Understanding Addiction

Addiction is deep learning, not necessarily accelerated learning

Written by

Marc

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Two posts ago I sent you a few paragraphs from the introduction to my new book. In that draft I said:

This book makes the case that addiction results from the motivated repetition of certain thoughts and behaviors until they become self-perpetuating habits. Thus, addiction develops, and it can develop quickly, through a process I call accelerated learning.

smokingI woke up at 5:30 today and couldn’t get back to sleep because I realized that this portrayal is flawed. Of the five people whose biographies I include in the book, two of them make it very clear that addiction can have a slow or  delayed onset. The man I call Brian was using coke and then methamphetamine for about two years before he became really addicted. At first he just wanted to stay awake and energetic. But then he slid deeply into addiction, to the point of smoking meth every few hours and missing many nights of sleep in a row. The woman I call Donna was on pillsVicodan for a year to treat back pain caused by a bicycle injury. Only then did she start doubling her dose and liking how it felt. She ended up forging prescriptions and stealing pills from just about everyone she knew. It blew apart her marriage and her life.

Both these people eventually recovered, as most addicts do. The point is, though, that the learning spiral leading to addiction need not cycle quickly. At least not at first.

So I lay there till the alarm went off, thinking, okay, what the hell is it? What makes it different from other learning trajectories — other bad habits? The phrase “overlearning” popped into my head from undergrad psychology. Here’s the definition — which highlights extended practice that results in “escalated persistence of the learning over time.” But that was an idea that faded with the decades, because it simply described the use (especially in classroom settings) of a greater number of learning trials to get a longer period of retention. Not all that interesting after all. Unless you bring in the power of motivation and start thinking about dopamine.

So how am I going to resolve this? As mentioned last post, I am still doing final edits. But I have to figure out a concise description of the psychological process leading to addiction, a particular twist to the more general mechanism of learning, or the book will have a big hole in it. It’s there in the stories. It’s there in the neurobiological details. I think I show very clearly that drug addiction is no different from falling (deeply) in love — both in its psychology and its biology — or from behavioral addictions, etc. Still… I have to find that phrase.

By the time the alarm went off, I was pretty set on “deep learning.” As long as that’s fully explained, I think it works. And it will be fully explained, if it isn’t already. So now I have to make a new set of revisions.

I know some people get addicted very quickly, once they’ve found their substance (or activity) of choice. But that’s not universal — or mandatory. I want to explore this in some detail next post.

Now back to the grindstone.

Comments

60 responses to “Addiction is deep learning, not necessarily accelerated learning”

  1. Jaliya

    Hmm. At the grindstone with you, Marc … playing with an idea here: You write that “…the motivated repetition of certain thoughts and behaviours untl they become self-perpetuating habits” is the basis of addiction. I think that this “motivated repetition” can refer to any process of learning we engage in … including whatever is *not* addiction … Yes, there’s a pinpoint in there somewhere that makes addiction unique. I keep thinking of a two-word definition of addiction that I came up with (a friend recently asked me, “What’s your bottom-line, pared-down definition?”) — I said, “Devotion, deranged.”

    I was thinking of your story of being plunked into a boarding school environment, suddenly and completely bereft of all your markers of familiarity, attachment, and belonging. There’s something in our need to bond … and you highlight this in saying that “drug addiction is no different from falling (deeply) in love…” (I’m curious about your choice to bracket the word “deeply”…)

    For one of my loved ones, who died of heart failure that was, in part, both a consequence of alcohol addiction and of nearly a decade’s worth of devastating losses (including all bonded relations), alcohol was his deepest love — devotion, deranged. He first tasted booze at the age of nine, and he told me years later that it was like “love at first sight.” Love — or its deranged equivalent — at first sip.

    The one-sidedness of addiction strikes me here. Whatever we become addicted to cannot, and will never, love us back. In addiction, we attach ourselves to something that cannot feel — it can only evoke feeling by deranging our natural capacity to feel, to attach, and to bond. We take something in; we take something on; we take something over; we take, take, take, trying desperately to fill the void that needs to receive and be received … We chase after an impossible dream of reciprocity.

    I’m convinced that one of the core roots of addiction is in a ruinous injury to our capacity for bondedness … our ability to bond. Our deepest learnings are the formative ones — all based in relation, all laid in place during our infancy, long before we can be conscious of what we are learning; long before we can influence or be aware of the directionality of what and how we are learning. We continue to be influenced in one direction or another throughout the rest of our lives … but the base, biologic need to bond — to bond is to survive — is the template out of which all our attachment and relational behaviours arise.

