Diseased Addiction Neural Pathways are caused by unhealthy attachment to substances or relationships

The noun disease derives from a 13th century AD French word, aise, meaning peace of mind, balance, comfort, or well being.  The 13th century French verb is aiser, to help, to assist, give ease, bring to balance, mitigate, relieve from pain or care. Farmer states that ease is an 1861 slang term for “contenting a woman” sexually. ETYMONLINE

 

 

 

(This is an MRI of the grey matter of the brain. During the years 0-4 we form the foundation for relationships; anxiety regulation system, bonding, compassion, and the immune system.)

The word disease is built on the word aise which means balance. Add the prefix, des or dis meaning without and you have the word, disease, meaning imbalance.  Therefore disease in our conversation of addiction as disease means addiction neural pathways are imbalanced or dis-eased.

Our goal is to become people of balance, our sobriety is known for our ability to regulate anxiety of grief, resentment, trauma, or pain.

The anxiety regulation system which brings balance to diseased addiction neural pathways is driven by the attachment system which connects to intimate relationships.  We regulate our anxiety by attaching to God, to our support group, our healthy friends and family, and our therapist.

Attachment comes from the French word, attaché, which means “nailed or fixed to”. Philip Flores in his book Addiction as an Attachment Disorder 2004 focuses the work of recovery on attaching to others. He states:

     Attachment to others is as vital as the drive for sex or food. 

     Attachment regulates anxiety through transfer of oxytocin     

     and vasopressin. 

     Attachment increases density of opioid receptors and the ability

     to self soothe.      

    Without attachment 75% of infants die. (Flores, 2004)

 

 

 

(Diffusion Tensor Imaging of white matter neuro pathways. The “wires” connect to the grey matter for relationships formed between 0-4. Between the ages of 5-8 these wires form connecting us to people, places, things, sites, sounds, and smells.  This is called the arousal template. These neural pathways are made of fat, water, and protein. These pathways can change.)

“Intimate long lasting relationships are an integral part of human nature and the ability to establish long lasting gratifying relationships is directly related to the quality of early attachment experiences.  Difficulty overcoming ineffective attachment styles (Ainsworth 1989) can leave certain individuals vulnerable to addictive compulsions as compensatory behavior for their deficiency.   Louie (1996) emphasizes the primacy of this biologically driven need: ‘Attachment is not just a good idea, it’s the law.’” (Flores 2004) 

Without attachment both the compassion and the bonding systems do not develop.  We have difficulty expressing and receiving compassion and we may struggle to bond in healthy ways.

Every thought, word, deed has a physical structure in the brain wired by genetic code or experience.  These physical structures, or neural pathways, are either eased or diseased, balanced or imbalanced. We can with intentional focus of healthy relationships with God and each other attend to imbalanced neural pathways bringing ease and balance to that which was diseased.

Our sobriety is the beautiful process of bringing balance to imbalance, wholeness to lives fragmented by pain. Attaching to God, our support group, our healthy friends, and an amazing therapist…heals.