Addictive Behaviours - (part 5)

These tend to appear after intense exposure to the substance or behavior.

Another important insight from neuroscience should be familiar to practitioners of NLP. Preferences and values are experienced hierarchically. In NLP we describe these preference hierarchies in terms of value criteria.

According to most researchers, the problem of addiction consists most centrally in the fact that the addictive behavior or substance is so far over-valued that it ‘outframes’ normal response systems (Berridge and Robinson, 2003; McClure, Daw and Montague, 2003; Goldstein and Volkow, 2002; O’Connor and Seymour, 1990; Dilts and DeLozier, 2000). So, the choice is simply that that money has a lower value than drugs. The following table shows the preferences, or heirarchical values of 4 people.

So which person will be the drug addict?

The midbrain dopamine system responds to the most impactful stimulus in recent neural history. Drugs, risky behavior, shoplifting, chocolate and sex often provide a significantly more powerful experience than many other behaviors that we encounter daily. As a result, they are promoted to the top of the preference hierarchy. This promotion happens in two ways:

Addictive substances

The primary means by which using behaviors are accorded increased incentive salience is through the direct or indirect chemical action on the midbrain dopamine system. Whether directly (like cocaine) or indirectly (like alcohol or heroin), substances of abuse create an inordinate output of dopamine that tells the brain, “This is really important!” and “We need to do this much more often!”

Behavioral adaptations

The second way that behaviors are promoted, is through behavioral adaptations. The same midbrain dopamine system is activated whenever a particular outcome or behavior can be used:

1. As an integral part of different behavioral sequences (“I always have a drink before I go out, just to loosen up.” “Whenever I have to face John’s mother, I have a drink.”). In the language of behavioral science we would say that the behavior is present in multiple schemas.
2. It is found to be useful or available in multiple contexts (Cigarettes and alcohol become powerfully addictive because they are so well integrated into the contexts of everyday life.).
3. A behavior becomes important when it seems to represent an easy answer, the path of least resistance. Drugs and behavioral problems work quickly and effectively to remove the stressors of the moment. They are easy, if impermanent, answers (Austin and Vancouver, 1996). In effect, the short term utility of the behavior and its generalization into multiple contexts tells the brain, “This is important!”

It is important precisely because what we observe in an addictive behavior is an expression of a fairly normal value hierarchy created under extraordinary circumstances. It tells us not that the brain is broken, but that it is doing what it always does: prioritize behaviors in terms of their immediate utility for the organism.

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