#1 What is Addiction? (Part One)

For the past 16 months, I have been using this blog to keep my friends and supporters up to date on my activities. I am going to also start sharing information from the workshops I have been doing in Oregon, Washington  and Vancouver BC. I hope the content will create some interaction.

I have been motivated to understand addiction not only through my own recovery, but also by the research findings that one of eight people in North America is addicted to alcohol and / or other drugs. What is different about the one who is addicted from the other seven?  Is it about moral weakness, will power, genetics, psycho-social development, biological differences, or neuroscience? There are no easy answers, a variety of reasons, and that's part of what makes recovery so difficult. I intend to address all these possibilities.

ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine) is the main governing organization of policies concerning addiction treatment certification standards and practice. They have recently re-defined how they see addiction.

ASAM Short Definition of Addiction:

Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.

Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.

ASAM no longer limits addiction to substance abuse, and is including other issues like gambling, shopping, computer gaming and pornography etc.  They include a spiritual component to addiction which is of primary importance to me and my readers.

I use the phrase drug addiction to include alcohol. Less formal ways I have described addicts over the years include, no stop switch once they start, can't guarantee their behavior when they use or drink, and when their use is a problem to those close to them they either don't moderate their use or abstain.Recreational users may abuse, but learn from the experience and change their use.

I believe understanding addiction requires a faith based and multi-disciplined approach integrating a Biblical Theology and spiritual disciplines with the sciences of Neuroscience, Biology, Genetics, and Psychosocial Development.

If you are interested in the complete and long form of the ASAM definition, I will be glad to email you a copy.