The Addiction Business Is Big And It's Poised For Dramatic Growth
In February 2020, Reports And Data released this article [1] quoting Globenewswire.com “The global drug addiction treatment market is forecast to reach USD 31.17 Billion by 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data.” To put that into perspective for you, it’s just over one tenth of the size of the predicted forecast for the Cancer Industry by 2025 [2]. I’d say that’s pretty significant. Moreover, when anything in the world of health becomes ‘an industry’ it’s useful to ask questions as to whether we’re really addressing the problem. So, if we could change our mindset about addiction, could we find a more rapid path to successful, sustainable, addiction treatment – free from restriction in our approach and our thinking.
What Is Addiction?
In simple terms, addiction is a physical or psychological need to do, take or use something, to the point where it could be harmful to you. Interestingly, when most people hear or see the word ‘addict’ they naturally link it to substance abuse. That is to say they’ll think about alcohol, drugs, tobacco or glue. I raise this point because the less obvious addictions, often encouraged by society can be a equally harmful.
If you search the internet on the subject of addiction, it is often referred to as a disease. In fact, over the past three centuries many writers have suggested we might want to consider addiction as an illness rather than as a sin, a bad habit or a crime (Durrant & Thakker, 2003) [3] Either way, addiction has a negative connotation and it has done for hundreds of years.
Since addiction is now referred to as a disease, a negative stigma is attached to it. I wonder, could this be slightly misleading.
Brain Chemistry, Neurotransmitters & Reward Pathways
Humans are hardwired to engage in rewarding behaviour. However, the brain receives this reward message chemically, and cannot make the distinction between helpful and unhelpful behaviours. Hence, repetitive behaviours, and substance abuse can be perceived as rewarding by the brain, even when they’re not. Moreover, if we reach a point where we are unable to stop using a substance or operating a certain behaviour, it can lead to addiction.
The main reward pathway in the brain is known as the mesolimbic dopamine system. Though there are other existing reward pathways, the dopamine reward system is a key detector of rewarding stimuli. In simple terms, we get addicted to the dopamine release in the brain.
That’s all I’m going to say about brain chemistry and the reward pathway. If you’re interested to understand more, I recommend you watch this 2 minute video or read this article [4] by the same author.
Addiction Is Actually A Coping Mechanism
Perhaps “I have an addictive personality” just translates to “I have a part inside me that I am yet to address fully and resolve.”
Quite frankly, every human on the planet can get addicted to a behaviour, substance or thing. It doesn’t mean we have ‘addictive personalities’ it means that we have stressors or triggers that are left unaddressed. In the main, we all have similar brain chemistry and the reward reaction in our brains work the same way.
An addiction is a habit. A physical (substance) addiction can be released from the body in 72 hours. A psychological and physical behavioural habit takes much longer to break.
How Does It Happen?
We operate behaviours or we engage in situations that are stressful or unhelpful for us in some way. They just feel negative. We feel uncomfortable either before, during or after experiencing the situation and we distract ourselves from the emotional pain by using a coping mechanism. The coping mechanism either distracts us completely from the event or numbs the feelings.
Furthermore, everyone has a different trigger and even if they have the same coping mechanism, it may provide relief to a different source or stressor. For example, two smokers do not necessarily smoke for the same reason. In the same way, a housewife addicted to social media probably has a different trigger to a teenager addicted to the same.
The Road To Addiction Starts With A Restricted Mindset
As I mentioned earlier in this article, a negative emotional triggers sets off the addiction cycle. That negative emotion then travels towards the conscious mind as a belief or idea. Moreover, this idea is always founded in restriction. For example, “I’m not a good manager” could be a belief that is formed after a bad day at work. The ideas limits our perspective. It literally restricts us from noticing all the occasions where we have been a good manager in the past and we could be in the future.
In order to manage this idea and feeling we will operate what may appear to be an innocent coping mechanism. Perhaps we have an alcoholic drink to relax, or maybe we go out for a long run, or maybe we get on You Tube and hunt for “how to” videos for being a good manager. Even better, we may phone a friend or have a chat with a partner to share the emotional load.
