The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think
Here's one example of an experiment that is happening all around you, and may well happen to you one day. If you get run over today and you break your hip, you will probably be given diamorphine, the medical name for heroin. In the hospital around you, there will be plenty of people also given heroin for long periods, for pain relief. The heroin you will get from the doctor will have a much higher purity and potency than the heroin being used by street-addicts, who have to buy from criminals who adulterate it. So if the old theory of addiction is right -- it's the drugs that cause it; they make your body need them -- then it's obvious what should happen. Loads of people should leave the hospital and try to score smack on the streets to meet their habit.
But here's the strange thing: It virtually never happens. As the Canadian doctor Gabor Mate was the first to explain to me, medical users just stop, despite months of use. The same drug, used for the same length of time, turns street-users into desperate addicts and leaves medical patients unaffected.
If you still believe -- as I used to -- that addiction is caused by chemical hooks, this makes no sense. But if you believe Bruce Alexander's theory, the picture falls into place. The street-addict is like the rats in the first cage, isolated, alone, with only one source of solace to turn to. The medical patient is like the rats in the second cage. She is going home to a life where she is surrounded by the people she loves. The drug is the same, but the environment is different.
This gives us an insight that goes much deeper than the need to understand addicts. Professor Peter Cohen argues that human beings have a deep need to bond and form connections. It's how we get our satisfaction. If we can't connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find -- the whirr of a roulette wheel or the prick of a syringe. He says we should stop talking about 'addiction' altogether, and instead call it 'bonding.' A heroin addict has bonded with heroin because she couldn't bond as fully with anything else.
So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection.
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This isn't only relevant to the addicts I love. It is relevant to all of us, because it forces us to think differently about ourselves. Human beings are bonding animals. We need to connect and love. The wisest sentence of the twentieth century was E.M. Forster's -- "only connect."
To take that further...
If not changed this failure of connection with each other and our natural world will eventually be our demise. The Human species will cease to exist exactly like every other creature on this planet that has failed to adapt. Our existence will be a geological blink on this planet.
All these experts have their pet theories which they present as the complete answer. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle.
The co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, believed that alcoholics and addicts fall prey to craving , on an existential level. Human beings are psychologically programmed to want more. More of everything, which explains eating the whole bag of candy or chips, staying at the craps table until you lose all your money, or drinking alcohol or doing drugs to excess. To Wilson, it is a spiritual issue and man cannot overcome this inbred craving without the help of a higher power, hence the 12 step program. Some people swear by such a program , and some people say it is no help at all. But such groups do provide a human connection for people so if that is all they need , everyone in these programs should succeed, but they don't. There are physical components also.
I used to drink, a lot, when I was younger. I never went to a program , never went to a clinic, I just stopped drinking as much and eventually to the point where I hardly drink now at all, maybe 3 or 4 beers once a month or so.
When I was about 35 I stopped smoking pot completely. I just didn't want to do it any more, even though I had many friends that did, and I still have friends that do. My 59 year old sister smokes pot with her 19 year old daughter.
It is a multifaceted topic.
...alcoholics and addicts fall prey to craving , on an existential level. Human beings are psychologically programmed to want more. More of everything, which explains eating the whole bag of candy or chips, staying at the craps table until you lose all your money, or drinking alcohol or doing drugs to excess.
It is interesting that the are animals, mammals, that partake of fermented fruit and get buzzed doing so (I have seen squirrels do this), yet I don't know if I have heard of animals in the wild becoming addicted, to the point of the practice becoming life altering, and drastically affecting their relationships.
Another thought. What if the very reason for the greed which seems so ever present in human relationships is not a completely unavoidable, inbred human trait? What if instead greed is a result of fundamental separation from each other; and, an ideological disconnect from the planet which bore us? "If there were plenty" the argument seems to say, "there would still be those who would be greedy". My response would be that that is because we have lost our identity as fellow creatures, and the gratefulness for life that accompanies that. Being fully vested in others in recognition that one's very identity is not formulated by ourselves, but by our relationships. Perhaps one day the richest among us will be the ones most generous, continually sharing as much as possible.
Hi Larry,
What a fantastic article. I can even back up some of it's rats findings.
When I was a science teacher, I kept animals from each animal family. For mammals I chose rats. I had gotten two brothers as babies and raised them. They had plenty to play with and plenty of interaction, not just from each other (they would clean each other and snuggle together) but also from me and the kids. When one of the brothers developed cancer and died, the other one gave up on life. He stopped eating and drinking and died 4 days later. He needed the love of his own kind.
