Addiction as Misguided Self-Care: A World Mental Health Day Reflection

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - wanted to share our findings about hashtag#addiction on hashtag#worldmentalhealthday

There are 2 main approaches, both focused on the qualities of the individual that leads them to become addicted:

The predominant one is addiction as "...a chronic, relapsing brain disease characterised by compulsive drug seeking & use, despite harmful consequences"(NIDA). It looks for answers in genetics or the elusive 'addictive personality'. The answer to curing this disease is mainly pharmaceutical. Exponents are a bit confused by the new digital addictions but have managed to wedge them into the model. Eg computer game addiction is the latest 'disorder' on the list, to which the main treatment is an anti-depressant.

The second views addiction as a moral problem. Given that we all, in theory, have free will, an addicted person is making a conscious & moral choice, so only they are responsible for the impact. This is what makes criminalising people addicted to heroin or blocking alcohol or sugar taxes seem a good idea.

We see addiction as 'an act of self-care gone wrong'. People feel stressed or anxious due to current or previous events or problems and addictive products bring genuine but short term feelings of relief. Think alcohol, cigs, vapes, social media, gambling, computer games, junk foods & all 'hard' drugs.

It works for a bit, but the root cause of the uncomfortable feelings remain, so you have more. Over time your tolerance builds & you need more to achieve the purpose of the initial self-care. For some, this becomes such an important part of their life, they can't envisage coping without it, often to the detriment of their health & sense of wellbeing. But it still doesn't deal with the root cause of the problem. When you try to stop, the reasons you started still remain. It's why James Corden stopped taking the slimming drug Ozempic. He realised his real problem wasn't hunger, so a pill to curb his hunger was just kicking the can down the road.

Missing too is the understanding that companies have deliberately designed these products to bring only this fleeting sense of relief, leaving you wanting more, while the root cause of your problems continuing to fester. Worse still they are indifferent to the mental & physical harm which comes with their use.

Even when you are wise to this problem and trying hard to break free, the products are inescapable. They are available on every high street & 24/7 online, with advertising, influencers, promotions, freebies, clamouring to tempt you back. Not forgetting either the millions spent on lobbying & disinformation, which diverts attention from solutions that would work & puts the blame firmly back on you for your lack of willpower.

So on World Mental Health day, be kind to yourself. It's not your imagination that addictive products are hard to quit, but knowing why you think you need them, & finding better ways of self-care, will help you deal with the real problem instead.