Addiction is a difficult problem with no single clear origin. Rather, it typically emerges from a combination of elements. These include genetic, environmental, social, psychological, and even spiritual—that all come together in unique ways for every person. Understanding addiction requires looking not only at how it happens, but also why it happens.
In this post we’ll dissect the two primary causes of addiction—the “how,” and the “why.” The “how” focuses on what drives addiction from an external perspective including biological, environmental, and social factors. The “why” helps us to understand what underlying needs or voids might lead a person to addiction. These include the psychological, and spiritual perspectives.
Genetic Factors: The Role of Biology
Let’s begin with the biological aspect. Addiction is largely influenced by genes. Just as you could inherit your eye color or height from your parents, you can also inherit traits that make you more prone to addiction. Those whose brains are wired in a way to be more sensitive to the impacts of drugs or alcohol run more danger of developing an addiction.
For instance, you could be more likely to develop an addiction yourself if addiction runs in your family. Studies show that genetic factors can account for about 40-60% of a person’s vulnerability to addiction. If your parents battled addiction, it doesn’t mean you’re also doomed to become addicted. Instead, it means you should exercise extra caution when handling drugs or behaviors.
Look at Sarah, for example. She watched as her father struggle with alcoholism as she was growing up. By the time she was a teenager she was grabbing for booze whenever she felt stressed. Since addiction ran in her family, her brain was physiologically more likely to grow dependent on the relief alcohol offered. For some, it can also reflect as a magnified physical response to addictive substances or behaviors. Though it wasn’t the only determinant, genetics helped set the stage.
Environmental Factors: Growing Up Around Addiction
Although genes set the stage, environmental elements can cause someone to veer farther down the road toward addiction. These include your family dynamics, friends, your school, and even the neighborhood you live in. And you’re more prone to develop an addiction later in life if you’re exposed to drugs or alcohol at a young age, or you grew up in a house where drug or alcohol use is normalized.
Imagine Mike, who grew up in a chaotic home where his parents argued nonstop, usually with alcohol involved. By high school, Mike discovered drinking provided him a sense of control over his life. It also helped him escape the drama at home. What began as a coping mechanism to deal with his surroundings rapidly descended into dependency. Alcohol was always present, thus it became his preferred method of stress release.
These environmental elements—family dynamics, peer pressure, and substance availability—can create an environment in which addiction seems the easiest or only way to escape.
Social Factors: The Influence of Relationships and Society
Addiction also arises in part as a result of social factors. Being social creatures, much of our behavior is influenced by the people around us. If you belong to a social group where substance or behavior use is normalized, you may begin to view that behavior as acceptable—even if it’s harmful.
Think about Emily, a college student who began experimenting with drugs at parties. It was first only a weekend thing. But her social group rapidly encouraged more frequent use, and before long she was using on a daily basis, just trying to fit in. Emily’s social environment contributed to her addiction because drug use had become normalized.
One must also consider societal influences. Media representations of drug or alcohol usage can convey the impression that these activities are hip or exciting. Further, social stigma can make it more difficult for individuals to get treatment, therefore reinforcing feelings of shame.
Psychological Factors: Internal Responses to External Pain
Although social, environmental, and genetic elements are mostly beyond our control, psychological elements reflect the inner processes influencing our response to our surroundings. These are the strategies we use internally to deal with emotional suffering, trauma, or stress resulting from outside events. An individual’s psychological reaction to these difficult or overwhelming events frequently determines whether they develop an addiction.
Many individuals struggle with unresolved emotional issues, such as trauma from childhood, anxiety, or depression. For them, substances or addictive behaviors can provide a means of escaping or numbing the suffering. It’s not that they deliberately choose addiction; rather, their psychological reaction to the challenges of life makes substances seem like a viable short-term fix.
Take Jake for example, who suffered emotional neglect in his early years. Though they were emotionally detached and absorbed with their own issues, his parents were not abusive. As a result, Jake grew up feeling lonely, anxious, and unworthy of love. As he hadn’t really experienced much of it as a kid, it wasn’t until he reached adulthood that he developed a deep-seated yearning for peace and tranquility. The first time he really felt either of these was when he began using opiates. The relief he experienced was instant and astounding. Over time, opiates evolved into Jake’s primary means of controlling those inner sensations of neglect and loneliness.
Jake’s addiction evolved from his internal psychological world’s interpretation of his experiences, not from those experiences themselves. Unaddressed for years, his emotional suffering found brief solace in drugs. Many people follow this route. For them addiction turns into a means of control for intense inner conflicts including trauma, stress, or anxiety brought on by outside events.
Psychological factors help us to recognize that addiction is not only about what happens to a person. It’s about one’s internal processing and response to events. While someone may have no control over the trauma they experienced, they develop internal coping mechanisms—like turning to substances—that can spiral into addiction if left unchecked.
Spiritual Factors: The Underlying “Why” of Addiction
Genetic, environmental, and social elements empower understanding of how addiction develops. Like the psychological factors, the spiritual model clarifies why addiction occurs. Addiction is for many people a means of filling an inner void—a detachment from others, themselves, or a higher purpose. According to this concept, a spiritual malady—a deeper existential concern whereby one feels lost, disconnected, or purposeless—is the expression of addiction.
Consider it this way: those who experience a sense of internal emptiness often develop some sort of addiction. Seeking comfort, relief, or meaning, they may turn to substances or other habits to fill the void. Whether from themselves, a higher power, or their sense of purpose, someone who is spiritually disconnected may resort to drugs or alcohol to escape the often intense feelings of emptiness or separation.
Rachel, for instance, always felt as though her life lacked something. She had supportive friends and a great career, but deep down she felt empty. Alcohol became her way of numbing that feeling of disconnection from herself and the world around her. She was drinking to fill a spiritual vacuum, not just to have fun. Over time, she started depending on booze to manage the discontent she couldn’t explain.
According to the spiritual paradigm, rehabilitation entails reconnecting with a feeling of purpose, meaning, or inner serenity. It’s not only about ending the substance use. This is the reason many recovery programs, including 12-step programs, emphasize spirituality as a fundamental component of healing.
How These Factors Work Together
Addiction is rarely the outcome of a single element. Rather, each of biological, environmental, social, psychological, and spiritual elements contributes in some way. For some, a genetic inclination sets the stage; for others, unresolved trauma or a sense of spiritual separation could drive them down the road of addiction.
Understanding the many origins of addiction helps us to address it with sensitivity and awareness. They help us to realize that it’s never as straightforward as just making “bad choices.”
Conclusion
Addiction is a complex condition with several causes. Although environment, genetics, and social influences all contribute to explain how addiction develops, psychology and the spiritual model clarify the initial motivations of those who become addicts. Addiction is for many about providing a means of escaping or numbing the suffering of earlier experiences. For others, it’s a means of filling a void or escaping feelings of detachment. Dealing with addiction holistically requires a knowledge of these fundamental reasons.
In the next post, we’ll explore the impact of addiction on a person’s physical and mental health, as well as its effects on relationships and daily life. Stay tuned!