Then there was the smoking part. I was a heavy smoker, two packs a day and I had smoked from age 13-27. I went cold turkey because I had the support of my friends and family. I never gained weight and although I did miss it a bit (especially when having a drink), the social support, kept me away from it. Furthermore, I didn't quite when I was dating other smokers. We supported each other's habit. Making the decision not to smoke, and meeting Matt, an avid non smoker totally made it easier. Both prove that the interactions with others kept us happy and content and thus drug free.
I worry about our upcoming generations. Our computer age, seems to have also brought a level of disconnect never seen before. I think that is why we are seeing more middle class kids on heroine than ever before and boredom in the midwest for all the meth usage.
I know as someone in the medical field you must have found this very interesting. I am sure you have seen your own examples of this for yourself. The war on drugs is useless unless you address the real issues that are causing it,,, and it isn't addiction.
Hospital ER and police work encounter the affects of addiction on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, it makes me wonder how much of the work force in those two occupations is directed towards serving the needs caused by addiction.
Honestly though most of my own interest has been personal, and tightly knit with a lot of friends. Some of these concepts presented make absolute sense to me, because I have seen the results of interpersonal relationships and community up close. We, humans, do indeed need each other in a stronger sense than we even realize usually.
Very interesting article! I enjoyed the whole thing and it gave me much food for thought!
Awesome and thank you Dowser!
:~)
Good seed, Larry. It has that "face-palm, well duh, why didn't I think of this before" quality.
It's self-evident... but I never saw it.
I'm on the road (typing on my phone), but I set aside an article for tomorrow about "gateway drugs". It'll complement your article quite nicely.
Sounds great Bob, looking forward to it.
There are other factors besides human connection so I'm not buying this "theory" . For one thing , hospital patients don't need to go looking for a pusher . For another they are getting a reliable dose of pure diamorphine .
If it was just human connection that addicts needed they could go to meetings of NarcAnon but that doesn't work too well .
I believe that the type of connection here is much more than what is experienced at your typical 12 step meeting, with cookies and koolaid afterwards. It is speaking about true bonding experience that can only be found in close-knit family/tribe/community settings. It speaks to not just energy or time spent with others, but being truly connected in a manner that goes beyond the contemporary shallow style of relationships so evident today.
So ...they need to take part in an episode of Survivor ?
Not necessarily so Larry.
My mother was surrounded by a warm home, loving family of husband and four kids, friends by the gazillions and relatives right around the corner.
But - she was on 8 narcotic drugs a day due to "so-called" bi-polar disease. The docs never tried to find a path for curing/healing/adaption - they just kept filling her with drugs. She also became addicted to this wonderful thing called alcohol - 1/2 a fifth a day - mixed with the drugs.
Some months, she could actually go a week or two without any of her reinforcements/support fluids/pills - but - we couldn't get her off the meds nor the alcohol permanently.
One day she was driving while under the influence of the drugs, totaled the car, crushed 62% of her bones, was in ICU four months and, when released, had the mentality of an 8 year old. One of my sisters died in the crash as did four folks in the other car. Mom finally passed 15 years later after living with bones that wouldn't heal properly, a mental condition that could not be repaired and being placed back on the 8 drugs.
So, no - having all the support systems and warm and fuzzies doesn't always work. Some people, such as Indian people, just can't handle alcohol or drugs in their system and they develop the "Have to have it" condition - regardless of the support system.
JMHO
!st,
A couple of things about what happened to your mom. First of all, you don't treat bi-polar disorder with narcotic drugs. You treat it with either a very specific anti-deperessant Risperdal, or Abilify, or the traditional Lithium. I am not sure who did this to your mom, but they made an awful mistake.
Second, your right that Indians among other ethnic groups, have a predisposition for chemical addiction. All the more reason that her doctors seem to have failed her. This study would apply only to people without this predisposition.
I am truly sorry for the heartache this borought your family.
Thank you Perrie.
Her treatment was in the '50's/60's so the newer drugs/knowledge of viable treatments was not available. I spent a lot of time in anguish holding "heated" discussions with her psychiatrist - to no avail.
If lacking companionship and love is the sole reason for addiction, then we may be in worse shape than we thought. How do you prescribe an addict a new family, or a daily hug, or charisma? People can be awful to their family members, and they're probably not about to change for the sake of one of those family members. It's good to know of that connection, but then the answer involves bringing everyone out of poverty, and turning dysfunctional families into functional ones. That's a noble goal, but it seems less and less attainable.
When I was taking demorol (sp?) In the hospital, it was to alleviate physical pain. That does not seem to compare directly with junkies taking it for a high.