Addiction, in psychology this is a fairly broad concept. It includes phenomena that, at first glance, are far from each other. But nevertheless, all these phenomena have a single mechanism of formation.
Addictive behavior is a form of inappropriate or self-destructive behavior in which a person seems to seek to hide from the reality around him, fixing his attention on some type of activity or changing his own psycho-emotional state through the use of various substances. With increasing experience, these types of activities gradually become leading and ultimately dictate the range of interests, thereby subordinating the entire life of the individual.
Conventionally, addictions can be divided into chemical and mental.
Chemical: alcoholism, drug addiction, tobacco addiction, pharmacological addiction and some others.
Psychological addiction: gambling addiction, Internet addiction, shopaholism, workaholism, overeating, love addiction, fanaticism, etc.
1. The purpose of addictive behavior.
The main purpose of addictive actions is to change the state of consciousness. Entering an altered state of consciousness, a person temporarily forgets about unresolved problems, the demands of society and many other things that oppress him. The deep, personal reasons why a person resorts to these states can be different, so it can be difficult to notice when this process begins to get out of control and make a person's life subordinate to the desire to enter an altered state of consciousness.
Avoidance addiction
A person suffering from avoidance addiction cannot build close, sincere, trusting, long-lasting relationships; he subconsciously avoids them. At the same time, the person to whom the addict’s love is directed is valuable and important to him. Thus, a duality of the situation arises - the addict either attracts the object of love to himself, or pushes him away from himself. Both partners suffer from this.
Signs of avoidance addiction:
- Avoidance of intensity in relationships with a significant person (love addict). The avoidant addict tries to spend more time away from the love addict's company. Relationships with an avoidant addict can be considered “sluggish”, since they are important for the addict, but he avoids them and does not allow him to build close relationships.
- The desire to avoid sexual contact through psychological distancing. Having a fear of intimacy, the avoidant addict is afraid that if he enters into a close relationship, he will lose his freedom and will be under control. On a subconscious level, the avoidant addict has a fear of abandonment, which leads the addict to the desire to restore and maintain relationships, but keep them at a distant level.
Why are altered states of consciousness needed?
Altered states of consciousness can be induced in a variety of ways. And it can be very difficult to track when these methods cease to be socially acceptable.
Thus, passion for religion, meditative practices or sports can quietly develop into fanaticism and become an addiction.
Below we will look at the reasons why altered states of consciousness can be used by a person.
2.1. Altered states of consciousness for the sake of knowing oneself and the world.
Anyone who seeks epiphanies and insights in the ASC cannot be called hiding from his own problems. He withdraws into himself to take a break from the hustle and bustle, gain strength and learn to interact with the world more effectively and perhaps understand how to teach this to other people. It is interesting that such people will most likely look for altered states of consciousness not in alcohol or in hard types of drugs. But rather in religion, in spiritual practices, in philosophy. This can be called the productive use of ASC, which does not lead to addiction.
These people usually have the necessary level of responsibility and self-reflection, which protects them from falling into addiction. Moreover, they use altered states of consciousness precisely to increase the ability to self-reflect.
If a person’s spiritual practices, meditation and religious beliefs begin to be obsessive, developing into fanaticism, then the individual’s goal is not to better understand the world and learn to interact with it more effectively, but most likely the states that he manages to achieve help him escape from the world and the problems existing in it. This is a dangerous road that can lead to serious psychotic disorders, symptoms of which can include hallucinations and psychosis. Therefore, it is important that a person is aware of why he resorts to these methods: in order to forget about the existence of problems; in order to shift responsibility to more powerful entities; or in order to know his inner world and find out what led him to what he has.
2.2. Search for inspiration.
There are people, especially creative individuals, who justify their addiction to altered states of consciousness through drug use, seeking inspiration for creative acts.
