This playlist discusses the different stages of using a specialist Drug and alcohol assessment tool, and the implications of having a mental illness and co-current drug and/or alcohol addiction.

The course concludes with an exploration of other potentially addictive behaviors. Professor Polk argues that some artificial stimuli - junk food, pornography, and video games to name three - are "supernormal," meaning that they actually activate the brain's reward circuit more strongly than natural stimuli do, leading to some of the same neurological effects as drug use.

"One patient who I talked to said that she had to lie to be able to get adequate treatment for both disorders. She was told when she went to a PTSD treatment program that she couldn't have substance abuse or she wouldn't be able to get treatment, she had to be clean first. And it's a message a lot of people have heard." Lisa Najavits. Clinical studies of patients in substance abuse treatment programs have shown a high correlation with a client history...

Caffeine and nicotine are two of the most common psychoactive drugs in our society. How do they work? How dangerous are they? After reviewing how each of these drugs affects the brain - and why nicotine in particular is so addictive - Professor Polk offers several strategies to quit tobacco use.

Follows a wealthy Englishman who struggles to overcome his traumatic childhood and substance abuse.

Novelist Hank Moody's home life is in ruins, but the scandal surrounding his latest book has turned him into a hot commodity, in more ways than one. Find out if Hank can navigate the mess he's made of his life and still come out on top. Includes an episode sampling of Showtime original series: Dexter season six, The Borgias, Gigolos, and Episodes.