Whatever coping mechanism we use, it may well resolve the issue. What’s more, if this is the first time we’ve had the idea “I’m not a good manager” we can easily turn it around if we live a relatively balanced life and we have a good support structure. In this case, the coping mechanism remains a support behaviour that helps us gain more perspective.
“I’m a 100% or nothing kind of a person” translates to “I have a part of me inside that I am yet to address and resolve, and as a result I find it hard to maintain balance and moderation in my life.”
Extreme Addiction Happens When We Can't Stop Operating The Coping Mechanism
Conversely, if we find ourselves having several days in a short period of time experiencing the same problem or triggering a similar belief then we may start to use the coping mechanism as an ongoing support. The longer this cycle continues, the more the problem revolves around the coping mechanism and the restriction mindset.
Effectively, the idea of “I’m not a good manager” multiplies and creates more beliefs and attitudes to hold that original decision in place. In fact, it’s like an ever-decreasing circle where we go further and further into restriction in our head, creating more unhelpful beliefs and negative emotions.
We Get More Of What We Focus On
Our minds are very simple. They multiply more of the core ideas in our focus. That is to say, if we think life is wonderful our mind will permit us to see more wonderful things in life. If we think life is terrible, our mind will filter out the wonderful events and hone in on all the examples of terrible.
Moreover, even if we think we are moving away from an idea or behaviour, it’s the idea or behaviour we’re travelling away from that is highlighted in our thinking. Let me give you an example. When someone says “I want to stop being or thinking I’m a bad manager”, the idea in focus is “I am a bad manager.” Hence, we have restriction in our focus. Whereas, if a person says “I want to be a good manager”, they have the concept of being a good manager in their focus, offering more opportunities for growth and change.
When Behaviour Starts To Change
We can identify when a coping mechanism starts to shift into addiction. If a person is unable to operate without the coping mechanism, or expresses a lack of desire or inability to manage the problem in a different way, there’s a stuck state growing. There’s a part that is operating separately to the whole and imbalance is present.
Moreover, when a person’s behaviour changes significantly, it’s usually a sign that dependence is building. Perhaps they stop communicating with loved ones, or they seem to be depressed, maybe they just isolate themselves completely.
Whatever the change, it’s a good idea to have a conversation if you notice a loved one going through this experience. Addressing it can lead to a person seeking help, therapy or professional medical help.
Extreme Addiction Requires Professional Medical Help
To be clear, extreme addiction to a behaviour or a substance nearly always benefits from professional medical help. Moreover, it’s often quite obvious when a person has an extreme addiction. However, I’m drawing your attention to the way that addiction starts and grows. What’s more, if we can appreciate addiction as an imbalance in our reward centre in the brain, triggered by an imbalance in behaviour, perhaps we can address it before it becomes extreme.
More importantly, let’s carry in our awareness the fact that often the challenging addictions to work with are the ones where the coping mechanism relates to survival. For example, a human being needs to eat. Hence, developing an unusual relationship with food, either starving or binge eating requires that we fix the stressor, rather than the coping mechanism. Clearly, we can’t give up eating!
Society Often Fans The Flames - Are We Complacent, Compliant or Complicit?
Many imbalanced behaviours have positive connotations in our societies. Is it time to get real?
Today, we are addicted to social media, illness, people, buying things, work, anxiety and negative thinking, self-harm (physical or mental) and a variety of behavioural patterns. In fact, it’s just as easy to get addicted to something like exercise, as it is to chocolate.
So, how can addiction to something like exercise be bad? Quite simply, and addiction to anything general tells us that we’re out of balance and looking for some kind of escapism. Consequently, we’re looking for a way out of the now – or life as it really is in the present.
Is That Really Addiction?
Even more interesting is that fact that the dangers of addiction to seemingly mundane tasks can also be unhelpful. It’s as if society almost encourages addiction to certain behaviours and puts a positive spin on the result.
