Addiction

I recently heard a well-respected teacher say that anyone who claims to have no addictions is highly suspect. The essence of the message was if you are human, and honest, you must admit to having addictions! Now, I can certainly understand how someone could draw that conclusion looking our modern society, but I strongly disagree. Addiction and addictiveness are not our natural human condition, and it is both possible and desirable to be free of them.

People are addicted/addictive to the extent that they have internalized shame. Shame is what addiction is synonymous with, not humanness. Addiction is an attempt at emotional regulation or pleasure (the dopamine system) from a foundation of internal shame. Behaviors and attitudes associated with “ego” are similarly attempts at self-esteem or happiness (the serotonin system) from a foundation of internal shame. Both strategies tend to create more shame over time and reinforce each other.

So long as we are not internally aligned with ourselves, rooted in our own basic, inherent goodness and the validity of our individual, lived experience, shame has crept into our mental process somewhere, and we are vulnerable. I do not mean to over-simplify the recovery process or diminish the many-faceted nature of addiction; nevertheless, the fundamental issue is very straight-forward.