I was talking with a friend the other night, and he asked me my opinion about the line between addiction and normal behavior. He was wondering whether I think that everyone who looks at porn is a sex addict.
I don’t. (see some of our posts on sex addiction here)
Still, the conversation made me feel like writing something about my views on addiction causes. So here goes:
For the addicts who are still unaware, the line between normal- and addictive-behavior tends to blur again and again until it seems like more of faded smudge on their life. For those looking at addicts from the outside, the line normally seems so clear and so far away that they rarely believe it can be crossed back again.
I don’t personally believe that addiction per se is where things started for most people. By this I mean that no matter how hard we look, I believe that we will never find the elusive “addiction gene“, genes, or trigger.
Having been in the thick of it, I think that substance abuse is nothing but one possible outcome of set of circumstances, both biological and environmental, that lead some individuals down a particular path.
Impulsivity and other addiction causes
As I mentioned in earlier posts, addiction, at least to drugs (and I believe other addictions as well) is very closely related to a set of psychological conditions that have to do with impulse control problems.
I believe that individuals with increased impulsivity are simply more prone to putting themselves in situations that are inherently dangerous to their well-being. A simple example from non-drug related behavior might be one-night stands.
A typical person with no impulse control issues may hold off on sex if the only option was to have it unprotected. They may think to themselves “I need to stop, this could seriously affect the rest of my life.”
A person who has a reduced ability to control initial impulses may have the exact same thought and yet go through with the action, leaving them feeling remorseful and anxious the next day, but still having put themselves at risk.
This is a very common occurrence among sex-addicts. The thoughts are there, the knowledge is there, the ability to connect those to actions is seriously lacking. While some people make moral judgments about this fact, I’ve seen enough research that connects this problem to biological processes and genetics that I’m now resigned to the fact that at least on some level, the issue is physical and neurochemical.
Addiction help – Cures, treatment, and solutions
Still, I think the battle is far from lost. I strongly believe that education, informed by actual knowledge rather than misguided mythology, can put people in a better position to deal with the issues even if their source is outside of their control.
Even aside from pharmacological treatments (as in medications) that can help, there are endless ways to help people learn to be in better control of their actions once they are aware of their initial deficit. That is how AA and many other support groups function. People within them ask others about decisions they’re making BEFORE they act on them.
We know already that when it comes to drugs, the equation changes once the person starts using regularly and for long periods of time.
Chronic substance abuse further breaks down the brain’s ability to control impulses by reducing functioning specifically in the prefrontal-cortex; the part of the brain right behind your forehead which is thouught to be the center of the brain’s control tower.
The cycle seems too obvious: Impulse control difficulties leading to dangerous behavior which leads to further impulsivity issues and so on…
The treatment, like the progression of the condition itself, needs to be long. I don’t believe that any 30 day treatment program will be able to resolve a condition that took years to develop. Still, the issue of treatment will come up again here. This is enough for now…
Question of the day:
Do you have any insights from your own experiences as to how addiction develops?