Smithsonian.com
For people combatting drug addiction and those trying to help them, the battle can be long and arduous. Right now, treating heroin or cocaine addictions involves behavioral interventions, replacement substances (such as methadone) or detoxification programs. The powerful symptoms of withdrawal and the tendency to relapse back to using behavior mean that kicking such a potent dependency is unlikely to ever be easy or seen as a sure thing. But, in recent years, says Maia Szalavitz for Time, an extreme and incredibly controversial new technique has arisen to combat addiction: through surgical means, doctors actually burn away the parts of the brain that deal with feelings of pleasure and motivation.
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