    (… And then I wonder about processes that could be called “addiction” — but which are not based in self-directed behaviour … and have nothing to do with our mammalian need to bond. Case in point: one of my cats, who has developed, over several years, a condition called megacolon, where the large intestine distends to a point where it can no longer function [tonus is lost; peristalsis no longer occurs]. I could say that my cat’s colon is becoming functionally addicted to enemas, which are fast becoming the only route to defecation. ~ Strange point to add here, but I wonder if this kind of process could also be termed “addiction” of a sort…)

    Going to step away from the grindstone now, before my brain explodes … 😉

    Thanks, as always, for how you think, write, and converse with your readers.

    Reply
    1. Fred

      I agree, Jaliya, about addiction often co-occuring with problems with bonding and intimacy. The addiction can becomes a substitute source of comfort and self-care in the place of functioning relationships. Gabor Mate writes in his book about how a heroin user described the first time they used as feeling like they were in a perfect warm hug.

      Reply
    2. Matt

      Well put, Jaliya. I can remeber the waves of relief I felt when I first got high on opiates. (in school, another place I looked for comfort, belonging and bondedness). I was 13 and I can remember it like it was yesterday: “Oh, okay…I can do THIS…” Of course, at the time I wasn’t relating it to “…instead of trying to survive in my relational trainwreck of a family.” The anxiety of that was lifted…immediately. And I knew the drugs couldn’t betray me.

      Reply
    3. Marc

      “Devotion, deranged” — is a good metaphorical definition, and most of us can resonate with it. But I need an objective definition, and that ain’t easy to find.

      But I agree quite strongly with your emphasis on bonding and bondedness. Indeed I’ve heard many addicts (myself included) say I really love this thing, this substance, this feeling. And yes, for me and your loved one, the loss of real attachment objects (i.e, people) was the precipitating factor — which fits fairly well with the self-medication model. However, as I state in the post, it’s not love at first sight for everyone…

      In the book I go into this issue in some detail. The biographies leave me little choice. I actually site some findings that show that the neurochemical correlates of addiction are almost exactly the same as in falling in love and pair-bonding. Very convincing!

      But I don’t agree that there is necessarily “a ruinous injury to our capacity for bondedness … our ability to bond”.. For some the damage is thorough enough that there’s no bouncing back. But I think for most addicted people, there is still a future if not a present of loving other people. I’m sorry your loved one couldn’t find that future. But many do.

      Reply
      1. Matt

        Could it be the case that it(the addictive habit) actually refines one’s sensitivity to and experience of bondedness, because it’s been lacking for so long. The feeling has to be notably stronger and more salient to stand out from the substitute that has been a reliable ally for so long. We get more selective. And of course, it needs to be tested which takes time…

        Reply
  2. Shaun Shelly

    Hi Marc

    I have been playing with this learning idea for a while now, and what is the difference between learning to the point of addiction and other learning. Personally I think that this is learning motivated or mediated by other factors – sort of a perfect storm of conditions that result in this “accelerated learning”. So while trajectories may differ, at the point of movement from using to addictive learning there is a highly motivated form of learning that quickly becomes set. Even the slower trajectories may be larger versions of the same process – thinking back to the discussions around fractals.

    This is much like a chemical reaction, and so I started using the term “catalysed learning” or “mediated learning”. And bingo, google “mediated learning” and have a look at what emerges!

    This ties in again to the relational aspect of addiction…. So, think about the person with a slow trajectory….. all is good, and there is a level of learning taking place, but it is generally within the bounds of “normal” habits or conditioning. Suddenly something changes, such as a breakdown of a relationship, a financial issue, some major depression and suddenly that process is mediated or catalysed. The intensity, or the “depth” of learning is increased – the imprint is deeper, the path through the wheat-field more clearly defined, and some “wheat killer” thrown down on it to keep that path firmly entrenched.

    I think you may get what I am saying, although I am saying it not very clearly!

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Shaun. Actually you are saying it clearly. Between you and Matt, I think I’ve really got it now. You’re right: the learning curve MUST have an exponential slope at some point. The learning must become accelerated. I think what you and Matt have both taught me is that this is a phase in a larger, overarching learning profile. Indeed, fractal-like. What you are describing is pretty much like the image on the main blog page linking to this post. That’s actually supposed to be a standard learning curve, but it is exaggerated, much like addictive learning.

      What Matt suggests is a number of these inclines, one after another, as one moves up the ladder of ever-deeper addiction. The overarching curve can be slow, but periods of transition must look like what we’re describing.

      Mediated, huh? Oh, I think I get it. So the breakdown in one’s life mediates the addictive learning…is that what you mean? But what’s the connection with….well, Google gave me the Feurstein definition, a mediator as a mentor or teacher. Still, the analogy could work.

      “Wheat killer” — yes, something like that. There are many factors that act to block alternative choices….and they do keep the path firmly entrenched.

      This dialogue has been really helpful!

