A deeper understanding was emerging of how addiction was created in the brain. Functional MRI scans had revealed a lot since the 1990s about the brain’s pathways of reward. “It verified a lot of what we did intuitively,” Whitney said. “Once people get addicted they really lose the power of choice. It takes thirty to ninety days for the brain to heal enough to make decisions. Otherwise, it’s like putting a cast on a broken bone and expecting someone to run five miles.”
