Addiction is Not a Moral Failing

It’s a symptom of trauma.

Do you think you know who an addict is? Think again.

Our society generally pegs people with mental health issues as being guilty of some kind of moral failure, particularly if your issues include addiction. 

You lack self-control. You don’t trust God enough with your problems. You are too lazy for this world. 

The litany of conjured sins is endless. 

We picture addicts as forlorn, unhoused people on the streets, begging for money. They are the scum of society. Grifters. Unsavories. Am I right? 

But addiction is an equal opportunity symptom. 

The real question is, how did those people get to the point where their lives sucked so much that they required the escape from their lives that substances provided? 

We all have band-aids for our mental and spiritual wounds. Whether you think about it like that or not, that part is truth. Some of our coping mechanisms may be healthier than others, of course. 

We need to look at addiction for what it is: a symptom of past trauma. It’s not a moral failing. 

“People of unusually high intellect often have more intense degrees of addictive thinking. Thus, highly intellectual people may be the most difficult patients to treat.”

-Abraham J. Twerski, MD, Addictive Thinking

That’s right. Addiction is prevalent in intelligent people. 

Why is that? Perhaps it’s because the more we think about and rationalize injustice, the more pain we feel. If you have the capacity for empathy, you feel all the emotions. And sometimes it’s just too painful to bear. 

What I learned in rehab is that there are process addictions in addition to substance addictions. Process addictions include activities like gambling, scrolling social media, exercise, disordered eating, and shopping.

As with most trauma recovery programs, this one liked to treat addiction and aimed to pin patients into some form of addictive thinking, even though trauma was its main focus. My team assumed that since I did not have any substance addictions, that I had a process addiction of running. 

Yes, I’m aware that training for a marathon seems intense to the average human, and the mileage can appear excessive. This is what my primary therapist was trying to convince me of. I mean, running 20 miles on a Sunday morning does seem weird if you don’t understand the discipline it takes to train for endurance races. 

Calling my routine of running an addiction is a stretch. Yes, I do use it as a healthy outlet for anxiety. But I don’t spend every moment of every day thinking about running. 

Some would even argue that my veganism is a process addiction; a symptom of trauma. 

My real addictions, however, are future tripping and ruminating over the past way too much. 

These thought patterns can cause absolute misery. We look for ways to manage these. For me, it is running, a socially acceptable tool for quelling anxiety. But what if I had chosen a different vice?

I met plenty of people in rehab who were addicted to substances. Their stories were heartbreaking. You would not believe the level of evil prevalent in this world. 

Addicts use substances to survive the pain endured from the agony of fighting in wars, abusive husbands, the suicide of parents, murders of family, fathers and brothers raping them repeatedly as children, and neighbors molesting them among these. The list of traumas is long. And it’s never just one thing. There are typically layers to these traumas, including how others in their lives who were supposed to care for them actually didn’t in the face of the truth. 

Studies show that there is a correlation between childhood abuse and trauma and substance abuse later in life. One theory as to why links the resulting dysregulation of the nervous system as the result of trauma to the tendency toward addictive behavior. The percentage of the U.S. population dealing with substance abuse is staggering.

The temporary relief from pain achieved by using alcohol and drugs becomes overpowering. The substance becomes a companion. But seeking that comfort is a symptom, not the disease. It’s the trauma that a person has experienced that causes the symptoms of addiction, in my opinion. 

People do all kinds of things to survive the pain of trauma. Some people pass on patterns of abuse to others, including their own families. Some people seek the hit of endorphins from winning blackjack or finding the perfect outfit to buy. Some people exercise. Some find it in eating a pint of ice cream. Some people turn to alcohol and drugs. 

Before you judge an addict, I want you to ponder what must have happened in their lives to force them to choose that path. And then think about what you would have done in their situation. 

___________

If you are someone who struggles with addiction, I’m so sorry that you experienced the pain that drove you to seek comfort in that way. I hope you can find the strength and courage to seek help to heal from your traumas. 

You can call the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) hotline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for assistance. 

As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.