Search results for ‘Subject term:"obsessive compulsive disorders"’ Sort:
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The biology of gambling
- Author:
- AASVED Mikal
- Publisher:
- Charles C. Thomas
- Publication year:
- 2003
- Pagination:
- 356p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Springfield, IL
This volume focuses on the etiological or causal theories that have been advanced by specialists in the medical sciences, an increasing number of whom are adopting the view that biological factors play an important role in the developmnet of many addictive, obsessive-compulsive, and other maladaptive behavior disorders. The fifteen chapters are divided into four parts. Part I reviews medical or disease models of addiction, discussing early and later conceptions. The core features of addiction, the alcohol dependence syndrome, heritability of addiction, longitudinal studies, and the quest to discover the biological basis of addiction are explored in detail. Part II examines the medical models of pathological gambling by exploring early ideas on gambling and human evolution, recent definition and diagnosis of pathological gambling, criticisms of the medical and addiction models, treatment goals, and the ongoing quest to discover the biological basis of pathological gambling. Part III concerns multicausal models of pathological gambling, and focuses on general theories of addiction, gambling-specific theories, and finishes with a critique of multicausal approaches. Part IV integrates the contents of the book by highlighting its main points and offering such concluding observations as: “Where do we now stand, and where do we go from here?”
Cutting: understanding and overcoming self-mutilation
- Author:
- LEVENKRON Steven
- Publisher:
- W.W. Norton
- Publication year:
- 1999
- Pagination:
- 269p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- New York
The author begins by advising desensitization to the disturbing wounds, scars and blood-letting patients inflict upon themselves, redirecting focus toward the underlying issues. He likens cutting to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), that it is a compulsive act meant to relieve unbearable emotional pain, and to eating disorders in that it is a method of seizing control. Like anorexics, most cutters are girls, unable to express anger toward others, instead turning it against themselves. The author is careful to explain that cutting is not the same as body piercing or tattooing, which reflect "adolescent trendiness," and that cutters are not suicidal, their wounds life-threatening only rarely and accidentally. Cutting is done secretly, "usually in a trancelike state," and "the act of creating pain... or drawing blood, is in itself the goal." Cutters then develop an "addiction" to this method of exchanging physical pain for emotional pain. With many examples from his practice, the author provides clear and comprehensive information on the causes and effective treatments of this mysterious disorder, specific advice for therapists and an encouraging sense of hope for patients and their families.