The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Addiction & the Humanities - Are video games normalizing addictive behaviors?

Video games often contain ‘adult’ content that may not be appropriate for younger players, such as gambling and alcohol, tobacco, and other substance use. Addiction & the Humanities explores the pervasiveness and portrayal of these themes within video games and discusses the implications they may have on stakeholders and consumers – including children and adolescents. Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities - The portrayal of Gambling Disorder in Uncut Gems

This week, Addiction & the Humanities looks at a portrayal of Gambling Disorder in Uncut Gems, a film that depicts the story of a New York City jewelry dealer who continues to gamble despite his increasing debt. Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities - Does Netflix have a smoking problem?

Depictions of tobacco use are on the rise in programming found on streaming platforms. This week, Addiction & the Humanities investigates smoking imagery in popular shows that attract young viewers, such as Netflix’s Stranger Things. Read more →

Special Topics in Addiction and the Humanities: From scare tactics to realism: Different approaches to the portrayal of methamphetamine

Editor's Note: This special edition of Addiction and the Humanities was written by Julia Wise, who conducted an independent research project with the Division on Addiction during the summer of 2012. Crystal Meth is a unique drug that affects users unlike any other substance. A first example is methamphetamine’s effects on the brain; long-term use can result in psychotic symptoms. Some people suffer from these symptoms even after they stop using (Kelly, 2005). A second way that crystal meth is distinct is the way it is produced. Rather than being derived originally from a plant, meth is produced chemically from... Read more →

Special Topics in Addiction and the Humanities: Music Therapy for Chemically Dependent Youth

Editor’s Note: The Division on Addiction has recently begun a partnership with the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations, a residential chemical dependency treatment center for adolescents located in Spokane, WA. The Healing Lodge provides innovative treatment to both Native and non-Native youth that incorporates Native American culture in the healing process. One of the Healing Lodge's most recent treatment innovations is Abstract Music, a program that encourages residents to express their thoughts and feelings through music. In 2011, that program won the "Innovative Program of Year” award from the Washington State Department of Behavioral Health and Recovery and an... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(10) - The Main Event: ESPN covers recovery and redemption

On October 31, 24-year old Greg Merson won the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker. As a part of their coverage of the biggest live poker tournament in the world (6598 entrants, 7 days of play during the summer, two days of play during October), ESPN and other poker media covered his struggles with addiction, from his past with marijuana and cocaine to his current efforts and strategies for staying clean. Today's Addiction & the Humanities explores this coverage. ESPN’s coverage of Days 1 through 7 During the summer, teams at ESPN edited hours of footage from... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(9) - By grinders, for grinders: Professional poker players' depictions of gambling

By many accounts, the Poker Boom started during 2003 when then-amateur Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and the $2.5 million prize. During the next few years, various signs pointed to steady popularity increases for poker. The number of entrants into the $10,000-buy-in Main Event grew each year, from 839 during 2003 to 8773 during 2006. Attendance has decreased since then, but since 2008 more than 6,400 competitors have entered the Main Event each year. Also starting in 2003, several television channels began airing seasons of poker programming (The Travel Channel, World Poker Tour,... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(8) - PSAs: Pushing public awareness, or putting people off?

Non-profit and government agencies create public service announcements (PSAs) that major media outlets broadcast for free. They have the objectives of raising awareness and changing public attitudes and behavior towards a social issue. Scare tactics in anti-drug campaigns are similar to the “shockvertising” we’ve seen in some corporate advertising campaigns (as discussed in Addiction & the Humanities Vol. 8(7)). In this final segment of a three-part series on addiction and advertising, we examine scare tactics used in four anti-drug PSA campaigns. The first PSA from Finland channels the experience of having a parent who abuses alcohol. Filmed from the child’s... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(7) - Just Do It? Selling exercise and addiction in Nike campaigns

This week, we continue a series focusing on addiction and advertising. In this series, we explore the relationship between advertisements, drug use, and public perceptions of addiction. In the last Addiction & the Humanities, we analyzed messages about drug use in pharmaceutical advertisements. Just like pharmaceutical companies, major commercial brands sometimes use popular notions about drugs to sell their products. This week’s Addiction & the Humanities examines a recent advertising campaign in which Nike used expressions of drug addiction to sell shoes. Nike hired Saatchi & Saatchi, an international marketing firm, to run the advertising campaign in Brazil. The first... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(6)—Help, I’m alive: The pathologizing of everyday life in direct pharmaceutical advertising

This week, we begin a series focusing on addiction and advertising. The next three issues of Addiction & the Humanities will explore the relationship between advertisements, drug use and public perceptions of addiction. The use of psychotropic medications, including anti-depressants, stimulants, and anti-psychotics, is strong and growing among Americans. The total number of Americans taking antidepressants doubled between 1996 and 2005 (Olfson, 2009),and American children are approximately three times more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication than children in some European countries (Zito, 2008). Some researchers (e.g., Zito, 2008) suggest that pharmaceutical advertising plays a role in these trends by... Read more →