Addiction: How it Starts and Why

The National Institute on Drug Addiction cites four reasons why individuals take drugs: to feel good, to feel better, to do better, or out of curiosity and social pressure. However while these might describe the reasons why an individual might admit that they experimented with drug use, often the initial shaping of a susceptible personality has already been developed way prior to the first incidence of use.  Without attention or correction, our early relationship with our emotions sets the stage for the way that we process through emotions for the rest of our lives, and become the strategies that we use to adapt to difficult environments. 

Through looking at some of the early shaping of an individual’s behavior, we might begin to understand the journey of how one’s addiction may be initially presented as the solution to a problem, how it becomes a problem again, and how treatment might help someone to find a new solution. 

Early learning

When it comes to those developing addictive patterns, adolescents may model their behavior after peers in attempts to seek approval after witnessing others follow that path and being rewarded with social status, or material gains.  Or, the behaviors may stem from chronic inability to regulate one’s own emotions, oftentimes mirroring a parent’s own ineffectiveness in that area. 

Observational learning can be thought of as working on a couple different levels: most unhelpful to the cause for sobriety. When parents use substances or struggle with their mental health in general, they often unwittingly pass these behaviors on to their children. Anxious and depressed adults often unknowingly teach their young that the use of substances is an appropriate response to experiencing difficult emotions. Even a single glass of wine every night paired with the message that “I need this wine in order to unwind” or to “deal with my stress”, communicates the idea that something external is necessary to regulate one’s internal state.  

Even children from families that might state something like, “I’ll never do drugs like my parents”, when confronted with a difficult or emotionally charged situation themselves, may fall prey to the very same patterns. Without healthy models, these children are more likely to be equipped with misinformation about the dangers of tolerance and withdrawal, and cannot conceive what a less destructive relationship with alcohol looks like. Similarly, without teaching children positive replacement behaviors, even parents that do not use substances may leave their children exposed to the negative effects of the pressure to conform to peer relationships. 

In considering this as a motivating factor for substance use, teens are especially at risk, for numerous reasons, but especially due to their psychosocial stage of development according to Erikson: identity vs. confusion. Those at this stage of development are more likely to engage in risky behavior to impress their friends, find their ‘tribe’ and show their independence. The changes that occur in the brain as a result of that initial use are often enough to keep them hooked for as long as they are rewarded with increased social status, and longer, after their brain chemistry updates and hijacks their reward system. 

Classical Conditioning

Of course, individuals also seek out substances because they can provide intense feelings of pleasure, relief from pain, or just another world to escape into. However, the juncture described above often denotes the moment when experimentation turns into addiction. Soon, what was once a pastime, or a way to fit in, becomes a necessary constant in someone’s life. 

Thinking about the learned behavior through the lens of classical conditioning can be helpful to fully understand how the substance use functions in someone’s emotional life. 

When someone is experiencing a distressing emotional state (anxiety, stress, anger, loneliness) this can be thought of as the unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus (or the substance of choice) is next added into the equation, and the effects of the drug and the ‘high’ one might experience is termed the unconditioned response. In traditional studies of classical conditioning, this would next become the conditioned response to one’s distress, however in this case, appears to function more as a “conditioned expectation”. 

Thinking about the pattern of addictive behavior from this angle helps to identify why someone might feel like they need the substance in the midst of any sort of emotional crisis, and represents a true paired association between emotional state and the conditioned expectation or desire, and high likelihood that they will act on it. 

Operant Conditioning

Through a closer look at operant conditioning, we can begin to understand a bit more about the attempts to address drug abuse and addiction over the years. First, it is important to point out that in the war on drugs, we are fighting against a strong and very powerful “positive” natural reinforcer that supplies its subscribers with a reliable and potent response upon consumption. 

Second, as described earlier in this article, individuals that are struggling with addictive patterns often have a long history of negative reinforcement that has shaped the way they deal with their negative emotions. For example, when a child is frustrated by a toy and begins to cry, parents that quickly rush to fix the toy teach the child that crying will get others to solve their problems for them. Similarly, an adolescent that finds success in learning to “shut down” when talking with parents about their misbehavior learns a powerful skill to avoid confrontation. Later as adults these individuals have never learned any problem solving skills on their own, and it’s not hard to see why they continue in the same patterns. 

This is what operant conditioning looks like in the United State’s War on Drugs:  through the use of “positive punishment,” we have tried to deter individuals’ drug use by threatening punishment, imposing fines and jail time. Similarly, through “negative punishment,” we have taken from them their voting status, the opportunity to have certain jobs, professional certifications and licenses, and even the ability to have their own residence.

While it may seem daunting, we know, as in parenting, that introducing a reward for a child to work for goes a whole lot further than a spanked bottom, especially in terms of the quality of the relationship, as does taking the time to help them learn how to problem solve in new ways. 

Meeting our clients with compassion for what they have been through, instead of an iron fist is a necessary part of Peace Club’s trauma-focused treatment approach. Taking the time to learn about our clients, what they’ve been through and where and how they developed their problematic patterns, is essential in reconnecting them with their true self. 

At Peace Club, we are passionate about the people we serve, and truly understand people’s stories of how these patterns of addiction started. Let us get to know you and your story, and help you with the next chapter. Call us today at  (321) 423-1212 or check us out at https://peace.club/