Evolutionarily speaking our brains haven’t changed that much since the days when we were a species of hunters and gatherers, but our world has. Is it possible that some of the traits that we evolved to help us survive back then are betraying us now?
Throughout history mankind has developed a plethora of beneficial psychological traits that have made us into who we are today.
450 BC. Socrates. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
If a trait does not better a species then it is eliminated or subdued — right? This goes back to the darwinian theory of survival of the fittest and can be applied to all species worldwide — I’m talking about the main driving force behind evolution.
But we all agree that addiction isn’t a very beneficial trait, yet somehow as humans we are genetically predisposed to be susceptible to it. Is it possible that psychological (behavioral) addiction or bad habits are a byproduct of beneficial brain evolution?… and if so how did this happen?
Marc Lewis — Ph.D. informs us that “It’s taken hundreds of thousands of years to develop the underlying psychological traits we commonly associate with addiction.”
The specific tendency I’m getting at is something I’ll call the “goal-pursuing trait” for the remainder of this piece. The circuitry connecting the frontal cortex (the “problem solving” realm of the brain) and ventral striatum (the “decision, risk and reward” realm of the brain) are beautifully crafted and paired to reward you with “happy hormones” for completing a task. There are four feel good hormones our brains release.
Dopamine is released when we accomplish a target goal; things like winning a sport or game, getting a great grade or a promotion. Really any goal we set out to accomplish is rewarded with dopamine when completed.
Oxytocin is released when we attempt to create or expand relationships and helps us stay alert in those situations. Think about that magical feeling you have after you have an intimate connection with someone you’re attracted to for the first time.
Serotonin has to do with how we define our self worth. It drives and stimulates many processes in our bodies, from sleeping habits to sex drive. Serotonin is very sensitive to our diet.
Endorphins are released to encourage motivation and help with determination. Endurance athletes like marathon runners utilize these, think “mind over matter”. Endorphins also act as natural pain killers.
Every time we feel good it’s one, two, three or maybe even all four (very rarely) of these hormones being released into our brains.
Now, back to that “goal pursuing trait” we were talking about earlier. Here’s Mark again to give us a little more insight.
Marc Lewis, “In fact, much of the prefrontal cortex seems prewired for addiction. Increased dopamine flow cultivates more and more synapses in the orbitofrontal (lower/prefrontal) cortex, and in the nearby ventral striatum — synapses that represent all the details, value, and importance of the thing you crave. Which dredges up more dopamine, so you wire up more synapses, and on and on it goes. No wonder we’re easily addicted. Our brains seem perfectly designed for it.”
Create Goal→ Work to Achieve Goal→ Accomplish Goal→ Receive Happiness.
Repeat, repeat, repeat, become psychologically addicted.
Let’s look at some ancient survival goals with this simple process applied…
Goal and process: Find food→ walk 25miles→ find some berries→ receive happiness hormones. Repeat when hungry.
Result: Survive.
Goal and process: Be liked→ work well with members of the tribe→ get a mate or friend→ receive happiness hormones. Repeat when lonely.
Result: Populate the species or make beneficial bonds with other humans.
And there you have it, can you now imagine how the goal pursuing trait came into our psychological process to help us survive by incentivizing us to continually participate in beneficial actions throughout our evolution? And how that has left humanity as a whole predisposed towards negative psychological addictions in modern times?
Oooofa— not exactly, okay… let’s keep going.
1990. Frank Tallis. “At first, addiction is maintained by pleasure, but the intensity of this pleasure inevitably gradually diminishes.”
After this cycle is complete our brains remember the completed goal as something it got joy from and will associate the completion of this goal in the future as something that brings happiness… even if the action is deteriorating or destroying our overall psychological or physical well-being.
Here’s where things get a little wonky. Almost any goal sought after that we complete rewards us with some dopamine, remember, this is how the goal-pursuing trait works.
But what if the goal isn’t beneficial to our overall well being? — Enter Psychological Addiction…
Let’s look at the same goals as before but now in modern times with a psychological addiction lens.
Goal and process: Find food cheaply→ only spend five dollars at McDonalds→ eat Big Mac→ receive happiness hormones. Repeat twenty times a month.
Result: Negative health effects such as high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.
