Why Do People With Addictions Seek to Escape Rather Than Connect? A Look at the Approach to Addiction Treatment

摘要

A strong belief exists among addiction treatment specialists that the primary reason addicts remain addicted is less about pleasure-seeking and more about their need to escape and dissociate from the pain of his or her (often trauma-based) emotional isolation. In short, all human beings crave deeply intimate, dependable, empa-thetic relationships. Addicts, however, have learned, typically through traumatic experience, that others cannot be trusted to reliably meet their need for intimate connection. Essentially, they learn to fear emotional vulnerability, and they therefore distance themselves from other people, turning instead to addictive substances and/or behaviors as a way to "not feel" their unmet emotional dependency needs, As such, a primary part of treating addicts, regardless of the nature of their addiction, is helping them develop healthy and supportive emotional bonds, initially in a treatment/recovery setting, and eventually in the world at large. This approach—not willpower or babysitters or threatened consequences—is most likely to lead to lasting sobriety, emotional healing, and a happier, healthier life.