Why do some people suffer from addiction?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Why is it some people suffer from addiction than other people or some people more from really bad addiction than other people that are addicted?

Say drinking, smoking and drugs.

Some people drink or do drugs 3 times in weak, other people every day, some people 3 times in a day. Yes some people even binge on drugs every day if they have money. Some people turn to crime to support them self!!

Some people are homeless or sleep in car to because of their addiction

What are some of the factors?

Do genetics play part in addiction? Or Dopamine or Seratonin?

Problem with hormones or Chemical imbalances?

2

I don’t suffer from addiction. I enjoy it greatly.

3

I’m guessing it’s a combination of factors.

But it certainly seems to me that unresolved trauma is a major factor. All the people on that show “Intervention” seem to have some sordid tale of childhood/adolescent abuse which makes them turn to self-medication.

4

A big factor is if you are using the drugs to escape from negative experiences. If you are in physical pain, psychological pain, bored, detached, etc you are more likely to become addicted compared to someone who is healthy and has a rewarding and full life. However that is only part of it.

There are genetic components, but I am not an expert on what they are or how they work.

5

I have met damn few people in my life who had absolutely no addictions whatsoever.

6

I’m guessing genetics play some (possibly the largest) part. I’ve seen recreational drugs/alcohol almost common across generations in some of the families I know and within my own extended family. Lightning striking once is interesting, twice its curious - when it hits 147 (to make up a number) across four generations its more than just chance or environment.

7

IANAD but I am an addict. My doctor tells me it’s biological, and in my case genetic.

I know Ludovic was joking but alcoholism is not fun. I try my best not to drink. But when I do it’s not enjoyable, I blow right past buzzed and go straight to blackout and the associated asshole behaviors that come with it.

8

I’ve thought of this a lot, and think it a horribly complicated question which defies any one answer. Similar question - why are some people obese? I think you’d get a ton of answers ranging from physical/genetic causes, emotional trauma or other mental/emotional pathology, early childhood development, or even just lack of willpower. I think all of those explanations apply to SOME obese people, and no one explanation applies to all.

Back when I was in high school, I was in the audience for a taping of the Donahue Show on teen substance abuse. Wanting to be on TV, I asked why some people abused substances, while others were able to use. I’m not a doctor, but in my job over the past 3 decades I’ve dealt with many cases of substance use/overuse. Personally, I was able to stop heavy smoking and drinking habits with no outside assistance. What applies to one “addict” clearly does not appear to apply to all. Moreover, you need to obtain agreement as to exactly how you define addiction.

Another problem, a lot of “addicts” have several other negative things going on in their lives. So you get into the whole chicken and egg issue. Heck, you even have to deal with the whole conundrum of “do they drink because they are depressed” vs “are they depressed because they drink.” I have heard many folk discuss this in the context of Social Security disability. Previously, people could receive benefits for drug or alcohol abuse. After that was eliminated, the same people appeared to apply for benefits, only now they alleged that they are bipolar. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t.

So good luck in getting an answer.

9

Ludovic stole my answer, that some people suffer from addiction, while others greatly enjoy it. It’s darkly ironic, as in my experience those who suffer aren’t the addicted ones, but the addicted person’s friends and family.

I have no real answers, but I think it’s environmental more than genetic. When I was at my lowest and living on the street, I was using a fair bit. mostly heroin but honestly it was anything and everything I could get my hands on. Once I got off the street, I stopped everything except the weed and was never seriously tempted to go back. I’ve read similar stories from Vietnam veterans, some of which used H during the war and quit fairly easily when they came back to the states.

10

A timely study suggests that Neanderthal DNA may predispose individuals for depression and addiction, among other things. Link.

I have a high percentage of Neanderthal DNA (I’m something like 94th percentile) and don’t suffer from either, though.

11

An inability to accept life on life terms is the number 1 thing addicts seem to have in common. That is a pretty general statement but it does sum it up pretty well. Why they have trouble with acceptance may have a myriad of answers.

I went into treatment 25 years ago but I was a real lightweight compared to most I saw there. My coping skills needed some work but they were not all that bad.

12

Thanks monstro and Wesley Clark that explains the psychological part. Person gets rapped or history of domestic assault or some other trauma, bad life, negative experiences going around in his or her life that psychologist call it.

I guess neurologist have other theories than psychologist? Like dopamine or seratonin? Or a Chemical imbalances problem?

13

What do you mean by inability to accept life? Are you talking about people that rebel life and social norms? And make up their own life and social norm?

14

Some people’s brains don’t respond to drugs and alcohol the same way other people’s do. I don’t get high from prescription narcotic drugs. I get sleepy if I happen to be tired already, but if I’m well-rested, I don’t even get sleepy. I don’t get constipated from them either-- they do work as cough suppressants, and they do relieve pain, but they don’t work all that much better than Tylenol. When I’ve been in post-surgical pain, Tylenol + narcotics was better than Tylenol alone, but I was still in some pain. Other pain, like cramps, Tylenol knocks out easily.

