What Nobody Tells You About Addiction

What Nobody Tells You About Addiction 

Well, I think some common misconceptions about addiction often come from a lack of real understanding of what addiction really is and how it comes to be.  Addiction is so incredibly complex,  it can surface in so many different areas of one's life. Addiction also doesn't give a shit who it effects. I've seen everyone from doctors, lawyers and chemists to business owners, teenagers, kids and stay at home mothers experience an addiction. Infact, most of the population experiences an addition on some level, whether it be caffeine, prescribed medications, cellphones, porn, sex, nicotine, social media, video games etc. 

Understanding and practicing healthy coping mechanisms is something that isn't taught in school, and emotions were and still are to some, not spoken about. Thoughts are what drive our emotions and emotions are what drive our behaviour, so when you don't understand what you feel, it's human nature to act on it, but not really know why. This is why adapting effective and healthy coping skills like knowing when/how to use grounding techniques to manage feelings of anxiousness,  how to identify why you're feeling the way you are, or how to process an uncomfortable feeling/thought is harder for some individuals to do, than engaging in something that is instantly gratifying. If you don't know how to manage your emotions/thoughts in a healthy way, then the brain is biologically designed to find some escape from the discomfort. THIS is where addiction's can be formed.

Realistically, addiction can be anything that provides an individual with an escape from their currently reality, if engaged in to the point of causing negative impacts in one's overall sense of self, relationships, health and day to day functioning. Addiction is characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a  habitual behaviour, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive engagement in addiction substance related or not,  often alters brain function in ways that perpetuate craving, and weakens impulse control.  

Each person can experience it in their own way, but at the root of it, I've found that it's trying to manage pain and emotional discomfort. Whether it comes as result from undiagnosed mental health, past trauma, physical discomfort, or a lack of understanding/ability to manage emotions. The root of it seems to be trying to manage emotional/physical discomfort, with the most effective/immediate ways possible. Addiction and instant gratification are tightly linked. 

Have you ever seen a child suck their thumb when they're falling asleep?  This comes as a result of it being a form of self-soothing. It creates a sense of comfort for the child, and as a result becomes a habitual behaviour.  It's a form of habitual self-soothing that then becomes coded in the brain a result of it soothing the discomfort and technically an addiction. We all have what is called a "dopamine reward system". It can either be triggered by healthy coping mechanisms, or maladaptive coping mechanisms (addiction)

Dopamine is known as the pleasure chemical in the brain. Think of what you feel when your crush texts you, or you find a 20$ bill on the ground with only $1.75 in your bank account.  That warm, fuzzy and exciting feeling, is said to be a release of dopamine. When an individual engages in a substance or behavioural addiction it provides an instant sense of self-soothing/distraction from the discomfort/pain they are experiencing and in-turn an instant release of dopamine. 

This is a type of "instant gratification" that the brain loves, as it is biologically designed to run from pain.  As a result, the brain codes whatever behaviour/substance as a survival mechanism after an extended period of time of persistent engagement/use. Meaning that everytime the individual experiences a specific type of uncomfortable emotion/feeling they will be urged by their brain and body to engage in the substance use/behaviour,  cultivating addiction. These uncomfortable emotions can be caused by undiagnosed mental health (ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, CPTSD, Personality Disorders and more) or thoughts, past memories, environment, physiological pain, past trauma, negative core beliefs.. these are all uncomfortable/emotionally distressing variables that the brain will 'escape" from using instant gratification if it is not taught how manage it in a healthy manner. 

So in retrospect, experiencing addiction happens to roughly 96% of the population some are more serious, severe and persistent than others.  Behaviour is purposeful. 

Everyone deserves to live a life free of the limitations from unmanaged mental health and addiction.