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Psychology

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

Addiction

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

14 minutes

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video

Work

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

10 minutes

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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

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video

Mental health

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

4 minutes

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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

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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

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video

Human rights and justice

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

34 minutes

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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

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video

Addiction

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

3 minutes

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idea

Consciousness and altered states

Solving the heroin overdose mystery: how small doses can kill

Shepard Siegel

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Medicine

We need ecstasy and opioids in place of Prozac and Xanax

Marc Lewis & Shaun Shelly

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idea

Poverty and development

Want to reduce drug use? Listen to women drug users

Kasia Malinowska & Bethany Medley

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video

Addiction

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

16 minutes

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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

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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

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idea

Addiction

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

Joel Finkelstein

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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

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video

Addiction

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

2 minutes

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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