I can get drunk, but I get a terrible headache when I drink alcohol, and I don’t mean a hangover-- I mean it comes on within about an hour of drinking more than about an ounce of wine, or half a beer. I get migraines, and I think alcohol just happens to be a trigger, but in any event, I don’t feel good when I’m buzzed.

Pot just makes me kind of tired, and a little confused. It doesn’t make me feel good either, but I really don’t feel “altered” on it-- I feel like I didn’t get enough sleep, that’s it. I certainly wouldn’t drive on it, but I’m not in danger of hallucinating, or anything. I’ve never tried LSD or heroin.

I’m Jewish, and probably have a good dose of Ashkenazim (I don’t know exactly how much of what kind of Jew I am, except that I have at least some Ashkenazim). Ashkenazic Jews do become addicts sometimes, but statistically, we have lower numbers of addicts than other ethnic groups. (We have our own problems, though, believe me-- when Asperger’s syndrome was a diagnosis, there were high numbers of it among Ashkenazic Jews).

Anyway, there definitely are genetic factors involved in addiction, and one certainly is the basic response to drugs in the first place.

15

I think you are making an incorrect assumption. Not dealing with “life” on its terms may cause some to take substances to soften the stress of modern life. But it’s the addicts that get hooked. Others just have a few beers and watch Cheers re-runs.

BTW, I think the failure to deal with life is a result of our brains not keeping up with the demands of our technological world (and overcrowding, etc) evolutionary-wise.

16

Its very general, it could be fear of finances, it could be not happy with body image, anything that causes a person to be unhappy that they have no or little control over.

I heard one time that the degree to which we were sane or insane was in direct proportion to our ability to accept that life is difficult. This made sense to me.

17

only skimmed the thread, so if this has been said I apologize. Addiction is a complex thing. Leaving aside the mental health/traumatic life experience stuff for a moment, there are at least two, poorly understood issues. Biology and Personality. Some people have Personalities that are more prone to addictive behavior. This can manifest in many ways not always involving drugs or other destructive behavior. Sometimes these people (if extreme enough) can be called “obsessive” but should not be confused with or lumped in with people with other obsessive mental conditions as they are not the same thing.
The biological factor, have you ever noticed that addiction seems to run in families? In my family it tends to skip a generation every 3rd generation. It happens regardless of any interaction or influence between generations. (sorry this is anecdotal, but I can’t be arsed at the moment to go get the factual) My grandfather was an alcoholic for many years, and I had no idea, since it was not really spoken of at all. My dad was a teetotaler except for coffee. I had my own adventures with drugs and alcohol, and thankfully got past them relatively unscathed, but, like my dad I drink coffee to go to bed and can’t seem to quit smoking. My kids so far don’t drink, don’t smoke(any variety of smoke), and one of them loathes coffee.
Now, throw all the other stuff on top

18

As others have mentioned, I believe that the core of addiction is this overwhelming psychological need for the addiction.

I normally do not drink, but there was a period in my life where I drank for a few months straight. I had to drink because without alcohol my life seemed like a bottomless pit of despair.

Eating is the same for me. I eat chocolate to avoid boredom or discomfort.

You can make the same case about cell phones. That’s Louie CK talking about how people cannot tolerate negative emotions, and when they feel it coming they have to reach for their cell phone and start texting people.

It seems like all addictions come from a mix of psychological pains people are trying to avoid, and the addiction depends on how strong the pain is. You can drink to avoid depression or anxiety. You can eat, watch TV, play video games or masturbate to avoid a range of normal negative emotions. Watching TV might not work to fix depression, which is why you might need alcohol. Eating might work to help you forget about being lonely, but if you want to forget about how your father molested you then you might need some heroin.

With some of the weaker addictions, there is a lot of hope. If you cannot stop eating, you can focus on what emotion precedes the eating. Sometimes hunger and sadness can seem like the same thing if you do not focus on it. The next time you feel the emotion, you can try and let it pass through you instead of eating something to suppress it. If the addiction is driven by something stronger, then you might need therapy to get through it.

19

I’m not sure if you’re meaning to categorize food/eating addictions as “weaker” as compared to other addictions but if so, imo, you are completely incorrect. Addictions to food and addictions to sex are unique in that the focus of the addictions, food and sex, are things that cannot totally ever be given up. I think such addictions are probably the hardest to treat, and least addressed and most poorly understood of all addictions.

20

I never drank, smoked, taken drugs or gambled, and I use to think it was simply because I saw what those things did to other people, didn’t like the effect it had on them, so I decided not to do it. To this day, I don’t allow people to drink in my home, because I don’t like how they become after drinking. And I don’t hang out with people who “party” like this. To me the whole concept of gambling is not only a waste of time, but I find the entire thing very boring, not the way it is portrayed as exciting in the commercials.

But over the years knowing people who have had addictions who are adults, I don’t believe it comes down to making a choice or not about something. When we were kids, yeah, I think that’s mostly about choice but people who have addictions it is a huge struggle for them. There is something else very strong for them at play which is more than whatever the physical dependencies have gotten a hold of them. I’m not pretending to understand what it is exactly, just that I view people struggling with it as a disease they are dealing with and not a character flaw.

But I still support drug testing for jobs, because I don’t want the school bus driver being drunk driving around.