What causes addiction?

theselongdays

Hi,

This may sound like a stupid question but what is the root causes of addiction? What causes someone to become addicted to something? What are the cures or solutions to stop someone that has an addiction? I don't have a degree in psychology or ever studied but I do have an interest in it.

Thanks for your help.

biko

Are you asking about a particular addiction (smoking, drinking) or any kind of addiction including some obsessive behaviours?
Many addictions are chemical (coffee, smoking, drugs) other are personal (sex, shoplifting).

In my view there is no start-all and no end-all. Each addiction will have to be treated on its own terms.

LaughOrDie

Good Question.

I would think there are two types of addiction; physical and mental.

Physical being that you will experience physical withdrawals when you stop said activity.

Mental being those things that people are addicted to but have no physical side affects when withdrawn.

I heard Russell Brand say that an addict tries to fill a hole in themselves with a behavior in the hope of filling it. So it's like an emotional trauma maybe? And the need to escape it?

I have no idea really.

Valmont

I was always very impressed with Russel Brand's account of the psychological side of addiction. I think he highlights very well that it is ultimately a philosophical problem for the individual to solve in whatever way possible. If I recall correctly, CBT can have good results for helping somebody kick an addiction. I think the idea is to train oneself (through various cognitive-behavioural techniques) to stop the urges before they take hold, so to speak. I don't think there is an easy solution but we always hear of people who 'just stopped'!

Torakx

I "just stopped" smoking for 3 months at the start of last year. Had no cravings for those 3 month and was not tempted.
A lot of that was to do with my motivation to race toward a goal and I was busy. I think I smoke when I'm bored and I get bored if I am not being mentally challenged in some way. Or if I lose sight of a longterm goal.
And also I have strong anchors for smoking, like after a meal or with a cup of tea.

Valmont

Torakx wrote: »

I "just stopped" smoking for 3 months at the start of last year. Had no cravings for those 3 month and was not tempted.
A lot of that was to do with my motivation to race toward a goal and I was busy. I think I smoke when I'm bored and I get bored if I am not being mentally challenged in some way. Or if I lose sight of a longterm goal.
And also I have strong anchors for smoking, like after a meal or with a cup of tea.

Or first thing in the morning with a nice window to lean out of....stop hitting my triggers! I only smoked for a year but after trying to quit a few times it only clicked until I developed a mantra to say to myself every time I had the urge or wanted to quit quitting. I would say "but I'm not someone who smokes". Yes, it sounds stupid but something about repeating that each time really helped in the long run. I'm sure there is a CBT technique in there somewhere that I'm unaware of.

Torakx

That makes sense. I think people often live the roles they see themselves in.
Reminding ourselves of who we want to be seems sensible.