Addiction to Experience
Today’s Agenda:
Finish Video “Alcohol / Discuss
Lecture: Part A Addiction to Experience
Let’s look at the quote…
Some to dance, some to make bonfires, each man to what sport and revels his addiction leads
him.
- Shakespeare
Milkman and Sunderwirth (Ch. 7 / 8 )
Milkman, H. (Professor / Psychology )
Sunderwirth, S. (Professor / Organic Chemistry)
Key theme – We are compelled by repetitious behaviors to become energized, to relax,
to imagine.
Craving for Ecstasy
Addictive behaviors hi-jack the brain neurotransmission system(e.g., dopamine / meth)
Internal opiates (i.e., enkephalin; endorphins)
This is true for all behaviors
Seemingly innocent to the illicit
The Addictive Personality
Who is Most at Risk
Risk Factors
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Early aggressive behaviors
Poor social skills
Lack of parental supervision
Substance abuse
Drug availability
Poverty
Protective Factors
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Self-control
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Positive Relationships
Parental monitoring / support
Academic competence
Anti-drug use policies
Strong neighborhood attachment
More risk factors greater chance of entering into risky behaviors leads to compulsion
Euphoric / Dysphoric Cycle
Drug and Activities of Choice
Genetics > behavioral style > stress
“Not Good Enough Self”
Surrender to something outside ourselves
This surrender often depends on our way of coping with stress
Certain personalities appear to gravitate toward certain addictive behaviors to shore up
stress and ameliorate “not good enough self”
The Serendipitous Event
We find our drug of choice – reduce stress / inner turmoil
Incipient Addicts – experience compulsions and loss of control long before ingesting
psychoactive substances
For instance, family problems, school truancy / violence / crime / interpersonal relations, parsuicidal behaviors
Three avenues of experience to ameliorate psychic pain
Antidotes for Psychic Pain
Satiation, arousal, and fantasy
These antidotes may have origins in first years of life
Childhood experiences and genetic foundation of adult compulsion
Our three antidotes correlate with drug of choice
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Depressants
Stimulants
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Hallucinogens
Milkman and Sunderwirth (2009) hold that:
People don’t become addicted to drugs or mood altering activities as such, but rather to the
satiation, arousal, or fantasy experiences that can be achieved through them.
Satiation Addict “Soother”
Binge on food
Television
Choice of drug – depressants (alcohol, benzodiazepines)
Striking similarity to child during first year of life (food and warmth
Pharmacologic defense against user’s own aggressive drives
Similar to opiates
Arousal Addict “Sensation Seekers”
Seek stimulation / risk takers / live on the edge
Gamblers
Cocaine and amphetamine users
Can be criminals
Seek to be active and potent in their environment (boastful)
Their vast expenditures of mental and physical energy are designed to deny underlying fear and
helplessness
Fantasy Addict: “Dreamer / Mystic”
Favors repetitive activation of right-hemisphere thinking
Preoccupation with altered reality
Mystical insights / pursuit of merge with divine
LSD
Mushrooms
High potent marijuana
Try to overcome fears by creating fantasies in which they are effective and important
The Brain, Antidotes, and Behavior
Basic Neuro-Chemistry
Brain an electrical-chemical computer
Process of communication between neurons (neurotransmission)
Largely responsible for brain functions that determine what we are (i.e., personality, intellect,
and character)
We are our neurotransmission
Pre – Postsynaptic Neuron
Lock and Key, Release, Block
Neurotransmitters released from presynaptic attach themselves to the receptors in the
postsynaptic much like a lock and key
Some drugs will increase the activation of neurotransmitter release (amphetamine)
While others will block the reuptake of neurotransmitters (cocaine) expanding the available
dopamine in the synapse.
Blum’s Reward Cascade
Drugs, Dopamine Levels, Nucleus Accumbens
Activity, Dopamine Level, and Nucleus Accumbens