The Science of Addiction
The following is an excerpt from the book Navigating Your Path Through Mental Illness by Dr. Steven Rice (available on Amazon November 11, 2023).
Researchers in neurosciences are making some interesting discoveries about the brain and addiction. For instance there is a tiny area in the base of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This cluster of cells helps with motivation and pleasure.
It can be called the pleasure center, and for this reason it is very active in addictions of all types.
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay.
It even has an important role in love, attachment, and depression. There are efforts to find medications to decrease the activity of this nucleus in addictions.
Any addiction, whether it is pornography, opiates, alcohol, or gambling, starts with the exposure to the stimulus.
But then there is a change in the brain chemistry. In the worst cases, this can become a permanent change in the brain. This is why there is a very high relapse rate for addictions. It is also why some people with addictions will steal from their family members and lose everything.
We are given examples of Biblical characters with addictions who never changed. However, there are those that did change. Read Psalm 51. David was guilty of sexual sin, but later was repentant and was restored to the grace of God. This gives us hope. [In the book] we will discuss others who have changed and how you can get help with an addiction.
Psalm 51 (New International Version)
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
