Addiction – An Overview
As a psychology addict I thought it was about time I discussed addiction here on my blog. I believe this is a pertinent topic because addictions of all kinds seem to permeate society in a very tangible way. Among my family and close friends – a relatively small group of people - there are a couple of workaholics, a smoker, a shopaholic and a handful presenting IAD (internet addiction disorder).
Now, I am sure you noticed that other than nicotine I mostly included on my list non-chemical related addictions; and that is because it is now understood that some behaviours like gambling, affect dopaminergic neurons in the same way that drugs such as cocaine do 1.
For this reason I fail to comprehend why the DSM addresses addiction mostly in terms of substances 2. Anyway, just in case you want to know what is required for someone to be formally diagnosed as an addict, here are the criteria they need to meet within one year-period, with a minimum of three out of the following seven:
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Oh dear, if I replace the word substance by Steemit it looks like I am on my way to become a Steemit addict! As of late, I most definitely have been meeting criteria C, D and E give it another few months, it’s official! 😳
But, let’s explore tolerance and withdrawal a little further, because the other criteria are pretty self-explanatory.
Tolerance & Withdrawal
The DSM, unsurprisingly, links the term tolerance to drug-use only, and defines it as the necessity of larger and larger quantities of a substance in order to reach the desired effect. Nevertheless, research has demonstrated that sex addicts experience similar needs as to obtain the same degrees of high they once did 3. And the reason I point this out is just to highlight how some behavioral addictions are overlooked, and sometime, even mocked by society in general. When, in reality, they bring the same emotional distress and life disruption some drug-addictions do.
Here is what Professor Ryan says in his autobiography Secret Life.
My personality was formed around it [sexual addiction]. All of my talents, all my good qualities as a human being, were devoted to serving it, and I was willing to sacrifice anything to it.
Further, similarly to substance-addictions, addictive behaviours bring about feelings of a better psychological state. For example, the act of going to the shopping mall and purchasing goods often lifts anxious and depressive feelings. Sooo …. ? Well, this triggers expectations of revisiting such emotional states in the future, therefore motivating people to repeat the behaviour again and again.
What is more, those who try to quit addictive behaviours also undergo similar withdrawal symptoms (e.g. irritability, stress, anxiety) just like the individuals trying to cease the use of certain addictive substances. Unfortunately, this is something that sooner than later pushes them to go back to the high-street, to the casino or to watching adult movies, in other words, they relapse.
Next I am going to talk about some of the factors that make some people initiate such behaviours and activities.
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What drives people to addictions?
As I always highlight in our discussions, it is very important to take into account the biopsychosocial model whenever the conversation turns to mental well-being. Naturally, when the topic is addiction the first of the three factors that springs to mind is the social one. Particularly when it refers to substances; but, this is because they always seem to take place within a context (very much like gambling) that has physical and social aspects that ultimately motivates the individual irrespective of whether he or she is alone or with a group of friends.
And guess what I have to illustrate this! An experiment with animals 😊 this week it will be with rats, though. This is an animal model that demonstrates how the environment and, to a point, psychological states may drive individuals to resort to opiates.
Social Factors
Here, Alexander and Hadaway assembled an entire social setting where some rats could enjoy ‘wealth’ and companionship with other members. While in another different setting, the less fortunate rodents were placed in small individual cages. Predictably, the ‘wealthy’ rats only took a small fraction of the substance when compared to the amount taken by the isolated, lonely ones 4. Providing, therefore, an insight into the role hopelessness and isolation play into motivating humans to initiate (and, perhaps, maintain) addictions to either a certain drug or behavior.
Psychological Factors
Within the context of addiction stress becomes a tricky subject, because it can work first, as what drives people to engage with addictive behaviours and substances - as when we mentioned previously that people will experience a better emotional state after a shopping-spree. And second, it can also be the reason why some people will relapse. This is because it is truly hard to say ‘no’ to temptations when feeling stressed 5.
What is important to note here, above all, is that the majority of people who adopt an addictive behaviour or substance-use seem to do it in order to be able to cope with problems. Well, this is something I see in my husband’s step-mother, who takes ‘retail-therapy’ after a stressful week 🙊
But, of course, there is way more to addiction than the factors that drive individuals to it. This is a scenario that involves factors that cause the person to maintain it as much as a reality where individual differences should be considered.
