with programs designed to reduce the number of smokers in the United States, the prevalence of the habit has remained high, and has actually increased among specific groups....

4 July 2009
05:40 GMT

Teens Need Evidence-Based, Online Smoke-Prevention Programs

Statistically speaking, the largest part of the smoking population in the United States is below the age of 25, and most of these kids, oddly enough, want to quit, at some point or another. However, when it comes down to it, they are looking for evidence-based programs, and seem to favor those that can be attended on...

1 July 2009
06:53 GMT

Jeff Fedee Attacks ‘Tattooed Reptile’ Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse is, as fans must know, currently residing in St. Lucia after initially heading there only for a couple of weeks of vacation. The holiday extended into a semi-permanent stay, with speculation saying that she’s even considering applying for residence. In a scathing piece in the St. Lucia Star, Jeff ...

18 June 2009
05:46 GMT

Dr. Drew: Something Horrible Will Happen to Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan’s alleged substance or alcohol addiction has been a tabloid fodder ever since she started acting more or less erratically in public. Her subsequent visits to rehab, although never confirmed as such, only came to strengthen the rumor that she was battling her own demons – and losing too. Dr. ...

6 June 2009
06:20 GMT

All Smokers to Be Offered Treatment to Quit

It’s a known fact by now that smoking is an addiction that, in order to be kicked, often requires some sort of help, either in the form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or specialized counseling. Starting from this premise, the NHS aims to introduce a mechanism through primary care that will recognize smok...

3 June 2009
14:11 GMT

Analyze That: Only 8% of Gamers Can Be Considered Addicted

A new study related to videogames and addiction is out and the results are rather interesting for the average gamer. The study, which was conducted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Congress, shows that one in 12 gamers or about 8% of those who play videogames are showing signs of addic...

30 May 2009
06:51 GMT

Hijacking the Brain's 'Pleasure Center'

For quite some time now, researchers have known that, in people addicted to drugs or medicine, the pleasure center in the brain gets “confused” and mixes up the responses it normally gives out in response to certain stimuli. Scientists have hypothesized that, by learning to control the action of this nerv...

29 May 2009
09:18 GMT

Web- and Computer-Based Programs Aid Smokers in Quitting

Many adults around the world, who have become aware of the effects of tobacco over the years, and also have begun to experience the negative effects, are constantly trying to quit the habit. While some of them have succeeded through sheer will power, others find it very difficult, and may use some help from professio...

26 May 2009
10:50 GMT

Cocaine Addicts Lose Brain-Behavior Connection

Always devising new ways of helping addicts quit strong drugs such as heroin and cocaine is a challenge to even the most well-prepared professionals. In a new study, conducted by the Brookhaven National Laboratory, a part of the US Department of Energy (DOE), experts learned that brain areas related to monitoring beh...

26 May 2009
10:32 GMT

Boredom Made Amy Winehouse Turn to Booze, Mom Says

Amy Winehouse’s many addictions have held all headlines for so long that it’s somewhat hard to believe they are not rooted deep, but are rather prompted by something as casual as being bored. Yet, this is precisely what the singer’s mother is telling the media, stressing that all that Amy needs righ...

26 May 2009
10:22 GMT

Ewan McGregor Does Men’s Health to Speak of His Demons

38-year-old Ewan McGregor was, until not long ago, the spitting image of a charming rock star, as he himself admits it in the June issue of Men’s Health (via People magazine). His addictions were his demons and, until he realized that they could as well kill him one day, leaving all his loved ones alone, he did...

22 May 2009
10:41 GMT

Morphine Patch Is Very Addictive

In their most recent study, Norwegian researchers have found that morphine patches, which were at first created to reduce and control painkiller consumption, actually create addiction in the very people who were trying to quit the drugs. One of the main reasons for this, experts at the Norwegian University of Science...

18 May 2009
05:00 GMT

Paula Abdul Comes Clean About Addiction to Painkillers

The secret to American Idol still being so popular after so many seasons is partly due to the stars that make up the panel of judges, it has often been said, and especially the chemistry they share. Paula Abdul is one of the most colorful and spontaneous presences on television, but that is not to say that she doesn&...

6 May 2009
08:50 GMT

ESA Objects to Gaming Addiction Study

The Entertainment Software Association has taken point in trying to halt the publication of a new study inferring that some 8.5% of gamers are addicted. The organization has made quite some noise, showing the errors that have crept into the study methodology and pleading with the Psychological Science magazine to wit...

