A recent survey has reported that 64% of teens have tried illicit drugs by the age of 18 (1). Some of these kids will develop a profoundly devastating drug addiction while others will not. This phenomenon has lead researchers to ask why. Why are some individuals, who experiment with drugs, more susceptible to drug addiction while others do not? By addressing this question, researchers hope to develop better preventative measures as well as better treatment for drug dependent individuals.

Very different strategies can be adopted in the study of the mind, but, on the whole, they can be clustered in two separate groups. One is more quantitative, based on statistics, experiments, isolated events and is able to identify variables and establish laws that allow the prediction of a future behavior. The other one is more qualitative and is based on the particular characteristics of a single person and very seldom utilizes generalized theories.

On occasion, everyone finds that emotions have bested them. The person we have a crush on doesn’t call us back for two days, and suddenly the world feels just a bit less bright. We do poorly on a test, and though we recognize that in the scheme of things it’s not a big deal, we can’t help but imagine that our future has been ruined. And then, another piece of ourselves works to quell the fire: the moment passes, the crush calls (or doesn’t), we watch a TV show or two, we get a good grade on the next test (or we don’t), we call a supportive friend and talk briefly, and life goes on. But for some people,

Three central methods for dealing with mental health problems dominate the therapeutic scene: pharmacological, cognitive behavioral, and psychodynamic/analytic therapy. Each method attempts to restore a state of well-being or health characterized by the patient's ability to interact with the world in a productive and coherent manner. CBT and Psychodynamic therapy attempt to solve the problems without necessarily using drugs and can therefore be grouped together as Psychotherapies, as distinct from Pharmacotherapy.