This can be called a borderline option for resorting to altered states of consciousness, since such people, on the one hand, hide from the real world, and on the other, try to isolate some of its features in order to describe them in their works and creations
The fact is that some drugs (most often these are hallucinogens, but there may be some other drugs) allow a person to open the door to the unconscious layers of the psyche, which greatly helps the creative flight of thought and, as a result, the creation of any creative works.
Upon abstract examination, it seems that soft drugs can only bring benefits for a creative person. But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this path can lead to addiction. After all, the body, accustomed to the supply of substances from the outside, ceases to produce the necessary chemical elements itself, as if starting to be lazy in producing the necessary neurotransmitters. This leads a person to the inability to create without the influence of the drug.
It is worth saying that this type of acquaintance with your subconscious is dishonest towards your body and brain in particular. This is like a Schuller method of knowing oneself, bypassing the path of mastering one’s own mental and mental processes. This method is temporary, short-term in nature, enlightenment lasting as long as the narcotic substance is in effect.
Many creative people have ended their lives prematurely due to drug use, while others realized in time that they had become addicted and made every effort to stop using drugs.
The only method that is in any way acceptable for obtaining insight through various substances is their one-time use under the supervision of an experienced person who is not himself dependent on them. Such a person is called a sitter. For such purposes, some people go to shamans to drink ayahuasca or eat hallucinogenic cacti or mushrooms. But I don’t advise you to do this. It will be much more productive to contact a good psychotherapist.
For some, a one-time use of hallucinogenic substances under the supervision of a sitter helps, but for others it is just another way to hide from reality and avoid long-term internal work.
In fact, all these states can be achieved using special psychological techniques or spiritual practices, but this path is much longer and more thorny. But on the other hand, everything acquired along this path will remain forever with those who have chosen the path of self-development. And then these skills can be used for free at any necessary moment in life.
2.3 Avoiding problems.
Let's now look at going into altered states of consciousness in order to hide from problems.
This type of escape from reality most often inevitably leads to addiction. A person who resorts to this method is not used to solving problems on his own, bearing responsibility for his actions. His strong-willed qualities leave much to be desired. The world constantly, it seems to him, burdens him with its demands, which he is unable to fulfill. When the level of demands becomes unbearable for such a person, he has no choice but to fall into a state in which problems and demands do not exist. Here alcohol, drugs, computer games, casinos, shopping, food or another person (love addiction) comes to his aid.
Someone might want to argue with me about the latter. He will say: “Can such a bright feeling as love be put on a par with alcohol and drugs?” I will answer: love - no, but infatuation - yes. But falling in love is not in itself, but its pathological form. The fact is that when falling in love, a person experiences euphoria and a feeling of bliss while being close to the object of his feelings. This euphoria passes over time and the time to build relationships begins, which requires responsibility on both sides. And it is responsibility that people with addictions lack.
After the euphoria of falling in love has subsided, they lose interest in their partner and go in search of new euphoria. And then the same thing happens again and again.
Girls experience a similar feeling of euphoria while shopping. Shopping also helps them temporarily escape from the problems of this world and immerse themselves in the aesthetics of shopping.
And there is nothing to say about drug addicts and alcoholics. These are the most severe forms of addiction and cause changes in the physiological functioning of the body. And they psychologically bind the person who uses them to themselves.
Types of addictions
Addictions can be divided into chemical, intermediate (food and adrenaline addictions) and behavioral (or psychological). According to the classification of Ts.P. Korolenko, as well as taking into account the non-chemical addictions described later, the following types of behavioral addictions can be distinguished:
- gambling, gambling (from the English gambling - playing for money)
- relationship addiction (sexual addiction, love addiction, avoidance addiction)
- workaholism (workaholism)
- technological addictions (addiction to TV, computer games, Internet addiction, gadget addiction - addiction to smartphones, electronic toys, for example, Tamagotchi)
- addiction to spending money (oniomania, shopaholism)
- Urgent addiction (manifests itself in the habit of being in a state of constant lack of time, the desire to constantly plan and control one’s time, accompanied by the fear of “not being on time”)
- sports addiction (or exercise addiction - the need to constantly increase the number and complexity of training; found in professional athletes)
- addiction to spiritual seeking (this type of addiction was described in 2004 based on observations of patients trying to master various spiritual practices)
- a state of permanent war (this addiction is found among combat veterans and is expressed in the desire to create dangerous situations and take unjustified risks).