      Reply
      1. Shaun Shelly

        Mediated learning: “Mediated Learning Experience refers to the way in which stimuli experienced in the environment are transformed by a mediating agent, usually a parent, teacher, sibling, or other intentioned person in the life of the learner. This mediating agent, guided by intention, culture, and emotional investment, selects, enhances, focuses, and otherwise organizes the world of stimuli for the learner, according to a clear intention and goals for that learner’s enhanced and effective functioning.” It continues: ” The consequence of the imposition of the mediator is to enable the learner to incorporate a great variety of orientations and strategies into his/her/behavioral repertoire, which become crystallized in strategies for learning” – from the North American Freuerstein Alliance.

        Imagine now drugs being the mediator, the language is telling. Emotion can also be a catalyst to this process, or a mediator. So while all is good, there is no accelerated learning or crystallisation taking place – add the emotional mediator, the relationship with the mediator (the drug) and things are catalysed and accelerated.

        Just some thoughts I am having.

        Reply
        1. Marc

          Hi Shaun. I never got back to you on this. I see what you’re saying, but I find it a strain to see the substance as the mediator in the way that a mentor or teacher can be. I guess in a careening nightmare I can imagine the drug as a teacher with an evil grin, saying Let’s begin our lesson for tonight, my little pretty. When you go home you will be that much more skilled in my debauchery.

          But the acceleration in accelerated learning — well, I tried to get to it better in what I just posted — it’s really multi-causal. Learning curves are accelerated anyway — they tend to be exponential in shape. So add to that the driving factor of emotion, as you say. Then specify desire, which captures attention better than other intense emotions because, very simply, it’s focused on the goal directly. The feedback cycle itself is grounds for an exponential curve. Now consider that the feedback cycle (between experience and brain change, between doing it and then being more entrenched/familiar when doing it again…whatever) knocks out its competitors, because other goals shrink in appeal and the synaptic networks supporting them become rusty and pruned….and then add the fact that addictive rewards are short-lived, and they leave us in a state of loss, depression, craving, etc, thus enhancing the probability of the next score. Repetition + desire + loss of competitors + the fundamental nature of the snowball effect in learning…. There are so many factors that come together to accelerate the learning curve.

          Still thinking….like you. Have a happy Christmas!

          Reply
  3. Soraya

    Hi Marc

    I read your first earlier on in the year and was sad when I actually had to finish reading it. I am really looking forward to your new book and hope it will be on the South African bookshelves as soon as it is published.

    Soraya

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Thanks, Soraya! I hope it lives up to your expectations. And mine….

      Reply
  4. William Abbott

    YOu have hit on something very important. Why some get addicted very fast and others takes many years. Like my story with alcohol – took 30 years before it became problematic . Life circumstances changed- I got older- other factors set in and I went from moderate and acceptable use to problematic in under 2 years and very dependent. I woke up one morning after months of coaxing on part of wife,kids, and doc to do something and said : Thats it. After a withdrawal seizure recovery was not all that hard .

    My message- there is no single answer to this thing

    Reply
    1. Matt

      True. But what if there were some combination of processes, properties and circumstances that could be identified and consolidated, and used in prevention and treatment?. That’s what we try to do for the individual in SMART through group process, isn’t it?

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      1. William Abbott

        Of course it is.. when we try to focus on ” root causes” ( not the best term IMO but theirs) , but to understand this and the biology in broadest terms, would be the way for prevention . The true goal of science in medicine- prevention in those susceptible to maintain wellness and well-being

        Reply
    2. Marc

      Take a look at Shaun’s post above. What you describe is exactly the picture he’s portraying. Life circumstances take a downturn, and the use pattern goes stratospheric. I think this is a very fundamental point in modeling addiction. And a good reason NOT to throw out the idea of “accelerated learning”.

      Reply
      1. William Abbott

        WOW and yes Marc. This fits exactly now that I understand it totally. This is preciselyy my story>> going along ok> retire from active surgical practice and wham !!. I like the term catalyzed also– yes it accelerates but there is a catalyst

        Reply
  5. Richard

    Hi Marc,

    My personal relationship with alcohol was not that which can be compared to “falling deeply in love,” in the truest sense of love. The dynamics of my relationship with alcohol could be more accurately compared to indulging in a deeply dysfunctional relationship that was misconstrued as love. I knew from a young age that i had to be careful with alcohol. Unfortunately i did not heed to my young mind’s warning. The reason I knew i had to be careful was not because I “loved” alcohol or the feeling it gave me, but more because I “loved” the relief it provided me from feelings which pre-existed the alcohol. There is an important distinction between the two. Many people are drawn toward relationships that merely reinforce pain or misconceptions. We call it love, but it is not. For me, once I figured out a valid and healthy means to cope with and overcome the pain and misconceptions I struggled, the pull toward alcohol weakened – until ultimately it became similar to a “relationship gone bad.” Many people who truly fall in love look back upon a past relationship and sort of get squeamish because they once convinced themselves that was love and felt they could not bare to live without him/her. Once they have actual love to compare that memory to, it can feel a bit embarrassing.

