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Recovery in the News: HBO Media Coverage
TV series to shed light on addiction
Brent Maze,
Clanton Advertiser
February 28, 2007
A state expert hopes a new documentary series will help shed light on addiction, which has scientifically been proven to be a brain disease.
The 14-part HBO series title "Addiction" debuts on March 15, but a screening of a 90-minute documentary from the series was held Tuesday night in Birmingham.
Bill Layfield with Alabama Voices for Recovery said he hopes this series will help people who already have an addiction.
"The one message that we hope this documentary does is that an addiction is a chronic, treatable brain disease," he said. "We want people to know that they can receive treatment to break the addiction."
The project is a partnership with HBO, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The series is focusing is focusing on different parts of addiction including relapses, problems with insurance and how people can receive treatment for addictions.
The documentary shows what happens to the brain when it gets addicted to a drug or some other kind of addiction.
"The brain gives the person a kind of reward when they use drugs or alcohol. They can hijack the brain's reward system and pleasure pathways," he said. "The drugs make the person feel so good that they have to try and get back to that high again."
Layfield said certain people have a higher likelihood of being addicted than others.
"There is a genetic predisposition for some people to become addicted as opposed to others," he said. "Other factors that can cause addiction are the person's environment, their friends and other family members. All of these things can cause addiction."
One important message that the documentary delivers is that addiction is not a moral failure and that they can get help.
"I think this is an eye-opening documentary that should transform the way we think about addiction," he said. "It shows why people like myself can be addicted for a long time. It is all in the brain and I hope that this will give everyone a chance to see how they can get away from addiction."