Making sense of Addiction
In order to make sense of why certain individuals resort to such strategies in order to deal with problems, some models have been developed. These are models to understand addiction. I am going to discuss them here very briefly.
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The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain.
Disease Models of Addiction
These are biomedical perspectives to understanding why some people become addicted and others don’t. As such, their main focuses aren’t on the environment or psychological aspects that might drive someone to engage with drug use, or gambling, for example.
Through this lens, addiction is interpreted as a ‘disease’ and not as a choice as it was previously perceived up to when these models came along. The advantage these sorts of views bring is that they don’t blame the person. In this scenario addiction is not seen as a type of character weakness; which is something that allows the individual to focus better on rehabilitation, as it leaves no room for guilt.
The susceptibility model
Proposes that genetic determinants may influence several behaviours that will either increase or decrease the chances of a person becoming and addict. Of course, no one single gene is said to be responsible for this influence; instead there are several genes that in the social and environmental context contribute to the relevant behaviour. This model goes as far as to propose that such genetic contributors even play a part in prompting novelty-seeking behaviour.
The Incentive Sensitisation Model
A neurobiological model. This model mostly suggests that addiction unfolds because the individual desires the object of addiction (alcohol or shopping) more and more as time goes by, as a consequence of the sensitisation of the mesolimbocortical pathway. This is due to changes the addicted’s brain undergoes as a result of the repeated exposure to the drug or behaviour, which triggers compulsion and, finally, addiction.
Psychological Models of Addiction
In order to address the significant psychological factors that influences individuals to resort to addictive behaviours (factors that were left aside by the biomedical models), psychologists felt compelled to elaborate models of addiction too. And while they may sometimes oppose to the disease models, it is very helpful to see them rather as complementary.
A Rational Choice Model of Addiction
Yes, we are about to discuss addiction here as a result of a rational choice. And before your jaw drops, just try to put yourself in the shoes of the addicted individual. Also, keep in mind that we are not talking about making the*right* choice. It might be difficult for you to understand why someone would choose to develop any sort of addiction. Nevertheless, the rationale behind it might be that through adopting certain substances or behaviour the benefits brought about might actually outweighs the costs. As in some cases where people’s lives sometimes are even worse without their addiction.
Addiction as a Cognitive Bias
A cognitive bias is a mistake in reasoning, evaluating, remembering, or other cognitive process, often occurring as a result of holding onto one's preferences and beliefs regardless of contrary information.
This is the most widely known psychological model of addiction and posits that the addicted person focus on, and selectively memorises certain information about their addiction as a result of their attention and memory processes. Consequently, this leads them to biased beliefs that impair sensible judgement towards drugs and certain behaviours 6.
So, returning to the complexity of addiction, whenever evaluating any of these models more in-depth the important questions to ask are:
Does it explain things such as how addiction is initiated and maintained?
Does it explain features such as tolerance or withdrawal?
Does it regard individual differences such as personality?
And, ultimately, can it predict suitable treatments?
Still, even in a more in-depth exploration of the models listed above you will find that some of them are more successful than others in answering these questions. Indeed, some won’t even deliver an answer to certain questions.
The incentive sensitisation model is, perhaps, the most popular one among mental-health professionals; this is due to its large evidence base, and because it satisfactorily answers all the questions above.
Reflection
Whenever I watch documentaries on drug addiction, or come across people living with any sort of addiction I cannot help but link their situation to anxiety, sadness and stress. If you remember well, these are emotional states that we have mentioned here when discussing what might drive people into addiction, or indeed, what causes them to relapse. New types of addictions like gaming, food and even internet addiction spring up as a means of escapism and distraction. From what? One might ask. Well, life is busy and overwhelming. I, for instance, have a good life. Yet, it feels quite stressful at times. And just as I am writing this, I recalled an interesting comment I received not long ago on my post Discussing misconceptions about psychology, where the reader asked me the following:
Has stress not existed in humans forever or have we been cultivating an environment that is more and more stressful?
This was my reply to this reader, which I decided to share with you all in an attempt to make sense of our increasingly addicted society.
Yes, and stress is one of the very components on our biology that has allowed us to thrive as a species! However, the notion that Biological Psychologists put forward is that although culturally humans have come a long way from their ancestors, the timespan of a few ten thousands of years is not sufficient to allow the biological evolution that modern life demands from our species. In other words, our brains and emotional systems are still pretty much the same from back in the day when our species lived in small kin-groups as hunters/ gatherers.