    Anyway, for some reason it felt important for me to say this. I think that there are so many individualized, contributing factors to addiction that it is tough to summarize. I applaud your efforts. Your perspective is rare and desperately needed in a world that is been hypnotized into believing things about addiction that are plain and simply , false. Subsequently, so too is the “treatment” of it. I look forward to your new book.

    Richard

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Thanks, Richard. I really appreciate your vote of confidence. I know what you mean, of course, about relationships based on dependency and false hopes. But it’s hard to know that in the relationship phase itself. As you say, it usually comes out in retrospect. When you say you didn’t love the feeling of “it” but you loved the relief it gave you, I wonder. That’s a tough distinction to make, because that IS the feeling for some period of time.

      Like you, the rats in the Rat Park studies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park) gave up getting intoxicated when they developed really satisfying social bonds. So, it must be that the feeling changes, from “ahh, this is what I need” to “hmm…this is really quite boring.” But still, the feeling is our only compass to the value of what we’re doing, and unfortunately it is usually lacking in perspective.

      Reply
      1. Richad

        Marc, Yes, it is definitely a tough distinction to make and I agree – perhaps an impossible one to make until it becomes in retrospect. I don’t have the background to convert my thoughts into scientific ones. Having said that – and based purely on my own experience – It was the emotional void and its accompanying, inaccurate self-perceptions that made the “pull” toward alcohol and its consequences appear so powerful. Now that the voids have been filled with solid, fulfilling experiences, my self-perceptions (and my perceptions of my world) have evolved into a more truthful “whole” perspective. So, I don’t know if my brain itself has changed, but my thinking sure has. The cravings are gone and my perceptions of the negative consequences of alcohol are no longer convoluted (appealing), or something I’m drawn toward. Now I plainly see them for what they are – negative and unappealing. It is a fascinating subject for me because I think the answers to these questions speaks of the impact that a person’s level of contentment, “wholeness” or peace has on his biology. We live in a world that is rampant with personal conflict/voids and subsequently, as in the case with the “disease” of addiction – a world where so many are diagnosed with medical conditions, disorders, and diseases. I often wonder if in many instances, the authentic solution is abandoned because the problem is misidentified.

        Thank you again for your insights and efforts.

        Reply
        1. Marc

          Hi Richard. I’m taking a little time to review comments, and I sure see what you mean. That sense of wholeness is so precious, and yet almost something rare and fortuitous in our crazy world. Beginning to see the addictive goal as simply not attractive, not fulfilling, is indeed the major shift in perspective that takes us beyond our addiction.

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      2. Richad

        After all that, I never defined the distinction. The “frenzy” of chasing the drink or drug is similar to the dynamics of a dysfunctional/dependent relationship in the sense that a pre-existing void (love’s absence) is being pursued/perpetuated/validated – a “bottomless pit, desperate yet impossible to satisfy. Whereas “falling deeply in love” is a n “un-frenzied” natural consequence of having a pre-existing sense of personal peace, love, wholeness which is (and can successfully be) pursued, sustained, validated in a healthy, functional relationship such as this.

        Again, I don’t have the background to even speculate on the difference that occurs biologically or neurologically – but I’ bet there is one. The feelings and experiences between the two are so entirely opposite that it seems certain that it would be somehow reflected in the brain’s/body’s response.

        Reply
        1. Marc

          Well, I don’t know. Falling in love sometimes has the angelic flavour you describe. But sometimes it can be a desperate headlong plunge to some form of helplessness. Listen to BB King or James Brown…you don’t need to be a scientist to see the parallels. And love so often turns to “relationship addiction”….I mean for many people, that’s what they end up with.

          The more healthy kind of love you describe is a very worthwhile place to be, and I hope most of us are lucky enough to get there.

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  6. NN

    Those are good questions, Marc.
    The analogy that comes to mind is landslides and Per Bak (if i recall). There are any number of systems that, in some circumstances have sudden drastic cascades–positive feedback, so to say. The behavior of bridges is another example. So do gradually develop problem and fall, others do so drastically.

    Along coastlines, the cliff may gradually ‘melt’ away; other times a huge chunk suddenly drops off. There are patterns in between, of smaller pieces dropping till eventually the whole thing is gone.

    Re addiction, I think the criterion must be in the end result: The locked in or corrupted pattern, and one that often impinges on self-preservation. The ‘many roads’ issue is separate. It’s the scare mongers who like to convince everyone that they are in sudden danger– one puff of crack and you’re done.

    Reply
    1. Marc

      That is really astute, NN. I’d forgotten about Per Bak and the landslides, all of different magnitudes. Great….homology, not analogy. You’re quite right, there are many different scales of collapse. But doesn’t there always have to be something sudden, some punctuated equilibrium, even if the profile looks relatively smooth from a distance? I’m really asking this. See my response to Shaun Shelly’s comment above, and let me know if this fits the Per Bak model.

