What is the Opposite of Addiction?
Addiction causes pain for untold millions. It affects individuals and families in every developed country of the world. There are countless ways that it manifests itself, but the consequences are usually the same. Heartache. Disconnection. Illness. Without intervention or drug rehab treatment, some addicts’ stories end tragically.
For something so prevalent in society, the general population really understands very little about the nature of addiction. At least, that’s the thesis of English journalist Johann Hari. In a well-received TED talk and subsequent viral video, Hari outlines his counterintuitive but thought-provoking theories.
Most people have a vague understanding of addiction. Hari uses the example of heroin. If you were to ask the average man or woman on the street what causes heroin addiction, chances are that he or she would reply “heroin.” It only makes sense, right?
Wrong, says Hari.
Heroin is an opiate. In the same class of drugs are narcotics like opium and morphine. Although most narcotics (like heroin and opium) are illegal, others, like morphine, are regularly used as painkillers for medicinal purposes. The junkies in drug rehab and the patients in intensive care units are often taking very similar drugs.
Why isn’t there an epidemic of post-operation morphine addiction? Hari jokes that your grandma really should have needed to attend drug rehab after her hip replacement surgery. Why didn’t she? In studies and in practice, patients who are exposed to highly addictive drugs in hospitals are able to go home to their families without ever experiencing the traits of addiction.
In other studies, scientists discovered that if rats were placed in cages with access to addictive drugs, they would take the drugs compulsively until they died. However, a scientist named Bruce Alexander put a new spin on the experiment. He took the rats out of the cages and instead placed them into high-energy environments with nourishing food, lots of social interaction and stimulating activities.
Although the drugs were still available, the rats almost never took them. None of them became addicted. None of them died. The conclusion that Alexander drew from the experiment was that substances alone do not cause addiction. When rats, (or humans), are alone and bored, they become addicted. When they’re surrounded by love and support, they don’t.
Drug rehab can provide a stable, stimulating environment for addicts, but the home is important too, for both treatment and prevention. Family and friends should play as large a role as rehab.
As Hari concludes, “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.”
Tanner Wadsworth is a health writer for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Odyssey House. Follow on Twitter