[Original Content by Abigail Dantes - 2018]
Reference List:
Attentional bias in addictive behaviors: a review of its development, causes, and consequences.
A Cognitive Model of Drug Urges and Drug-Use Behavior: Role of Automatic and Nonautomatic Processes
DSM-IV Substance Dependence Criteria
DiClemente, C. (2003) Addiction and change: How addictions develop and addicted people recover, New York, Guilford Press
Opiate addiction: The case for an adaptive orientation.
Ryan, M. (1996) Secret Life: An autobiography, London, Bloomsburry.
The neurobiology of pathological gambling and drug addiction: an overview and new findings
The Ultimate High: Sexual Addiction and the Bug Chasing Phenomeno
Image sources – Pixabay.com & Wikipedia: 1,2,3,4.
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Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read another one of my long, long posts 😊
Today, I would like to inform you all that for the next two months I will be posting every other Friday, because life has got really busy at my end 😌
As always, I wish to each one of you only the best in life. Have a wonderful weekend :)
Abigail.
Hello my Dear Friend, so glad you are posting about addiction, as I do believe it to be the cause or basis for so many underlying problems. Coping with life is learned or taught to us by parents, teachers, mentors, etc. Today so many young people are isolated, abused, left to bring up other siblings that Indeed addiction may be a choice they make to cope with their set of circumstances.In this case the underlying problem must be dealt with and coping skills learned before real change can take place.
In physical addiction the blood brain barrier has been broken making the addict more susceptible to the affects of the drug or alcohol ingested. I can’t see this happening with internet, porn, shopping, etc. but yes crack, cocaine , alcohol, heroin, and mind altering chemicals. This is way more difficult as the drug or alcohol have so much power over the physical body, constantly calling the addict back for another high.
This topic is so big in my opinion that most other frailties of the mind can revolve around it and become spontaneous off shoots of the addiction. The study of the brain and the organic malfunctions are in my opinion very slight by comparison to what can happen with an addict.
In conclusion, I am so sad that your new hours for posting will only be every other Friday. I missed you so much when you were moving, and will miss you more knowing you have been too busy to share with us. Much Love to you my friend. 🐓🐓
Thank you so much for this beautiful comment my dear, dear friend @mother2chicks. I was looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this post as I know you have great knowledge on this subject. I couldn’t agree more with what you said about the upbringing of children nowadays as one of the causes that drives them to subtance use or addictive behaviours. We live in an overwhelming world!
From a neuropsychological perspective this topic is as interesting as it is complex, in my opinion.
I am sorry to hear you feel sad about me posting less! My work load will diminish in a couple of months, and I will be back on posting weekly 😊 Your always kind and loving words are truly motivating my dear. Thank you so much for always delivering so much love.
Lots of love to you and all the best ❤️🌷
Take care :)
I like your post, so big and, to tell you the truth, a lot of useful information that opens your eyes to what's happening in the world, at the moment, addiction grows more and more, and how to fight it or who does not know the main thing is that it is beneficial to people's hands who for this are not small money, and the families of so-called drug addicts suffer as always and all their lives are tormented by their relative or son. Thank you for the post, dear friend, I support your post
thanks you
Oh my god, how can i ever get your attention with so many intelligent comments? Can man be addicted to ununderstandable psychological knowledge? I definitely pass the 5 conditions on more than 5 "substances". Although i really can not classify you as a substance. Just wanted to say hello, hope all is well, tons of love.
@bubke 😍 How great to see you here! You will always have my attention ....your comments always make me smile, but this one made me laugh out loud! Ahahahahahah
Everything is well over here :) and I hope it is with you and your beautiful family too 😘
Lots and lots of love :)
Hello Abby,
By now you have probably noticed that I'm very bad at timekeeping. This is not to suggest that I show up for appointments late. Rather it is to insist that whenever I can postpone an event, I tend to do so and this tendency increases with the importance of the event and the absence of a suitable time line thereof.
