What is the cause of addiction?

[Satya]

I have my own addictions and I work with youngsters with drug addiction, and I'm astonished at how much power these little compulsions can have in our day to day lives.

What do you feel is the underlying cause of addiction?
What is the cure?
Does the nature of the addiction change depending upon whether it is psychological, chemical, or sexual? Or do all addictions have the same underlying nature?

 

[bamf]

I really don't know if I can answer these, because I feel that each case of addiction has a different underlying cause. Some people are genetically dispositioned to become "more easily" addicted, for lack of a better way to say it. For some people, an addiction fills a void they feel in their lives, for other people it simply started as a weekend warrior thing, and slowly took over their lives. I cannot answer what the cause of addiction is, because I believe it to be different on a case to case basis.

I think the cure for addiction is the same through and through though. Addiction can only be solved by the addict, and only when the addict personally wants to cure it. Often times this comes when the addict either a) hits rock bottom, or b) realizes all of the things their addiction is doing to their life. It usually requires some sort of wake up call. I was lucky that I never came close to hitting rock bottom, and that I got a wake up call so quickly.

 

[muir]

I think concerning youngsters conditioning is an important factor

If a young person is raised on a diet high on salt and sugar then their tastes become adapted to that.

You could hand them a drink with a healthy level of sugar in it and it might taste disgusting to them because they are used to having 5 spoons of sugar in their drink. The same goes for healthy food...they might not be adapted to it

Exercise...if you are not used to it and you do it it can make you feel sick

The addiction may be such an ever present part of their lives from a young age that not only is their body physiologically addicted but their habits are affected and also the addiction is a fundamental part of their whole landscape of activity (if that makes sense)...part of the scenary of their lives. For example cigarettes are so common place that they are accepted as part of the bodies requirements just like food and drink

Drugs have become part of the scenary, alcohol, bad food, fizzy drinks, cigarettes, sex (a sexualised society but perhaps not in healthy ways).

It is a societal problem

So the cure is to mend society.

 

[aeon]

What do you feel is the underlying cause of addiction?

The expectation/pleasure/reward cascade in the limbic forebrain of the human being, and how experiences of certain natures tend to modulate and/or hyperstimulate this system, with its associated effects on physical sensation, emotional experience, and cognition.

What is the cure?

I don't consider addiction as a disease, so I don't consider a cure for it.

I do think there are experiences as caused by certain stimuli that are not beneficial to the human being in question as well as the larger contexts of their family, friends, community, and the relationships with those people.

It must be considered that the limbic system responsible for seeking out the objects of addiction is also responsible for the seeking and reward of self-supportive and nourishing behaviors, relationships, and things.

To "cure" someone of their addictive potential would be to do harm as it regards my experience, per my knowledge, and in relation to my values.

That said, I do very much value when people seek the reward of those things that are healthy (homeostasis of the body, self-supportive choices as it regards the body, the self, and relationships, nourishing as it regards vitality and function) for them, and do not value the opposite.

Does the nature of the addiction change depending upon whether it is psychological, chemical, or sexual? Or do all addictions have the same underlying nature?

The dynamics of the effects of the addictive behavior choices differ depending on the stimuli, and this of course alters the ease or lack thereof of choosing other behaviors, the effects on health - whether physical, emotional, or mental (if you care to think of the unified human being as differentiated systems) - and the effects on the relationships the addicted individual has with their family, friends, community - and ultimately, their own person.

As it concerns the underlying nature though, I do think it is the same regardless of the behavior choices and the situation.


cheers,
Ian

 

[anica]

The expectation/pleasure/reward cascade in the limbic forebrain of the human being, and how experiences of certain natures tend to modulate and/or hyperstimulate this system, with its associated effects on physical sensation, emotional experience, and cognition.



I don't consider addiction as a disease, so I don't consider a cure for it.

I do think there are experiences as caused by certain stimuli that are not beneficial to the human being in question as well as the larger contexts of their family, friends, community, and the relationships with those people.

It must be considered that the limbic system responsible for seeking out the objects of addiction is also responsible for the seeking and reward of self-supportive and nourishing behaviors, relationships, and things.

To "cure" someone of their addictive potential would be to do harm as it regards my experience, per my knowledge, and in relation to my values.

That said, I do very much value when people seek the reward of those things that are healthy (homeostasis of the body, self-supportive choices as it regards the body, the self, and relationships, nourishing as it regards vitality and function) for them, and do not value the opposite.



The dynamics of the effects of the addictive behavior choices differ depending on the stimuli, and this of course alters the ease or lack thereof of choosing other behaviors, the effects on health - whether physical, emotional, or mental (if you care to think of the unified human being as differentiated systems) - and the effects on the relationships the addicted individual has with their family, friends, community - and ultimately, their own person.

As it concerns the underlying nature though, I do think it is the same regardless of the behavior choices and the situation.


cheers,
Ian

Based on my own experiences and research, this is highly accurate.

 

[Satya]

I don't consider addiction as a disease, so I don't consider a cure for it.

I sort of disagree in a sense. I consider addiction to be a failure to develop certain essential skill sets. For example, a person who chooses to abuse a substance because they are under stress is failing to develop healthy stress coping skills. Another example, a person who develops a sexual fixation on objects, children, or animals and engages in it is failing to develop the skills necessary to finding adults attractive and to forming stable, sexual relationships with them.

That failure to develop adaptive skill sets and to instead to choose maladaptive ones in their place may not be considered a "disease" but it certainly is harmful to an individual's ability to find happiness and success in life.

Furthermore, there is the draw of immediate gratification. People under addiction often dissociate the immediate consequences of their behavior for the immediate reward that they receive. In other words, people prone to addictive behavior are the same who are prone to lacking impulse control. They are people who have not developed the emotional intelligence necessary toward putting the needs of others or their own long term needs ahead of their own immediate gratification.

 

[TinyBubbles]

What do you feel is the underlying cause of addiction?
Addictions are fun. At least before the sense of shame sets in.

What is the cure?
Discipline.

Does the nature of the addiction change depending upon whether it is psychological, chemical, or sexual?
Probably.

Or do all addictions have the same underlying nature?
They follow a similar pattern of expression, but their root cause is not always the same (beyond wanting to have fun, that is).

 

[under skies]

I can only understand addictions from my own perspective. I've never been into chemically-addictive substances, so I can't say much for how powerful that sort of hook is.

I easily become obsessed with things that cause me to release endorphins. Am I especially susceptible to growing overly-fond of my own endorphin releases? Shrug. Anyway, that's the boyband phenomenon of the nineties for you.

I suppose that whatever type of addiction it is, it all has to do with the emotional effect induced by the activity, whether it includes listening to the upbeat song stylings of the Moffatts or drinking an alcoholic beverage or whatever. Whatever makes you happy.



That's about as far as I can take it with such a paltry understanding.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

I made friends with a couple of homeless drug-addicts when I finished school and I don't know if they are causes but some underlying factors in my friend's addictions seemed to be:

* Feelings of low self worth.
* Sense that one is not valued by important people (parents or other relatives).
* Insecurity about the love of others.
* Depression.

* I was told there are, but have not seen, people who are addicted to drugs because they simply enjoy them.


In other words, I think addiction comes about, in part, as a diversion/distraction/anasthetic from difficulties.

 

[Ecton]

For me, addiction tends to be a nearly subconscious compulsion that works with an unspoken level of planning without speaking. If I 'shut down', it takes over. And when I am 'alive and awake' it is planning how to fit itself in. Often times, I will find it injecting goals into my plans without me being aware until I scrutinize them. Nefarious son-of-a-bitch.