The book "The biology of desire. Addiction is not a disease. ”

Hello! We recently published a book by Mark Lewis, which won an award from the PROSE Award in the “Best Psychological Book” section.
Why do people so easily sit down on everything? Modern man has many addictions. We sit on social networks, play computer and gambling games, spend a lot more on purchases than we were going to, drink, smoke, or do sports fanatically. But why then do psychiatrists and psychologists call illness only alcohol or drug addiction? And, for example, not unrequited love, which is also an addiction with sad consequences? Our brain seeks pleasure and relaxation in a world that does not reciprocate. The brain continually rebuilds itself, learning and developing. As soon as we have some kind of dependence, this process is sharply accelerated, because very attractive "prizes" are regularly offered to our brain.

Mark Lewis, a cognitive neuroscientist and former addict, combines the simple stories of human life with a clear scientific explanation. “The biology of desire” gives hope to everyone who either struggles with addiction himself, or helps to fight others.


In recent years, the general public is seriously concerned about the harm that addicts (addicts) cause themselves and other people. And our perception of the problem of dependence is gradually transforming and becoming more advanced. We no longer equate moral weakness and dependence. We are no longer so inclined to look at addicts as if people are weak-willed, spineless, self-indulgent. It is becoming more and more difficult to brush off the addiction and assume that it concerns only gloomy teenagers from poor neighborhoods who approach our cars at a traffic light. We see that addiction can penetrate every home. She attacks our politicians, our actors, our relatives and often us. This problem becomes habitual and expected, like environmental pollution or cancer.
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Understanding what constitutes addiction has become vital. The first thing that comes to mind for most people is to declare an addiction a disease. What else besides the disease can strike a person at any time and deprive him of health, self-control and even life? Many reputable public health organizations and doctors call addiction a disease. Studies of the last twenty years have conclusively proved that the abuse of surfactants (psychoactive substances) is accompanied by changes in the structure and functions of the brain. And in genetic studies hereditary traits were identified, whose carriers are predisposed to the development of dependence. All this seems to close the question of determining dependence as a disease - a physical disease. Such a presentation is appropriate, convenient in its own way and fits into the general reality, as it gives hope for a cure or at least allows you to maintain patience. If addiction is a disease, then it must have a cause, a course and, possibly, a treatment or at least recognized treatment methods. This means that we can put ourselves in the hands of professionals and follow their recommendations.

But is dependency really a disease? This book shows that everything is not so simple. Dependence arises more likely from the purposeful repetition of the same thoughts and actions that become habitual. Thus, addiction develops — it learns — but often it learns faster and takes root more than other habits due to a sharp reduction in the field of attention and attraction. A careful study of brain activity sheds light on the role of desire in this process. The neural network of desire governs anticipation, directed attention and behavior. Therefore, the most attractive goals will be pursued again and again, and the remaining goals will lose their attractiveness, and this repetition (and not the drugs themselves, the drink or the game) changes the neural interconnections. The basis of this process, as well as the basis of the emergence of any other habits, are neurochemical feedbacks that function in the brain of every normal person. But if dependence occurs, repetitive behavior is more regular, since desire appears very often, and the spectrum of the desired narrows dramatically. Addiction develops from the same feelings that bind lovers to each other and children to parents. And it is built on the same cognitive mechanisms that make us prefer short-term benefits to long-term benefits. Dependency is undoubtedly destructive, but it is also unconditionally normal: the risk of its occurrence lies in a project called “man.” That is why it is so difficult to describe it from social, scientific and clinical points of view.

I (the author) believe that the idea of ​​dependence as a disease is wrong, and this error is aggravated by the biased interpretation of neurobiology data, as well as the habit of doctors and scientists to ignore the role of personality traits in the development of pathological conditions. This concept can be replaced without avoiding talking about the biology of addiction, but exploring it more closely, in connection with the life experience of the addict. Medical researchers are right that the brain changes under the influence of dependence. But how it changes is connected with the learning and development of the brain, and not with the disease. Thus, the emergence of dependence can be viewed as a cascade of brain development processes, often preceded by problems in childhood and always triggered by a narrowing of the range of interests and repeated cycles of acquisitions and losses. Like any development outcome, addiction is difficult to reverse, because it is the result of brain restructuring. Like any outcome of development, it arises due to the plasticity of the neural connections, but its main consequence is a decrease in the plasticity of the brain, at least for a while. Addiction is a habit that, like many other habits, is rooted at the expense of weakening self-control. Dependency is definitely a bad condition for the most dependent person and for all related people. Nevertheless, the heavy consequences of addiction still do not make it a disease, just as the consequences of violence do not make violence a disease, or how the consequences of racism do not make it a disease, or how the reckless passion for a neighbor’s wife does not make infidelity a disease. By consequences we judge all of the above as very bad habits.

Although the book uses research data to substantiate the author’s point of view, her main working material is the stories of ordinary people. The biographies of five very different people, each of whom is struggling with addiction, I consider as a material that allows us to interpret the data of the brain science with great clarity. I subjected these stories to literary processing, broke into monologues and dialogues, but as far as facts are concerned, they are absolutely reliable, except for the use of pseudonyms and the inaccurate order of replicas in some dialogues. In these life examples, I will show what it is like when an addiction takes hold of a person, and I will explain what changes in neural networks it rests on. Without a doubt, these changes are associated with a difficult period in the personal development of man. However, I end each chapter on an optimistic note, following the heroes in their struggle with addiction, victory over it and further growth - this phase is often called “recovery”. In addition, in the book I cite various neurobiological facts and concepts that will help to figure out what is at stake. Many addicts who have ceased to be such become amazingly interesting, unique personalities due to their constant work on themselves and their ability to grasp the essence of what is happening. Such a period is better to consider the next step in personal development, and not “recovery” after illness.

»More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website.
» Table of Contents
» Excerpt

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