      Reply
  7. Nicolas Ruf

    Is the mechanism the same for developing a good and a bad habit? Is there some sort of difference between emotionally (limbic) and rationally (cortical) motivated behaviors? Between positive and negative reinforcements? What’s the dif between the letting go and allowing muscle memory to carry one through a performance and the loss of control over one’s use of a drug? Or, for that matter, letting go of an addiction? Is detachment the opposite of addiction.

    I’d really appreciate it if you’d answer these q’s for me so I can get loose from the grindstone.

    By the way, I think the addiction begins earlier than we’ve thought, beginning with the system bias created initially by the reinforcement. So, early on, when one could quit, one won’t because the reinforcement is so strong; and, later, when one would quit, one can’t because the behavior’s kindled, automatic, and autonomous.

    Reply
    1. Marc

      No, yes, yes, a lot, a lot, I don’t know.

      There, I’ve answered your questions. If you were to narrow them down a bit, maybe I could provide a more detailed reply.

      Your last paragraph is more interesting. No one has really talked about kindling in relation to addiction, but I think it’s a great model. Maybe not for the addiction as a whole but for the intensity of the craving based on less and less input. I suppose we could define the start to the learning at various places. Bias is a difficult word to operationalize.

      Reply
  8. Denise

    Marc, running the risk of getting caught in a tangled web of definitions and semantic distinctions, I found myself questioning, while reading your above examples, your definition of “addicted.” In the two examples you gave, I couldn’t help but wonder, weren’t both Brian and Donna addicted to their substances before the addiction turned problematic? Would Brian really have given up the coke and meth during that first year? I’m not sure whether comparing “deep learning” and “accelerated learning” are not like apples and oranges. Why can’t it be both? Perhaps how people become addicted to whatever has more to do with individual differences in temperament and ways of learning than with the process itself. Just what you need… more questions!

    Reply
    1. Matt

      Really good questions. How do you tease out the crosshatching of temperament and learning style, something Jerome Kagan’s been working on for decades.

      Reply
    2. Marc

      Hi Denise. I think deep learning is a pretty vague phrase, but it’s meant to capture a whole cluster of individual patterns. I also think (see above) that everyone must go through a period of acceleration at one point, or several points, but as you say there are big differences, e.g., in when this occurs, e.g. time #1 or time #72.

      And yes, I think Brian could have given it up in the first year. At least that’s the way he sees it.

      Reply
  9. Robin Roger

    Hi Marc
    I haven’t had time to read the comments by others who may address what I am about to say. I just want to point out that even if something is DELAYED, it can still be ACCELERATED once it starts. If you take the analogy of falling in love, many people report knowing someone for a long time before developing a new feeling of attraction and love for them, after some triggering event. I wonder if this is the case with the people you profile. Something changes within the individual, so the original reason for taking the pain killer or other substance, becomes secondary to another reason which emerges or occurs while using the drug.
    Regarding nailing the right description, I agree that this is critical. I was just reading yesterday that Mary Ainsworth, who formulated the strange situation (as you know I realize) was cautioned not to use the term “maternal sensitivity” by her colleagues. They said it didn’t sound scientific, and proposed “maternal contingency”. She retained “sensitivity” and many of her articles were turned down. Today her observations are respected and the word sensitivity is used by the likes of Alan Schore, but with a specific definition. So you may have to qualify accelerated, with ‘late-onset acceleration’ or whatever, though I’m just using that as an example, not a suggestion as I know you will find what you are looking for.

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Robin. I fully agree: the acceleration phase can occur at the beginning (like love at first sight) or several years after beginning to use a substance. Your analogy with relationship change works perfectly for me. And if you do have a chance to read the other comments, you’ll see there is some consensus here.

      As for the importance of the right word or phrase, great example! If I could nail it that specifically, with that kind of confidence, I’d be very pleased.

      Reply
  10. Pete

    Brilliant! The whole lot of you! Keep those
    brains ticking over marc.
    Love these discussions.
    Pete

    Reply
  11. Fred

    Maybe the missing idea is “emotional salience” (though “emotionally salient learning” is a mouthful). Many things can be learned. What “accelerates” and “deepens” the learning in addiction is the emotional salience of the addictive process. The love analogy, as pointed out above, may NOT be an analogy at all but may actually be another example of the same process at work. We come to believe that a certain person (or addictive action) will help us feel better, and when that expectation pays off, we’re more motivated to become pre-occupied with that pursuit. Interestingly, we’re more vulnerable to this process when the rest of our lives are stressful or turbulent. Adolescence is turbulent, and “love” hits like a hammer. When the marriage and the job aren’t going well, an affair is more attractive. These are also times when addictions can take hold or take off. Vulnerable circumstances, plus an addictive outlet that provides an emotional payoff, create the cycle. There’s something to the emotional payoff that creates the nearly irresistible motivation to pursue the behavior despite negative consequences.

