101741: What Is Addiction? (Chapters 1 - 3); and Key Issues in Addiction: An Interview With Dr. Nora D. Volkow, M.D. (Chapters 1 - 4)

About the Course:

This course is based on two films from the HBO Video Series “Addiction.” *Separate links are provided for each of the two films.

In What Is Addiction?, Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, discusses addiction as a brain disease with addicts and family members. She notes the environmental, behavioral and genetic factors that can make an individual vulnerable to addiction and how the disease leads to abnormal behavior. Additionally, Volkow uses brain imaging to illustrate how drugs and alcohol physically alter the brain, which is important in understanding addiction.

In An Interview With Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Dr. Volkow addresses a wide range of issues such as: addiction as a brain disease, the stigma associated with addiction, the adolescent addict, relapse, and the effectiveness of combining behavioral therapies with medication.

Journal/Publisher:

Home Box Office, in association with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Publication Date:

March 2007

Author

Sheila Nevins (producer)

About the Author:

Sheila Nevins is President of Documentary and Family Programming for HBO and Cinemax. She earned a bachelor of the arts degree from Barnard College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University. Nevins has overseen production of nearly 500 documentaries, earning 9 Oscars, 13 Primetime Emmys, 10 Academy Awards, 22 News and Documentary Emmys, and 18 George Foster Peabody awards for HBO and one personal George Foster Peabody award.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially addiction counselors, psychologists, mental health counselors, and social workers who seek knowledge about key issues in addiction. It is appropriate for all levels of participants’ knowledge.

Course Objectives:

1. Identify brain-related factors that can motivate drug abuse relapse.

2. Explain how drug-related brain adaptation leads to an altered state.

3. Discuss the stigma associated with substance addiction.