Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction

by Maia Szalavitz

Instead, addiction is defined by using a drug or activity in a compulsive manner despite negative consequences.

He focused on gains, not losses.

I knew that I needed to find some way to get over my sense of failure about the disastrous wrong turn my life had taken.

Love doesn’t always cure all—but without it, healing from psychological and learning disorders is almost impossible. We all tend to learn best when we feel safe and curious and want to connect and win our teachers’ respect.

“Don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired,”

So, when the subway arrived on time, I began to see it as evidence of God’s love; when it was late, that was a lesson in patience. When people were kind, I could feel God’s presence; when they were not, it was a signal to move on.

Data-driven approaches, like randomized controlled trials, are what give modern medicine its edge over priests and shamans.

Anyone who has ever “cheated” on a diet knows how hard it is to change habitual coping behavior—and addiction affects the brain’s valuation systems in much the same way that overwhelming thirst or starvation does. This makes resisting temptation much, much harder.

Learning to repair relationships and treat yourself and others humanely, coming to understand the restorative power of volunteering and service, and engaging in practices like meditation and prayer that focus the mind beyond the self can be helpful to many human beings, regardless of whether or not they have addictions.

Unlike current policies, harm reduction recognizes the crucial role of learning in addiction and the failure of punishment to solve drug problems.

And, it turns out, the unexpected kindness of being helped without expectations is itself a potent psychological intervention. The idea that someone sees you as both being able to behave responsibly about your health and worthy of a chance to live is even more powerful.

took pleasure in simple accomplishments. If something awful happened, I felt appropriately upset;

People learn best in environments where they feel connected to others—not places dominated by a sense of threat and fear.

Learning by example is often much more powerful than learning through instruction.

People learn best in a challenging, but encouraging environment—not a climate of terror and fear.

Such prevention should start early in life, helping kids understand their temperaments and their emotions and how to maximize self-control. Programs that aim simply at teaching self-regulation reduce drug problems without the risk of glamorizing drugs.

When we view addiction as a developmental disorder, we recognize the wiring differences that contribute to the condition. People aren’t to blame for the way they are wired. We can either accept neurodiversity and create a society where many types flourish or ignore it and make associated disabilities worse.