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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
Brother | Aeon
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video

Addiction

From back pain to addiction – one man’s struggle with opioids, as told to his sister

14 minutes

Smoke break | Aeon
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video

Work

Catch those idle moments of connection between coworkers on a smoke break

10 minutes

Why we crave | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Why we crave

The neuroscientific picture of addiction overlooks the psychological and social factors that make cravings so hard to resist

Zoey Lavallee

The dark side of love | Aeon
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video

Mental health

When crushes become crushing – how to know if you’re in a ‘limerent episode’

4 minutes

The addiction trap | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

The addiction trap

Our inability to treat substance use disorders stems from a narrow-minded view that brains and genes are their real cause

Judith Grisel

Mathematics for gamblers | Aeon
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essay

Mathematics

Mathematics for gamblers

If philosophers and mathematicians struggle with probability, can gamblers really hope to grasp their losing game?

Catalin Barboianu

Tutwiler | Aeon
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video

Human rights and justice

Childbirth classes, doulas, lactation rooms – but is birth behind bars ever humane?

34 minutes

The clinic | Aeon
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video

Public health

Basic healthcare and clean needles is all in a day’s work at a roving addiction clinic

16 minutes

Are you really addicted to your phone? | Aeon
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video

Addiction

Is ‘tech addiction’ really akin to drug addiction? Here’s what the research says

3 minutes

Solving the heroin overdose mystery: how small doses can kill | Aeon
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idea

Consciousness and altered states

Solving the heroin overdose mystery: how small doses can kill

Shepard Siegel

We need ecstasy and opioids in place of Prozac and Xanax | Aeon
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idea

Medicine

We need ecstasy and opioids in place of Prozac and Xanax

Marc Lewis & Shaun Shelly

Want to reduce drug use? Listen to women drug users | Aeon
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idea

Poverty and development

Want to reduce drug use? Listen to women drug users

Kasia Malinowska & Bethany Medley

EXCLUSIVEInternado | Aeon
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video

Addiction

Can writing an 11,000-page autobiographical thesis cure addiction?

16 minutes

The addiction habit | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

The addiction habit

Addiction changes the brain but it’s not a disease that can be cured with medicine. In fact, it’s learned – like a habit

Marc Lewis

Ageing out of drugs | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Ageing out of drugs

Most addicts just stop using in time, without needing costly treatment. Why do some people walk away while others can’t?

Stacey McKenna

How the ‘war on drugs’ entrenches patterns of drug addiction | Aeon
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idea

Addiction

How the ‘war on drugs’ entrenches patterns of drug addiction

Joel Finkelstein

Should desire be curable? | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Should desire be curable?

Passion stabs, unrequited love hurts and taboo desires can torment the spirit. Is it time to fix our love lives for good?

Angela Chen

Cook it yourself | Aeon
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video

Addiction

How cooking for yourself can free you from the grip of salt, sugar and fat

2 minutes

Why self-harm? | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Why self-harm?

Cutting brings relief because emotion and pain criss-cross in the brain. Can we untangle the circuits and stop self-harm?

Carrie Arnold

The 12-step dogma | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

The 12-step dogma

The new science of addiction makes 12-step programmes seem like folk medicine. Is the concept of a higher power obsolete?

Rebecca Ruiz

Escape from the matrix | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Escape from the matrix

The fear of missing out haunts our social networks and our real lives alike. But there is a way to break free

Jacob Burak

Missing marijuana | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Missing marijuana

When I stopped smoking weed, my appetite shrivelled and my head throbbed – but it was the dreams that really shook me

Malcolm Harris

Night life | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

Night life

Back on the islands of my childhood, I’m clinging to sobriety, searching for a rare bird that’s also on the brink

Amy Liptrot

The outsider | Aeon
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essay

Addiction

The outsider

While one person dabbles in drugs with few ill-effects, another will become a chronic addict. What’s the difference?

Hanna Pickard