Psychology of Addiction
Useful Links
Addiction is a disease that impacts how a person lives their life. As such, it impacts both individuals and all whom they interact with and care for. The study of addiction, including its causes, effects, and treatment approaches, is called addiction psychology. Essentially, it is the effort to understand the psychology of addiction. There are a variety of treatment approaches that are effective for an individual to heal from addiction. Addiction treatment at PCP – The Perry Clayman Project incorporates knowledge from addiction psychology in order to help individuals heal effectively and recover from multiple types of addiction.
Psychology of Addiction
Addiction is complex. It is, at its core, a disease that impacts a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Categorised as a disease, addiction impacts the reward centres of the brain, causing them to be rewired towards addictive substances and behaviours. These changes cause a person to compulsively search for and prioritise these substances and behaviours over other choices, such as previously enjoyed activities, loved ones, or healthy life choices.
Causes of Addiction
There is not a single reason why a person struggles with addiction. Instead, many different factors can play a role in an individual developing addiction. In general, the more risk factors a person has, the more likely they will become addicted to a behaviour or a substance. However, every individual’s story and history is unique.
Genetics, or biology, does play a role in addiction. An individual’s genetics account for roughly half of a person’s risk of developing addiction. However, simply having certain genes does not guarantee that addiction will be an issue. There are many complex interactions between genetics and environment, or experiences, that play a role in a person’s challenges with addiction. In addition, the timing of substance use during a person’s development also impacts their relationship to addiction. This is due to certain parts of the brain developing over time.
Effects of Addiction
Every individual is affected by addiction in a unique way. However, the impacts on the brain commonly include changes to dopamine circuits in the brain, increased stress, and memory issues. In addition, individuals struggling with addiction also have challenges with learning, judgement, and decision-making. These issues are rooted in addiction and are a direct result of the changes that occur in the brain due to long-term addictive behaviours.
The effects that addiction has on a person are also part of the psychology of addiction. These effects help provide a clear understanding of addiction and how it interacts in a person’s life. While many impacts of addiction are negative, it is also valuable to understand how a person is benefitting from addiction. This provides individuals and providers with a clear understanding of how to recover.
Treatment Considering the Psychology of Addiction
Recovering from addiction is a process that takes time, patience, and support. Treatment at PCP – The Perry Clayman Project takes the psychology of addiction into consideration. Through detox and addiction treatment, individuals can heal. They learn to monitor the unique risk factors that have and do play a role in their challenges with addiction. In addition, through addiction treatment, they learn how to make adjustments and changes to their lives that help them build a life where they can have better long-term recovery outcomes.
These pieces of treatment are vital in recovery. However, they are only possible with the understanding of addiction, why it is an issue in a person’s life, and how it has been perpetuated. The psychology of addiction is, therefore, the foundation of effective treatments that help individuals to be more educated on their challenges with addiction, as well as learn to make changes to how they live their lives and interact with addictive substances or behaviours.
Monitoring Risk Factors
Every individual struggling with addiction has a unique set of risk factors. These often include genetics or a family history of addiction. However, many individuals also have a history of trauma or mental health challenges. The combination of risk factors requires that each person learn to monitor and manage their own risk of addiction in their life.
Specific tools to manage risk factors look different for each person. However, through therapy and medication options, individuals are given many tools and options to choose from. Then, with support and care, they can learn how to ensure that these risk factors do not push them back into addiction in the future.
Adjusting Lifestyle and Choices
While each individual is unique, there is commonly a lifestyle or a pattern of choices associated with addiction. Therefore, while part of recovery is detox, long-term recovery requires making adjustments to a person’s lifestyle and choices. Parts of a person’s lifestyle that commonly are associated with a higher risk of addiction include high stress, trauma, and high-risk behaviours.
However, adjusting lifestyle patterns is difficult. The process of doing such requires working with a therapist who can help a person to untangle the web of how they interact with addictive substances or behaviours, and why it has been so prevalent in their life. Then, they can learn new ways to move forward that will support their recovery and improve their wellness and overall quality of life.
Addiction psychology helps provide a clear understanding of addiction, its causes, and how you can recover. To learn more about PCP – The Perry Clayman Project and how you can take the first step towards healing from addiction, call us today at 08000 380 480.