Jenny, a member of the Articles Team, has brought up some wonderful ideas for writing articles about various addictions and impulsive behaviors! After some discussion and brainstorming, I've come up with more concrete ideas about where we could go with these articles. If you're interested in writing (or co-writing) one of these articles, please state your interest here! Once you have a rough draft, you're welcome to create a new thread, so we can more easily keep track of which articles are in the "brainstorming" stage and which articles are in the "rough/final draft" stage.

1. Alcohol and Drug Addictions
We currently have one article on alcoholism, one article that briefly addresses various drugs, and another article that talks about using drugs/alcohol at parties. We haven't talked about nicotine, which is a drug commonly used by teens, so an article on smoking tobacco could be a great way to fill in the gaps! If you'd like to write an article about a specific drug, that could also be a great addition to the Substance Abuse section of our Articles database. Finally, I was thinking about writing an article that briefly explains how substance abuse occurs, and why it's so difficult for people to quit. If anyone is interested in co-writing that article with me, please state your interest here!

2. Internet Gaming Disorder
Internet Gaming Disorder is not listed as a "formal" diagnosis in the recently released DSM-5. With that being said, I think this article would be of interest to our community, and it could encompass elements such as social networking websites and online video games. The author of this article could summarize the research that's been done, look into support groups for people addicted to the internet/Facebook/video games/etc., and offer general tips for fighting these specific problems.

3. Pathological Gambling
Pathological gambling is a recognized impulse control disorder, and could go under Addictive Behaviors. This could also touch upon internet gambling - it's now easier than ever to blow money, when you don't have to go to Vegas or another area in the country where it's legal to gamble.

4. Managing Impulsive Behaviors
We could go in a few directions with this article. We could talk about mania/manic episodes, and how they can lead to impulsive decisions. There are certainly medical/pharmaceutical and therapeutic components to treating mania, which could be an article in of itself. There are also people who struggle with self-discipline, though, who don't necessarily struggle with mental disorders. I think it would be interesting if someone wrote an article on managing non-clinical impulsive behaviors, such as how to make and follow a budget when someone has a habit of going on shopping sprees or making poor decisions with purchases. This article could probably fall under the Lifestyle category (due to the financial aspect), but let's brainstorm here first and move it over to the Lifestyle category later on if it seems to be a better fit there.

Originally Posted by MedusoidMycelium (Post 1044663) I don't know if its a good idea or not. But I'd be quite happy to write an article on my experience of growing up with an alcoholic parent.

I also think an article about parental alcoholism could be a great addition to the database. =) Many of our members may want to know how they can get help for themselves (ex. knowing when they can contact the authorities, going to Alateen meetings) and for their friends (ex. helping them cope, getting an adult involved if there is abuse/neglect). If you think an interview-style article would help you organize your thoughts, I can start working on questions and send them to you via PM. Once you've had a chance to answer those questions, you could create a new thread, and we could continue to edit from there. =)

Originally Posted by MedusoidMycelium (Post 1044721) Yeah perhaps the article could be tied in with the interview like have the interview and the article all in one publishing ? Yeah I know a couple of places that I use for help with my dads drinking (ones a website and ones a help-line)

Getting Help You can get assistance from the following helplines...

Do you know of any helplines which those in a similar situation could use? Yes - there are some really great ones! One I use[d] a lot [is/]was...

I want to thank everyone who has replied to this thread so far!

i_like_black, I love the suggestions you provided and will be sure to review those again, whenever someone (you, myself, or another team member) decides to get started on that article.

Raechel98 and MedusoidMycelium, if either of you get stuck at any point during the process, whether it's before you begin to write the article or after you've posted your first draft in a new thread, please don't hesitate to PM me!

We're almost halfway through the month and need an article for publication, so I'm also going to get started on an article tomorrow. I think I'll be going with the article that briefly explains how substance abuse occurs, and why it's so difficult for people to quit.

Kakorrhaphiophobia, thank you for volunteering to help out with that topic! =D

MedusoidMycelium, if you're going to be on vacation, you're not obligated to spend that time working on articles (but you're more than welcome to if you want!).

Originally Posted by MedusoidMycelium (Post 1055317) I'm not sure if with my idea it would be better if it did at a sort of article combined with an interview. Also for this would I be able to stay annonymous just for this one article ?

That's an interesting question! I don't think we've ever had an anonymous article before, but back when we had the Avatar magazine, we allowed people to submit original works anonymously. This would probably be a question to ask Chess, who might have to confer with Rob.

That's entirely up to you, Lydia. I know you did an "article-article" a while back that was fairly personal in nature, so I wouldn't mind if you did it again. If you feel you're lacking a sense of direction and an interview format would help, though, I could brainstorm with you via PM to see which questions might generate information you'd like to share with our readers.

How about this, then? You can try starting off with an article-article, and if you're still stuck after a few weeks, PM me so I can start to come up with interview questions. If you manage to write a rough draft for an article-article, PM me so I can review it, and we can debate whether it's a good format or would be better as an interview.

I like intriguing titles, but I know that for the Articles, we want to stick with straightforward titles. That way, it's easier for members to search for keywords (ex. "parents" and "alcohol") and find articles that are relevant to them.