General information & resources

Alcoholism

The NHS estimates that around 9% of men in the UK and 4% of UK women show signs of alcohol dependence (sometimes known as 'alcoholism') (1). This means that drinking alcohol becomes an important, or sometimes the most important, factor in their life and they feel they're unable to function without it.

Eating disorders

However, more recent research from the NHS information centre showed that up to 6.4% of adults displayed signs of an eating disorder

Drugs

In 2008, among persons with substance dependence or abuse, the proportion with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs also was associated with age: 60.6 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 were dependent on or abused drugs compared with 37.4 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 and 24.3 percent of adults aged 26 or older.

Workaholics

How pervasive is the problem? In 2009, Statistics Canada reported that one-third of Canadians self-identified as workaholics. But Michele thinks that may only be the tip of the iceberg. "Technology like smart phones means people are on call 24/7 and many people are even afraid if they take vacations they will lose their jobs." Workaholism can take many forms, but WA focuses on work-compulsion and work-aversion. Work-compulsives find it difficult to turn away from work and,

Gambling

Farrar, who estimates he lost more than £100,000 over two decades gambling, is not alone in his struggle. There are an estimated 450,000 "problem gamblers" in the UK, according to the most recent British Gambling Prevalence Survey. And the numbers are rising – up from 0.6% of the population in 2007 to 0.9% in 2010, according to one measure. A further 3.5 million people were categorised as "at-risk" gamblers. And GamCare, an industry funded body that provides support to problem gamblers, told a parliamentary select committee last year that 2% of 12 to 15-year-olds are addicted to gambling.

Further resources

Addiction is often linked to mental health problems. If you have an addiction problem it may have started as a way to cope with feelings that you felt unable to deal with in any other way.

http://www.mind.org.uk/mental_health_a-z/7992_addiction_and_dependency

http://www.bje.org.au/learning/judaism/ethics/bioethics/alcohol.html

http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/