Addiction is a wide and complex phenomenon influenced by biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
Here are some of the scientific explanations about addictions.
Brain chemistry: Addicting substances and behaviors trigger the brain‘s reward system, releasing dopamine, which reinforces the habit.
Genetics: Certain genetic predispositions make individuals more susceptible to addiction.
Neuroplasticity: repeated use of substances can rewire the brain, strengthening the dependency.
Stress and Trauma: chronic stress or unresolved trauma increases vulnerability to addictive behaviors.
Psychological Conditions: anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues often correlate with addiction.
Buddha’s teaching addresses the roots of addiction through the concepts of craving (tanha) and attachment (upadana). The Buddha explained that human pains and sufferings arise from the mind’s tendencies to pleasurable experience and avoid discomfort. Addiction, in this framework, is a form of clinging fuelled by ignorance of the impermanent and unsatisfactory nature of things.
However, the Buddha added that environmental factors matter as much as the mental. If you have read the story of two baby parrots; one falls in a dacoit’s village while the other one is in a hermitage. The parrot that grows up with the hermit in a hermitage speaks with kind and welcoming words; the welcomes all the people lovingly and equally, but, the parrot that grows up with the dacoits speaks with harsh words to all the passersby. What that means is that addiction also happens because of peer pressure.
At a young age, my father was a successful veterinarian, a brick manufacturer, and a distributor. Later he had a circle of friends who were drunkards, and poker players that influenced him to drink and play poker. I wouldn’t say because of them but he got addicted to drinking alcohol heavily and he drank every single day until I became a monk. He lost all the businesses he had. When I was a monk I read the story of venerable Moggalana and Sariputta where two monks taught their parents Dhamma and turned them from blind faith to enlightened beings and the Buddha appreciated saying that ‘changing one’s parents from michcha ditthi (wrong beliefs and faiths) to right beliefs and faiths is far more meritorious deeds than carrying them on the shoulder’s to over cross the river.’ I wrote letter after letter explaining to my father the good and bad sides of drinking; the good and bad effects; the bad effects of drinking from Sigalovad Sutta that the Buddha taught. My father doesn’t drink anymore, and I feel happy.
I and one of my students were watching video clips from YouTube that talked about addiction, and the results of being addicted. She recounts how her whole childhood was affected by an alcoholic father whose behavior created fear and instability. The father drank in isolation, exhibited delusional behavior, and impacted the family financially and emotionally. She also describes their mother’s denial, feelings of loneliness, and coping mechanisms, such as visiting cemeteries for peace. After the father’s death from alcohol-related health issues, the girl faced complex emotions of relief and grief. She said “My dad was addicted to alcohol from a very young age. I and my sisters didn’t often go to school parties or discos. We didn’t have friends around because there was too much embarrassment and you know it meant that the relationship that I had with my dad was very disconnected and he was so strict that life felt like we were walking on eggshells all the time. We never knew how he was going to react.”
"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism." – Carl Jung
Drinking is not a bad thing but getting addicted to be bad.
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