Let’s take social media for example. It’s published in the news that Social Media uses gambling psychology to make their platforms addictive. [5]
Even more concerning is the impact of social media on our psyche. This article from 2019 discusses the challenges of “Social Media Dysmorphia” [6] and it certainly made me think.
In Reality, It's Not Just Social Media Is it?
Actually, all marketing is designed to press our values buttons. Whether it’s buttons of identity, status, aspirations, or beyond. This has become so apparent to me since I started to live a “non-consumerism” lifestyle. Specifically, I’ve lived without buying anything unnecessary or luxurious for a number of years. This is both a personal choice and a result of living in a quiet bubble where I’m rarely impacted by advertising or marketing messages. Trust me, this has given me a very interesting perspective on marketing messages and how little you can buy to live an enjoyable life.
If you want to explore this idea, Mike Myatt’s article on Addiction Marketing [7] will give you food for thought! He says “Brands have always catered to our emotions viewing them as associative triggers – the tactics I’m describing are clearly not new. That said, has this practice crossed the line when addictive tendencies are being exploited for profit? Is this just creative branding and intelligent marketing, or are we merely sheep being led to slaughter?”
What interests me most about the prevalence of unconscious direction in our society is the fact that we are often encouraged into unhelpful behaviours. For example, if we are unlucky enough to contract a life-threatening illness, instead of being encouraged to move on, we are constantly being reminded that we should prepare for the same kind of bad luck.
The Identity of Addiction & Labels - We Have to Create Addiction Treatment Free From Restriction
Following on from the illness concept above. Let’s say a person recovers from cancer. It’s pretty easy to hold the idea of “I am a cancer survivor” in your focus. What’s more, it’s also pretty easy to get external positive and support feedback if you present this idea to others. And what’s the core idea in our focus? That’s right, it’s cancer and it’s survival. Frankly, neither of these ideas in our core focus support us in moving forwards.
So, in the same way that going to a bar with colleagues after work can impact our identity, or only buy certain brands can impact our concept of status, seemingly positive health recovery situations can also block our forward momentum.
Compounding the situation further, we often label ourselves when addiction occurs. For example, often rehabilitation involves the constant repetition of the statement “I’m an alcoholic”. This action maintains the idea in our mind as a permanent state and may or may not stop us from using alcohol as a coping mechanism again. It certainly, embeds the idea of restriction and stuck state, diminishing the idea that we are always evolving.
Are We Actually Addressing Addiction At The Source or Stressor?
The concept of addiction is actually far simpler than we imagine. However, we seem to have spent years treating the substance or behaviour of the coping mechanism, rather that the actual root cause of the problem. Essentially, we’re treating restriction with restriction. “I can’t control myself and therefore I have to remove all tempting substances from my realm – FOREVER.” The question is, does this restriction to treat restriction treatment address the real issue of imbalance or lack of harmony? Well, it might temporarily, however I doubt it’s sustainable.
The need for a coping mechanism arises from a negative emotion that triggers a belief of either:
1) I’m not good enough to do that/I don’t deserve; or
2) I don’t have the resources to do that/it’s all I know.
A plethora of beliefs and ideas may appear subsequently to support the original stressor, however, we can guarantee they’re going to fall into one of these two categories. The subsequent coping mechanism often casts a shadow over the root cause, blocking our view.
Generally, denial plays a large part in the addiction cycle, you know, “I can control this, it’s really not a problem.” Moreover, shame and guilt are also prevalent and they feel pretty revolting, no matter what the circumstances.
The real challenge lies in the fact that releasing the actual stressor may involve major lifestyle changes. Perhaps leaving a job, or a partner or totally changing environment in order to give us the space needed to heal.
The Road To Recovery – Are We Really Stuck?
In my mind, the path to recovery generally starts with acknowledgment and acceptance. However, there’s also a great deal of shame attached to the process. What’s more, the behavioural partner in crime of shame is hiding. So, do we really want to encourage hiding? Alternatively, do we want to acknowledge that, possibly, everyone may have been addicted to some behaviour, idea or substance at one time or another. It may not have been a life-threatening addiction, however it was an addiction.
