Addiction is a complex chronic health condition, or progressive disease, which affects the body, mind, and spirit of millions of people worldwide. Addiction originates in the brain and is associated with low dopamine––a brain chemical or neurotransmitter responsible for giving humans focus, motivation, energy, and a sense of reward. Genetics, influenced by stress, seems to be the root cause of this complicated and potentially fatal condition.
Addiction stems from an attempt to temporarily alleviate physical, mental, and/or emotional pain, despite the fact that it brings serious negative consequences to a person’s life. Then, when the person attempts to quit the addictive substance or behavior, they’re unable to do so for any length of time. Withdrawal symptoms arise when the substance or behavior is abruptly discontinued. Addiction typically gets worse over time and is generally characterized by periods of escalation and remission.
People can become addicted to legal substances like prescription drugs, alcohol, sugar, tobacco, or food, or people can become addicted to illegal substances like heroin or cocaine. People can also become addicted to behaviors like extreme exercise, sex, shopping, gambling, online gaming, relationships, social media, rage, or even to mindsets like victimhood or negativity.
Addiction falls on a spectrum, and where a person is on this spectrum depends on a number of factors such as the type of addiction, the length of time a person is addicted, genetics, personal life experience, and health history. Addiction severity ranges from a subtle force that keeps a person from living their best life to full-blown destruction that ruins a person’s entire reality. All too often, it can end in insanity, death, and institutionalization. Or it can end in recovery.
Addictions begin as a solution to a problem, usually rooted in deep emotional pain often originating from childhood. People’s early experiences with drugs, alcohol, or addictive behaviors generally bring a sense of relief in the beginning. Of course, no one wants or chooses to become addicted but seeks to escape pain with little or no awareness or regard for the possible consequences.
Addiction usually happens in stages. The early stages are usually mostly “fun” with some minor to moderate consequences; the middle stages are typically where one starts to recognize that there are some problems, but they are still having some fun; the later stages are often filled with problems, with the severity of consequences rapidly escalating.
Addiction can be sneaky and hard to identify in its earlier stages, especially in Western consumerism-based cultures that encourage all forms of distraction such as heavy drinking, prescription pills for nearly everything, and general over-consumption of anything we can get our hands on.
To determine if you or someone you know may be addicted, you only need to consider the following three questions: After you take a drink or a drug, do you have control over how much you use or drink? Or, if it’s a behavior, do you have control over how much you engage in it, with whom you engage, where you engage, and how much time and money you spend? After you take a drink or a drug, do you have control over how much you use or drink? Or, if it’s a behavior, do you have control over how much you engage in it, with whom you engage, where you engage, and how much time and money you spend?
One of the earliest warning signs of addiction is that substances or behaviors help a person with something. For people who aren’t at risk for addiction, although they may enjoy a drink, an evening of gambling, a scoop of ice cream, or even a recreational drug, they ultimately can take it or leave it because it isn’t helping them to feel better from a state of inner suffering.
People without a tendency for addiction will choose to participate in potentially addictive activities because they enjoy them and never experience consequences as a result of engaging in them. People with a tendency towards addictive behavior will be compelled to do things that are potentially addictive to find relief regardless of the consequences that usually arise as a result.
Once a person discovers they can find relief in substance use or behaviors, the individual will become increasingly reliant on their chosen “solution” until they can’t function without it. This is how dependency is often formed, and it is usually not noticeable until it has become a major problem.
Because addiction is a progressive condition that gets worse over time, there is very little relief left for the addicted individual by the later stages of addiction. This is the end stage that we are all more familiar with. For example, it’s when a loved one we know had to go to rehab after an arrest or the neighbor who lost his business and whose family left him after an overdose. It’s a celebrity who is all over the news for poor behavior. It might be the homeless person on the street with a cardboard sign that’s asking for money. This is the misconception of what addiction looks like because it’s the most visible part. In reality, these people had years or decades of addiction before it got to the point of wreckage that the world takes notice of.
Addiction has been a major concern for human beings throughout history. In today’s world, addiction’s at epidemic levels and continues to affect larger and larger numbers of people.
The following statistical highlights are according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics (NCDAS):
The brain plays a central role in addiction. Addictive behavior is primarily a response to low dopamine. Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter in the body, responsible for giving us energy, focus, and a sense of reward. When dopamine is low, the deficient brain creates cravings for substances like drugs, alcohol, carbohydrates, or risk-taking behaviors that can temporarily elevate dopamine levels and give the energy and sense of reward every human being needs to function.
The tendency to become dopamine deficient is often genetic, which is why we see addiction, as well as depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, PTSD, eating disorders, violence, and other symptoms that are also associated with low dopamine commonly running in families. Dopamine is built from the nutrient tyrosine, which is found in protein-rich foods. Therefore, poor diet and/or nutrient absorption and stress are the biggest influences on the genes associated with low dopamine.
