Dr. Lance Dodes: What almost everyone gets wrong about addiction.

Did you know that according to Dr. Lance Dodes [WIKI] there are two kinds of addiction?

If not, you wouldn’t be alone.

Most people don’t understand the difference between what Dr. Dodes calls physical addiction (dependence) and psychological addiction.

This article will define both types of addiction and explain why Dr. Dodes believes it so important to get our definitions right when it comes to addiction.

What are the two kinds of addiction?

Physical Addiction

According to Dr Dodes, Physical addiction is what happens when the body becomes accustomed to functioning with a substance in it. This effect is called “tolerance,” because the body has learned to tolerate the substance.

For example, many drugs like alcohol, heroin, and barbiturates suppress the excitability of the central nervous system. When a person becomes “physically addicted” their body has adjusted to having the central nervous system suppressed.

When the person stops taking the substance, the opposite reaction happens. The central nervous system is now MORE excitable than before it became accustomed to the substance. Chills, shaking, diarrhea, heart palpitations, and high blood pressure among other symptoms are common when the body is withdrawing from substances.

Psychological Addiction

Psychological addiction has a purpose or a function. For example, a person may feel overwhelmed or helpless about a job situation. Unable to find a solution to the problem at work, he decides to have a drink.

Although drinking is pleasurable to him, the real kicker to the act of drinking is simply that he made a decision about how to handle his issue.

The decision to drink ended the man’s distress by giving him a “solution” or a “next step”, even when the drinking was counterproductive.

It reversed his overwhelming helplessness.

Anyone who has been working with addiction long enough knows the term, “a case of the F*** its”. This refers to a kind of rage at being helpless. A less vulgar version of this would be when someone says, “to hell with it!”.

When someone is feeling this way, the self-destruction of addiction makes a kind of twisted sense. “I hate my life. I’m going to get wasted?”

Dr. Dodes says that addiction is essentially a form of displacement, which is a psychological defense mechanism.

Dr. Dodes recommends treating addiction with therapy, using the same techniques that work for other issues.

Is there evidence for the 2 types of addiction?

To demonstrate how a physical addiction is different from a psychological addiction, Dr. Dodes gives the following examples.

• Medical detox is “easy” according to Dr. Dodes. Within a few days, the withdrawal symptoms resolve and a person can be released from a detox facilitating.

• According to Dr. Dodes, marijuana and LSD are drugs that a person can use “addictively” even though the body does not develop a tolerance to these drugs.

• Studies of American soldiers who were physically addicted to heroin while in Vietnam found that less than 90% continued to use heroin when they got stateside. Thus, physical addiction does not automatically result in “psychological addiction”.

• Millions of patients who have been prescribed pain killers successfully quit using them when the prescription ran out.

• Stopping a behavioral addiction, like gambling, doesn’t produce withdrawal. Also, clinicians have noted that patients frequently “switch” between chemical and behavioral addictions. So, how important can the physical aspect of addiction be?

Conclusion

Dr. Dodes claims there are two types of addiction. Physical addiction refers to the body’s tolerance for or dependence on a chemical. Psychological addiction refers to the use of a substance to solve a problem. In particular, it relieves a feeling of rage and helplessness by displacement.

Rather than solve the problem directly, the person chooses to drink.

He provides examples to demonstrate how physical addiction is not the primary characteristic of addiction.

Want more information about Dr. Dodes?

http://www.drlancedodes.com

Do you think that addiction solves a psychological problem or is mostly about tolerance and dependence?