HBO, in conjunction with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), have put together an HBO original series called “Addiction”. The series is composed of several documentary films with subject matters including: adolescent addicts, opiate addiction, the science of relapse, Alcoholism and more. The following is a listing (by category) of just a few of the films currently airing on HBO:

Addiction: Centerpiece Documentary

“Saturday Night in a Dallas ER” (Directed by Jon Alpert) documents the real-life accounts of Parkland Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, which receives over 30,000 injury related cases each year; nearly half of the accidents are drug or alcohol related.

“Brain Imaging” (Directed by Liz Garbus) documents the new science of brain mapping through electronic imaging in order to see the way addiction works. The new technology is leading to several breakthroughs in recovery and rehabilitation by allowing scientists to define pleasure pathways in the brain.

Opiate Addiction:

“A New Medication” (Directed by Chris Hegedus) documents the use of buprenorphine (prescribed by doctors as Suboxone), a new drug said to treat opiate addiction the same way that methadone was used in the 1960s to treat heroin addiction.

“Topiramate: A Clinical Trial for Alcoholism” (Directed by Alan Raymond) documents the use of Topiramate, a new medication that is showing promising results in the treatment of alcoholism.

“Addiction: The Supplementary Series” (Directedd by Liz Garbus) is a film exploring the causes of addiction, addiction as a mental illness and ways to recovery.

“Understanding Relapse” (Directed by Susan Froemke) explores the different factors that lead to relapse, chronic relapsing and how relapsing should not be seen as a failure, rather as part of the addiction/disorder.

“A Mother’s Desperation” (Directed by Susan Froemke) is the story of a mother’s struggle to save her daughter from a heroin addiction.

Go to www.HBO.com to see the line up and show times for each of the documentaries along with a detailed description of each series, filmmaker biographies, follow ups and more. Along with all the information on the series itself, the site is an excellent resource for addicts seeking recovery. The site dedicates pages to understanding addiction, adolescent addiction, treatment, aftercare, discrimination and more.