    Reply
    1. Fred

      “Deep” actually isn’t a bad word for this. “Intensified” could also work, but the nice thing about deep is that it has a double meaning if one wants to tie it into brain anatomy – it’s not just a forebrain learning process.

      Reply
    2. Richard

      Sometimes the ’emotional payoff” and the negative consequences are one and the same. For example, feeling badly or worthless about oneself will at some point become a person’s “comfort zone” (and therefore, a “payoff”) after struggling with self worth issues. A guaranteed path that leads to a sense of worthlessness is addiction.

      I’ve always felt that the physically addictive properties in alcohol and drugs are less powerful than a person’s “addiction” to having his emotional self-perspective validated. i stopped drinking regularly when i was in my 20’s. To make things more dangerous for myself, I became a binge drinker for a number of years. The biggest “trigger” to set off a binge episode was not pain, misunderstanding, stress, loss, trauma, or tragedy. It was feeling good about myself. It was when my self-perspective was thriving and evidenced by my relationships with family, friends, work, etc. It’s when I was experiencing glimpses of a really like-able, respectable, kind, decent, loving (and loved) guy when I set out to sabotage it – because self-disgust was familiar and however strange….. “comfortable” for me. So getting back to my original point, the emotional pay off for people is often not an authentically positive pay off. Instead it can be the very negative consequence that would otherwise prevent them from doing it to begin with – but a “payoff” nonetheless. The answer for me was to change my self-perspective. Easier said than done, but perfectly attainable – and as i see it, to varying degrees – an expected, purposeful part of a normal life.

      Thanks for evoking my thoughts.

      Reply
      1. Matt

        Excellent point, Richard. We return to, and go for what we know.

        Reply
      2. Marc

        Richard, I remember similar occasions… It felt like I was riding so high…there was a strange disorientation or vertigo in being happy and feeling on top, that I often had to “ground” it with a plunge into drugs.

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      3. Marc

        Richard, it was the same for me on many occasions.. It felt like I was riding so high…there was a strange disorientation or vertigo in being happy (or maybe just manic) and feeling on top of things, that I often had to “ground” it with a plunge into drugs.

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    3. Shaun Shelly

      Fred, that sounds about right.

      Reply
    4. Marc

      I’ve been studying the impact of emotion on cognitive change for a few decades, and I agree that emotion is the key concept. In fact I’ve argued that some emotion is necessary for any learning to take place, because you don’t get attention without a little bit of emotion, and you don’t get learning without attention.

      So…is addiction any different than regular learning? It has to be. The idea of more intense emotion (salience) leading to more entrenched learning is helpful. But I still think that the emotion of desire (if we call it that) has a special place in the domain of learning, and desire that is unquenchable, or only temporarily relieved, is the ultimate bugger when it comes to the formation of imperative, perhaps irresistable habits.

      Reply
  12. Donnie Mac

    The answer my be here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADgCYjAtRUY

    Reply
  13. Matt

    Maybe cycles of accelerated learning that build up over time, some faster than others? One thing’s for sure. It left a mark on my midbrain…
    Something I’ve found in myself and others in groups: pretty much everyone remembers the first high, its salience and significance. That first intense experience of comfort and relief. All the rest are chaff, the brain wending its way looking for the wheat.

    Reply
    1. Marc

      No, my 8th, 20th, 37th and 196th times getting high were pretty memorable too. But, seriously, these may have been the ski lifts that marked new periods of acceleration in an ongoing surface containing many unique inclines. As we’ve discussed.

      Reply
  14. Stephen Creagh Uys

    As always, I am delighted when notified a new post has been put up. This one is very tough for a writer who is as determined as you to avoid clichés while adding to the public perception and knowledge of addiction. In my opinion the addiction really starts when one begins the process of accelerated unlearning, perhaps consciously forgetting. As pre-addicted people, we are endowed with the normal tools needed for a satisfying life: common sense, a sense of right and wrong, the ability to bond and many others. It is when, at an accelerated pace, these tools are consciously ignored: ie. It’s not really stealing if I…they’ll overlook this one absence etc…, that addiction has taken hold. This rapid descent into doing things which, sometimes only months before were unthinkable, is, in my opinion, a strong indicator of addiction.

    I have seen (and been guilty of,) people who, while still very young, change from the ‘A’ student into untrustable addicts in a very short period of time. This is sadly very evident in the current opiate ‘epidemic. I have also witnessed upstanding members of a community rapidly become amoral and soon ostracized for their behaviours.

    In both examples, it is the rapid unlearning of their moral compass which they have in common.