In addition to dividing addictions into chemical and behavioral, they can be divided from the point of view of society. There are socially acceptable forms of addiction and those condemned by society (drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling). When treating socially unacceptable addictions, they are usually replaced with socially acceptable ones (workaholism, sports addiction, relationship addiction, etc.). Below we will talk in more detail about some types of addictions.
Dependence and physiological aspect.
3.1. The process of chemical dependence.
Each drug mimics the hormones and neurotransmitters that our bodies produce in various glands and other organs. And our nerve cells (neurons) perceive them, thinking that they are a product of the body’s activity.
Each hormone and neurotransmitter, perceived by a neuron, causes a certain type of excitation in it in the form of an electrical impulse transmitted to other neurons. This is reflected on us in the form of a certain psycho-emotional state, under the influence of which we can feel the urge to be active, a feeling of relaxation, daydreaming, thoughtfulness, bliss, sexual arousal or something else.
For each type of neurotransmitter, neurons have their own type of perceptive receptors. They fit each other like a key to a lock. And narcotic substances deceive these receptors and are perceived by them as if they were produced by the body. They imitate real, original neurotransmitters, acting like the master keys used by burglars. Moreover, the amount of this substance penetrating the nerve cell is regulated not by homeostasis, but by the desires of the person using it, which can easily lead to an overdose.
After a certain time of such use. The body gets used to the established order of things and concludes: since substances come in large volumes from the outside, then why should I produce them within myself, spending my own resources on it. The body is deceived into thinking that it is saving internal energy, but in fact it is becoming increasingly dependent on external factors.
If such a dependence has developed, then stopping the use of narcotic substances leads to the so-called withdrawal syndrome. The body, accustomed to the constant presence of artificial neurotransmitters in it, discovers that these substances have ceased to flow, and it has already forgotten how to produce them in the required quantities. And depending on what types of neurotransmitters were replaced by drugs and what body function they affected, this will be the withdrawal syndrome.
3.2. Withdrawal syndrome in chemical dependence.
Withdrawal syndrome in chemical dependence is the most severe, since the body undergoes restructuring at the physiological level due to the use of substances. Glands and other organs stop producing the necessary hormones and neurotransmitters in the required quantities.
Due to hormonal changes, the psycho-emotional content of an individual changes. When there is no drug in the body, the body experiences a shortage of chemicals. This may manifest itself as depression, sadness, aggression, fear or anxiety. Feelings of weakness, headaches, and pain in other parts of the body may also appear, depending on the drug taken and the length of time it has been used.
To stop these unbearable sensations, a person feels an irresistible need to inject a drug into the body.
In moments of withdrawal symptoms, a person loses all criticism. He begins to be driven by the desire to get the coveted dose of the drug in order to ease the sensations of severe discomfort, although in the initial stages of addiction to the drug, its use could be simply for the sake of obtaining pleasure in the form of new sensations.
3.3. Withdrawal syndrome in psychological dependence.
For psychological types of addiction, such as shopaholism, gambling addiction, gluttony, falling in love, etc. chemical restructuring as such does not occur. A person simply finds a way to hide from the uncomfortable sensations present in his life.
Choosing a way to escape reality can happen in different ways. Much depends on the environment, upbringing and culture in which a person grows.
If a person is deprived of the opportunity to go into a process that helps him forget, then, just like with chemical dependence, he may be overcome by depression, fear, anxiety, irritability or aggression.
This happens because a person constantly avoids solving his problems and gets so used to it that he doesn’t know how to act differently. He simply does not have the necessary skill that would help him take responsibility for his life and solve problems in a timely manner.
