Addictions

"Exploring Deep Human Desires and How Therapy Helps Us Understand the Self and the Brain"

Addictions can be understood as manifestations of deep-seated human longings. These longings refer to persistent emotional, physical, or spiritual desires that are fundamental to the human experience. We all seek love, connection, purpose, security, and fulfilment in life, and these longings often drive our actions and decisions. When these essential needs go unmet, addictions can emerge as a means of coping. However, addiction is not merely about the substances or behaviours themselves, but rather the underlying emotional, psychological, and neurobiological forces that drive these compulsions.

From a psychotherapist’s perspective, it’s essential to recognise that addiction often reflects attempts to fulfil unmet needs, but also involves the brain’s reward system becoming hijacked. Therapy plays a vital role in helping individuals not only understand themselves and their emotions but also in making sense of how brain chemistry and the body’s natural reward mechanisms contribute to addiction.

Here’s how addiction manifests, the role of brain chemicals like dopamine and how therapy helps people to understand these processes:

1. Filling a Void:

Addictions often arise as attempts to fill emotional or spiritual voids caused by factors such as trauma, loneliness, or lack of purpose. In therapy, we explore these emotional wounds, helping individuals understand the underlying causes of their pain. Through therapy, clients can identify healthier ways to address these needs—whether it’s developing self-worth, nurturing connections, or fostering a sense of purpose—rather than relying on addiction as a form of temporary fulfilment.

2. The Role of Dopamine and the Brain’s Reward System:

Neurobiologically, addiction is linked to how the brain’s reward system operates. The brain’s pleasure circuits, particularly involving dopamine, play a central role in addiction. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that reinforces feelings of pleasure and reward. When individuals engage in addictive behaviours or consume substances, their brain experiences a surge of dopamine, creating a powerful sense of euphoria.

Over time, as people continue to chase this pleasure, the brain’s reward circuits can become overwhelmed. Repeated exposure to high levels of dopamine causes the brain to adapt, leading to a reduction in the natural production of dopamine and making it harder for individuals to feel pleasure from everyday activities. This cycle, often referred to as "dopamine chasing," can make addiction feel chronic and sometimes even permanent, as the brain rewires itself to depend on the addictive behaviour or substance for any sense of reward.

Therapy plays a critical role here by helping individuals understand how their brain’s chemistry has been altered by addiction. Clients learn about the concept of reward pathways and the role dopamine plays, gaining insight into why they compulsively seek pleasure through addictive behaviours. Therapists work with individuals to break this cycle by teaching them new ways to stimulate the brain’s reward system—such as through mindfulness, physical activity, and healthy relationships—without relying on addictive substances or behaviours.

3. Seeking Connection:

As human beings, we are wired for connection and belonging. Sometimes, addictions develop as a misguided attempt to fulfil the need for connection. Social drinking, for example, may start as an attempt to feel accepted but can evolve into alcoholism. In therapy, we help clients recognize the emotional drives behind these behaviours and assist them in building authentic, meaningful relationships without relying on addictive habits to fill this void.

4. Escaping Reality:

Addiction often serves as a way for people to escape from life’s stresses and challenges. Substances or addictive behaviours provide temporary relief from emotional discomfort, stress, or unresolved trauma. However, this relief comes at a cost, as individuals become trapped in a cycle of avoidance. Therapy helps individuals understand why they seek escape and provides healthier strategies for managing stress, emotions, and reality, offering them new coping mechanisms that do not rely on addiction.

5. Desire for Control:

Addiction can offer an illusion of control in chaotic or disempowering circumstances. Individuals may turn to substances or behaviours as a way to create a sense of stability in an otherwise unpredictable life. In therapy, we explore the deeper need for control and help individuals understand why they turn to addiction as a coping mechanism. By working through these underlying feelings of powerlessness, clients can develop true empowerment and control in their lives without relying on addictive behaviours.

6. Chronic Brain Changes and Addiction:

As addiction progresses, chronic changes in the brain can occur. These changes, particularly in the reward pathways, can make addiction difficult to break and contribute to relapse. As dopamine production becomes impaired, individuals feel compelled to keep chasing the high they once experienced, even as the reward diminishes. In some cases, these brain adaptations can persist long after the addictive behaviour has stopped, making recovery a long and challenging process.

Therapy is essential in helping clients understand these chronic brain changes and offering support as they work through the ups and downs of recovery. Through a combination of psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioural techniques, and emotional processing, therapists guide clients in rewiring their brains by developing new, healthier habits and breaking the cycle of dopamine dependency.

7. Psychological Insights and Unresolved Inner Conflicts:

Addiction can also stem from unresolved inner conflicts or unmet developmental needs. From a psychodynamic perspective, addictive behaviours may represent symbolic attempts to resolve deeper emotional issues. In therapy, we help individuals explore these unconscious drives, offering insight into the emotional struggles that fuel their addiction. By processing past experiences and emotional wounds, clients can make sense of why they turned to addiction and develop healthier ways to address these underlying needs.

The Therapeutic Path to Self-Awareness and Recovery

Therapy provides a compassionate and comprehensive approach to addiction by focusing not only on stopping the addictive behaviour but also on helping individuals understand the root causes, brain mechanisms and unmet needs that drive it. This involves exploring emotional longings, making sense of how the brain’s reward system has been hijacked and developing new coping strategies to manage stress, emotions and reality.

The role of therapy is not just about achieving sobriety but also about helping individuals gain insight into their behaviours, understand how their brain has been affected and reclaim control over their lives. By exploring and understanding the brain’s function in addiction and working through emotional and psychological needs, therapy empowers individuals to create lasting change and find more sustainable ways to meet their emotional and physical longings.