    I dislike the use of ‘moral’ but I am at a loss for a better word to describe the internal values, which when casually ignored, forgotten or unlearned are a sure indicator that they have entered addiction.

    Just my take on it. Thanks, as always, for making me examine the issues which have plagued me for so long, and happy holidays to you and yours

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Stephen. This is fascinating, and I know exactly what you mean, thinking of my life and the lives of others. We unlearn the moral compass to be sure…which is another way of saying we learn chintzy arguments for getting around it, practice those arguments, and turn off some internal meta-dialogue. We also unlearn something even more basic: conscious self-restraint. And this corresponds with an actual functional disconnection (reduced correlation in the activation of…) between the striatum, the structure underlying impulsive and compulsive action, and the dorsal prefrontal cortex, responsible for conscious decision making, judgment and so forth. There is an actual neural change that supports this loss of judgment and insight. But you don’t need a scanner to know when it’s happening, and luckily it isn’t permanent.

      Reply
  15. Tom B

    Hi, not sure I can add to this, but wanted to join what must be the kindest, most well-spoken commentariat on the web. And offer my one little data point about an accelerated path: my Army service, even in peacetime forty years ago, was traumatic and I remember clearly training myself to drink to excess by drinking more and more, setting a new goal each weekend. Hmm! (Lo, these many years later, I’m on day five of an antidepressant, a tiny relapse to an NMDA antagonist just over. But sober 4 months, unlearned that fairly well.) Thanks for such a great blog!

    Reply
    1. Tom B

      Oops, guess I muffed the markdown. 🙂

      Reply
    2. Marc

      Thanks for this Tom. It’s music to my ears that the writing here (mine and others’) comes across as kind as well as helpful.

      Your little data point is pretty important. Many of us don’t perceive the addictive plunge as deliberate, but sometimes it really is. And even when that’s not conscious, there can be a fundamental aim to mess up our lives (because something is better than nothing?)

      Good luck with your current struggles, and Happy Christmas!

      PS. I did NMDA antagonists a lot — see chapter 2 of my book. A nice waking dream…until you wake up for real.

      Reply
  16. Ron Freilich

    Perhaps something akin to “highly incentivised imprinting”? I’ve oft heard of addictive behaviors compared to learned automatisms such as swimming.. Once imprinted, one will always swim as well as ever when immersed.. even after a prolonged absence from water. In both cases the incentive and the reward involve the perceptions of and perhaps actual survival.

    Reply
    1. Ron Freilich

      The imprinting refers to a much deeper more primitive learning much as breathing into the nostrils of a sightless neonate puppy can possibly forge lifelong bonding and attachment.

      Reply
      1. Marc

        Wow, what an image. I’ve thought about the imprinting/automatic learning approach. I think there’s a lot to it, because the feelings provided by the addiction can be so bloody intense…. Addiction can be a very singular experience, and that’s why, in some sense, it never disappears completely.

        Reply
  17. Gary

    Learned behaviours that pertain to addictive disorders, in many respects, develop over time, however, to the degree that one experiences reward that becomes the measure for repeat behaviour. Addiction is a relationship that encompasses one’s senses providing pleasure, release, and/or escape. This particular relationship varies from person to person such that some are “binge” users while others require,or desire,escape on a more regular basis.

    For me, prior to ever developing a “drinking problem” I had developed a “thinking problem” about drinking. Environmental factors within the context of family and society played a significant role in modeling the use of tobacco and alcohol which is also a relationship.

    in breaking this relationship and “learned bahavior” it was necessary for me to change my thinking about drinkiing as well as the use of tobacco/other drugs. Learning to live without the use of AOD’s was a process and not an event. However, making the decision to change was more of an event.

    I have difficulty thinking that I learned to drink and/or use other drugs as much as I was controlled in terms of my thinking about the pleasure and/or escape that using would provide. For me, the “Thought” of using was greater than actual experience.

    Everything that provides pleasure and/or perhaps escape doesn’t require “learning” such as taking a vacation.

    However, if the behavior which one decides to engage in provides unfathomable pleasure and escape this will only entice repeating over and over again. Susceptibility as well as availability are the two components that increase risk of developing disorder.

    This longing for pleasure, completeness, euphoria, escape and/or meaning is rooted deep inside the individual. Pathological wanting creates addiction in many forms.

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Gary. I agree with everything you’re saying, but I don’t have a problem calling it learning regardless. Even though the process involves some very natural acclimatization to a state that is fundamentally appealing, there is still learning in how to get there and in how to fit it into our lives (where it doesn’t really fit well at all). As you say, the thinking is the main act…the experience of the high is secondary. But it’s that thinking that’s learned….in one sense of the word…simply through repetition, focus, and powerful emotional associations and expectancies.

      You say: “Learning to live without the use of AOD’s was a process and not an event. However, making the decision to change was more of an event.” Absolutely. Decisions are like inflection points in the ongoing cascade of learning.

