Neuroscience: Addiction as Learning - The Missing Link? — Prof. Marc Lewis
Apr 17, 2025
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Join Marc Lewis, a former professor of developmental psychology and an expert in addiction neuroscience, as he shares his personal journey and insights. He delves into how early experiences shape addictive behaviors and the cyclical link between identity and addiction. Discover why breaking addiction patterns is challenging and what recovery strategies actually work. Marc also highlights the importance of self-reflection and reframing one's identity in the path to recovery, offering hope and resilience through personal growth.
Shame acts as a significant barrier to overcoming addiction, highlighting the need to reframe one's identity for recovery success.
Marc Lewis emphasizes the role of personal history and emotional coping mechanisms in shaping one's relationship with addiction and substances.
Addiction is viewed as a learned behavior influenced by emotional struggles, suggesting that developing healthier coping strategies can lead to sustained recovery.
Deep dives
The Impact of Shame on Identity and Addiction
Shame often manifests as a significant barrier to overcoming addiction and can trap individuals in cycles of helplessness. Recognizing that shame is merely an emotion and not a definition of one's worth is essential for recovery. By changing the narrative around shame, individuals can reframe their identities to acknowledge their worthiness, allowing them to escape from addictive patterns. Such a shift in perspective can enable people to navigate their way out of difficult situations, fostering a sense of empowerment and release from the grip of addiction.
Understanding Addiction Through Personal Experience
Professor Mark Lewis shares his personal journey with addiction, revealing the complexities underlying addictive behaviors that often stem from difficult childhood experiences. His transition from addiction to the field of psychology highlights the interconnectedness of personal history and emotional regulation in shaping an individual's relationship with substances. He emphasizes that many problematic behaviors arise from inadequate emotional coping mechanisms developed during crucial developmental stages. This understanding is pivotal in reframing addiction not just as a personal failure but as a response to accumulated life experiences.
The Role of Emotion in Addiction
Mark discusses the concept that addiction can result from an ongoing struggle to manage difficult emotions. Various life events, such as abuse or social isolation, can trigger a switch towards using substances as a coping mechanism, creating habitual responses to emotional distress. By examining these emotional components, it becomes clear that addiction serves as a maladaptive strategy for dealing with pain and discomfort. Recognizing this, individuals can learn to develop healthier coping strategies, ultimately leading to more sustainable recovery outcomes.
Critique of the Disease Model of Addiction
Mark criticizes the disease model of addiction, asserting that labeling addiction solely as a disease fosters a sense of helplessness among individuals. This model can inadvertently diminish personal agency by framing addiction as a permanent condition rather than a challenge that can be overcome. He argues that understanding addiction as a result of learned behaviors opens the door for empowerment and active participation in one's recovery journey. By shifting the focus away from viewing addiction as an incurable disease, individuals may adopt a more proactive approach to overcoming their struggles.
The Importance of Connection and Community
The conversation reiterates the significance of social connections in combating addiction, proposing that isolation greatly exacerbates struggles with addiction. Mark links addiction to a loss of social engagement, suggesting that as individuals lean toward substances, they often withdraw from meaningful relationships. Strengthening social ties and fostering connections can be a powerful antidote, as humans have an inherent need for support and belonging. Understanding that community and connection can be vital components of recovery lends hope for those grappling with addiction, as it highlights the role of social support in restoring balance and health.
Professor Marc Lewis is a former Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Toronto and a world leading expert in the neuroscience of addiction. It was particularly interesting to speak with Marc because not only does he have a deep understanding of the neural mechanisms underneath addictive processes, he also has battled with quite severe opioid addictions himself. He is the author of two bestselling books on the subject: Memoirs of an Addicted Brain, and The Biology of Desire. Now, he works as a clinical psychologist in Toronto, specialising in addiction treatment.
You’ll learn:
— How Marc’s experiences as a developmental psychologist helped him to develop his groundbreaking learning model of addiction
— A simple introduction to the neuroscience of addiction and the brain areas involved
— Why it’s hard to stop an addictive pattern once it has taken hold
— What works (and what doesn’t) in recovery.
And more.
You can learn more about Marc’s innovative work by visiting: www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com
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Prof Marc Lewis, PhD is a neuroscientist, professor, bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading experts on the neuroscience of addiction. In his academic work, he has authored or co-authored more than fifty journal articles, and for many years was a professor of developmental psychology at the University of Toronto and then Radboud University (Netherlands) before retiring.
For the last decade, he has focused on making his work more accessible to a wider audience through books for lay readers, pop science articles, public talks, and interviews. He is the author of two bestselling books on addiction: “Memoirs of an Addicted Brain” and “The Biology of Desire”, a book which Dr Gabor Mate argues “effectively refutes the disease model of addiction.” He is currently practicing psychotherapy as a clinical psychologist in Toronto, working with clients with addictive problems and other difficulties.
You can learn more about his work at www.memoirsofanaddictedbrain.com.
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6 Books Prof Lewis Recommends for Every Therapist Should Read:
— Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear —Dr. Carl L. Hart - https://amzn.to/44MnKfG
— High Price: Drugs, Neuroscience, and Discovering Myself — Dr. Carl L. Hart - https://amzn.to/3Kt8YmH
— Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction — Szalavitz Maia - https://amzn.to/3NS0p5q
— Drinking: A Love Story — Caroline Knapp - https://amzn.to/3NWYaOt
— The Night of the Gun — David Carr - https://amzn.to/44SHYod
— The Biology of Desire: why addiction is not a disease (The Addicted Brain) —Prof Marc Lewis - https://amzn.to/44QYpBl
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