What's The Root Cause of Addiction?

In the last few years, the public has become aware of an increasing number of people addicted to drugs.

These individuals are often ostracized and seen as morally corrupt.

In response, rehabilitation centers have sprung up all over the country to help these people recover from their addiction.

However, this is only a band-aid solution for a much greater problem.

In order to solve this problem, we need to go back to its source and understand why so many people are becoming addicted in the first place.

Surprisingly, it has very little to do with their morals or personal choices.

Rather it is rooted in our society as a whole. Understanding this will allow us to address the root cause of addiction rather than its symptoms.

The Root of Addiction

The root cause of addiction is unresolved and unhealed trauma.

This applies to all addictions, whether it be to drugs, alcohol, shopping, sex, gambling, or anything else.

We are all dealing with some form of trauma, whether we are aware of it or not.

There is a simple way to understand this. If you have a wound, and you put a band-aid on it, that wound is not going to heal.

No matter how many band-aids you put on it, that wound is going to get worse and worse unless it is treated.

This is exactly what happens when we attempt to cover up our trauma with substances.

Many times people are able to extinguish one addiction, only to see a new one emerge to take its place.

As long as the trauma is there, it is going to keep reemerging in our lives. It will manifest in many different ways, including addiction.

The only way to fully resolve this is to go back to the root of the wound and heal it.

Institutionalized and Repetitive Trauma

Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. All of us have experienced some kind of trauma during our lifetimes, whether we realize it or not.

A common example of trauma is a childhood experience of neglect or abuse.

While these may seem like isolated events, it is important to understand that they are not isolated incidents.

Rather, they are part of a larger context. When children are abused, whether physically or mentally, they are the victims of people who are supposed to be responsible for protecting them.

This is an extremely traumatic experience. However, it is often not just one incident. It can often be a pattern that occurs over and over again.

Similarly, neglect often occurs in childhood as a consequence of poverty.

Parents who have to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet do not have the time to properly care for their children.

This can also be considered a pattern of trauma that occurs day in and day out.

When we are children, we are at a very impressionable stage of development. While we are developing, we are extremely open to external influence.

Unfortunately, most children in our society are being subjected to traumatic experiences. These are the experiences that form our personalities. They are the root cause of many mental illnesses that we see today.

Lack of Empathy and Understanding

Compounding the problem of addiction is a lack of empathy and understanding.

In order to fully understand another person, we must see the world through their eyes.

This is known as "empathy". Empathy allows us to connect with and understand each other, creating stronger communities.

On the other hand, a lack of "empathy" is the inability to see things from another person's perspective.

In the case of addiction, many people lack empathy for drug addicts.

This can be because they have never experienced addiction themselves, or because they misunderstand the situation of the addicted person.

When we lack empathy for another person, we fail to understand the situation they are in.

This makes it difficult for us to connect with and help them. It can also lead to prejudice and stereotypes about addicts.

Limited Career Opportunities

While we are all responsible for our own personal growth, there are certain factors in our society that prevent this growth.

In many cases, we cannot control these factors, but we can change our response to them.

In a capitalist society, the primary focus is on profit.

This is understandable, as businesses need to turn a profit to stay in business.

Unfortunately, this focus on profit over people causes significant problems for the general population.

As a society, we are not investing in people or education. Rather, we are investing in things that create the most profit.

This causes a lot of problems, one of which is an extremely limited number of career opportunities that emerge in a constant "boom and bust" cycle that repeats.

Having a lack of career opportunities or other financial pressures can often lead to an explosion of addiction in the communities most affected by a lack of opportunities or low wage jobs that don't keep up with the cost of living.

Conclusion

Addiction begins with trauma, which can lead an individual to become addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Addiction can also be caused by a lack of compassion and understanding for those who struggle with it.

Additionally, limited job opportunities may lead a person to become hooked.

We can avert this problem by identifying its root cause.

By understanding why so many individuals fall prey to addiction, we can address it and eliminate it.

We must go back to the source and comprehend why so many people get hooked in the first place, in order to solve the issue.

It is not solely their values or personal choices; rather, it is often a consequence of our culture as a whole.