Goal and process: Be liked→ post on social media, check constantly→ get ‘liked’→ receive happiness hormones. Repeat 200 times a week.
Result: Spend more time on your phone than you do anything else.
There are an infinite number of ‘bad habits’ out there that stem from our goal pursuing trait, but some are more prevalent in our society than others.
Do you bite your nails? — why?
Do you find yourself shopping daily with money you don’t have? — why?
Do you have sex or watch porn extremely frequently? — why?
Do you watch T.V. or play video games three or more hours a day? — why?
The ‘why’ is almost always coupled with an excuse and rarely a hard truth:
“…because I’m too lazy to get the nail-clippers.”
“…because I just love new things.”
“…because there’s nothing wrong with sex and/or porn, it’s natural and relaxing.”
“…because I had a hard day and want to relax, watching T.V. or gaming— all night, again.”
When we realize that all these bad habits are nothing other than psychological addictions that came about as a byproduct of beneficial brain evolution (the goal pursuing trait) then understanding how to overcome these tendencies becomes a lot easier.
We no longer get to couple the ‘why’ with an excuse.
We now couple the ‘why’ with the real reason we’re addicted to the action.
In reality identifying which of your habits are bad and which ones are acceptable (or even beneficial, to reduce stress) is extremely personal and can’t be easily assessed by anyone other than you. I love to play competitive video games, society has deemed excessive video game playing as a bad habit that won’t bring me much worth. Nonetheless, in my life, video games truly help me wind down and release competitive urges, so they stay— in moderation. Identify your own psychological or behavioral addictions. If you feel guilty, embarrassed, or bad about them (especially immediately after participating in them) then it may be time to approach them with change in mind…
Aaron Koblin. Early 2000’s. “Everything in moderation. This applies particularly to the Internet and your sofa. The physical world is ultimately the source of all inspiration.”
I used to bite my nails furiously.
“Caveman nails” my Mom would call them… She’d exclaim — “You’ll never get a date to homecoming if all the girls are afraid of your caveman nails!”
Her warnings didn’t work, I got a homecoming date, and Alison never once mentioned my nails — she even let me hold her hand! I continued to bite my nails for eight more years, up until recently, up until I defined my ‘why’ for what it really was.
‘I don’t bite my nails because I’m too lazy to get clippers, I bite habitually because at some point I did it when I was anxious, the action relieved some sort of anxiety and my brain rewarded it with dopamine. It was simply the act of completing this action that made my brain think it was okay.’
This exercise may seem pretty silly and unnecessary at first, especially with something as innocent as nail biting (I sure thought so when my close friend first introduced me to it). It was worth a try though, after all, I’d had this habit for many years.
I said the above phrase to myself every time I found my hands reaching towards my mouth… I’d say to myself, ‘You’re biting because of your goal pursuing trait, evolution screwed you on this one’.
Needless to say it worked, “caveman” nails are a thing of the past (pun intended).
I’ve now applied this thought exercise to numerous behavioral addictions in my life with great success.
Once you define your why, and truly understand the process behind how we’re predisposed to addiction as humans this thought process can be extremely effective at stopping or mitigating bad habits or psychological addictions.
Three days ago. My Grandpa. “Being mindful of your thoughts goes a hell of a long way in life.”
Three thousand years ago. Buddha. “Rule your mind or it will rule you.”
Note: I’m not a psychologist or therapist. This thought technique and understanding of how and why we release “feel good” hormones and how that may make us more inclined to have bad habits or addiction as a species should not be taken as professional insight.
It’s always best to seek professional advice if you are in need of guidance.
My goal with this is simply to share what I’ve found helpful for me and help others understand and focus on the little ticks and triggers that lead to unhealthy psychological addictions.
Once we identify these tendencies we should define them honestly, and then repeat that honest answer to ourselves every time we think about or engage in said activity.
Be open and honest with yourself…
Don’t close off your consciousness to hard questions…
You’re really the only person it can talk to.
The choice of bettering yourself begins with your thoughts.
The choice of bettering yourself ends in your actions.
Author and date unknown.
“It’s impossible!” Pride yelled.
“It’s risky.” Experience explained.
“It’s pointless?” Reason questioned.
“Give it a try…” the Heart whispered.