28 April 2009
16:41 GMT

Study Says 8.5 Percent of Gamers Are Addicted

Are videogames addictive? Well, science apparently says so. A new study, which was conducted by the director of research of the National Institute on Media and the Family, who is also a psychology professor at the Iowa State University, puts the figure of addicted gamers at 8.5% of the overall population of people pl...

22 April 2009
13:11 GMT

Financial Incentives Alter Habitual Behaviors, Study Concludes

Smoking, not getting enough exercise, excessive consumption of alcohol, taking drugs, overeating and many other habitual behaviors that have disastrous consequences in the long run can be successfully altered and corrected with the help of financial incentives. A new study, published on BMJ, comes to show that short-...

15 April 2009
16:21 GMT

Study Shows Smokers Can Successfully Quit with Nicotine Replacement

Quitting smoking, just like with any addiction, can be a difficult and, most of the times, frustrating process. Given the fact that many smokers find the nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT) helpful, researchers at the University of Birmingham have set out to determine just how successful NRT is in terms of the smokers...

6 April 2009
09:54 GMT

Nanoparticles to Target Drug Addiction

Researchers investigating the field of drug addiction may have just developed a new method of counteracting people's need for these substances. Rather than addressing the symptoms generated by the lack of the drug, or trying to replace it with something less harmful, the team from the University of Buffalo (UB)&...

24 March 2009
07:13 GMT

Salt Is a Natural Anti-Depressant

While studying unsuspecting mice and rats, researchers at the University of Iowa (UI) have discovered that the rodents seem to not care about activities that they would have otherwise enjoyed anymore, when they have a low concentration of sodium chloride (salt) in their bodies. This has led the team to believe that a...

11 March 2009
10:26 GMT

Amy Winehouse Collapses Again, Is Hospitalized

Amy Winehouse has had her fair share of troubles in just 25 years of age, but she’s not out of the woods just yet, from what reports coming from the island of St Lucia are saying. Apparently, the singer collapsed over the weekend and was rushed to the hospital, where she remained to this date, it has been confi...

16 February 2009
09:00 GMT

Kelly Osbourne Checks into Rehab Again

Shortly after presenting herself to the police headquarters to be arraigned for slapping a reporter back in August last year, British television star Kelly Osbourne has checked into rehab for the third time. Her mother, Sharon, confirmed for RadarOnline that Kelly was seeking help, but stopped short of revealing what...

23 January 2009
09:26 GMT

Japan to Create Nicotine-Free Tobacco

Scientists from the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere at the Kyoto University in Japan have managed to identify the main gene responsible for carrying nicotine produced in the roots of the tobacco plants to its leaves. The team says that a new variety of the plant could be synthesized, one that would no...

22 January 2009
12:11 GMT

Game Addiction Similar to Drug Addiction

A new scientific study proves that video gamers who crave to play their favorite game exhibit about the same symptoms, neurologically speaking, as drug addicts looking to score their next dose. The same areas of the brain lit up, when MRI imaging was used on a few “game addicts,” whereas in the control gr...

19 December 2008
03:57 GMT

Sugar Addiction Is Similar to Drug Use

Researchers at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, led by professor Bart Hoebel, have recently made public the results of their studies concerning the effects of sugar addiction in rats. They have concluded that sugar dependence leads to the same brain changes as alcohol, nicotine, or drugs addiction. More than tha...

15 December 2008
03:29 GMT

Chinese Anti-Narcotics Efforts Violate Human Rights

Although China was only recently commended for showing a more liberal approach to the spread of AIDS and of drug usage, it would appear that the praises came too soon, as a new report, published in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine, revealed that drug addicts were subjected to inhumane treatments by authorities a...

9 December 2008
19:01 GMT

Children May Become Addicted or Immune to Medicine

While this may seem like the proper thing to do when a child is ill, giving out free sample drugs often proves to be the worst thing a doctor can do. Some of these drugs have not yet undergone extensive testing and most of them don't even have instructions on how to be used and in what quantity written either on...

7 October 2008
08:43 GMT

Doctor Says Many Suffer from "Internet Addiction"

If anyone needs further proof of how un-informed some people might be when talking about the Internet and online games, just take a look at an article that is currently running in the The Boston Globe. Dr. Jerald Block is presented as being a psychiatrist that specializes in helping those that spend too much time in ...

