The nature of addiction

[Shivani Devi]

The nature of addiction is to use whatever means at one's disposal to activate the reward/pleasure centre within the brain...and people will stay addicted until such times as something "better" comes along to replace it, or if the addiction itself fails to provide the desirable effect.

For all intents and purposes, I have clinical depression...I could say, however, that my pleasure/reward centre in my brain has totally ceased functioning, because nothing gives me any pleasure or reward, despite trying to find anything that does...or maybe I start off by saying "I don't think I am going to like this" and therefore never give it a chance...and years of CBT has not corrected this.

The only thing I am really addicted to is sleeping, because when I am fast asleep, I am able to let go and not get involved in anything or not care. This does not invoke any pleasure response in my brain, however...and the debate rages as to whether it is a chemical imbalance, or whether my atypical brain is simply wired that way.