We can make this reinterpretation by connecting Engel’s work with the tradition of American pragmatism. Engel initiates inquiry like a pragmatist, he understands theory and philosophy like a pragmatist, he justifies beliefs like a pragmatist, and he understands the world like a pragmatist. By drawing out these similarities, medical and psychiatric scholars can revitalize the biopsychosocial model, and they can open medicine and psychiatry to a rich philosophic heritage and a flourishing interdisciplinary tradition. The social burden of illicit drug addiction is estimated at billions of dollars per year (Fisher, Oviedo-Joekes, Blanken, et al. 2007). Research that involves providing drugs to individuals living with an addiction must negotiate between science, ethics, politics, law, and evidence-based medicine. For instance, despite its cost-effectiveness and ease on burden of disease, the supervised injection site (SIS) in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, Canada has been repeatedly threatened with closure by politicians.
Why Authenticity Unlocks True Recovery
In conclusion, the Psychological Model of addiction offers valuable insight into the role of mental health and cognitive processes in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors. By addressing the emotional and cognitive factors underlying addiction, treatment approaches informed by this model can support individuals in developing healthier coping strategies and more adaptive beliefs, ultimately promoting lasting recovery. However, it is important to consider the Psychological Model in conjunction with other models of addiction, as a comprehensive understanding of addiction requires the integration of biological, psychological, and social factors.
Moral Model
Discrimination can also increase denial and step up the individual’s attempts to hide substance use (Mateu-Gelabert et al. 2005). The immorality that mainstream society attaches to substance use and abuse can unintentionally serve to strengthen individuals’ ties with the drug culture and decrease the likelihood that they will seek treatment. There are so many different theories about addiction because they focus on various pieces of the puzzle. Some theories say genes or brain chemistry play the most significant role, making some things feel more rewarding than others. Others highlight personality traits like impulsivity, a desire for excitement, or mental health issues stemming from past traumas. Still, others focus on how social and economic factors like solid family bonds, good friends, and opportunities for education and work can influence your choices.
Substance use disorders / Addictions as a Biopsychosocial Plus phenomenon
By framing addiction as a brain disease, this model has helped to reduce the stigma surrounding substance use disorders and promote a more compassionate and evidence-based approach to treatment and recovery. Central to the Disease Model is the understanding that addiction involves changes in the brain’s structure and functioning, leading to compulsive drug-seeking behavior and a reduced ability to control substance use. These changes primarily affect the brain’s reward system, which plays a crucial role in reinforcing behaviors essential for survival, such as eating and social bonding. Substances of abuse or addictive behaviors hijack this reward system, causing the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, which produce feelings of pleasure and reinforcement. Over time, repeated substance use or engagement in addictive behaviors leads to neuroadaptations, altering the brain’s functioning and driving the individual to prioritize drug-seeking behavior above other essential activities.
How Addiction Weakens Cognitive Control
The environment in which a person lives plays a crucial role in shaping their risk for addiction. Factors such as socioeconomic status, availability of substances, and exposure to peer groups that normalize substance use can increase vulnerability (Onyenwe & Odilibe, 2024). Being surrounded by friends or family members who engage in substance use can increase the likelihood of initiating and maintaining addictive behaviors.
Our addiction treatment centers in West Palm Beach, Florida offer comprehensive programs that address the physical, psychological, and social factors of addiction using the biopsychosocial model, personality theories and neuropsychology. By addressing cognitive deficits, addiction treatment can empower individuals to regain control of their thoughts, behaviors, and, ultimately, their recovery journey. By understanding the ways addiction disrupts these processes, treatment approaches can be tailored to strengthen cognitive skills and promote long-term success. The biopsychosocial model of addiction is a holistic approach that views addiction as arising from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors.
The more we know about the biopsychosocial model, the more we can foster accurate empathy for those with addiction and work toward effective treatment and prevention efforts. This chapter aims to explain that people who use drugs participate in a drug culture, and further, that they value this participation. White (1996) draws attention to a set of individuals whom he calls “acultural addicts.” These people initiate and sustain their substance use in relative isolation from other people who use drugs. Examples of acultural addicts include the medical professional who does not have to use illegal drug networks to abuse prescription medication, or the older, middle-class individual who “pill shops” from multiple doctors and procures drugs for misuse from pharmacies. Although drug cultures typically play a greater role in the lives of people who use illicit drugs, people who use legal substances—such as alcohol—are also likely to participate in such a culture (Gordon et al. 2012). Given the emphasis on the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors within the Biopsychosocial Model, treatment approaches informed by this model often involve a combination of pharmacological, psychotherapeutic, and community-based interventions.
