In an age where our lives seem to be accelerating, our stress also naturally seems to be increasing. In addition to addictive behaviors potentially having a strong genetic link, it’s no wonder why so many of us are craving avoidance and escape. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, One in eight Americans suffers with addictive behaviors regarding drugs or alcohol and it costs society approximately 250 billion dollars per year.
When caught up in the cycle of addictive behavior, there is an inability to accept whatever is being felt in the present moment and the mind is constantly wandering onto the next ‘fix.’ In the present moment, distressing thoughts and emotions can feel like unwanted guests that we can’t seem to get away from. In our fight to avoid this distress, we actually amplify stress and uncomfortable emotions such as sadness, frustration, irritation, shame, or guilt. These uncomfortable emotions often kick us into a state of mindlessness or auto-pilot, where we’re unaware of our environment and more susceptible to triggers, cravings, and urges.
Victor Frankl, respected Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, once said:
Between a stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Is there a way to slow time down to be more aware of that space and choice? In the addiction field specifically, Dr. Alan Marlatt, Sarah Bowen, and Neha Chawla, Psychologists and researchers at the University of Washington, are trailblazing a promising new approach toward addiction based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-based Stress-Reduction program, called Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP). While clinical trials on this approach are still underway, over 30 years of prior research in the field of meditation and addiction are very encouraging.
Whether our addictions have to do with alcohol, drugs, food, sex, gambling, emailing, or shopping, the addictive behavior is often preceded by some triggering event that sets off a flurry of uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and sensations, leading to cravings and urges to engage in the addictive behavior. An important part of recovery is being able to recognize our triggers and how cravings and urges manifest in our bodies and minds. As soon as we have this awareness, we have become present and have stepped outside of the automatic reactive cycle that enslaves the next moment. The present moment is that close. Many people have reported that the actual peak of an urge is about 20-30 minutes. We can learn to bring an eye of curiosity and non-judgment to the feelings and thoughts as we watch them come and go.
Now, this is easier said than done and takes practice for many as addictive cravings and impulses can be extremely powerful. When living with addiction one of the most powerful areas of support is a group. That is the reason for the popularity with 12-step programs and other secular support groups like LifeRing. Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath, runs classes and retreats that integrate meditation and the 12-steps. In the 12-steps they often say to take one day at a time and in mindfulness practice we play with that and say take one moment at a time.
Whether you suffer with addiction or know someone who does, add your comments and questions about your relationship with addiction below as it provides a living wisdom for us all to benefit from. May you be healthy, happy, and free from the addictive patterns that lead to suffering.
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I’m very interested to see how this Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention stuff will play out. While I’m sure, on a practical level, it’s possible to integrate mindfulness practice and principles into 12-Step programs and government-sanctioned treatment approaches, I also wonder if mindfulness-based approaches to addiction (and mental health issues in general) will prove to be fundamentally at odds with the disease model/brain disorder paradigm that rules the day.
From my point of view, the growing body of research showing the efficacy of mindfulness approaches to various “problems of living” demands a radical revisioning of addiction and psychiatry in general.
I don’t understand your point of view Bob.
Speaking as a recovering addict (which certainly doesn’t make me an expert), I think the disease model is in need of revision. Or, if not, our traditional ideas about diseases need revising or expanding. On some level is all just seems like pointless semantics.
Addiction certainly raises interesting questions about behavior, and it’s roots and causes. Does our genetic inheritance and environmental past work in connection with some mysterious, inner psychological algorithm to influence our behavior? Quite likely. In this view, addiction and disease are labels given by culturally appointed experts to signify our behavior is out of bounds.
Perhaps addiction is best understood as a disease of free will. That’s how I experienced it at times. I FELT powerless. Whether I was or not is irrelevant in many ways. Leave it to philosophers and neuroscientists to decide.
Regardless of how you view it, whether you believe in the disease model, powerlessness, self-determination, or whatever… information is an “event”, and as such it has power. The power to affect changes.
So, maybe the knowledge of “mindfulness” will incline some of us to practice it, and maybe through the practice something will happen… that mysterious “algorithm” will shift slightly, and for the better. In this way mindfulness could essentially come to take the role, for some of us, of what the 12-steppers call a “higher power”.
Rita,
Sorry for being so vague. After fifteen years of working in psychiatric hospitals and other mental health settings, I’ve noticed that the predominant view of psychological problems (and addiction in particular) is that they are primarily matters of chemical imbalance or brain dysfunction/disease. If it’s true that these disorders can be treated or perhaps even “cured” through mindfulness practice, which is simply a shifting of attention and awareness, then that would present quite a challenge (I think) to the whole disease conception of mental problems.
Hope this is clearer.
Thank you all for your comments, this is a place for such rich discussion. I want to add one note here. A cure implies that there is some antidote to a problem that will rid of it forever. When suffering with addiction, cravings and urges may never completely go away forever. They may become less apparent, but they can still rear their heads. This is why so many people continue to find it beneficial to keep connected to community for support. Mindfulness can be thought of more as a way of healing as it’s an active and ongoing practice to support us in changing the way we relate to our stress and pain and therefore breaking the cycle of reactivity.
I am reading “the joy of life”
http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Living-Unlocking-Science-Happiness/dp/B001M5UIW2/
and I read:
http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Guide-Developing-Lifes-Important/dp/0316167258/
I have been studying Buddhism for 10 years and it has seriously altered my life in a positive way.
Most of men’s suffering is related to the illusional ego. The whole goal of Buddhism philosophy is to understand that this ego (or self or I) is just a fabrication of the mind and that it causes ignorance about reality, attachment and aversion.
Unlike all those simplistic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism..) Buddhism is no religion (it has no God concept, no dogmas, no fairy tales..) but a very inspiring philosophy of life. That’s why I enjoy it so much.
The disease model and the mindfulness model are not so different- the body is the ultimate chemical factory and the physiological mechanisms for influencing changes similar.
Jez makes a good point, mindfulness does not necessarily separate from the disease model. Even if the idea is that addiction is a disease, we can still bring nonjudgmental present moment awareness to the triggers, cravings, and urges to support ourselves through this process and make a change. The serenity prayer says “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference…living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time…” Stress reduction informs us to be aware of and accepting of the things we are and are not in control of. This prayer also informs us to do that and be mindful by taking one moment at a time. Whether you believe in the disease model or not, there is no judgment and both can bring more nonjudgmental present moment awareness and compassion into their approach to healing.
AMEN SISTER! That about sums it up to the fullest!
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