In this essay I will attempt to explore the causes of addiction. "Everyone engages in addictive behaviours to some extent because such things as eating, drinking, and sex are essential to survival and highly reinforcing," says G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., director of the Addictive Behaviours Research Centre at the University of Washington. "We get immediate gratification from them and find them very hard to give up indeed. That's a pretty good definition of addiction." (…showed first 75 words of 1814 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1814 total…adolescence and early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64-105. Institute of Medicine.(1996) Pathways of Addiction. Washington: National Academy Press. Johnston LD, O'Malley PM, Bachman JG. (2001) Monitoring the Future Koob GF, Le Moal M. (1997) Drug abuse: Hedonic homeostatic dysregulation. Science 278, 52-58. Marlatt G. A., VandenBos G. R., (1997). Addictive behaviours. Washington DC:American Psychological Association. Prescott C.A & Kendler K.S (1999. Jan) American Journal of Psychiatry. 40 Rodgers J.E. (1994. Sept/Oct) Addiction - A Whole New View.