Norman Earl Zinberg (1922 – April 2, 1989) was an American

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

whose research into

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

is seen as a great influence on current clinical models and greatly influenced the work of

addiction treatment Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general inten ...

specialists such as

Stanton Peele Stanton Peele (born January 8, 1946) is a psychologist, attorney, psychotherapist and the author of books and articles on the subject of alcoholism, addiction and addiction treatment. Career Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Peele received h ...

. He was a clinical professor of psychiatry at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and a psychiatrist at Cambridge Hospital. He also taught at Boston University and the Tufts School of Medicine. Zinberg earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland. Zinberg studied recreational heroin users over a ten-year period, and his book ''Drug, Set, and Setting: The Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use'' explains with data and case histories why people's relation to drug use could change according to type of drug (including its method of ingestion), their mindset, and social setting. One of his early studies in the area concerned a number of American soldiers who became addicted to

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

as what Zinberg viewed as an attempt to "blot out" the intensity of their environment. Once back in the States, their usage "virtually ceased"; 88% of the soldiers did not become readdicted after returning stateside. His work contradicted the idea that some people have " addictive personalities" while other do not. Howard Shaffer, a colleague at Harvard and at

Cambridge Hospital Cambridge hospital may refer to the following: United Kingdom *Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, an NHS foundation trust which manages the following hospitals in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom **Addenbrooke's Hospital **Ro ...

, said about Zinberg "He had a remarkable impact on our understanding that drug effects are not simply a consequence of biochemistry. He showed that an individual's expectations, his psychological set and his social milieu interact to produce the effects on behavior that we observe. Equally important, Norman Zinberg helped us explain why an addictive drug affects a person differently at different times and how it affects various people in different ways." In addition to his addiction work, Zinberg was one of the first appointees to the National AIDS Commission. Norman Zinberg collaborated on some studies and books with his wife Dorothy Zinberg.

References

External links

Norman Zinberg's lecture
on YouTube. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zinberg, Norman 1922 births 1989 deaths People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania University System of Maryland alumni American psychiatrists American addiction physicians 20th-century American physicians American psychoanalysts Boston University faculty Tufts University School of Medicine faculty