Addiction, addiction! I'm seated with a bottle of coke, finally relaxed enough to read your post. I had to put off reading it until this moment because I know that I would be unable to finish it if I didn't find a suitable time. Speaking of addiction, the closest thing I have to an addiction is Coca-Cola. A not-so-distant second is the Internet. I have been able to deal with my impending addiction to coke by deliberately refusing to drink it for a specified period of time. The idea was to see if I would totally forget to drink Coca-Cola as I used to at the end of the period. In every case, I have ended up realising that was never really addicted to coke because I do not suffer withdrawal and I do not have a high tolerance for it. However, it could be argued that whenever I have a choice between Coca-Cola and any other drink, I often choose Coca-Cola so in a sense, it is denying me the time I would have spent drinking something else:).
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Concerning my addiction to the Internet, there has not been much I could do about it since I have been on Steemit. I discovered my Internet Addiction Disorder when I travelled to another city and my smart phone crashed around 7:00 pm in the night. I was restless throughout the night. I kept dreaming about different scenarios that would lead to my phone being restored back order. None of those scenarios was actualized. After that night, I made it a point to live without connecting to the Internet. Now, steemit would not let me do that anymore.
Even though, I do not plan everything like you do, I still like to have control. Addiction, in my opinion, limits an individual's ability to stay in control to a very large extent. This is why I avoid any behaviour or substance that lead to my addition. So, while I agree that addiction could be biological, it could also be as a result of choice.
I think that the incentive sensitization model explains how most addictions are developed.
It is nice to see you this week, Abby. I know that two weeks seems long but I'm also aware that if you don't take that lost, you won't be able to complete you posts.
Thank you for making it as interesting as always. I wish you the very best.
Ha! Coca-cola addiction, huh? By the way, this is an awesome photo you shared here. You have so many talents my dear @churchboy :) Now I am worried about your health because of all that sugar! Let's see if we can change that! Shall we? :) I am already jumping to the conclusion that your Coca-Cola addiction fits within the Rational Choice Model. Well, this is definitely the case of another good friend of mine who repeatedly tells me his life is much better with Coca Cola 😒
Our widespread internet addiction worries me because of one reason that I discussed with another reader here. We live in a world where behavioral addictions seem to be the norm; for example: internet, shopping, processed food and so forth ... So, we end up being pressured to follow a very unhealthy norm! Then we start to experience mental distress because of it, like with the example of when your smartphone crashed! For me that is a case of nomophobia, and just in case you haven't heard of it, here is a quick definition:
I am so pleased to hear you consciously avoid behaviours and substances that could possibily lead to addiction. I suppose this is partly because of your personality! Either way, having this sort of awereness definitely puts you in advantage. So, let's see if we can start reducing the intake of coca-cola! 😉
Thank you for stopping by once again my dear, your support is invaluable!
All the best to you always. Lots of love :*
Dear Abby, you know I would quit coke for you :)
Yes I think that my coke addiction fits with the Rational Choice Model too. Whatever model it is, I am confident that it is an addiction I can kick. For one thing it is messing with my figure:)
We have all been so excited around here: my brother's wife had a baby boy!
I hope that your work will allow you do posts once in two weeks as you promised.
I don't need to know psychology to posit that you are an awesome human being. I knew that this reply would be here even before I came to check. My failure to reply immediately was no failure at all. I figured we have two weeks with which to talk to each other here so I didn't want to rush.
Thank you for your kindness. Being here does not feel like support: it feels love. I wish you and your family all the best and a little bit of warmth from Nigeria ❤️
There was a time i was so addicted to gambling. I made myself believe that was the only way i could make money, even if i had very little i would still gamble.
I finally overcame last year when i concluded i cannot win and would never win. I would like to believe the whole addiction is all about the psychology and philosophy of your mind. The moment you overcome that the moment you get free of addiction.
I hear gaming addiction is now a disease that people could get rehabilitated for. Its kind of weird because you really have to force this gaming kids to literally hate you from separating them from their video games. But i guess. It is what it is the world is moving and everything has to be broken loose from.
Thanks for this amazing post Abigail its fun reading them.
Congratulations on getting clear of that addiction. It takes a lot for our minds to step back and say, "This isn't working. I'm not going to do it anymore." I think this is where mindfulness and noticing how we are feeling in the moment can come into play - no pun intended . Coming to that decision ("it's not working") can do wonders for overcoming the social and habitual draw that keeps people stuck. Thanks for sharing your experience. I think it could help someone in a similar position.