And over the years, the number of problems grows and constantly changing life makes more and more new demands. After all, as they say: “Even in order to stay in one place, you need to constantly move forward.”
What is addiction?
The concept of “Addiction” is derived from the English word addiction, which literally translates as dependence. Initially, addictions meant chemical dependencies (from medications, alcohol or drugs), but now the list of addictions has expanded. Thus, addiction is a person’s dependence on something, the need to regularly perform any actions or take medications. With psychological (behavioral) addiction, the object of addiction is a behavioral pattern. Addictology as a new scientific direction appeared in Russia and in the world in the 70-80s of the last century. In 2001, professor and psychotherapist Ts.P. Korolenko compiled the world's first classification of non-chemical addictions. Today, addictionology is at the intersection of psychiatry, narcology and clinical psychology and examines the problem of addictive behavior from different angles.
Psychological reasons causing addiction.
As mentioned above, the emergence of addiction is associated with the desire to hide from reality, and the desire to hide from reality is associated with problems in the ability to bear responsibility for one’s life and for the state of affairs in it.
Where does this inability to bear responsibility come from?
And it, like many other personal qualities, comes from childhood. From that style of behavior and response to various stimuli that became habitual for a person, became established and transferred into his adult life.
Having matured, a person goes out into the big world without self-motivation skills, without being able to track and understand his feelings and emotions, and generally not knowing what he wants to achieve and what to devote his life to.
Such a person will simply go with the flow, without making much effort to change the course of his life. He will blame his failures on other people, the government, the economy, oligarchs, “guest workers” and others who, as he subconsciously thinks, are doing better than him.
A dependent person will have an internal feeling that someone owes him something. That those who achieve something seem to take the benefits from him personally.
Let's try to figure out where addicted people get such a grudge against the world.
As we already found out earlier, everything comes from childhood. And the real resentment lies much deeper than it looks on the surface. And it is addressed, in fact, to none other than the parents.
The parents of such a person usually did not give him enough love. They praised him little and paid little attention to the things he did well. Little was said about what he was like, describing his real qualities. But at the same time they often criticized, pointing only to mistakes without emphasizing what turned out well. Such a child inevitably gets the impression that he is only capable of doing everything badly.
All this creates low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence in the child. The child stops believing that he can do something well. And he concludes that you shouldn’t even try to somehow arrange your life in a positive way. Instead, he finds refuge in an altered state of consciousness, which alcohol, drugs, computer games, or other types of psychological addictions help him achieve.
As a result of lack of self-confidence and self-confidence, the level of anxiety of the dependent person is very high, which is why fears and phobias are formed.
Fears and phobias push the addict to use the drug more and more. And at some point it becomes impossible for him to get out of this vicious circle. The immune system weakens, and the already weak willpower falls even lower.
The question arises: is there a way out of this state?
Adolescent addictions
Both adults and teenagers can suffer from addictions. According to scientists, addictive behavior begins in childhood under the influence of personal characteristics and the environment. By adolescence, addictive behavior can already manifest itself in full.
Signs of addiction in a teenager:
- The desire to demonstrate superiority over others against the background of self-doubt
- Fear of trusting relationships with others, internal isolation
- Wide circle of acquaintances, demonstrated sociality
- Tendency to lie
- High anxiety, depressive behavior
- Avoidance of responsibility.
- The presence of stable patterns and stereotypes of behavior.
Teenagers can have any type of addiction, but most often we are talking about Internet addiction, to which high school students are highly susceptible.
Why is Internet addiction dangerous for teenagers?
- teenagers may be tempted to commit sexual acts;
- teenagers gain access to pornography, which is abundant on the Internet. However, software that is supposed to restrict minors’ access to such materials often fails or is missing altogether.
- access to sites that incite religious or ethnic hatred, sites with instructions for making bombs, etc.
- passion for online games with violence increases the aggressiveness of children.
