The word ‘addiction’ these days is used to refer to a chronic condition where there is an
unhealthily powerful motivation to engage in a particular behaviour. This can be driven by
many different factors – physiological, psychological, environmental and social. If we say that it
is all about X, we miss V, W, Y and Z. So, some people think addicts are using drugs to escape
from unhappy lives, feelings of anxiety and so on; many are. Some people think drugs become
addictive because they alter the brain chemistry to create powerful urges; that is often true.
Others think that drug taking is about seeking after pleasure; often it is. Some take the view that
addiction is a choice – addicts weigh up the pros and cons of doing what they do and decide
the former outweigh the latter. Yet others believe that addicts suffer from poor impulse control;
that is often true… And so it goes on.
When you look at the evidence, you see that all these positions capture important aspects of
the problem – but they are not complete explanations. Neuroscience can help us delve more
deeply into some of these explanations, while the behavioural and social sciences are better at
exploring others. We need a model that puts all this together in a way that can help us decide
what to do in different cases. Should we prescribe a drug, give the person some ‘tender loving
care’, put them in prison or what? Theory of Addiction provides this synthesis.