      Reply
  18. Tamasin Taylor

    Hi Marc, while I am waiting to do my PhD oral exam next month on contentment/mindfulness/self-regulation etc., I thought I’d have a go at a definition. It might be off the all park and lacking some key ingredients but was interesting anyway. Here is my attempt at a definition based on what I have gleaned from some of the blogs you have written:

    “Drug addiction occurs through a physiological change-process in the individual’s cognition through the dopamine-reward system which is brought about via regular use of the drug, the use of which is motivated by a cycle of craving, use and reinforcement. Depending on the particular individual, and over a given time period, the state of addiction can said to have occurred when the individual can be identified as being in a state where their attachment to the substance is compulsive, comprehensive(deeply set) and can be identified as having been on/or currently on a graduated-substance use level projector y.”

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Tamasin. Yes, I think that generally covers it. I think of all mental events as having a physiological basis, but indeed the impact of dopamine on the learning state and learning curve is critical. Also, I’d emphasize that it’s not just substances. Other addictions, say to sex, gambling, and gaming, can become just as compulsive. They also involve similar dopaminergic processes. That’s one of the main lessons I’ve gotten from the literature on behavioral addictions.

      Reply
  19. Zach Schlosser

    Hello Marc,

    I just read your article on “The Craving Cycle” on the Mind and Life Institute website, and then the discussion here. I’m finding both captivating and extremely important. And they have sparked a question that’s really close to things I’ve been concerned with for awhile. I’d love to hear your and others’ thoughts.

    Do you think being addicted to something is the most effective way to achieve that thing, given the “thinking, reminiscing, planning, imagining—constructing intricate strategies for getting” and given that “desire that is unquenchable, or only temporarily relieved, is the ultimate bugger when it comes to the formation of imperative, perhaps irresistable habits”? My question is an ethical question. If addiction to productivity is the way to be most productive, then no one who is not addicted will be able to keep up. And if addiction discourages other-concern then those whose actions are motivated by empathy could never be as productive as those addicted to work. If so, then appeals to greater empathy based ethics in society will never be persuasive unless there is a simultaneous reduction in the social value of productivity, because they are negatively correlated.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Marc

      Hi Zach. That’s a pretty deep question, and I sure don’t have a final answer. Others may chip in, but your comment comes late in this stream so it’s less likely to be read.

      I do see your point. But I can imagine that Mother Teressa was pretty addicted to helping the impoverished of India… So pure empathy may indeed be dwarfed by more tenacious habits, but many forms of “good action” can be highly motivated by rewards, and may even be addictive in a sense.

      My own brother is a doctor — a very kind, dedicated, and responsible doctor who works late most evenings and returns his patients’ calls whenever he can. Sounds a bit unusual, doesn’t it? So what gives him that persistence and determination? That productivity..? Empathy continues to be there, but it is one component of a more superordinate sense of “this is what I must do” or “this is the only way I can feel satisfied”.

      So, all may not be lost. And this is a really interesting way to “naturalize” the notion of addiction.

      Happy holidays!

      Reply
    2. Gary

      Workaholism is real, rampant and for many companies and/or organizations, it is desireable. In today’s world they call it “Multi-tasking”! We also live in a world of more, if we can do more, we can potentially have more, though at the core we perhaps feel empty as the cost of more on every level is far too great.

      The underlying and motivational factor that drives this force is MONEY!!! What is productivity???? In reality it means something outside of one’s self and measure by a society, community or family that may have nothing whatsoever to do with your own construct of life, living and relationships etc…

      I cannot mention Jiddu Krishnamurti’s quote enough…”What measure of health is it, to be so well adjusted to a profoundly sick society”????

      We’ve all been programmed and/or conditioned as a result of society throughout history and unless we can see the truth of this predicament how can we truely change?

      The pace in which we are moving is excelerating at such an enormous speed, and partly due to technology, that our hearts and minds have difficulty keeping up without a cost to our mental health. We cannot define the whole simply by looking at a small part or with a mind that has been conditioned unless we are aware of the fact. As John Bradshaw stated…”We have become “Human-Doings” and not “Human-Beings”.

      “Change”…is an inside job!~

      Reply
  20. Mien

    Addiction may occur but you may not notice it for an instant. The story of the three people you mentioned is great example for that. It will came from a simple cure of the drugs and find your self using it excessively to satisfy the addiction you are experiencing and still you are in denial. The important part is that any addiction may harm you and the worst scenario is that it can ruin you as a person and may bring bad effects to the people you love. You have to cure this and there are recovery centers might be able to help like soba recovery arizona.

    Reply
  21. Angie

    Finding treatment for your pain is hard especially when you find yourself drowning in addiction.I agree that addiction is a deep learning and people who suffers from this must be treated in a drug treatment center they are the one dedicated and knows the best in this field.

    Reply

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