Ten Things to Know about Addiction

From "Rethinking Substance Abuse."

In the closing chapter of their 2006 book, "Rethinking Substance Abuse,” editors William R. Miller and Kathleen M. Carroll attempt to sum up what has been learned about the science of addiction. Their useful contribution, entitled Drawing the Science Together, offers "Ten Principles" that are designed to synthesize the welter of recent scientific research on addiction and help make sense of what we know.

In vastly truncated form, they are as follows:

1. Drug Use is Chosen Behavior

At least in the beginning, people choose to take drugs, as one of the behavioral options available to them.

2. Drug Problems Emerge Gradually

"Dependence emerges over time, as the person's life becomes increasingly centered on drug use," the authors write. "The diagnostic criteria for classifying people with 'drug abuse' and 'drug dependence' represent arbitrary cut points along a gradual continuum" (p.296).

3. Once Well Established, Drug Problems Tend to Become Self-Perpetuating

Once regular drug use has caused dysregulation of limbic reward systems, addictive behaviors "take on a life of their own," and become "surprisingly resistant to ordinary forces of persuasion, religion, punishment, and self-control. It can be challenging to destabilize such a self-organizing system" (p.296).

4. Motivation is Central to Prevention and Intervention

Miller and Carroll write: "Taking action also predicts change. Better outcomes follow from attending more sessions or staying longer in treatment, going to more 12-step meetings, adhering to treatment advice, or faithfully taking one's medication. It appears that actively doing something toward change may be more important than the particular actions that are taken" (p.297).

5. Drug Use Responds to Reinforcement

"Drug use tends to be associated with a foreshortening of time perspective, so that longer term delayed rewards are discounted in value.... People who more steeply discount delayed rewards are at higher risk for drug use and problems; moreover, drug use exacerbates discounting. Some effective medications reduce the reward value of drug use, which can enhance the appeal of alternative reinforcers" (p. 298).

6. Drug Problems Do Not Occur in Isolation, but as Part of Behavior Clusters

In young people, drug abuse often co-exists with mood disorders, behavioral problems at school or the job, and anti-social behaviors. As Miller and Carroll remind us, the same is true of adults. Family violence, health problems, unemployment, and child neglect are frequently associated with cases of active addiction.

7. There Are Identifiable and Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors for Problem Drug Use

"It is clear that heredity contributes to risk for alcohol problems, and evidence is mounting for genetic predispositions for or against other drug use" (p.299).

8. Drug Problems Occur within a Family Context

In addition to the evidence pointing to a direct genetic mode of transmission, parental drug use is also a risk factor. Anything that delays an addiction-prone young person from first use of alcohol or other drugs decreases the risk of long-term addiction.

9. Drug Problems Are Affected by a Larger Social Context

"Social isolation is both a promoter and a consequence of the progression of drug dependence, and social bonding with nonusers can be an antidote" (p.301).

10. Relationship Matters

In formal treatment settings, effectively matching counselor to client is crucial. Confrontational counselor styles are generally "countertherapeutic."

Graphics Credit: University of Utah, Genetic Science Learning Center