Furthermore, do we really want to encourage the idea of permanence around addiction. Actually, we are constantly changing, growing and evolving. As we take decisions to realise there’s something more valuable in our lives than the coping mechanism, we’ve already started the journey to releasing the stressor. Moreover, if we release the idea of “addictive personality” we can minimise the risk of a recovering alcoholic becoming addicted to smoking. Can’t we?
Perhaps a more helpful statement might be “I used to have a problem acknowledging my self-worth. As a result, there used to be a part of me that I thought kept me safe, by creating unhelpful behaviour, that prevented me from valuing myself or being valued by others. I now realise that part was a mirage, an illusion. I continue to expand and grow with this awareness. Some days, I benefit from extra support, I have to remind myself that I am worthy of the positive choices I’ve made. However, most days, I find the same level of reward in the forward progress I make as I live in the present moment. My brain feels happy!”
Could we develop an addiction treatment free from restriction? Treating restriction with expansion. If so, can we accept the idea that addiction can be temporary?
Can We Use A Different Approach To Addiction Treatment Free From Restriction?
I wonder what would happen if we moved towards expansion treatment. For example, we following a process that looks something like this.
Acknowledgement
We support a person in acknowledging their addiction to the coping mechanism.
Release Judgement & Negative Emotions
Then, rather than compounding feelings of shame and guilt, we take the “this could happen to anyone and it doesn’t mean anything” mindset. Then we support the person in releasing all negative emotions and concepts of good and bad around the coping mechanism behaviour. After all, it is what it is, right?
Using Values To Motivate
Perhaps then we could support the client in identifying what’s more important to them in their life than continuing to operate the coping mechanism. Perhaps we could use some specific tools to support them shift their focus and mindset towards the kind of life they want to be living.
Release Labels & Categorisation
After this, we might support the person in removing all labels or associations with the old coping mechanism.
Empowerment & Ownership
Next, we can give the client full ownership. We can mirror them until they notice that the coping mechanism was merely a crutch and the real issue is the part that doesn’t believe he or she is worthy of having what they want, or doesn’t believe they know how to do it or have the resources.
Addressing The Real Stressor
At this point, the client can choose to work on the real stressor. Moreover, this encourages empower choices about lifestyle, environment, relationships and more that are either helpful or unhelpful.
Acceptance & Responsibility
Finally, we can support the client to appreciate that they, and everyone else is a work in progress. If we want to take ownership of our lives, we want to know how to identify triggers for the old stressor and how to address the issue if the coping mechanism returns.
Most important of all is releasing addiction identity. He or she can appreciate they are just a normal human being working their way to a higher level of consciousness and a life they choose. This can help them feel more self-acceptance and less self-judgement. We appreciate everything as a process, rather than blame or no blame, success or failure.
Moreover, when we can all own the idea that we create everything inside, we can feel empowered to make change in a way that feels right for us. Free from shame, free from guilt, founded on an ever-expanding possibility mindset.
We can create addiction treatment free from restriction, operating with expansion and evolution in focus.
Nanny State Is Easier But The Harder Path Is Always More Sustainable
It’s fair to say that this approach be harder to achieve on a personal level. We are, after all, accustomed to the nanny state. What’s more, we live in a categorised society of perceived justice and judgement, and ‘eeking’ that out of our mindset takes diligence and time.
Additionally, facing our shadow selves, in all their glory can be deeply uncomfortable. So uncomfortable, it may feel easier to stand up in a room and say “Hi, my name is X and I’m an Y!” However, is that what we really want?
I personally believe that creating addiction treatment free from restriction could minimise relapse, and help people live more balanced lives. Could it feel more empowering to own where we are? Might we feel more optimistic about the future if we believed we had greater influence over it? I think we might.
For me, I am inspired by the idea that we can treat everyone as a highly capable adult. Specifically, if we can see and treat people as the powerful beings we all are, I wonder what other positive outcomes might unexpectedly appear.
Happy pondering!
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