Stress exposure can begin in utero and can happen anytime throughout one’s life from perceived or real stressful or traumatic life experiences, prolonged demands on the immune system such as infection, exposure to toxins, allergies, sensitivities, and other chronic health conditions, poor diet, poor sleep, or lack of self-care. Exposure to dopamine stimulating substances such as drugs and alcohol in utero or after birth, as well as dopamine elevating behaviors such as gambling, can trigger dopamine deficiency in those who are genetically susceptible. Gastric bypass surgery increases the risk for alcohol addiction in people who previously had no issue with alcohol.
We know today that genetics aren’t necessarily our destiny, but they are certainly our tendency when under stress, which is why there’s such a significant correlation between trauma and addiction. Our life
experience, which is largely dependent on our mind’s perception of our life’s events, literally influences our genetic expression and, therefore, our life experience.
Depending on what type of addiction, which stages an addiction is in, and what kinds of resources a person has access to, there are many ways to heal from this disorder. Because addiction is complex and affects the whole being at the levels of body, mind, and spirit, as well as relationally, it’s best to incorporate a combination of healing modalities that address all four of these aspects of one’s health and wellbeing.
Before we go on to discuss different treatment approaches for addiction, it’s important to understand that there’s a prerequisite for any of these approaches to work: The person seeking treatment must have a desire to recover.
Recovery is difficult at the beginning, and it takes hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and a willingness to do anything needed in order to get well. To the degree this attitude is in place is, typically, the level of return one will see from any of the following options for healing.
The downside of medical detox is that many of the medications they use to detox, such as suboxone and naltrexone, are highly addictive, have many adverse side effects, and are almost impossible to get off of. Many people find themselves hooked for life and at a higher risk for relapse due to the fact that these, as well as other medications that are used (e.g., antidepressants and sleeping meds), are mind-altering and interfere with the brain’s ability to heal from the addictive state of dopamine imbalance. Many people who had been prescribed these medications during the detox phase of recovery, although perhaps life-saving at the time, later come to regret the decision because they become dependent on them, and the side effects can cause problems for many years and even decades later.
You must contact this clinic to locate the few places in the U.S. where it’s being offered due to the fact it’s so new and that it isn’t the same as other NAD or ketamine therapies being offered anywhere else. The downside of this therapy is that it is very rarely covered by insurance and can be expensive. Also, because it’s not yet widely used, you will probably have to travel to receive this therapy. However, it’s an excellent route to go if you need a medical detox if you can access this.
The downsides to an ibogaine detox are that it’s currently illegal in the U.S. and other countries, so you must be willing and able to travel to countries where it’s legal, like Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, the Bahamas, or New Zealand, to name a few. There’s a small risk of fatality if misused, so finding a good provider is essential to avoid this possibility. Insurance doesn’t cover ibogaine therapy, so it can be expensive. Although most often quite effective, it doesn’t work for everyone for reasons yet unknown, so there is a slight chance you may not get the healing results that you seek. It’s also a powerful psychedelic, so it’s important to keep in mind that the experience may be challenging and require hard work, which isn’t for everyone.
Be wary of centers that rely heavily on medications, as this doesn’t heal the root cause of addiction and can lead to a host of adverse side effects down the line. People can benefit from rehab by getting a break from their home and work life while accessing the intensive care many people need in early recovery. Still, it isn’t a cure, and people have to continue to keep working on their recovery after they return home from rehab if they want long-term recovery.
There is Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.), Over Eaters Anonymous (O.A.), Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), and there are even fellowships for the loved ones of addicted people such as ALANON as well as many other groups for specific addictions. If the 12 Step path isn’t a good fit, that’s okay, because there are other recovery communities such as the Buddhist-based Refuge Recovery and Dharma Recovery. If spirituality isn’t for you, that’s okay too because there are science-based recovery communities such as SMART recovery that hold meetings in person and online. She Recovers is a trauma-informed community for self-identified women that recognizes the need for a holistic approach to recovery from all addictions and other forms of suffering. Recovery communities are an effective and accessible strategy (because they are so widespread and primarily donation-based or free) to add to your recovery toolbox that millions of others find benefit from.
If you or a loved one is suffering from addiction, arming yourself with facts and different perspectives and approaches on the topic can make all the difference. Here are some great books and authors to explore:
There are many more books and experts on addiction and recovery, but these are some good ones, to begin with.
A “bottom” isn’t defined by when you lose everything. A bottom is when you decide you aren’t willing to allow things to get any worse, and you begin working towards recovery. As you can see, even homelessness or overdose isn’t a bottom for some. There is a myth that things have to get this bad for someone to qualify as being addicted or that a person needs to get to this point before they can or need to get help. The truth about addiction is that it can and does get this bad, but it doesn’t need to for it to seriously impact one’s quality of life or for someone to get help and overcome their addiction. There are years and even decades where addiction is not in its late stage, but when a person can still get help to overcome it before it causes irreparable damage and either ruins or takes lives.
Addiction is a serious condition that almost always requires outside help. If you or a loved one think you may be suffering from an addiction, there is help, and there is hope! You only need to reach out and take the first step, which is asking for help. This can be done by calling a treatment center, attending a recovery meeting or event, or scheduling an appointment with a therapist, recovery coach (there are some Inaura Guides who specialize in this too), or doctor. If the desire to get well is there, there is always a way, no matter your current circumstances.