Understanding the impact this information has on sober house the person as well as the additive behaviour gives us a clearer picture for positive changes and for the person to actively participate in their recovery and treatment plan. Addictive substances and activities hijack the brain’s reward system, leading to cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Over time, the brain adapts to the presence of the addictive substance, making it harder to experience pleasure without it. Many individuals struggling with addiction have a history of trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or the loss of a loved one (Hays-Grudo et al., 2021).
- This means that there isn’t just one cause of addiction but rather a combination of influences that can make someone more or less likely to develop an addiction.
- For example, researchers have found a robust association between trauma and addiction (Dube et al., 2002, 2003; Giordano et al., 2016).
- Given the emphasis on mental health and cognitive processes within the Psychological Model, treatment approaches informed by this model often involve various forms of psychotherapy.
- However the rapid developments in neuroscience are moving bio-psychiatry away from the mind, and towards actions in the brain.
- The model attributes key role to biological determinants and explains disease as a condition caused by external pathogens or disorders in the functions of organs and body systems.
- This claim coincides with a recent emergence of a global advocacy movement that seeks to construct the use of drugs as a human right (Elliott, Csete, Wood, and Kerr 2005; Lines and Elliott 2007).
Spiritual Dimension
By focusing solely on the moral aspect, this model fails to consider the numerous biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute to the development and progression of addiction. This narrow perspective can lead to victim-blaming and perpetuate the stigmatization of individuals with addiction, creating barriers to accessing appropriate treatment and support. When we see substance use disorders/addictions in a binary fashion, we are choosing one lens or another, which does not give us a clear picture of the person. You can further explore poverty, race, gender, and other examples of intersectionality that may play a role in a person’s substance use/addiction as you are working with them, ensuring your work is cultural, spiritual, gender-sensitive and trauma-informed. Addiction is not a one-dimensional problem but a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. The biopsychosocial model provides a holistic framework for understanding and addressing addiction, emphasizing the need for comprehensive and individualized treatment.
According to the Disease Model, addiction is influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors that predispose certain individuals to substance use disorders. Along with genetics, another contributing factor https://www.inkl.com/news/sober-house-rules-a-comprehensive-overview to the risk of addiction is one’s psychological composition. Some individuals may be more affected by the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse because they are trying their best to regulate painful emotions. The Biopsychosocial Model of addiction integrates elements from the biological, psychological, and social models, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the complex and multifaceted nature of addiction. According to this model, addiction is the result of a dynamic interplay between an individual’s genetic makeup, psychological characteristics, and social environment.
The Spiritual Model emphasizes the importance of developing a connection with a higher power, cultivating a sense of inner peace, and engaging in practices that promote spiritual growth and well-being in order to overcome addiction. Addiction is a complex disease that disrupts the brain’s reward system, motivation, memory, and learning. It’s important to note that these psychological factors don’t cause addiction on their own.
- These individuals may experience constant hyperarousal, hypervigilance, anxiety, and abuse drugs may be an effective way to regulate these emotional experiences (Felitti et al., 1998).
- In the best case, staff members will have a plan for creating a culture of recovery within their treatment population.
- The latter may compromise an individual’s sense and experience of free will, being-in-the-world, perceptions of personal responsibility, and view abnormalities in dopamine pathways as fatalistic.
- Although the model met with great initial success, it now needs conceptual attention to make it relevant for future generations.
- These expectancies may play a part in the development of substance use disorders (Fekjaer 1994; Leventhal and Schmitz 2006).
Indeed, there is no single theory or approach that can offer a complete explanation for the existence of any social problem (Merton 1961). Moreover, the model does not solve the problem of free choice, as the model still, even at the systems (macro) level, has causally sufficient preceding conditions. The biopsychosocial systems model implicitly calls for an integrative discussion in the ethics debate on substance use, decision-making, and responsibility.
But when you’re becoming addicted to a substance, that normal hardwiring of helpful brain processes can begin to work against you. Drugs or alcohol can hijack the pleasure/reward circuits in your brain and hook you into wanting more and more. Addiction can also send your emotional danger-sensing circuits into overdrive, making you feel anxious and stressed when you’re not using drugs or alcohol. At this stage, people often use drugs or alcohol to keep from feeling bad rather than for their pleasurable effects. By ignoring these complex factors, the Moral Model may hinder the development of effective treatment strategies and perpetuate misconceptions about addiction. For instance, the belief that addiction results from moral weakness may lead individuals to believe that overcoming addiction is solely a matter of willpower, which can be detrimental to their recovery process.