Demystifyng Addiction: Understanding the Hijacked Brain

Thomas Hedlund discusses addiction as a brain disease and an attachment disorder rooted in early emotional development. Scientific images of the brain demonstrate changes between addicted and normal brains. Addiction is described and compared with the symptoms of recreational use or abuse. Breakthroughs in attachment and affective neuroscience explain how early life survival and adaptive mechanisms become barriers in adult life. Describes how addiction develops and heals. Illustrates the steps necessary to arrest addictive behavior and repair the distorted thinking, feeling and behaviors. Describes how addiction affects the judgment and self control. The progressive destructive nature of this process is also described that allows the viewer to understand the erratic, irrational and denial based behavior associated with advanced addiction. Explains denial and uses examples Including the brain effects of nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. Treatments are discussed.