This leads me to believe you are a very rational person @adetola and that your addiction to gambling could not be explained though the Cognitive bias model. However, the way you appear to make sense of addiction fits very withing the psychological framework, and it goes had-in-had with how the Rational Choice Model explains it :)
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave a comment!
All the best to you. I am pleased to hear you managed to overcome your gambling addiction :)
Your words are very good, very complete,
good friend is very sensible of you to recognize that the addiction is exceeded and even when you can earn little or much
Being A SteemStem Member
Thank you @steemstem 😍
The way DSM addresses addiction (focus on substances, negligence of behavior) reminds me of the way traditionalists address psychology (focus on treating the consequences, negligence of positive psychology). Of course, it's not directly comparable, but both are short-sighted in quite a similar way.
Poor little isolated rodents. 😢 I emphasize with them a lot since I recognize myself in them. The emotional states of social anxiety, overall sadness and stressful life have led to my addiction, which fulfills criteria B, C, and E in a very TANGable way. Not that I mind my addition, since I consider it one of the best examples of a rational addiction choice! 😎
Although you've written it in a positive tone, the reply to your reader's comment brings a grim conclusion: since the technology and culture are progressing exponentially fast, our biological evolution will lag behind more and more, which will cause more and more stress in human lives.
From now on, every other Friday is my favorite day of the Steemit two-week. 🍷
Are you the sweetest person on this platform or what? You were the only one to acknowledge the lonely rats! Ohhh...
I am laughing so hard at this:
Not only are you so sweet, but you are incredibly witty!! 😂
The analogy you made with the DSM and traditional psychology is a painful but accurate one. We seem to live in a world that searches for cure, rather than prevention. And, yes, I do think we are at risk of becoming more and more mentally distressed as a race, for the very reasons you pointed out here. Every 5 years the DSM launches a new revised edition, and the number of mental disorders only increase.
Not everyone is smart enough to allocate some time for dancing @lifenbeauty 😊
All the best to you my dear :)
Interesting blog as always dear! Youre always consistent in fascinating us with your very intelligent posts. I truly agree that addiction will always be associated with stress,anxiety and sadness. Because every negative result will always stem from negative causes. Addiction in any sort will be destructive to people physically and psychologically.
By the way dear. This actually made me sad because I always look forward to hear from you every friday:
But I always wish for you to be successful in life because you deserve it! Just do not forget to eat your meals and take some vitamins to boost your energy for your busy schedules. 💕💕💕 All the best for you dear. @abigail-dantes
Dear @sakura1012 💕
It will be just for a couple of months until the demands of my offline life ease a bit! 😅 Thank you very much for your thoughtful words. I am looking after myself. Although, you are right, I think I would benefit from some vitamins :D
Lots of love to you always.
You take care too!! :)
Youre always welcome 😚
Interesting topic doctor @abigail-dantes, they say there that you do not know what an addiction is until you live it or you have an addicted relative that causes problems. In my particular case the only addiction I had to fight with was the cigarette and my habit of reading constantly, which was making my vision worse. But in the particular case of addicts to drugs and alcohol I have seen two types of recovery, those who have done it with psychological help and which goes through several phases and those who have recovered believing in Jesus Christ as their savior, regardless of If you are a believer or not, the truth is that with globalization and the search for rights, the use of drugs has been legalized, which motivates these addicts to look for an increasingly stronger one. I was recently in Colombia and it is sad to see a society where their youth is being lost due to drug addictions where they begin to consume cannabis from an early age and then they need something stronger and so they end up living on the street little by little. realize. Regards Dra, excellent post as always
Please @senteno77 I am not a doctor! 😊 Even if I had a PhD. I wouldn't like you to call me doctor! Call me Abigail! :)
I am glad to hear you managed to stop smoking cigarettes. Addiction to reading? This just makes me think of how susceptible we all are to compulsions. I found very sad what you said about the young Colombians. I still don't know what to think about the legalization of cannabis.
Thank you for stopping by once again @senteno77
I hope everything is fine with your family!
All the best to you always.
As somebody actually prone to some forms or addiction, I found this post to be quite interesting. Trying to look inward into my own experiences, I feel the best framework for me to understand it would be a combination between susceptibility and cognitive bias.
Hello @rocking-dave. It is great to see you here :) I am happy to hear you found this post interesting! I am a firm believer of combining both biomedical and psychological models to make sense of addictions.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read and comment!
All the best to you.
Thank you and all the best to you too :)