As someone who’s in long-term recovery from alcohol and drug dependency I’ve often reflected upon the various causal factors associated with addiction and what these suggest in terms of successful recovery. There seems to be many diverse opinions, often polarising voices, in relation to the causes, nature and treatment of addiction.
There are those that focus upon research into the neurobiology of addiction and consider it to be a “brain disease”. This approach is often associated with genetic inheritance in relation to biology (metabolism) and character traits (personality type). While there is ‘no single specifically identified genetic factor in relation to alcohol and drug addiction, it’s generally accepted within mainstream science that about 50% of the risk is carried genetically’ (1). Addiction is often a familial trait. Scientific research in this area has increasingly promoted the development and use of medications in the treatment of addiction.
Then there are those that focus primarily upon the developmental (e.g., insecure attachment, trauma and maladaptive learning) and environmental (social conditioning, circumstances, peer group etc) aspects of the disorder, who favour behavioural learning psychology in relation to understanding its causes and psychosocial interventions in relation to its treatment.
[For more on this story by TwelveStepAgnostic, go to https://www.thefix.com/living-...diction-and-recovery]
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