The hard truth is that addiction touches every single one of us, either personally, or through a family member, friend or colleague. We may not give the topic much weight, but addiction is much more prevalent today than we might consider.

Whether it is recreational drugs, medication, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, social media and scrolling, shopping, eating, or any other outlet for our emotions and stress to hide themselves in, addiction affects so many of us. A great deal of addictions are related to socially acceptable behaviour and therefore remain unrecognised. Addiction does not discriminate between gender or age; girls and young women aged 12-17, 61.5% are more likely to have an alcohol use disorder than males. The most frequent substances used by women are prescription medication, alcohol, and nicotine products. Women develop medical  ...