The word 'addiction' these days is used to refer to a chronic condition where there is an unhealthily powerful motivation to engage in a particular behaviour. This can be driven by many different factors—physiological, psychological, environmental and social. If we say that it is all about X, we miss V, W, Y and Z. So, some people think addicts are using drugs to escape from unhappy lives, feelings of anxiety and so on; many are. Some people think drugs become addictive because they alter the brain chemistry to create powerful urges; that is often true.
Others think that drug taking is about seeking after pleasure; often it is. Some take the view that addiction is a choice—addicts weigh up the pros and cons of doing what they do and decide the former outweigh the latter. Yet others believe that addicts suffer from poor impulse control; that is often true... And so it goes on. When you look at the evidence, you see that all these positions capture important aspects of the problem—but they are not complete explanations. Neuroscience can help us delve more deeply into some of these explanations, while the behavioural and social sciences are better at exploring others. We need a model that puts all this together in a way that can help us decide what to do in different cases. Should we prescribe a drug, give the person some 'tender loving care', put them in prison or what? Theory of Addiction provides this synthesis.