13 June 2008
19:31 GMT

The Paradox of Drug Addiction

Except the case of toad toxins (which, anyway, are used as drugs by very few people), all addictive foods and drugs, from chocolate and caffeine to nicotine, heroin and cocaine, represent plant poisons. Plants normally synthesize toxins for impeding their consumption by herbivores, and this is the paradox: instead of...

17 April 2008
03:02 GMT

This Woman Has Slept with 1,000 Men!

Not only drugs cause addiction. Sugar or sex can be addictive as well. It's all in the dopamine (feel good hormone). The case of estate agent Amy Michaels was described by newsoftheworld.co.uk. Her job enabled her to make any house-hunting men offers they couldn't reject: after seeing the flat, the guys cou...

25 February 2008
14:06 GMT

The Story of How It Felt to Be Banging Lindsay Lohan

You gotta love Lindsay Lohan. Really, she's just about the most fascinating celebrity out there. No, I'm kidding, of course she's not - but at least she's one of the celebrities that have managed to keep me guessing over the past couple of months, which is just about the biggest compliment I could...

27 December 2007
06:21 GMT

12 Things You Did Not Know About Alcohol

1.Try not to mix beverages; keep consuming the same type of drink all night long. In case you drink cocktails, be sure that you drink the same kind. Consumers say that in order not to get drunk, you should not mix beverages, like whiskey with rum or gin. In reality, the alcohol level in the blood, which determines ho...

21 December 2007
10:54 GMT

The Saddest Picture of the Year...

I must tell you, I almost cried when I saw this picture. No, for once I'm not kidding, this Amy Wino photo nearly ruined my day. And I really couldn't make up my mind as to which particular details were the saddest - her skinny frame, the tattoos, the ragged-looking dress, the smelly-looking ballet pumps or...

27 November 2007
05:27 GMT

Addiction to Video Games Is Just Like Drug Addiction

Being addicted to love can be extremely real. In fact, many obsessions - such as the one some people have for sex, food or video games - act just like drug addictions. You may have noticed some similarities between them, but the reactions taking place in the brain of the people addicted to gambling or video games are...

24 November 2007
07:47 GMT

Can Sports Be Dangerous for Your Health?

Sports may prolong life, since we all know "a healthy mind stays in a healthy body". But sometimes, sports can also affect our mind. An unusual consequence is represented by the incredibly high number of people obsessed by physical exercise. Specialists believe that men exercise in excess probably to regain the lost ...

3 November 2007
06:16 GMT

Halo 3 Fan Attacks His Mother and an Officer

We all know that there are a couple of games out there that can pull out the violent side in us... However, some people's violent side comes out when they're banned from playing a certain title. This was also the case of a Halo 3 fanboy, who punched his mother and a sheriff's deputy because he wasn�...

1 November 2007
09:25 GMT

Americans Love Internet, Not Sex

If you're one of those who consider the world is coming to an end, you should really read this: according to a research conducted by 463 Communications and Zogby International, "24% of Americans said the Internet could serve as a replacement for a significant other". This is pretty weird if you read this from th...

26 October 2007
08:06 GMT

Why Are Women More Prone to Addictions?

We know that testosterone makes men aggressive and muscular, while female hormones turn women into protecting "mothers" but also more vulnerable to addictions. But a new Yale research shows that it's not all about hormones; genes too are involved in shaping the sex-related behavior and the females' pronenes...

22 October 2007
14:06 GMT

Amy Winehouse Still Harming Herself

In case you were worried about her, never fear - Amy Wino is back in the party zone with a vengeance. The talented singer - whose latest success was winning the Best Album Q Award for her "Back to Black" two nights ago - made an appearance (that is, partied all night) last night in London and at first glance she look...

10 October 2007
09:31 GMT

Sugar Found to Be More Addictive Than Cocaine

Craving for sugar seems to be a much more serious problem than you thought. If you believe that craving for cocaine in the case of addiction to this drug is terribly difficult to bear, you'd better find out the result of a research team at the University of Bordeaux in France. "[W]hen rats were allowed to choose...

3 August 2007
14:06 GMT


More: next 50 >>

Windows tabGames tabDrivers tabMac tabLinux tabScripts tabMobile tabHandheld tabGadgets tabNews tab

SUBMIT PROGRAM   |   ADVERTISE   |   GET HELP   |   SEND US FEEDBACK   |   RSS FEEDS   |   ENTER NEWS SITE   |   ENGLISH BOARD   |   ROMANIAN FORUM