Multiple theories of addiction are in place to help individuals understand the effects that lead to substance use disorder (SUD). Understanding these five theories, you can learn what the common factors are that can contribute to relapses of substance use. You can also develop an understanding of why you may have developed SUD in the first place.
Armed with this understanding, you can implement practices to reverse the theories that most apply to you. This can point you to the skills you must practice to move past addiction.
What Are the 5 Theories?
Many people have an understanding of at least one of the five theories of addiction. However, they often overlook the others. Each of these theories can play a role in the onset or reintroduction of the cycle of addiction.
#1 Pain Avoidance
Pain avoidance is one of the earliest recognized theories of addiction. The initial use of substances, according to this theory, is to escape physical or emotional pain. This pain is often caused by trauma or undiagnosed co-occurring disorders.
The pain avoidance theory shows how addiction continues through negative reinforcement. Using substances is a great way to avoid the withdrawal symptoms that may occur when you attempt to stop. Unfortunately, using substances to avoid withdrawals only reinforces the addiction. This can be incredibly dangerous, as negative reinforcement is a powerful way of keeping people trapped in the addiction cycle.
#2 Pleasure-Seeking
Addiction can also continue through positive reinforcement, as explained by the pleasure-seeking theory. Pleasure-seeking aspects of addiction occur when an individual chooses to use substances as a source of enjoyment. After all, some of the temporary effects of substance use are pleasurable.
When individuals are unable to care enough about the negative long-term effects of substance use, they may feel the desire to continue seeking pleasure through substances. As substance use reinforces your neural reward system, it encourages you to continue using the substance to feel this sensation again.
#3 Cravings
The theory of cravings is often interpreted as incentive salience. Incentive salience is a term used to describe the level of motivation an individual acquires to continue using substances. When a substance is used, the reward system in our brain is activated, increasing amounts of dopamine. With the failure to obtain this level of dopamine moving forward, our body signals cravings for the substance again. This is very similar to pleasure-seeking but involves the physical and psychological presence of cravings influencing the decision to engage in substance use again.
#4 Habits
Because of the reinforcement that consistently occurs from the use of substances, we eventually establish these actions into habits. Once a habit is created, it can be hard to break or work against. Once the action of using substances becomes a conditioned response, the action becomes somewhat of a natural response. This is a common theory for the reintroduction of substance use, rather than initial use, as the habit has already been created in the past.
#5 Impulsivity
The character trait of impulsivity essentially describes a lack of ability to control one’s actions in a given situation. When presented with the opportunity to use substances, you may say yes and engage in their use without even thinking about it. This immediate action comes from impulsivity.
Combating These Theories
Now that you understand what the theories of addiction are, you can determine how you can use this knowledge to impact your future recovery. There are many ways to combat these effects and overcome the theories of addiction.
Determine Your Theory
First, it is essential to understand which of these theories you are most affected by. You may find that more than one seems to apply to your situation. Try to determine which one is the most impactful to you, addressing this theory as a priority.
Reverse the Theory
Oftentimes, the best way to overcome the theories of addiction is to simply reverse them. This means that you take the theory you find to be the most applicable to you and work to utilize it to help you refrain from substance use, rather than encourage it.
If you are struggling with pain avoidance, try to address the pain that you are trying to avoid. Determine what others ways this pain can be avoided or how you can overcome it. If you struggle with pleasure-seeking, find alternative engagements that bring you pleasure. It may not feel the same at first, but you can reinforce your level of enjoyment toward this new practice the more you participate in it.
Cravings can be difficult to overcome. When cravings are present, it is hard to resist the urge to engage in substance use. Try to distract yourself with something else when cravings arise. This can alter the focus of your attention to something else, potentially allowing you to forget about the cravings momentarily.
Addressing habits that were created can be difficult as well. Try to create new healthy habits in place of the habits of engaging in substance use. Replacing habits takes time and patience, but can alleviate the stress of this theory of addiction. Learning to regulate your emotions is a great way to reduce the impacts of impulsivity. Use these guidelines to set yourself up in the right direction to stray away from the things that drive these theories.
The five theories of addiction explain the five most common reasons behind the onset and reimplementation of addiction. Understanding which theories you most align with can help you to determine appropriate recovery practices to implement moving forward. Each of these theories is important to be aware of to ensure you are acknowledging the factors that may contribute to the onset of your addiction again in the future. Learning to address these aspects early on in recovery can help you retain these skills throughout your lifelong recovery journey. To learn more about the five theories of addiction and how to overcome these obstacles, reach out to Dream Recovery today at (657) 216-7218.
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