Addiction is a wrenching experience for individuals and for family members. Addiction can happen to anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, education, or economic status. Addiction is a disease that needs to be investigated and treated with as much dedication as we devote to other serious illnesses like cancer.

The Vanderbilt Addiction Center offers a range of treatment options for patients who suffer from drug and alcohol dependance. Because substance abuse often runs in families, it is essential to look at addictions throughout the life cycle, with a focus on the family. The origins of alcoholism, substance abuse, and associated behaviors can be traced to an interaction over a lifetime between an individual's genes and the environment. For patients who are seriously addicted, recovery is often extended over a long period of time. Our ability to study genetic-environmental interactions as we follow patients over time enhances treatment and research.

The Vanderbilt Addiction Center provides a system of care for drug- and alcohol-dependent patients spanning the life cycle with a focus on the family and the community, while incorporating expertise in psychopharmacology, neurosciences, and behavioral sciences.

The Vanderbilt Addiction Center offers hope for freedom from addiction—through high-quality treatment services that integrate substance abuse and psychiatric services, through state-of-the-art research, and through training caring clinicians and researchers.

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- Last Updated March 15th, 2001 -