Addiction and mental health across the lifespan: An overview of some contemporary issues

Throughout history, humans have discovered paths to pleasure, euphoria, and alternate realities through substances. Psychoactive substances that were ingested, chewed, inhaled, or smoked have played an important part in cultural rituals across the millennia. Early humans also discovered that substances derived from plants (e.g., opium from the poppy plant) can relieve the agonizing pain of acute and chronic medical conditions. All of these substances that benefited humanity also can be abused, either intentionally or inadvertently. New to the modern world are technological tools that can be misused and abused, such as the Internet. As Grossman noted, “The Internet, conceived as a research and productivity tool, has become a weapon of mass distraction” (Grossman, 2008, p. 52).