The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

by Daniel Z. Lieberman

Addictions are hard to treat, harder than many other psychiatric illnesses. With other illnesses, such as depression, patients want to get better—there’s no question about it. But if a person is addicted to a drug, he’s not so sure. He may share the sentiment expressed by Saint Augustine while he was carrying on an affair with a young woman. He prayed, Lord, give me chastity, but not yet. Because they’re so difficult to overcome, doctors and patients often characterize addictive substances like alcohol as the enemy. It’s an enemy we respect, because it’s not only powerful, it’s clever. One “trick” is the use of unexpected triggers that lead to craving: photos taken with friends at a tailgate party, a favorite glass, a bottle opener, even a kitchen knife used to slice lemons. These triggers may be so subtle that the person may not recognize them until after they succumb to temptation. But getting rid of the triggers isn’t enough. Scientists have recently learned about a completely unexpected and somewhat frightening tactic the enemy has at its disposal. Consider an alcoholic who, for no apparent reason, decides to switch up his routine one day and take an alternate route home from work. He happens to pass a bar he used to go to and is overcome by craving. When he speaks about his relapse in his next therapy session, he has no idea how it happened. He doesn’t connect the seemingly innocent decision to change his routine with the relapse. But this relapse wasn’t a coincidence...