Dr. Sarah Wakeman

Yeah, lots of things. I mean, I focus mostly on alcohol and drugs. So alcohol, obviously, probably most common. I think we'll talk about that a lot today, which I'm excited about. And certainly when we look worldwide, 400 million people have an alcohol use disorder, meaning addiction to alcohol. That's a lot of people. The other are drugs.

Yeah, lots of things. I mean, I focus mostly on alcohol and drugs. So alcohol, obviously, probably most common. I think we'll talk about that a lot today, which I'm excited about. And certainly when we look worldwide, 400 million people have an alcohol use disorder, meaning addiction to alcohol. That's a lot of people. The other are drugs.

So that can be opioids like heroin or pain pills or fentanyl. It can be cocaine or stimulants like methamphetamine or prescription stimulants. sedatives that people may take for anxiety, like benzodiazepines, cannabis. And so there's a whole sort of range of substances that can be addictive. And how addictive a substance is, is really related to sort of how much dopamine is released in the brain.

So that can be opioids like heroin or pain pills or fentanyl. It can be cocaine or stimulants like methamphetamine or prescription stimulants. sedatives that people may take for anxiety, like benzodiazepines, cannabis. And so there's a whole sort of range of substances that can be addictive. And how addictive a substance is, is really related to sort of how much dopamine is released in the brain.

I know you've had a wonderful episode with Dr. Lemke about dopamine. So you've talked about that a bit. And there are different sort of addictive indices of different substances. So cannabis is less addictive than methamphetamine, for example. But all of those substances can cause addiction in people.

I know you've had a wonderful episode with Dr. Lemke about dopamine. So you've talked about that a bit. And there are different sort of addictive indices of different substances. So cannabis is less addictive than methamphetamine, for example. But all of those substances can cause addiction in people.

Yeah, well, there's, you know, a couple important pieces there. Is your coffee drinking causing harm in your life in any way?

Yeah, well, there's, you know, a couple important pieces there. Is your coffee drinking causing harm in your life in any way?

It may be helping you, right?

It may be helping you, right?

Yeah, so it's not addiction. So there's a difference between physiologic dependence, meaning, like, if you don't drink your cup of coffee, you're going to get a headache. And addiction, meaning that you're spending all your day and all your money buying more and more coffee.

Yeah, so it's not addiction. So there's a difference between physiologic dependence, meaning, like, if you don't drink your cup of coffee, you're going to get a headache. And addiction, meaning that you're spending all your day and all your money buying more and more coffee.

We don't really see this, but buying more and more coffee despite, you know, your girlfriend nagging you about it and you're late to work because you're purchasing coffee. We don't really see that so much with coffee, but that would be sort of addiction.

We don't really see this, but buying more and more coffee despite, you know, your girlfriend nagging you about it and you're late to work because you're purchasing coffee. We don't really see that so much with coffee, but that would be sort of addiction.

Well, I guarantee that many people listening have been touched by addiction, either personally or in their lives. Because of stigma, we tend not to talk about that. But the scale is huge. So globally, 2.6 million people every year die from alcohol-related causes. So that's 7,000 people today will die from an alcohol-related death. Another 600,000 people die from drug-related deaths annually.

Well, I guarantee that many people listening have been touched by addiction, either personally or in their lives. Because of stigma, we tend not to talk about that. But the scale is huge. So globally, 2.6 million people every year die from alcohol-related causes. So that's 7,000 people today will die from an alcohol-related death. Another 600,000 people die from drug-related deaths annually.

So that's like 1,600 deaths today from drug-related causes. And then when we look at the criteria of sort of meeting criteria for a substance use disorder or addiction, it's about 400 million people worldwide for alcohol and 80 million people for drug use. So it's incredibly common.

So that's like 1,600 deaths today from drug-related causes. And then when we look at the criteria of sort of meeting criteria for a substance use disorder or addiction, it's about 400 million people worldwide for alcohol and 80 million people for drug use. So it's incredibly common.

If you think about alcohol, some studies estimate that the lifetime prevalence, meaning over the course of your life, how likely are you to at some point develop alcohol addiction, is somewhere between 15% and 30% in some studies. So one in three people may have a problem with alcohol at some point in their life. So this touches all of us.

If you think about alcohol, some studies estimate that the lifetime prevalence, meaning over the course of your life, how likely are you to at some point develop alcohol addiction, is somewhere between 15% and 30% in some studies. So one in three people may have a problem with alcohol at some point in their life. So this touches all of us.