The Pathology of Addiction, The Wounded Heart

Shannon and I went to the most incredible Workshop/Seminar last weekend hosted by Imago Dei Community. It is called Genesis Process and has an incredible recovery rate (around 85%!!). I was fascinated and blown away by the amount of information we received. I will be attending a 4-5 day workshop that delves deeper into this information this summer. Until then I will continue to post pieces of information I learn on this subject here at Emptiness Filled. Below is an overview. I highly recommend you visit www.genesisprocess.org for more information (see link at bottom of page).

The Pathology of Addiction, The Wounded Heart
by Michael Dye

1) Childhood trauma that causes diminished ability to trust, bond, or attach (attachment disorder) shifts the brain from a normal, explorative, creative state, into a survival mode. These are the deepest heart wounds. This part of the brain (the limbic system) grows mostly in the first 18 months of life. Some researchers believe that the amount of serotonin our brain produces for the rest of our lives is determined during this period. I.e., If the world is unsafe the child needs to stay focused, or hyper vigilant (raising dopamine), through anxiety and depressing serotonin which would “let their guard down.”

2) Feeling alone, unsafe, and unfocused can cause a false or protective personality to be formed. If we can’t trust and receive gratification from others, we learn to self gratify. Addiction is self-gratification.

3) Anything that makes us feel safe and reduces stress (fear) raises neurochemical levels in the limbic system, causing the brain to associate it with survival, feeling normal. This is called the Reward Cascade. This part of the brain creates a craving to repeat the behavior because it’s associated with survival. The behavior can become difficult or impossible to say no to. The more it is reinforced, the more ingrained it becomes, resulting in a loss of control, thus an addiction. This is, “Why we do the very thing we don’t want to do.” Romans 7. The limbic system can equate painful or fearful emotions with death (the ability to cope and survive) and create a focused attention (craving) for what we did in the past to survive. The limbic system has a memory system that records experiences that have to do with pleasure and reward and fear and pain. It is these reactive emotions that drive much of our behavior. This addictive/reactive memory system is programmed through experiences and needs to be reprogrammed through new and opposite experiences. It doesn’t respond very well to words. This is why effective recovery treatment needs to be experiential. The damage happened through relationships and the healing must also be through relationships, both with God and people. The bottom line is:

Recovery is learning to trust again.

Safe Therapy

One way this translates to treatment is that our “survival brain” will resist making changes associated with real or imagined fears, unless there is a measure of safety. Facing fears (conscious or unconscious) alone is not safe. This is why so many clients get stuck in treatment It is very difficult to take risks, which is usually involved with change when we’re alone. Being isolated from God and people is characteristic of most clients with compulsive addictive behaviors. Clients must feel safe, supported and encouraged to be able to face the issues and fears that are driving their destructive coping behaviors. Trying to control self-destructive behavior without dealing with the underlying issues (pain / fear) can be an exercise in futility and relapse. They usually just find a new way to cope, trading one addiction for another.

The Bottom Line

If you want to change destructive behaviors and emotions you must change the “heart.”

The limbic system (the heart) is negatively programmed through painful experiences with people we trusted, especially in our formative years. Not trusting and bonding with others leads to fear, anxiety, loneliness, isolation, and self-gratification. Since it is programmed through experiences it must be healed through opposite experiences.

© Michael Dye 2008