How to treat addiction?
People with addictions usually grow up in families where parents or other adults were already addicted. Children simply copy the behavior of people significant to them. The child has no criticism towards people on whom he completely depends, even if all they do is scold and demoralize him in every possible way. He has no choice. To survive, he must adapt to his environment.
As a result, with age, he begins to suffer from a feeling of inferiority that devours him from the inside, with which he is unable to cope.
Treatment of such a person will consist of a psychotherapeutic and, if necessary, pharmacological component. The first thing to do is to survive the withdrawal syndrome associated with stopping the intake of a narcotic substance into the body. There are various medical methods for removing an addict from the substance he is on, but we will not touch on them.
Psychological treatment of addiction.
6.1. Rehabilitation, socialization.
After the patient is “taken off” of the chemical substance, a period of rehabilitation follows, the goal of which is to return the body’s ability to do without the drug and begin to independently produce the necessary neurotransmitters in sufficient quantities. But this is only the somatic component of treatment. In addition to treating the body, you need
It is necessary to treat the psyche as well. And this process is more labor-intensive, and no less important. After all, if you cure the body with the help of medications, then there is no guarantee that a person will not start taking drugs again in order to hide from a reality with which he has never built a relationship throughout his life.
The task of the psychotherapist will be to teach the patient to see the roots of his problems, be able to take responsibility, and build relationships with other people. To put it simply, such a person needs to be socialized and taught to observe and respect one’s own and others’ psychological boundaries.
This requires a fairly deep and versatile study of the psyche.
A person needs to be given a new understanding of the world, to show that he can find his place in it.
After all, a dependent person has many presuppositions, attitudes and prohibitions that he cannot criticize, such as: the unshakable authority of his parents and their approach to life, the conviction that whoever has a lot of money is evil, various sexual prohibitions, religious attitudes, the conviction that being angry is bad, and so on.
The psychotherapist needs to find and isolate such attitudes of the patient in order to carefully study them. Find out what function such attitudes served, what they protected from, what character qualities they reinforced.
In addition, it would not be superfluous to work on the physical-psychological level. A person with addiction will have a lot of bodily clamps that block normal breathing and, as a result, the blood does not receive enough oxygen and because of this, naturally, the brain also does not receive enough oxygen, which leads to even greater psycho-emotional stress.
To open muscle tension, it is useful to teach the client breathing exercises and deep muscle relaxation methods. This will work to reduce the overall level of anxiety, reduce fears and exposure to stress.
It will also be useful to send the client for a massage to increase the level of bodily sensitivity.
But the main thing in all psychotherapeutic work will be teaching a person methods of bodily and psychological self-regulation and reflection. So that a person begins to understand his internal processes and they stop scaring him.
6.2. Addiction through the prism of family.
To overcome addiction, the desire of relatives is not enough. Moreover, it is the family system that often keeps an individual in a state of dependence. If the patient recovers from addiction, the entire family mechanism must be ready for serious changes, for which family members are not always ready. A change in family routines entails the need to change the usual ways of interacting with each other, which, as a rule, is not very well accepted by families.
It usually seems to them that the addict is dependent solely because of his own weakness and disorganization of the inner world, and they do not allow the idea that he is like this because he lived and was raised in this particular family and that the problem with the addiction of one of their members is a problem created by their common efforts.
That is why the motivational aspect of treatment is very important. The addict must have a number of his own, deeply personal reasons for getting rid of addiction.
If he does not have such reasons, then he needs to work on it and find them.
In the practice of treating addictions, it often happens that a person who has been treated in a clinic and has successfully dealt with the problem of addiction, returning home, again begins to resort to self-destructive habits, since he finds himself in those conditions because of which he began to resort to methods of escaping reality, which and led to addiction.
In such cases, psychotherapeutic treatment should include changing the individual's relationship with his family and building his independence from it. With success in this area of treatment, there is a good chance that the person will not return to addiction.
